“I see.” He looked at his sisters one at a time. “And you helped, of course?”
His sisters pointed to Serenity. “She helped, too.”
Serenity cocked her head to the man beside her, murmuring politely, “Mr. de Konigh asked me to.”
“Yes, I did,” Willem confirmed bluntly to his brother just before turning to his secretary-slash-fiancée, saying pleasantly, “Serenity?”
“Yes, sir?”
“It’sWillem.”
“Iknow, Mr. de Konigh. I’ve known since I was fourteen.”
“Serenity?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t push it.”
“Yes, Willem.”
As the couple stared at each other, Ilse stared at them with unconcealed fascination. These two were just so alike, it was uncanny! Serenity was like a living Barbie doll, Willem was like Ken with a Dutch accent and a billion-dollar account, and the two were so impossibly gorgeous they had every right to be shallow, dumb, and selfish and everyone would love them. But instead they were the opposite, with Willem considered legendary because of his smooth-talking skills and Serenity being fondly referred to as ‘Willem, Jr.’ because of the way she so obviously followed Willem’s footsteps.
Fascinating,Ilse thought again. She had seen a lot of crazy sexual things in her line of work, but these two were the onlyones to make her realize that it was possible for polite talk to be so sexually charged.
A second later, and everyone at the table laughed, and Ilse realized she had unknowingly spoken her thoughts aloud.
Oops.
When the ball finally ended, Jaak and Ilse walked out hand in hand, their pace slow and relaxed, and as they waited for the billionaire’s limousine to roll up the hotel’s driveway,
Jaak asked her if she had indeed meant what she told his sisters.
“About me leaving my job, you mean, and maybe going back to school?” At the billionaire’s nod, Ilse said simply, “I’ve been considering it since we started going out.”
The billionaire was startled. “This is my first time to hear about it.”
Ilse rolled her eyes, saying, “Contrary to what you may seem to believe, my world doesnotrevolve around you.”
It was an effective set down, or at least it should have been, but since this was Jaak de Konigh—-
“It does, babe.” The billionaire’s tone was lazy. “You just don’t want to admit it.” He laughed as she started giving him a piece of her mind about his cocky attitude, but the moment she stopped for breath, he only bent his head and stole a kiss.
Ilse’s toes curled, and her arms went around his neck.
It had been so, so long, and she had missed this too, too much.
When the billionaire lifted his head, they were both panting, and everyone at the lobby was staring. Neither of them gave a damn.
“Where’s Jan?” he asked under his breath.
“We’re both staying at your brother’s place.”
“Do you think he’ll mind if I don’t take you home first?”
Her lips twitched. “He barely notices me these days, to be honest. He’s having a blast at Willem’s home because all the bodyguards there don’t mind playing with him.”
“Good.” He smiled down at her, but she couldn’t smile back because it was one of those smiles again, and Ilse hurt at just seeing it.
