The British Billionaire Bachelor, Act Three by Maggie Carpenter Read Free Book Online Page B

of the house at any time, of course, but there are a number of areas that are completely vacant, and it’s quite easy for one to lose their way, so I would suggest staying within the immediate area.”
    “I can imagine,” Joseph chuckled. “I think we’d need a tour guide.”
    “There are still parts I haven’t seen,” Belle remarked.
    “Tomorrow night the four of us will have dinner,” Simon announced, a decree more than an invitation, “but Belle and I have a commitment, so we must say goodbye for the moment.”
    Lucinda glanced up at him. He was bigger than life, emanating power, and Joseph, standing next to him, seemed to share his confident aura. For a moment, she felt she was in over her head, and Joseph appeared far more like a successful businessman than a simple driver who was doubling as a bodyguard.
    “Joseph, the car is in the garage and Henry will give you the keys. Feel free to come and go as you please and enjoy the city. Call me if you need anything.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Sinclair,” Joseph replied, shaking his hand.
    “Belle?”
    “Yes, I’m ready,” she smiled, standing up and walking towards him. “I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, Lucinda, and Joseph, thank you for taking care of my sister while she’s here.”
    “Entirely my pleasure,” he nodded.
    A few minutes later, as they settled into the Range Rover, Simon’s vehicle of choice while staying at City View, Belle buckled her seat belt, a wide smile on her face.
    “That was astonishing,” she declared. “You were absolutely right.”
    “I could tell. Poor Lucinda, she looked very frustrated,” Simon remarked.
    “It was so easy. Wow, how did you learn to do that?”
    “Business,” Simon replied. “I watch my opponents, I don’t engage them. It gives me the upper hand.”
    “That’s how I felt, like I had the upper hand. I’ve never, ever felt like that with my family, not ever.”
    He smiled at her, and leaned across the console, kissing her on the cheek.
    “It was well overdue,” he remarked, “and now that’s under control, I should tell you something else.”
    “That sounds ominous,” she commented.
    “Not for you, it’s not.”
    “Uh-oh, what?”
    “Joseph was telling me about a little scene Lucinda created on the plane, and apparently he threatened to put her over his knee if she didn’t behave.”
    “Whaaat?” Belle replied, shocked that Joseph would do such a thing.
    “I told him he should do just that, if a situation arose and he felt it appropriate.”
    “I don’t know what to say,” Belle answered, her eyes wide.
    “You don’t have to say anything. I just thought you should know.”
    “My gosh, do you think he would?”
    “I don’t think Joseph is the type to make idle threats, so yes, I do.”
    Driving out on the street, heading towards City View, moving slowly through the busy traffic, Belle stared ahead, her head swimming.
    “You’re very quiet,” Simon remarked. “Penny?”
    “Just, well, I think this is going to be a very interesting two weeks.”
    “Yes, it will be that,” Simon agreed. “Absolutely.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    B elle sighed happily as she cast her eye across the sparkling city below. Simon had arranged for dinner in the viewing deck, a place Belle held in reverence, not just because it was where Simon had proposed with the ring encased in a sponge cake created in the shape of Saturn, but because she had come to understand the immense, but quiet strength that could be garnered there.
    Standing at the expansive windows, allowing herself to be mesmerized by the thousands upon thousands of the city’s twinkling lights, the scattered clouds dusting the tops of the buildings illuminated by a waxing moon, she felt elevated, her spirit weightless.
    “I could look at this forever,” she said softly.
    Simon, standing next to her, put his arm around her shoulder.
    “That’s how I feel about you.”
    “Simon,” she smiled, turning to face him. “How can you