A Very Merry Billionaire Christmas (Special Edition Holiday Novella) by Melanie Marchande Page A

already.
    "Speaking of crazy billionaires," he says, "they say Daniel Thorne will be there. I've always wanted to meet him."
    "Really?" Meg twists her head around to look at him. "You've never met? I just figured..."
    "He doesn't go to a lot of parties," Adrian says. "Which sort of contributes to Dr. Clickbait's overall thesis, if you're into that sort of thing."
    "It's gross," Meg declares. "I know it gets readers, but it's gross. Dr. Stu is scum, I don't care how many degrees he has. He makes all his money going on late-night talk shows and speculating about the latest former child star's complete and total breakdown, for our entertainment. I guess they've all gone to rehab, so he's got nobody left to pick apart except Daniel Thorne. Can you imagine how he must feel, reading that?"
    "Not that it matters," Adrian says. "Brilliant is brilliant. I probably have a personality disorder, and look at me!"
    Meg snorts. "Well, I'm just as qualified to diagnose you as Dr. Stu is. How many times, in the last month, has an ATM told you to feed it a stray cat?"
    "God, not that kind of personality disorder!" Adrian laughs. "I mean, at worst, I'm a raging narcissist, right? Maybe with a touch of sociopath."
    Meg tilts her face so that their noises just barely touch. "Of course not, Mr. Risinger. You're just a damaged anti-hero. If only you could find someone to understand you. Oh, but who could ever learn to love a beast?"
    With a playful growl, Adrian stands, hauling her up with him and then tossing her back down on the sofa. She dissolves into shrieks, then giggles, then sighs...

    ***
    The Chelsea Arms, Billionaire's Row
    Apartment 56
    The evening of December 11th

    "So, what do you think?"
    Jenna rubs a towel through her hair, glancing at her husband from across the hallway. "I think I just walked in the door from a twelve-hour flight. Can we talk about this later?"
    "To be fair, you've been home for an hour." Ben waves the embossed invitation in the air, like a bidding card. "Yes or no? He's not the kind of guy who likes to be kept waiting."
    "If you wanted a timely answer, you could've asked me two months ago, when you got it." She perches on one of the kitchen stools, absentmindedly folding and unfolding the towel. "Are Daniel and Maddy going?"
    Ben clears his throat. "I'm, uh, I'm not sure. He's not exactly talking to me."
    The actress rolls her eyes. "I thought you were going to patch things up while I was at the shoot."
    "I did try ." Ben is indignant.
    "Define 'try.'"
    "I sent him, like, ten or twelve text messages. And I only called him an asshole once."
    Jenna rolls her eyes. "You need to fix this, okay? Just apologize. Grovel. Do whatever you need to do. You're acting like a child, and he has every right to be upset with you."
    "Why? It's ancient history."
    "Trust me, Ben. He doesn't care that you did it, he cares that you told him. Because you very obviously told him for the express purpose of pissing him off. Just apologize."
    "You don't give orders around here."
    "Sometimes I do. Like, right now." She sighs. "You slept with his sister, Ben. Just say you're sorry."
    "Well, first of all, I'm not sorry." Ben raises one finger, and then another. "Second of all, it was a million years ago. Before she even knew her husband. Daria and I had just broken up. It was a momentary lapse in judgment. I don't see why it has to be a big deal."
    "It didn't have to be. Especially if he never found out. But he did, because you told him. Because you were being - and I say this with all the love in my heart - a bit of a dick."
    Ben makes a dismissive noise, waving his hand. "Maybe. But there's no reason for him to make such an issue out of this. Back in the day, we would've worked it out with a quick fist fight..."
    "A, no you wouldn't have. B, he has a daughter now. He sees things a little bit differently. His sister's always been top dog - she's older, she's arguably tougher, she stands up for herself. I think he regrets not being there for