Free The Bad Boy Billionaire: What a Girl Wants by Maya Rodale

Boy Billionaire with all that snark.”
    For Duke, the success of Project-TK was intimately tangled up with his two previous and massive failures. He’d had a billion bucks and lost it. Built one company, only to have it fail spectacularly. Everyone had written him off. This was his chance at redemption.
    But what about after redemption and triumph?
    “Will you be crazy busy?” I asked.
    “Probably,” he said, squeezing my hand.
    “Too busy for me?” That was really the question on my mind. My heart.
    “I’ll make time for my girl,” he said firmly. Then he smiled that infamous, roguish smile and his blue eyes sparkled and still . . . still . . . he took my breath away.
    Then I tripped over the sidewalk and lurched forward.
    “Careful,” he said, catching me.
    “I’m a little tipsy. And I had just one glass of wine.”
    Like the other night. Just one glass.
    “Do you think it was my fault?” I asked suddenly, as the awful thought occurred to me. Had I somehow asked for what happened to me?
    “What are you talking about?” Duke asked, confused.
    “The bad thing that happened with Sam. I had been drinking. Just a glass of wine, but I hadn’t eaten so I was probably a bit tipsy. Was it my fault?”
    Duke stopped. He turned to face me, placed his palms on my cheeks and made sure I was looking into his eyes when he replied.
    “No, it was not your fault,” Duke said firmly. “No woman deserves what happened to you, and I don’t care how much she’s had to drink. He’s a pathetic ass and if I ever see him, I will beat the crap out of him. You did not deserve what happened.”
    “It was just one glass,” I said in a small voice.
    “Even if it had been ten,” Duke said, “it shouldn’t have happened. Either way, Sam is to blame.”
    “Thank you,” I said. I knew it, logically. But those awful girl doubts crept in. Duke chased them away. I inhaled and exhaled and resolved to not to doubt myself so much.
    “Are you sure you don’t want to involve the cops?” Duke asked, anguish in his voice.
    I knew I should. I knew what Sam did was wrong. But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t see the point. Would the police even believe me? I had the bruises on my arms, but no one had seen the assault and I doubted we could track Sam down with the city in such a mess. The police were probably busy with other stuff right now.
    Sam was going through a rough patch. A trip to jail wouldn’t help. I had loved him once and didn’t want to ruin his life over a stupid thing he did when drunk.
    But then again . . . how many men went through rough patches and got drunk and didn’t assault women who cared for them? Plenty. But how could I have loved someone who had this capacity for violence lurking inside of him? It was hard to reconcile and I quickly gave up trying. I just wanted to forget.
    We got to the East River after crossing over the FDR. Lots of people were out, competing for a patch of cell service. We wandered until our phones started vibrating with incoming messages.
    Sam Chase: I’m sorry
    Sam Chase: R U ok?
    Mom: Just want to check in on you! Let me know you’re all snug as a bug and ok!
    Sam Chase: Please let me know you’re ok.
    Sam Chase: I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.
    Roxanna Lane: I’m with mystery man at his place. Are you ok?
    Sam Chase: Jane . . .
    Sam Chase: Please Jane. I’m sorry.
    Mom: Janie! I’m so worried about you. Let me know that you’re ok.
    I replied to my mom and Roxanna letting them know I was fine and with Duke. I deleted all the messages from Sam—it felt so good.
    “Any news?” Duke asked.
    I shook my head no. “You?”
    As we walked home, he told me all about his team, where they were stranded and how everyone was making plans to meet up at apartments of those with power. So they could keep working. The world went on. Even without power.
    L ATER, DUSK WAS falling and we faced another cool evening lit by candlelight. I sat on the