The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (50 page)

She let out a wild, nervous laugh,
disproportionately loud. Some of the other diners glanced in their
direction but Zachary never took his eyes off her.

"I'm going to make it very simple for
you."

"Nothing about you is simple Zach. My life
turns into a mess as soon as you come knocking on my door."

"You can keep the copy of the film you have.
It's your property and I respect that. However, I did make a copy
for myself."

"I have no problem with that." She thought of
the sound of herself moaning and goading him on. He would now hold
that forever and would have the power to make as many copies as he
wanted. It was an outcome she hadn't anticipated, always assuming
that his goal had been to destroy all copies.

"And I have a condition. I want my own
personal film and a picture of my own as well. I'm sure you'll
agree that it's only fair."

"I don't understand. I thought you already
had everything you wanted."

"There's no such thing as that Suzy. There's
always more and there's also what's fair. I only want what's fair.
You have a film of me lying naked in bed and you have a film of me
baring my soul to you."

Suzy blushed fiercely. It was the shorter and
more innocent of the two films that embarrassed her the most. They
hadn't watched it together but obviously he had viewed his copy of
it later while alone. It was obvious in every frame how she had
enjoyed watching him, focusing lovingly on every detail of his
exposed body.

"And you also have a picture of me. On my
knees."

"And you have copies of all of those. I
already told you I'll delete everything. I'll delete them in front
of you if you while you watch and sign a sworn affidavit that there
are no other copies in existence."

"I don't want you to destroy them. I don't
need that from you, but what I do want is the full equivalent. I
want to film you, naked. I want to you answer questions that I will
put to you on camera, and I want your honest answers. I want you to
bare your soul to me."

Suzy was shaking her head desperately. This
was Zachary Demovic; the guy was completely insane enough to want
go through with this crazy shit and it was terrifying how exciting
it felt to her at the same time..

"And finally Suzy, there is one more thing; I
want a picture of you, naked and on your knees, just like the one
you have of me. Fully aroused."

Suzy stopped breathing. There was always a
curve ball, always a bombshell; Zachary Demovic obviously didn't
know any other way of being in this world.

She tried to laugh but only a strangled choke
came out.

"I'm not joking Suzy. And I'm not being mean,
but I'm at my wits end with you. I've tried staying away from you
and it doesn't work. As soon as we're together I can feel the
attraction between us and I just cannot understand why you're
resisting it. It makes no sense. What I saw on that video clip last
night was two people irresistibly attracted to each other by
something stronger than themselves. But now I see one person
lying--always lying to themselves and to me and that is a very big
problem."

"And your solution to this 'problem' as you
see it, is to film me naked?" She had raised her voice but then
quickly lowered it to a hush. They had drawn enough attention to
themselves already as it was.

"I've made billions of dollars solving
problems in ways that nobody ever expected me to. I'm not boasting
Suzy, I'm just telling you the truth. So I'm giving you a choice
here. Free will. No demands, no ultimatums. I'm appealing to your
sense of fair play and to your common sense. There will be no
repercussions if you choose not to take the honorable path. The
decision is entirely up to you."

"Then the answer is no."

"You haven't heard my terms yet."

"You said no repercussions."

"But I didn't say no terms."

"Of course not. Repercussions, terms, I guess
there could be a difference there, especially if you're trying to
railroad another human being into a naked photo shoot."

Zachary didn’t move, didn't blink. He just
waited, as he had done a thousand times before in business
meetings, in client meetings, in courtrooms and board rooms. Wait
and watch, be patient as the goal draws inexorably closer and
always enjoy the hunt.

"Okay, go on then Zachary Demovic, tell me
your terms. I suppose I might as well hear them before I walk
straight out of here."

He smiled, just barely.

"That's better Suzy. Here they are. If you
accept my proposition, as you should, then we leave immediately for
my here in Manhattan. We then do as I have asked you to do. After
that you will be free to go. I'll have my driver take you anywhere
you need to be. Additionally, although I know you have already
turned down the promotion you earned with your exemplary work, that
offer will still be open to you. In effect, life will go on as
before."

"And what's in that for you Zach. Excuse me
if I don't have your quick mind but I still don’t get quite
it?"

As excited as she was about the prospect of
being guided by Zachary's controlling hand straight into his bed
where she would be filmed and photographed in a state of arousal,
it was all just fantasy. She could imagine it in her wild dreams
but something like that would never, ever happen. She would never
allow it and if he dared to try and make it real she still had her
trump card; his beloved pet project and the legal actions to hold
it up in limbo until he was an old man.

"Tell me the rest of you terms." She said,
holding his gaze defiantly.

"If you refuse me this one small restitution
for your actions, which has absolutely no strings attached, then I
will reveal to the police the additional information I took from
your computer last night."

"The film? Of you? Do you really think the
police would care about pictures of you and me in bed?"

"Those aren't the files I'm talking about.
I'm referring to your emails. The one's where you discuss with your
protest group friends about sabotaging my construction plans for
the Demovic technology campus."

Suzy's blood ran cold. She had sent dozens of
emails to her friends about his project, most of them innocent but
there were certainly a couple where she had joked about sabotaging
some of the equipment left behind over night at the site. Then Mark
had gone over-board and carried out one of her suggestions. It was
incriminating and would undermine everything that they were doing
and potentially destroy the credibility of their legal challenges
against him.

He gaze faltered and in that one instant
Zachary everything he needed to know. His opponent's last card was
gone and this game of poker was done. He would either destroy the
last opposition to his plans and get his way, just as he always
did, in everything or he would finally, at last, after six long
months of hunger, take this wayward girl into his bed and show her
the meaning of love Zachary Demovic style.

