Falling For The Billionaire Playboy: Rivalry & Passion

JAKE'S POV

"You did what?" Jason's eyes are popping out of his sockets in disbelief. I haven't seen him this worked up since the night I told him I saw his girlfriend making out with one of our friends.

"I made a wager and used my cars as collateral," I repeat calmly. If Jason wasn't worried about me retaliating, he would have punched me, I'm sure of it.

"Let me get this straight. I leave you alone for one day and you decide to gamble away years of careful curating? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Donna walks in with two cups of coffee. She hands one to Jason and sips the other one.

"Where's mine?"

"Well, I agree with Jason on this. You messed up bad so no coffee for you." I stare at her incredulously.

"You were listening in on our conversation?"

"That is my cue to leave. Bye now." We both watch her sashay away. I look on longer, and Jason smacks my head for it.

"Okay, you have to tell me. Who heard you when you made that deal?"

"No one. It was just us." He nods, seeming a bit relieved.

"Great, then it wouldn't hold much weight in court. Plus, I haven't given him the document to sign yet so that's good. The bet is as good as it was never made."

Either Jason has lost his senses, or he really can't tell when I'm serious about going through with what I set out to do. He sits down and pulls out the agreement I had drawn. It is a good thing I asked someone else to write it and only asked Jason to proofread it and deliver it. After scanning it, he makes to tear it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He looks befuddled as I snatch it from him. "This is my chance to get his resort. You can't just shred it to pieces."

"Why do you even want his resort? You have yours."

"Yeah, but it'll be ready in three years. I can't wait that long to have the best resort in the world."

For a second, Jason doesn't say anything. Then, slowly and carefully as if afraid the words he's about to utter would upset me, he asks, "Do you think Aiko Resort is the best resort in the world? Do you think…Matthew owns the best resort in the world?"

Shit. I can't believe I said that out loud.

Jason has a teasing smile on his lips, and I know he's going to give me hell for it.

The truth is, I do not necessarily think it is the best resort in the world, so to speak. But Maria Stenley thinks it is and for some reason I value her opinion more than my dislike for anything Declancey. Of course, voicing this would bring a lifetime of taunting from Jason, especially since I make a show of disregarding the opinions of anybody in my life, especially Maria, so I just lie my way out of it.

"I don't think it's the best resort in the world, but Crystal News printed something in that regards and I may not care what they think, but at least 15.5 million people do so I'm going to try and get what the people want."

"You are diabolical. I would hate to be your enemy." I smile and lean back in my chair. The thought of owning Aiko Resorts makes me smile. The prince would be here next week. I believe it will be announced by the end of this week. That's five days – give or take – before I get one of Matthew's most prized possessions.

"Okay then. If you're confident that it'll work out in your favor, then I'm going to give it to him to sign." He stretches out his palm and I hand the documents over.

"Tonight, let's go out. It's been a while since we last went to Vegas."

Jason nods in approval, stands up and leaves, but not before casting Donna a very long yearning look.

I go back to my work, signing documents and cross-checking sales report. I look over the progress report for my resort; I have them send it in every Monday.

After about an hour, Donna walks into my office. Her face looks pale and I can tell the wheels in her head are spinning.

"So, um, I just got off the phone with one of the secretaries and um…well, Kira told me that Susan heard from Anna, that's Matthew Declancey's secretary, that Prince Ivan is most definitely staying at Aiko."

The pen I am holding drops dramatically from my hand. I feel my mouth go dry.

"What?" I ask dumbly.

"Well, turns out, the prince's handlers called them personally and asked that they prepare a room for him."

Shitshitshitshitshitshit!!!!!

It makes sense now how he knew the prince was coming and why he agreed to bet his resort! That sly bastard!

I grab my phone quickly and dial Jason's number. He picks on the third ring, his voice all chirpy and pleased.

"Please don't tell me you've signed the agreement?" I ask pleadingly. I am hoping that Jason, for once, goes against what I asked him to do.

"He just signed the deal now. It's all set."

I feel myself deflating like a helium balloon that has been let loose.

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I never did accept failure graciously. Well, I never accepted failure to begin with. I've always found a way to win, no matter how bleak the prospect seems. This thing with Matthew is just like it. At least that's what I tell myself as I get dressed to go to the club with Jason.

