Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 1(121)

Eliot’s heart strained when he looked at her, so quiet and unassuming, so ready to accept whatever came her way. Something inside of him turned, decided for him.

“Come,” he said, picking up her bag. “You’ll stay with me tonight. I have an extra room.”

He expected her to protest, but she just yawned, her pink lips opening wide behind her hand.

“Okay,” she said. “Oh, wait!” She turned and fled into the other room, his large coat flapping at her knees behind her. When she came back she had something in her arms. Eliot’s eyes widened when he saw what she was carrying.

“This is Lucky,” she said, holding the kitten tightly to her heart. “Can he come along?”





Eliot drove slowly over the dark ice patches on the road, the heater running at full blast. The kitten kept pawing at his arm, as Brynn let it crawl all over her, its tiny claws digging into the coat as it tumbled over itself. It managed to clamber out of Brynn’s hands and onto Eliot’s shoulder. Eliot felt the pinpricks of the claws and then a small tongue licking at his earlobe.

“Get it off!” he cried, trying desperately not to take his eyes off of the road. The raspy tongue tickled his ear and he tensed his head to the side to avoid it.

“Sorry,” Brynn said, a giggle in her voice. “He likes you.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual,” Eliot said, grudgingly. The damn thing would give him fleas, he knew it.

“Sorry,” Brynn repeated, prying the kitten off of Eliot’s shoulder and putting it back in her lap. “Lucky, you stay here now.”

As they pulled up to the estate, Eliot heard Brynn gasp. With her sitting next to him, he saw the place as she saw it, a vast acreage of beauty. Surrounded by a fence of cypress trees, the gates in front opened up to what couldn’t be called anything but a castle. The stone walls stretched up high over the gardens below, the roofs pointed in spires.

“It’s like a fairytale,” she said, her voice wondrous. “This is where you live?”

“It’s the family estate,” he explained. “But no one has lived there for a while.”

“What about your brother?”

“He lives downtown, close to the government buildings.” Close to the women and nightlife and action. Eliot couldn’t imagine his brother anywhere rural, and this place came as close to the forests as you could get while still being inside of the city limits.#p#分页标题#e#

Pulling up in front of the house, Brynn pressed her nose to the window in awe. Eliot opened her door and helped her out, taking her bag out of the backseat. She nestled the kitten in her arms.

Eliot paused for a moment. “The inside isn’t cleaned up yet,” he said. “It’s been a while since anybody came over to tidy the place.”

“Are you apologizing for not cleaning up your castle?” Brynn asked teasingly. The drive over seemed to have woken her up considerably. Eliot unlocked the front door and pushed it open, inviting her in. She stepped over the threshold and looked around. The light inside was even dimmer than in the apartments. Eliot flicked a switch and the lamps illuminated the hallway. Two great staircases curved up to the second floor, and the marble floors reflected the light.

“Yeah, you should be ashamed. This castle is so messy.” Her peals of laughter echoed through the hallways.

“It is, isn’t it?” he said. The pieces of furniture looked ghostly, covered in white sheets. Cobwebs stretched out from the chandelier to the rafters.

“Just terrible,” Brynn said, a broad smile on her face. In her arms, the kitten meowed in agreement.

“Let’s go to the study,” Eliot said. “I’ll make you some tea.” He waved her upstairs, and she went obediently.

“The study?”

“It’s basically where I’ve been living the past few days,” Eliot explained. They walked down the long corridor upstairs, and Eliot turned off the light behind them. At the end of the hall, flickering light beckoned from one of the rooms.

“My study,” Eliot said, his arm spread out toward the room. Brynn’s eyes widened as she went through the doorway. It was the one room in the house that Eliot was proud of. He had built the shelves himself along the wall and lined them all with books. Leather couches and chairs made the room cozy, inviting. His oak desk sat on one end, scattered with papers. At the other end a giant stone fireplace flickered with dying light.

“It’s wonderful,” Brynn said. The kitten wriggled in her grasp, and she set him down. “Don’t go far, Lucky.” But the kitten seemed to know exactly where it wanted to go. Lucky jumped right up on a leather chair by the fire and curled up, its eyes closing sleepily. Brynn examined the shelves, her fingers running across the spines of the books. Eliot picked up two logs from the wood basket and threw them on the fire. The embers blazed up brightly, throwing new light into the room.