Billionaires in New York Boxed Set: Billionaires in the City Books 1-3 Laura Burton (books to read this summer .TXT) 📖

suddenly in a crouch position and grabbed his leg pushing it back so hard he tripped and fell back. In the commotion, Harry grabbed the gun from the first man and head-butted him with the handle.

A loud crack echoed under the bridge and the man screeched with pain. Harry grabbed the gun from the first man and head-butted him with the back of it.

“Benjamin, call the police,” Harry shouted as Julie kicked the second man behind the knees, ensuring he stayed on the ground. Harry stood above the men, holding the gun trained on them, then looked at Julie’s determined face and bit his lip to stop himself from grinning. Adrenaline pulsing through his body, making all of his senses sharper.

“Benjamin, did you––” A click caught his attention and Julie and Harry looked up to see Benjamin standing a few feet away with a gun pointed directly at Harry.

“What the––” Then, as if he and Julie had been struck by the same thought they bent down and removed the ski-masks from Julie’s captors.

“No,” Harry moaned. Looking at the two faces. Two men from his security team. Benjamin’s sinister laugh chilled Harry to the bone.

“It was you? All along?” he said faintly. Benjamin raised his free hand.

“Guilty,” he said blankly.

“But why?”

Benjamin scratched his chin.

“It was supposed to be simple. You and Ebony would get back together, and then I’d get a nice reward to let me retire early.”

“Money? So my mother was paying you to do this?”

“If I remember correctly, your mother said, ‘break them apart at all costs.’ She was quite upset when the boys beat you up, though, so that was taking it too far apparently, but it seemed like our plan worked. You were in London. She was here. Neither of you were speaking. Soon enough, you’d end up with Ebony and I would get my payout.”

Benjamin took a few steps forward and gave a heavy sigh.

“But then you had to go and have a change of heart. Realizing that life wasn’t worth living without Julie. I had to endure your laughable sessions with your brother. Who do you think you are, Rocky?” He rolled his eyes. “Trust me, if you hand over the money, all of this will go away.” He waved a hand aside to cement his point, then he glared at Harry. “But if you don’t pay up….” He moved the gun to direct it at Julie.

A bolt of energy shot through Harry’s body like someone injected pure adrenaline straight to his heart. It was as if he saw red and nothing else mattered. Seeing Benjamin threaten Julie sent pure rage flooding through his senses. This was it. The moment he had been training for. Benjamin, his most trusted body guard. A traitor. Hired by his own mother. Now threatening to hurt the love of his life.

Not on my watch.

Harry released the safety on the gun in his hand and fired. Benjamin’s knee gave way and he dropped his gun to the ground with a howl. Julie quickly grabbed it and held it trained on the men. Harry walked over to Benjamin who was yelping like a wounded puppy as he cradled his knee.

“You shot me,” he shouted. “You weren’t supposed to shoot me.”

Harry crouched down and muttered into Benjamin’s ear. “You weren’t supposed to betray me, but look where we are.”

Benjamin’s breaths came out rapid and shallow as he raised his hands in the air. “I swear. None of this was part of the plan,” he said between breaths. Harry lowered the gun a little and gave him a hard look.

“Tell me then, what was the plan? And who told you to do this?” he said, surveying every inch of Benjamin’s pale and clammy face, daring him to lie.

“Okay. Okay,” he said, lowering his hands and wincing as he cradled his knee again. “It was supposed to be a simple job. For a long time now, your stepfather has been paying us to feed information back to your mother.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief.

There never was a private investigator.

His mother had his own security team spy on him. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

“When you met Julie, I was ordered to put you off pursuing her.”

“There wasn’t a kid who slashed the tires, was there?”

Benjamin shook his head with his eyes shut.

“And the thugs in London? That was you?”

Benjamin opened his eyes and giant tear leaked out and rolled down his cheek. Harry couldn’t be sure if he was crying with regret over his actions or over the gunshot wound.

“Your mother was angry about that. Told us we took a step too far and the deal was off. Problem is, I had people waiting for that money. A gambling debt that I couldn’t run away from, and I was desperate.”

“So how was all this supposed to work out?” Julie asked, taking a step forward. Harry glanced up to see her dress soaked with dark stains and the seam had been torn.

“Since I wasn’t going to get the money from his parents for breaking you too up, I needed Harry to pay the money. I would have handed in my resignation leaving you two in peace. It was the honorable thing to do, at least,” Benjamin said with a sigh.

“What do you know about honorable?” Harry shot back. He laughed derisively and looked away as he processed the information. “Gambling debt? So this really was all about money for you?”

“You’ll be surprised what people do when they’re desperate,” Benjamin said as he shifted his weight and moaned. “When your mother ended the deal after my guys took it too far, I had no other choice.”

Harry was torn. Part of him wanted to kick Benjamin in the knee, but the other part of him pitied him. He couldn’t imagine being so desperate for money that he would do anything to get it. He was relieved to know his mother was more innocent in this than he had thought. It was a bit of a