Bought By The Billionaire - BDSM 18 novel Chapter 58

So, a glorious week. Our honeymoon is over.

Mr and Mrs Haswell…

As I pack my case, I’ll admit, I feel a pang.

This place…

This beautiful place…

The sea. The beach. The gulls.

And us.

But it’s time to go. Tomorrow we will be back at work.

But there’s no hurry. Leaving the beach house behind us, my Master drives slowly, taking the scenic route, hugging the coast as far as possible before finally, turning off for the main highway and towards our home.

He lays a hand on my knee. "Elizabeth? You're quiet.”

“I’m fine, Master. It's been a wonderful week…”

His voice is soft. “And now we're heading back to Real Life.” He gives the knee a squeeze. “Don't worry, we'll take some more time for ourselves soon enough. I never truly bothered with holidays and personal time before. But it’s different now. I’ll be sure to make time for us. Christmas and New Year certainly.”

Levering some cheerfulness into my voice, “That sounds good. And they’re not so far away, are they? Yes, that would be wonderful.”

He glances sidelong at me. “You’re nervous about returning to work.” It’s not a question.

“Not… nervous… exactly. I’m just not sure what to expect. Before, I was just… Beth. Now…” I swallow my words… “But I am looking forward to starting work on your project.”

He flashes me a sidelong smile. “Good. We’ll ease you in gradually. I'll arrange a meeting for us, later this week, with Will Stanton. I know you've brushed by each other before, but I'll introduce you properly, give you the chance to get to know each other.” The knee gets another squeeze before being suddenly released as a cat makes a suicide dash across the traffic. He grabs the wheel, swerves, and the cat survives, minus one life.

After the car settles down again, he resumes speaking. “I’m sure you’ll like Will. He's my oldest friend. All apart from you doing work on his behalf, I would like the pair of you to be friends.”

“If you like him, Master, I’m sure I will too. You were at school together? Do I have that right?”

“That's right. He went into the police while I served time for my training in my father's company.”

“Served time? You make it sound like a prison sentence.”

He chuckles. “Poor choice of phrase. In fact, for the most part, I enjoyed it. In effect, I served an apprenticeship. Or maybe an internship would be a better way of putting it. My father placed me, at one time or another, in every section of his company. Even if it was only a brief time on a specific department or task, it meant I had some feeling for everything that any of the staff would encounter in their day-to-day work.”

“And… your father’s company… What he started, you continued?”

“That’s right. He was an astute businessman.” My Master blows air. “I never realised how much so until, when he retired, I took over, and it was for me to carry it forward. When you find that the buck stops here means it stops with you, it changes your perspective on things.”

“I can imagine…”

“It was my father who started the process of buying up disused and brown-field land, derelict sites, whole neighbourhoods sometimes if they had fallen into decay. Once he owned the sites, he put the finance into place to renovate, restore and sometimes, completely rebuild.”

“Like father, like son,” I smile.

He sniffs, shrugging. “Dad was a better builder than I am. He had more of the vision to see how to make the best use of resources. But…” He lifts a finger. “… I'm a better financier than he was. So, once I know what I need, it's easier for me to get a good deal.”

“So… He was a millionaire. You're a billionaire.”

He arches brows. Clicks his tongue. “I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth if that's what you mean. We weren't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but Dad got to where he did by starting at the bottom. First of all, learning how to lay one brick on top of another, and figuring the rest as he went along.”

“University of Life?”

“Exactly. I had a much easier start. Education and training not being the least of it. But Dad expected me to pull my weight. Just as he had done.”

“Are you saying your father coerced you into joining his company?”

“Oh, by no means. Far from it. He had his vision. It became my vision. But if I’d chosen a different path, he'd have been fine with it. But he didn't carry freeloaders. If I wanted it, I had to work for it.”

“I suppose that’s fair enough. At least he saw to it you got fair recompense for your work.”