The Heiress 18+{BWWM}

Ch. 8

I met with my PI, Alex. He's your former Central Intelligence agent, and no, he isn't your James Bond type that wears suits in the field and is always in the company of beautiful women. Nope. He's your All-American boy next door with tufts of sunny blond hair and barely five foot seven inches. He's wearing a faded blue T-shirt and khakis with loafers. He looks like he belongs on a beach in Miami or perhaps a beach in Southern California. He's the type of man you'll quickly overlook. Back in his CIA days, he had to be able to get in and out of places undetected. A man wearing flashy suits and the like would quickly get noticed. Alex is discreet and stealthy, doesn't mind getting his hands dirty either. One day I asked why he got into the P.I. business. His response was the killing business isn't as profitable as one might think.

"Your instincts weren't wrong." I keep my facial expression carefully neutral. I have the twenty-five million dollars check ready to give to Randal and his family. I could instantly make the Hardys' pain and suffering go away, but I had to make sure I wasn't wrong about them. That's where Alex came in. I hired him to do extensive digging into the Hardys and into Randal's accident. "There was foul play but not on the Hardys' end. It's all there. It wasn't easy coming across this information. Somebody wanted to make sure the evidence was deeply buried. Low-grade professionals, I dare say."

Despite Victoria Hardy's father cutting her off from her inheritance, Ryan Hardy built a forty-five-million-dollar construction empire. After the accident, Cassandra Peace's family threatened to take the company and all it was worth, including their house and anything of value. Ryan had to quickly step down as CEO, losing complete control over his company. Of course, just like Ryan had confided, they tried to settle out of court. I'll spare you the details of that. That wasn't the main attraction.

Turns out the woman's family was no family at all but a team of professional con artists. Randal and his family were victims of a con. The whole accident was staged down to Cassandra Peace's failed brakes. Though the Hardys' legal team proved she was at fault for the accident, it didn't matter. Based on Randal's blood alcohol level, which was above the limit, the lawyer who was supposedly a good one-the other family hired-was part of the con, and so was the judge on the case. And of course, who would want to split that kind of money several ways? A series of carefully orchestrated murders followed-painted to look like either a suicide or an accident. And to the victor went the spoils. A man named Harold Rawlings-the mastermind-walked away with thirty-five million dollars. Rawlings now resides in Texas trying to run for a seat in the house.

"Would you like me to kill him? I'll take twenty-five grand for the job." He was referring to Harold Rawlings. Alex's eyes held a sickening light, and his smile was all teeth.

"No thanks, Alex." He looked genuinely disappointed. "I'll wire the money to your account."

"How's Ariana?" Oh right, he does have an undying crush on my bitchy sister. She has no idea this poor guy even exists.

"Unhappily married."

~*~

I'm sitting in the backseat of my SUV when I get a phone call from my publicist Kaitlyn. She's a bit frantic. "Have you seen the tabloids?!"

"No. Should I?"

"Oh, I think both you and your man should see it." Me and my man? I get a text alert with headlines saying...

Beauty and the Beast: A real life fairytale romance between drop dead gorgeous heiress Polaris Lindsey Chapmen and former male model Randal Hardy. Read on

I scroll up.

Having been injured from a car accident that left him severely disfigured it was clear Randal Hardy would never find love-