Billionaires in New York Boxed Set: Billionaires in the City Books 1-3 by Laura Burton (learn to read books .TXT) 📕

he would sit in. His apartment sat above a club, which he owned. ‘The Beat’ was a realization of a lifelong dream. It had very few regular punters, but it was his own corner of the city to share his music and support local comedians. It was one of the few places Edward would go regularly and be able to feel… normal. Sam had money, but no one who knew him outside of work would have guessed. He usually wore denim jackets and had an obsession with baseball caps. The wall next to his front door proved that. He had all sixty-four of his caps in a proud display.

Edward’s eyes scanned the room, glancing at all the knick-knacks and clutter. The walls were painted dark and he had guitars propped up in corners, with stacks of magazines and sheet music lining the walls. The floor had shoes and jackets scattered around. If he was ever going to bring Catherine back to this place, he would have to do some serious cleaning.

“No wonder you’re still single mate,” he said heavily as he gestured to the messy room. His stomach growled and he sensed a bad mood coming on.

“It’s almost midnight, I better go downstairs and finish up. You are coming to the show tomorrow night, right?” Sam’s eyes squinted accusingly at Edward as he slowly pulled on his dark jacket. Edward yawned and gave a nod.

“I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

Sam hummed with approval and gave him a casual wave as he left. He banged the door so hard one of the caps fell on the floor. Edward yawned again. His hunger gave way to fatigue and he dragged his feet across the room to the fold out couch in front of the flat screen TV. He undressed to his boxers and collapsed into the squeaky mattress with a sigh. He missed his orthopaedic mattress and his king-size bed back in his penthouse suite. Sleeping on a fold out couch with a lumpy mattress was torture. But he daren’t even open the door to Sam’s bedroom. If his main spaces were cluttered and dirty, he dreaded to imagine the state his bedroom was in.

Then his brain diverted from Sam and settled on Catherine. Memories played out like a slide show across his minds’ eye and he found himself grinning despite the rising nausea in his stomach.

He blinked slowly as his breathing calmed and he listened to the faint vibrations from beneath the floorboards. Sam testing out his new guitar, no doubt. Images of Catherine singing in the Opera house replayed in his mind as he finally relaxed.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to show Catherine why she needs to be with me,” he whispered to the empty room, as though uttering a confession. “Nothing can go wrong.”

Chapter Nine

Art and Chemistry

“When can I meet your boyfriend?” Johnny’s bright expectant smile on Catherine’s laptop matched the delightful tone of his voice. Catherine inwardly sighed.

I shouldn’t have told Johnny about Edward so soon. Of course, he wants to meet the guy.

Calvin never had any interest in meeting her family and Catherine was relieved about that. But she did make the mistake of telling her family that Calvin always wanted to know where she was and told her what clothes to wear. Her mom called him ‘Creepy Calvin.’ At least now they were not together anymore, so she didn’t need to worry about him showing up at her parents’ house. Just the thought of him showing up on their doorstep made her shudder.

Catherine was three years younger than Johnny. But since a young age, she had always been protective of him. He was the kindest soul she had ever known, but too trusting of people, only seeing the good in them. Catherine had learned that not all people were kind. No one was as genuine and sweet as Johnny. Except, possibly, their gentle-mannered father.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she corrected, blushing profusely. “I just want to take him to an art gallery... as a friend. He’s never been to one before.”

“They’re a bit boring, Cathy. I don’t want to upset you, but Edward won’t like it. Why don’t you take him to the zoo?” Johnny’s blue watery eyes looked at her with open sincerity. It was difficult to be offended by him, though if anyone else told her that going to an art gallery was boring, she would be thoroughly insulted. Yet, she adored Johnny’s honesty and she knew that everything he said came from a place of love.

“The zoo is a great idea,” she conceded. “Maybe next time.”

“Hmm, you’re spending a lot of time with this young man. Should I be worried?” Catherine’s mother appeared on the laptop screen as she lowered a plate of food in front of Johnny. “You will be careful, won’t you dear?”

Catherine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother had the ability to jump straight to worst-case-scenario in situations. In her mind, a new boyfriend after a breakup could only mean one thing: more heartbreak.

“There’s nothing going on between us, I promise. I just feel bad for acting like a crazy person around him and I owe him.”

“Why did you act crazy? Do you have a crush on him Cathy?” Johnny said as he waved his hands at his mother to get her to move away from the screen.

Catherine laughed. It was a good question. Why did she act crazy? She wasn’t sure. Seeing Calvin didn’t help the situation. It was difficult to act cool and serene when Calvin was popping up everywhere she went with Edward. She certainly didn’t want to let her family know about that. Especially her mom. If she knew that ‘creepy Calvin’ was still around, she would never hear the end of that lecture. She would probably even send her dad over to help pack up her things and bring her back home.

The only way to avoid all of that, was to play along.

“Maybe I do like him a little,” she said, tucking a strand of