The Billionaire's Ballet: A Contemporary Billionaire Friends to Lovers Romance (Friends with Benefits) by JJ Knight, Deanna Roy, Lucy Riot Read Free Book Online Page B

her.
    Damn.
    A car door slammed. I couldn’t see the front drive from back here, so I stood up and walked along the top of the wall to the corner, holding on to tree branches as I went.
    Bennett had pulled up to the circle and was heading for the front door. I could catch him if I hurried.
    I couldn’t wait to call out or I’d miss him, so I shouted, “Bennett!” right as I leaped from the wall, over the hedge, and onto the walkway.
    His step faltered as he saw me fly through the air.
    “Wow,” he said when I was close enough to hear. “You’re like a bird.”
    I laughed. “When you have the equivalent of a drill sergeant shouting at you to defy gravity in a tutu, you get good at it.”
    He paused by the door, a leather briefcase slung over his shoulder by a long strap. Behind him, one of the staff members drove Bennett’s car to the detached garage.
    “I wanted to talk to you,” I said. “About Mom.”
    He turned to me then. “Is she all right?”
    My gaze dropped to his perfectly shined Italian leather shoes. I saw a lot of shoes like that at fund-raisers for the ballet. “She said you know about her cancer.”
    “Yes. Her treatments seem to be going well.” He took a step closer, which had the intended effect. I looked up at him.
    His face was etched with concern. A breeze ruffled the brown hair that was a couple shades darker than his brother’s. He wasn’t hunky gorgeous like Quinn. But handsome in a distinguished way.
    “Do you intend to keep her here, even though Pearl refuses lessons?”
    He exhaled in a rush, as if thinking about his youngest sister was a great trial. “Pearl could use some grace and beauty, but she’s off the rails. I don’t even know how to pull her back.”
    “She’ll be eighteen before too long anyway.”
    “And come into a lot of money,” Bennett said. “That’s never good.”
    “I wouldn’t know,” I said. I scrambled to pay for my crowded apartment. Thankfully we were given outfits to wear to big events or I’d look like the pauper I was.
    Bennett nodded in understanding. “Well, your mother has her place here. She teaches yoga to the staff. I’ve switched her employee budget to our health plan.”
    “Very practical of you,” I said. I hadn’t intended any sarcasm, but my tone must have conveyed it, because Bennett stiffened.
    He turned back to the door. His tone was harsh when he said, “Don’t worry about Danika. She’s like a part of our family now.” The moment he was sufficiently close to the door, it opened and Adams stepped aside to let him in.
    I wanted to say, “And I’m not,” but I had done enough damage already.
    Adams nodded at me as he closed the door.
    Uggh. Disgust blasted through me as I trudged around the wall back to the guesthouses. They could stay in their stupid estate. Nothing but bitterness and gloom there anyway.
    But I felt a niggle of guilt. I had my own preconceived ideas about the Claremonts. And Bennett’s treatment of my mother was proving me wrong.

Chapter 9

    By the day of the party, the estate was insane. Despite the early hour, I passed a half-dozen trucks as I left the stable to head to Mother’s house. They were parked haphazardly between the barn and the back gate, florists and caterers and decorators.
    The boxes disappeared from the studio. I had peeked inside, unable to help myself, wanting to know what Quinn ordered for his perky little instructor. I half expected tacky tennis ball centerpieces.
    But tucked inside sparkly tissue paper were endless strings of beautiful fairy lights. I’d actually gone to the trouble to open one and plug it in. They twinkled softly in slow random pulses, like fireflies. I half wanted to steal one away for my room in New York.
    It was going to be a beautiful night. A storm had blown the worst of the heat away yesterday, and we were enjoying a lull in the blistering summer weather. I took Jezebelle out each morning after Bennett was gone but before Quinn bothered to stir.