Zachary slid the tiny drive across the table
towards her.

I'm so sorry Mark.
She thought. She
had another person down and there was only one way to help him
now.

"This copy is for you." Zachary said with the
nonchalance of someone lending a book to a friend. "I'll need an
answer from you Suzy. I don’t have time to wait on this
matter."

"I'll need some time to think." She said, her
voice shaking. Who could she call for advice on this one?

"There is no time. You will make your
decision now and it will be final. If you and your friends have
done nothing wrong and there is no substance to these email
exchanges then you have nothing to fear. You can walk out of here
and forget about me, if your heart will let you."

She looked at his dark eyes, her mouth dry
with anxiety. He was right; she didn't need any more time and the
decision was clear.

"Come on." She said. "Let's get this over
with."

*******************

The short ride to Zachary's uptown apartment
was the longest of Suzy's entire life. What she was about to do was
unthinkable. Her eyes kept darting to the door as though she
planned to jump out of the car into the street. Zachary sat
silently next to her, like a bodyguard or man carved out of stone,
but despite his apparent calm there was no doubt whatsoever as to
his state of excitement; Suzy could feel it thick in the atmosphere
like an airborne intoxicant. The closer they came to his address
the more intense their silence became.

"Are you seriously going to go through with
this Zachary?" She asked him as their car rounded the final corner
and descended into the underground parking garage of his
building.

"I meant what I said Suzy. Don't forget that
I'm not doing anything, not a single thing that you haven't done to
me already. I want you to feel the way I felt when you did it to me
and when I looked at that film last night on your computer
screen."

"What good will it do you?" Suzy was
beginning to feel desperate. There had to be a way to escape this
humiliation and to save her friends at the same time.

"Maybe nothing. You still have time to change
your mind you know. I'm giving you a choice--"

"Stop saying that. You're blackmailing
me."

"You never used the film you have against me
and I feel absolutely confident that you never will. I can trust
you, I know that and you should trust me equally and feel entirely
sure that I will never do anything with this footage once it has
been recorded. It will be for my eyes only."

Her heart raced. For his eyes only. Those
beautiful, hauntingly sexy eyes that made her want to tear his
clothes off while he sat there. Maybe he was right, maybe Catherine
her brief mentor as his PA had been right too, maybe they were
always meant to be together, but surely this was not the way to
make it happen.

The car came to a halt.

One step closer to not being able to back out
of the deal.

"This is unreal." She said.

"It's very real Suzy. You know me well enough
to understand that I'm not kidding around here. I mean every word I
say. Now what's it to be?"

The door opened and the driver waited
politely for her to step out. She gritted her teeth and then
stepped jerkily, unsteadily from the car. Reading about being
blackmailed into something and actually experiencing it are two
entirely different things and Suzy was finding this out big time.
Her heart was pounding, her palms sweaty and her months and years
of sublimated desire were making her head dizzy and her underwear
soaking wet.

She was about to get naked for the most
beautiful man she had ever met. She was about to get down with the
man she desired most in the whole world but it was exclusively on
his terms only.

Zachary left the car and came to her side. He
took her hand gently and the thrill of his touch coursed through
her. No other man could compare to this--it was beyond fantasy. She
let him lead her to a lift that went to the lobby and then they
transferred to a private elevator that led directly to his
penthouse.

She had been to Jason's place a few times and
been wowed by the billionaire luxury but this was totally
different. Although very similar in looks the décor told a
different story about their personalities. The penthouse was
luxurious but stark. It was nearly empty except for a vast
entertainment system and a work area that looked like it had been
designed to guide explorer missions to mars. He was definitely the
technical brain behind the corporation and his work was clearly a
huge and central part of his life.

She noticed his breathing had become more
labored beside her, as though he too were feeling the pressure of
anticipation. It brought her back to the reality of the here and
now.

"Last chance to back out." He said.

Suzy shook her head.

"No. I want to do this. This is my choice. I
don’t care what you do with those emails. That's up to you. If you
want to be the bad guy then it's on your conscience, not mine. But
I'm ready for you now so if you want this you better take your
chance now before I change my mind."

Where the power in her words came from she
had no idea. She thought she heard him gasp or choke slightly and
when she looked at him she couldn't tell if that was the edge of
smile or a barely controlled grimace of pain. Either way he was
still gorgeous and now this was it. The moment was at hand. She
could either play the victim or she could exert whatever control
she could and turn this around. She was going to take him and mold
him, not the other way round. She wouldn’t allow him to do that.
Melissa had been right all along. He had always wanted her and was
willing to do anything to get her, even reduce himself to
blackmailing her into nudity to play his perverted game. Maybe she
had known it all along herself and maybe that's why she was here;
to play the game and to win the game.

Come on Suzy,
she coached herself,
you can do this. Just pretend you're alone, getting ready for a
shower. This is nothing. Do this and you walk out of here a free
woman and you've saved your idiotic well meaning friends. Do this
and he's as much in your power as you are in his.

"Strip." The single word seared through her
mind.

Oh shit, this is real.
She tried to
gulp but her throat was too dry.
This is happening. This is
really happening right now.

Zachary sat down on a bare leather sofa in
the middle of the vast living area and stared at her.

"Aren't you going to film this?" Her voice
was strained to breaking.

"Don't worry about that Suzy. Just do as
you're told. I'm waiting. Don't be afraid, just do as I ask." He
gave a tense smile. "Or leave."