It's been three days since I found out that Matthew Declancey manipulated me into signing off my cars. Three days since my hatred for him has multiplied to an even greater extent I didn't think my heart was capable of holding. Jason has no idea that Ivan wants to stay at Aiko. I feel like if I told him, he'd have a heart attack and never recover from it.

As usual, M&M Nightclub is packed and loud. Jason is all smiles as he thinks everything is fine and he gets really excited for a night out with me. After I got the news about how Matthew tricked me, I canceled our trip to Vegas. He has been looking forward to some action and I figured tonight was the night. After all, it falls perfectly in line with what I have planned.

We take our seats in our private area and I pull out my phone to see if I've gotten any messages. None yet.

"How are we playing this tonight?" Jason asks. "Do we get girls to come over or are we going out?" The thought of going out into the sea of girls in the club and talking to one of them scares him, but he tries his best to not show it. Ever since the last time he caught his girl cheating on him, Jason has had this phobia for talking to women especially while he's sober. And he has developed some sort of commitment issue. I guess that's my fault though.

"No, they'll come to us. I already had a word with the manager."

Our drinks are served; not champagne this time around, but bourbon. Just as I sink back into the sofa and get comfortable, I receive a text. It is just my luck that it coincides with the arrival of our lady friends.

"Wh-where are you going?" Jason asks as I stand to leave.

"I'm sorry buddy, I need to take this call. Very important. Business reasons. You can just have fun with these lovely ladies here." I tap Brittany, one of the girls and say, "Make sure to take extra care of him tonight. We're celebrating." She leans in closer than she has to so that her lips nearly brush against mine.

"Sure thing, Jake. Anything for you."

I have incredible willpower because I am able to walk away from a temptress like Brittany like she didn't just brush her ass against my crotch and head over to the other section kept aside for VIPs.

I give an internal shout of joy when I see Gina and the little friend she brought over.

"Jake!" she squeals and hugs me like I am her fiancé. I guess she realizes how inappropriate our unnecessarily long hug may seem to our other companion because she pulls apart from me like I am burning her. Then she turns to her friend and introduces us.

"Jake, this is my friend Freya. Freya, this is Jake D'Artagnan."

Freya looks at me like I am a snack and frankly I can't blame her. What better way to exude sex appeal than to look the part by having the face and body and also the clothes to show for it?

Freya's eyes rake over my body and when we shake hands, I make sure to rub hers languidly.

"Let's have a seat."

Matthew Declancey may have bested me earlier because I was unprepared, but he made a very terrible mistake by undermining my zeal to win and dislike for him.

See, after Jason broke the news that the contract had been signed, I got Donna to work. I asked her to search for anything remotely useful in our acquisition of His Royal Highness, from what he likes to eat to how many liters of water he drinks in a day. I am so glad I got Donna to be my secretary because by the next morning, she had discovered one fun fact: Prince Ivan and a certain Freya Williamsburg went to college together and there may have been something going on between them. It didn't take much convincing to have Gina invite her BFF to our little get together. After all, a weekend getaway in Venice and a full day of doing nothing but have sex was on the line.

"So, Freya, Gina tells me you're into fashion. I believe you are the CEO of FVR?"

She smiles and touches my hand lightly. I can see Gina stare at it like she wishes it'd just fall off.

"Oh, yes. I am so excited about having my own company. I started off in skincare, but I thought I was meant to be a designer, so I worked in Ralph Lauren for a couple of years before finally launching my own brand."

Ah, the first heiress I'm meeting who actually did the work and didn't just rely on daddy's money. I actually do have a tiny bit of respect for her. Plus, her British accent just makes her even more sexy and I think my judgement is being clouded by that.

Gina opens her mouth to say something, but her phone rings. She looks irritated and annoyed at having been interrupted and for a second I think she is going to ignore it, but then it rings again and she has no choice but to answer.

"Right now?...I'm kinda in the middle of something…" she glances at Freya and I. "I…fine!" She slams her phone angrily on the couch and fumes silently.

"Everything alright love?" Freya asks. I most definitely see Gina give her a nasty glare before her face relaxes and she attempts to smile.

"Yeah, it's just that, I have a family thing right about now, so I have to leave."

