One Night With A Billionaire(95)

If anything, his Kylie laughed and teased him about his wealth. She’d burst into a fit of giggles when he’d shown her his Manhattan townhouse and the Moneta real oneabove the fireplace. “What, were there no Picassos available when you were decorating?” she teased. “Museum fresh out of Van Goghs?”

He’d tickled her straight into bed for that one.

She’d teased him about the thousand thread-count sheets, too. Were three hundred threads not enough for a billionaire? And she’d poked fun at his marble-tiled bathroom and all the other expensive trappings in his townhouse. Kylie was cheap, she declared, and if she was going to live with him, he was going to eat off-brand groceries and shop at the local Super Saver because no one really needed to spend eighty dollars on a hand towel. He was fine with that. He didn’t care if she turned the entire place out with plastic furniture and red Solo drinking cups. Just as long as she was in his arms every night, it was fine. Cade preferred to donate to charities anyhow. Billions of dollars were far too much for one man to have, and he’d told Kylie that once. Her eyes had gleamed so happily that he felt like giving all of his money away.

He didn’t, though; he was saving it to spoil his woman whether she wanted it or not.

Like tonight, they’d gone out to one of New York’s swankiest restaurants so Cade could show off to Kylie a bit. They’d ordered a moderately priced wine so Kylie wouldn’t feel obligated to drink the entire bottle and he didn’t let her see the menu so she wouldn’t exclaim over the prices. Still, he had a suspicion she was eating on the cheap when she ordered chicken instead of the lobster he had. That was fine. He made her eat a dessert with him anyhow, just so he could lick some of the chocolate off of her decadent, full mouth.

Now it was time for his weekly Brotherhood meeting, and he was bringing Kylie to meet his friends. She didn’t know it was a secret society meeting. Actually, most of the secret had gone out of the society once Gretchen had started showing up on a regular basis, and then the other men had one by one started bringing their wives and fiancées around. Last week, Audrey had made a genius suggestion that the men were anxious to implement, and Cade was curious to see the results.

As he led Kylie into the club and down one of the back halls, she ran a finger under her lip, checking her lipstick once more.

“You look fine, love,” he told her. “Better than fine. Utterly beautiful.” She was, too. Dressed in a tight black sheath that wrapped below her breasts, the dress showed off the exaggerated hourglass of Kylie’s lush figure and emphasized her glorious breasts. Her golden hair had been freshly retipped with flame red, and was pulled back from her face into glam waves.

But she gave him an uncertain look. “Won’t the others be expecting you to show up with Daphne? After all the history you guys had?”

Was that what was troubling her? Cade smiled, imagining the reactions of the others if he had showed up with Daphne. “I think they’d question my sanity if I’d brought her. No one thinks Daphne and I belong together. And they can’t wait to meet you. Really.”

“Even Daphne’s sisters?” she asked, ever skeptical.

“Especially them,” Cade declared. Once she met brash Gretchen and efficient Audrey, she’d realize she was worrying over nothing. Neither one was a bit like Daphne.

Kylie’s hand tightened in his again, and he looked over at her. She was staring down the hall, where Hunter’s enormous bodyguard stood, guarding the door to the basement.

“I’ll get this,” he told her, and approached the door. He knew the man recognized him, but they still used the Brotherhood’s signal, since he had a guest with him. Two fingers, swept over his shoulder, then resting over his tattoo of the Brotherhood’s symbol on his bicep.

The guard nodded and stepped aside.

“Come on, love,” Cade told the hesitating Kylie. Wide-eyed, she followed him in.

Down below, he could already hear strains of conversation. Maylee’s thick southern drawl was mixed in with Gretchen’s louder, more boisterous tones to the right of the stairs. To the left, he could hear Reese smugly announcing his hand of cards. They’d already started without him. That was finehe knew he and Kylie were late. And as they came down the stairs, he grinned at the changes below.

The men’s enormous basement room had been neatly halved. A wall had been erected on one side of the room, and the women’s voices could be heard from that newly created room. The walls of the men’s room had been painted a dark Kelly green, and inside the new “women’s room” he saw the walls were a fresh baby pink. An identical card table with six chairs had been placed in the new room, and he could see the alcohol and refreshments cart in their room, just like in the men’s.