Page 1 of Billionaire Games
1
Even though rainwas falling in sheets, the press still stood outside the Boston funeral home where the heiress to Captain Jack’s Seafood Company, thirty-year-old, Julia Loveless, was resting peacefully for the first time in her short life.
One tryst too many found the beautiful young woman the victim of a hit and run. No one was sure who did the evil deed, but many speculated the wife of Judge Sanborn, a man Julia had been seen about town with, might have had a hand in it.
The private car Griffin Houser had been picked up from the airport in, coasted into the area where a canvas tent had been erected to see the mourners stay dry as they made their way into the large funeral home.
Griffin was a thirty-year-old billionaire from old money. His family’s cattle company in Montana had gone in a new direction that sent them from merely millionaires into the billionaire category.
Montana Matrix was a prize-winning bull sperm operation. Griffin was supposed to be a salesman for his family’s fertile business. He seldom sold a thing, preferring to wine and dine women who didn’t have a thing to do with the cattle industry.
Griffin didn’t have anything to worry about. His wealth was secure even if he never sold a single vial of the liquid that had catapulted his family into a new tax bracket.
Julia had been one of his clients. Tall, legs for days, with hair that changed color with each passing month, Julia was an heiress he liked to have fun with on occasion when visiting the East Coast. Her passing was sad news, but he knew the day would come when her promiscuity would catch up to her. Her early demise was inevitable in his eyes.
Griffin made his way into the packed parlor where her body resided, center stage, spotlight included. A platinum coffin, a spray of red roses covering the bottom portion, held her in cushioned comfort. Her hair was a shade of blonde that matched well with her surroundings. He could see she was wearing a red dress.Even in death, still the naughty vixen.
When a grin flowed over his face, he shook his head to stop thinking such inappropriate thoughts on such a grim occasion. He took a seat next to a tall man with long black hair that was pulled back into a queue. A Native American, Griffin was sure.
Though the music was quietly playing a sad song meant to pull the tears out of those who had congregated, Griffin tried to ignore the song and extended his right hand to the man he sat next to. “Hello, Griffin Houser, Montana Matrix.”
The man shook his hand. “Phoenix Nelson, Texas oil. How’re you doing today?”
“Sad, I suppose is the right thing to say to that,” Griffin said then chuckled a bit. His action had people shushing him and giving him terrible looks. “Sorry. Inappropriate.”
When he was met with a grin from the man sitting on the other side of Phoenix, he was not only surprised but glad to see another human in the room who wasn’t so distraught. When he held his hand out, Griffin took it. “Ethan Southern,” came the man’s words which were heavily laced with a Scottish accent.
“Griffin…”
“Yeah, I heard ya,” Ethen interrupted as his attention turned to Phoenix. “How’d you know Julia?”
Phoenix cleared his throat as he looked down and a grin had found him too. “In the biblical sense,” came his answer.
“Aye, me too,” Ethan said then looked at Griffin.
Griffin nodded and looked down as a man in the front, wearing black, asked them to pray. A long prayer that had nothing to do with Julia was said by the preacher then the rest of the funeral proceeded.
The three men fidgeted a bit as the service went on and on. Many people got up and told stories about the woman they knew as quite the she-wolf. The only thing was, none of the stories they told was anything any of those men knew about the woman who lay in the coffin.
Tales of how generous she was had the three men smiling with their secret thoughts. Griffin could attest to that. Julia had been generous alright. He didn’t know if she was generous with her money but with her body, oh yes, she was incredibly generous with that!
When the last speaker spoke about how she gave to charities all the time, the service ended, and it was time to file past the coffin and the lifeless body. Griffin stood in line, followed by Phoenix, then Ethan. One by one, the people looked down at Julia as they waited for their turn to lay eyes on her one last time.
The three stopped and took their turns at the same time. “Life like, huh?” Griffin asked the other two men.
“Her hair was red when I was with her,” Ethan muttered.
“It was pink when I saw her,” Phoenix recalled. “And she’d worn purple contacts. She was something else.”
Griffin ran his hand over her cheek, lightly. “Bye, Julia. Thanks for the education. You will be missed.”
“That she will,” Ethan agreed.
Phoenix nodded then the sound of a man clearing his throat had them shuffling along. A man in a cheap blue suit was near the door where everyone was exiting, he held out a box of tissues to the three. Each took one. “I don’t need this for anything more than to remind me of her,” Griffin said.
“I have a napkin from a bar we’d meet at,” Phoenix said as they walked outside.
They all looked up at the brilliant blue, cloudless sky. “It stopped rainin’ can you imagine that?” Ethan asked in wonder.
