Page 25 of The Runaway Billionaire's Inconvenient Baby
He grits his teeth and sighs, perching on one of the rocks. He’s still wearing the sun hat I gave him in the garden, and it casts shadows over his face, making him look severe, drawing my attention to his high cheekbones and full lips.
“Back in LA, I’m something of a minor celebrity. Everyone knows who I am. Everyone wants a piece of me all the time. Every single day, I’m bothered by people who interrupt my private business. Hell, a few days ago, my home got broken into because some photographer decided he wanted exclusive photos of the way I live.”
“You had a break-in?” I echo. The last thing I wanted to do was feel sorry for this guy, but even someone as annoying and privileged as him doesn’t deserve an invasion like that. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugs. “It’s not the first time it’s happened. I want it to be the last, though. That’s why I want the island. It has nothing to do with the people. Hell, it’s been a nice change being here because you all hate me.”
“You enjoy being hated?”
“No, of course not. But back in LA, it’s allsign this, take a photo of that, oh Jacob, we love you. Oh, Jacob, I want to break into your house just because you’re slightly famous. Here, I’m just the rich asshole who wants to steal the land from you.”
“Can’t you see why we don’t want you to?” I whisper, sitting in the sand next to him. “Can’t you understand what this means to us?”
He shrugs. “It’s just an island. Sure, I feel kind of bad about asking you all to leave, but you can understand why I’m doing it. Can’t you see why I need the space?”
“No. Everyone on the island loves it for the same reasons you do: the isolation, the peace, the quiet. But none of us have ever thought to ourselves, oh, you know what? Let’s buy the entire place and kick everyone out. That’s not what this place is about.If you want solitude, go and buy somewhere else, because this island is ours.”
“It’s too late,” he says. “My lawyers are negotiating as we speak.”
“Tell them to stop!”
“I can’t. It’s out of my hands now.”
“How can it be out of your hands? You’re the one buying the place.”
He opens his mouth, and his lips quiver as if he’s trying to justify his reasons to himself, as well as to me. “I don’t want to deal with people anymore. That can’t be too much to ask for, can it? I’m tired. I want to be alone.”
“You can be alone without evicting everyone,” I say quietly. “The whole island doesn’t have to be yours. You can’t turn this place into some sort of tropical party island. It deserves more than that.”
“That’s not what I’d do,” he says, folding his arms defensively. “I don’t want to party.”
“What then? Condos for your friends? Billionaire’s hangout club? You can’t do that to us.” Suddenly, my words are thick in my throat and my eyes prick with tears. None of this is making a difference to him.
He hums thoughtfully and doesn’t reply.
A wave of nausea hits me. It’s a lost cause trying to persuade him. I’m not going to stop because I never give up, but none of this is having the effect I thought it would. I don’t think Jacob is really human.
He wants the island, and he doesn’t want any of us.
And nothing I can say will stop him.
CHAPTER 14
JACOB
Ispend most of the next morning pacing my room in the hotel alone.
I was only supposed to visit this island for a few hours. Now I’ve been here two nights, and I don’t want to leave. Billie keeps spending time with me too, for some reason. I think she has it in her head that the more she can show me, the more likely I will be to say,oh well, never mind, and back off.
And the thing is, the more she shows me, the worse I feel about my plan. I wasn’t lying to her yesterday when I told her my lawyers had everything all set and that it was out of my hands. Sure, I could tell them to stop, but they’re in process right now, so it wouldn’t do much good.
The fact is, I do want this island. I am falling in love with it.
Yesterday afternoon, we spent hours on that beach, wandering about, exploring. For the first time since I met her, Billie almost let her guard down with me, giggling as she showed me a starfish. As we poked in rock pools. As she smiled.
I can understand why she’s the face of this island. It’s not only because she’s beautiful. She’s intelligent, too. The way she was talking about all their litter campaigns and anti-oil activism was so articulate I couldn’t do anything but agree. Usually, I find people who would chain themselves to railings incredibly annoying. Hell, I’ve had enough protests over my own work to know what they’re like.
It turns out that owning a business empire can get you a hell of a lot of fans but also make you really unpopular at the same time.
