The Billionaire and the Single Mom

seemed to climb into the clouds. The minivan groaned in protest. With every

t-iron gates. Elara rolled down the window and

sp female vo

ce. Mr. Blackwood

swung open

ain house-it couldn't be called anything else-was a masterpiece of modern architecture, all sharp angles, glass, and steel, cantilever

to a charming, much more traditional stone and timber cottage nestled in a clearing. I

es were stretched taut. This

ooking woman in her sixties, wearing a stark black dress and her hair in a t

wood's personal assistant. I am to show

xpected to see her breath in the ai

urniture-a vast improvement from the motel. There were three bedrooms-she'd have to double up the twins-

cting standards. You will grocery shop according to the list provided by his nutritionist. You will receive deliveries. You will tend to the landscaping immediately around this cottage. Yo

ith military precision. The warning ab

," Elara sa

g her a debit card and a sheet of paper with login details. "The PIN is on the paper. Change it immediately. M

n. But she just sh

d with a final, disapproving glance

he space, their earlier trepidation forgotten in th

iam yelled, claiming

k beds!" Oli

Chloe asked, her e

done it. They had a roof. A real, beautiful roof. And money in the bank. She logged i

flowing. For the first time in years, she felt a flicke

her new role. The main house was locked, a silent, glass-walled sphinx. She let herself in with a keycode provided by Holloway and cleaned it top to bottom. It was immaculate, steril

ter landed on a pad near the main house, and he strode insid

g chaos of the cottage and the silent, pristine order of

meadow behind the cottage, tripped and fell, gashing her knee de

It likely needed stitches. She bundled Chloe into the van, shouting at Liam to w

, praying the van wouldn't break down. As she pulled into the clinic

ate alert showed you leaving at a

e was. She shouldn't have been surp

her to the clinic, she typ

was no

neat stitches. She was brave, clutching a new sticker and a lollipop, t

stopped. Leaned against the drive

t, his hands shoved into the pockets of his impecc

mmered, completely thrown.

aid, as if that explained everything. He looked at Chloe, whose eyes

stitches. Sh

bringing himself to Chloe's eye level. His movements were st

her, his voice softer tha

d, holding up her lollip

is a very fine lollipop. It appe

he company has a account here for a

he said quickly. "I have.

nt. It was the voice of a man used to being obeyed. "It happene

to where his black sedan was idling, a dr

ay. He'd shown concern for Chloe. He'd taken care of the bill. Yet it felt less like kindness and more like the effic

was an enigma. A man of cold, calculated actions wh

ixture in her new life. She was safe, she was provided for, but she was living i