Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance A.C. Arthur (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

RJ had weighed all his options, he’d listed the pros and cons, and considered every possible factor of proposing to Grace, except the one where her answer was no. They were in love, of that he’d never had a moment’s doubt. Nine months after their first date, they’d moved in together. He knew everything about her, and she knew everything about him. They meshed well with the other’s family. Everything was in sync, and yet she’d still walked away without explanation.

To be fair, he hadn’t asked for one. Not that night or any time after. If she could walk away without looking back, he’d decided he could, too. And in not looking back, he’d never allowed himself to trust or seek out love again. He wasn’t giving another woman the opportunity to break his heart. Besides, he’d known there was never going to be another woman like Grace. Not for him, anyway.

Now, after a restless night’s sleep, he still had no idea how he was going to deal with her arrival on the island. As the upcoming CEO of RGF he had to consider how this story would ultimately affect the company. The feud was no secret. In fact, RJ was certain that a portion of the media coverage RGF and King Designs had received over the years was a direct result of the known conflict between them. Since the initial whispers of the feud—which had come from Ron’s accusing Tobias of stealing and someone in the office overhearing that argument and leaking it to the media—reporters had taken every opportunity they could to ask Ron and Tobias about it. Whenever a new line was launched by one company all eyes would immediately turn to the other to see what they would do to up the competition. Ron and Tobias never had to speak another word about the feud because the media and those in the fashion industry did enough talking and speculating about it to keep it afloat year after year. To RJ’s way of thinking, his father and Tobias had simply sat back and let it work to their advantage. When he became CEO, RJ planned to take a more preemptive approach. And since the time for him to take over was in the near future, he decided he might as well get started now.

Grace was back.

At this resort, which had been reserved for family and one hundred wedding guests—close friends and business associates—for the next two weeks. So how had she gotten a reservation? Veronica. He needed to speak to Chaz’s aunt as soon as possible and as discreetly as he could manage. He didn’t want Chaz or Riley to find out about this.

And he wanted Grace gone.

She’d been gone for so long already, and he’d told himself that was fine, that he’d built an even better life without her. Sure, he’d known all along that was a lie, but nobody else had to know that. Keeping his private life private, even from his family, was something RJ had always done well. While Maurice and Major were media favorites, Riley spent her time dodging reporters and the like. RJ could go about his business without too much fanfare because his siblings provided enough conversation about their personal lives to keep the attention off him. That suited him and his preference of retaining all his intimate feelings, fears and desires to himself.

Grace was leaving this island today, no matter how much he’d been turned on by seeing her again. It was as simple as that.

As if to solidify those words and cut off any further thought about the situation, his phone chimed from the nightstand where he’d plugged it into the charger last night.

“Yeah?” he answered gruffly and immediately, as if whoever was calling might somehow know that he’d been thinking about how to get his ex-girlfriend away from here.

“Mornin’, sunshine,” Maurice’s all-too-chipper voice sounded through the phone.

“Make it fast,” he told his jovial younger brother. “It’s barely seven.”

Maurice’s response was a hearty chuckle. “Hey, man, I get it. You and I aren’t the morning people in the family. But Riley is and she has this crazy itinerary we’re all supposed to be following.”

RJ closed his eyes, bringing his free hand up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess, your highly organized and punctual fiancée told you to call me. But we all know that I’m better at staying on schedule than you are.”

“Truth. However, we’ve never all been on vacation at the same time, so assuming the rules that apply in the city are now tossed out the window, I’m doing what my lovely Desta asked, and reminding you that we’re scheduled for lunch and a hike up the mountain at noon. This means we all need to meet at whatever destination is printed on the itinerary, which you also have as an email attachment, at eleven thirty.”

This was insane, or cruel, or whatever the word was for something he couldn’t believe he was involved in. His mother had mandated this a vacation and yet he still felt like he was on the clock. His life was normally dictated by his Outlook calendar, which was carefully coordinated with his assistant and linked to the company executives’ schedules. He’d planned to do work while he was here anyway; he just didn’t like that work being traded for social outings he was sure he could do without.

“I’ll be there,” RJ grumbled, because what else was he going to say.

“Cool. Don’t be late,” Maurice joked before disconnecting the call.

RJ frowned, but his irritation quickly dissipated as he put his phone back on the nightstand. He loved hearing his brother sound so relaxed and happy. Even though Maurice had always been the jokester of the siblings—certainly more outgoing than his twin, Major—he’d had a traumatic experience during his early college years and had only recently moved past the guilt it had left with him. Part of that moving on had come from Desta, who’d worked for their family