Escorting the Billionaire #3 (The Escort Collection) by Leigh James Page B

at the world from behind his Armani glasses. I’d often thought my mother had chosen him largely because he did what she said.
    I wonder if he’d fought her about Danielle, or if he’d just fallen in line. Maybe she never told him, but he had to have guessed. My mother was a difficult woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d never said a word and just gone back to his office on the Monday morning after the accident, as though nothing had happened.
    As though his wife had never killed a girl.
    Celia swept in after that, in a blush-pink gown that ruffled at the neck, probably to mask the few existing lines she had left there. If she was surprised that we’d chosen to sit across from them, her face gave nothing away. Not that I expected it to. She was either so morally bankrupt that she was completely without remorse or her filler had settled in just enough that her face wouldn’t really move for another few weeks. Either way, her smooth expression was just as I expected.
    “Hello, James,” she said. “Audrey.”
    Audrey nodded at her and looked away, and I settled in for what was going to be an excruciatingly long multiple-course dinner.
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    “ H ave another drink ,” I said to Audrey in a low voice, just before dessert was served. “You’re about to need it.”
    “Yes, sir,” she said, motioning to the waiter. My parents had been civil during dinner, but little else. My mother had asked me to no avail about several business ventures. After finally giving up, she’d turned to my father to discuss their various upcoming social obligations.
    After Audrey got her drink and we finished dessert, I stood abruptly. “Mother, we need to speak with you,” I said. “Follow me.” Both Audrey and my mother obediently followed me out to the almost empty lobby, where we grabbed a table near the fireplace.
    “What’s this about?” Celia asked. She gave Audrey a quick look.
    “James can speak for himself,” Audrey mumbled, still not looking at my mother. She’d barely said a word all through dinner, and now she looked tense and small against the enormous chair she was seated in.
    I knocked back the rest of my bourbon and sat forward in my seat. “I wanted you to know something, Mother. Audrey told me last night about the conversation she’d had with you—about her brother and the fact that you called her mom. I want you to know that I’ll be handling those issues going forward.”
    What looked like lasers shot out of Celia’s eyes at Audrey. “I thought I told you to keep that between us, dear. I’d love to say I’m surprised, but…” She turned back to me. “I want you to know I was trying to protect you. From this girl and her lies. What else do you have to say, James?”
    I gripped my glass so hard I was surprised it didn’t shatter in my hand. “Audrey also told me about her… suspicions. About the death of Danielle, my high school girlfriend.”
    My mother watched my face. As always, hers gave nothing away. “Audrey told me the same thing. She said she believed I was involved somehow.”
    “That’s what she’s claiming.” I saw Audrey look at me briefly, confused. My head was pounding. “You know I have some serious issues with you, Mother. But I don’t believe you’re capable of something that horrific. And I don’t believe it. So I want you to know, Audrey and I are heading home tonight. And this will be the last time we see each other. I will take care of her and her family. I’ll make sure that nothing about our relationship or her accusations about Danielle’s death ever come out.”
    I took a deep breath. “Because although I believed she had feelings for me, I know now the truth: that she’s a grifting, blackmailing whore. Just like her mother.”
    “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, dear,” my mother said, looking triumphant. “I’ve tried to tell you that a thousand times.”
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    A udrey didn’t say a word to me on the way back to the room. I didn’t say