Freya is clearly excited by this news, and frankly so am I. I didn't figure out yet how I would convince Freya to do what I wanted her to do if Gina was sitting right there ogling me. Mattie's fiancée on the other hand has trouble being all too pleased about the situation.

"That's too bad, babe. But I guess duty calls. We'll be fine alone." Freya winks at me and Gina sneers. That, I think to myself, is exactly the problem that Gina wants to avoid at all costs. But there's nothing she can do about it.

"You sure? I don't want to have to leave you alone with a man you just met." She looks at her friend pleadingly, begging her to catch her drift, but either Freya is too dumb to understand her or she's just very smart and she does, but she says no.

"Okay then. You guys have fun, but not too much." I can see the pain in Gina's eyes as she stalks away. I turn my attention back to Freya who has inched closer to me in the last second.

"So, are you single or are you also engaged like your friend?" Establishing this important fact is one step to getting what I want. If her answer is in my favor, it'll make my work easier. If not, I'd have to switch to plan B.

"God, no! I'm too young to be tied down by that bloody hell called marriage. I'd probably get married someday, but that's just if daddy forces me to. I wouldn't do that on my own."

Spineless, but pretty. Just how I like them.

"Well, then, I guess we can drink to our displeasure for the bloody hell that is marriage." We raise our glasses and drink. Freya gets into this conversation about her business, before moving on to the topic of boys. I listen to her, paying rapt attention so she'd know I am different from the other guys she talks to and also, so that when I start trying to extract information from her, she'd be much too happy to oblige.

"So, where did you go to college?" I ask casually.

"Cambridge University."

"Oh, that's nice. Do you still talk to some of your classmates?"

"Well, yeah. Gina for example. And some of the other lovely gals from the art history department." She doesn't say anything else and I swear silently. I need her to tell me about Prince Ivan without actually asking about him.

"So, I'm guessing no guy was good enough for you to still be in contact with?" I sip my drink and rub her thigh. Her dress is so flimsy, a tiny ray of light will immediately showcase what is underneath.

"Oh, God no. All the guys in my department were idiots." Shit. Well, that's just lovely.

"Although, Ivan still chats me up from time to time."

Victory! At last!

"Ivan? As in Prince Ivan?" She nods lazily, like she didn't really care so much about him.

"Yeah. He and I had a little thing back in uni. It's over now but he still texts me and asks me to meet up with him. For the love of God, I don't want anything to do with him. The last girl he dated was ambushed and the tabloids had really mean things written about her. I may be famous and have a little bit of drama myself, but I don't want to add Royal Family drama to it."

Freya has no idea, but I am this close to kissing her and marking her as mine right here on this couch. She has just given me all the information I need.

"Your work must really stress you out a lot. It's not easy running your own company." She makes a little sound in agreement. "Have you thought about taking a week off? Just to relax and release steam?"

"I have, but there isn't time to do that. I have so much to do and with my new product hitting the market soon…"

"Nonsense," I say and grab her hand. Looking into her emerald eyes, I say, "You have to rest every once in a while. A beauty like you can't be stressed out about little things like that. It'll ruin your perfect skin." She blushes.

"What's the point of being CEO if you can't take a break when you want to? I'll tell you what, Freya. Why don't you come over to Gemini Hotels and we'll take care of you?"

Her eyes widen to a fraction of her face and her smile broadens. "Really? You'll do that for me?"

"Of course. And you wouldn't even have to pay a dime. I'll oversee your care and everything for the entire week you'll be there."

"A week! That's a long time to be giving out free spa treatments and everything." I can hear the excitement in her voice. If there is one thing rich people like, it's getting stuff that they can afford for free.

"Well, anything for a friend of Gina's." I lean in and pretend like I'm going to kiss her cheek but end up slightly brushing her lips instead. The lust that dances in her eyes make me know I have won.

"Okay then. I'll take you up on your offer. This is so exciting. I am going to post in online now."

She pulls out her phone and I sip my drink as I watch her take a selfie, write something about being stressed out and needing a holiday, tag Gemini Hotels and send it out into the internet. If Ivan is as obsessed with her as she makes him seem, then all will go according to plan.

"Well then, would you like to get out of here? The club scene isn't really my scene."

She gives me her best smile yet, her green eyes twinkling in delight and puts her hand in mine. "I thought you'd never ask."