Page 75 of A Billionaire for Christmas
Molly nodded sadly, appreciating that Levi was a trained lawyer when he wanted to be. It didn’t take him long to realise that the condition of the will was the completion of Ava’s bucket list.
‘And I’m guessing all the assets were frozen? Essentially locking you out of your own business?’
‘But that isnotwhy I wanted to sleep with you,’ Molly whispered. She was staring up at him, every fibre in her body pleading him to have faith in her. ‘You have to believe me. That was a genuine connection. I never meant to deceive you. I’d never do that to you. I’m not like that.’
Levi gave her an intense look, causing tears to prick at her eyes. Then he swept her into a hug. He cradled her head in one hand and pulled her in tight with the other. She sagged against him, taking immediate comfort from his warm, strong embrace.
Lucca stopped arguing with Freda to throw them a lopsided grin. ‘Get a room, you two.’
Molly managed to stifle a giggle.
‘We need to try and salvage this disaster.’ Lucca gestured to them. ‘We as inallof us.’
‘Give us a minute,’ Levi said. Molly thought she would explode with joy as Levi leaned towards her. He cupped her face with his hands.
Freda’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. ‘What are you doing?’ she shrieked. ‘Wait. Is there something going on between you two?’
Molly instinctively stood back from Levi and shook her head. She didn’t want Levi to be embarrassed. His mother had already done enough of that.
Levi reached for her hand and pulled her back to him. ‘Yes. There’s something going on.’
Molly’s head jerked up in surprise. ‘You don’t need to say that.’
‘It’s true, isn’t it?’
Levi kept a tight hold of her. Her skin was on fire where he held her. His eyes, full of promise, caused her heart to melt. Valerie’s words about Molly not being ‘good enough’ rang round her brain. Common sense was telling her to run a mile but the more time she spent with Levi, the more attracted to him she was becoming. Even if he did behave like a pompous, judgemental workaholic most of the time.
This news was not going to go down at all well.
‘Now you have no excuse not to teach me how to cook.’ Freda beamed at Molly. ‘We can hang out together.’
‘Listen,’ hissed Lucca. They stopped talking. ‘I can’t hear anything.’
‘Did they leave while we were yelling at each other?’ Freda whispered just as her mother let out an agonising howl.
Molly, Levi, Lucca and Freda scrambled back through the kitchen and into the lounge area at great speed. They saw Armand slumped over the table. His glass knocked to the floor. His face drained of colour. Valerie stood staring at him as though none of it was real.
‘Papa!’ yelled Levi, sprinting towards him.
While the family panicked, Molly raced to Armand and rifled through his pockets. ‘What are you doing?’ screeched Valerie. ‘Leave him alone. I don’t care about the bloody phone!’
‘His tablets. His spray. Where are they?’ Molly asked her calmly.
Valerie responded with a bewildered look. ‘Tablets? I have no idea what you are talking about. Leave him alone, I tell you.’
Molly ignored her and tapped Armand on the shoulder. ‘Monsieur LeRoux, can you hear me? Monsieur LeRoux?’ She put her ear to his mouth to check his breathing. ‘Shit, he’s not breathing. Ring an ambulance,’ Molly told Levi. ‘Freda, go to the bedroom and search for your father’s heart medication. There should be tablets and a GTN spray. Lucca, help me get him flat on the floor.’
While Levi shouted into his phone for an air ambulance, Lucca leapt into action as they eased Armand from the chair. ‘He needs CPR.’ Molly glanced at each family member. ‘He’s gone into cardiac arrest. He needs CPR,’ she repeated. Valerie immediately burst into tears. Lucca looked like a frightened child.
‘Sorry. I don’t know how to…’ Lucca gasped helplessly. ‘Papa! Papa! Please don’t die.’
Seriously? No one knew CPR?
Molly got to work opening Armand’s airways and doing compressions as an eerie silence fell. Levi dropped to his knees. ‘How can I help?’
‘Do you know CPR?’
Levi shook his head. He looked desperate. ‘I did a course a million years ago. I’m not sure exactly…’
