The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 2

Maximilian Villeneuve rocked on his heels in his office overlooking the city and smirked. He swirled bourbon in his crystal tumbler and studied the lights of the city as they came on in the late evening.

He looked over his shoulder as his admin assistant knocked once and entered his space.

“Mr. Villeneuve, the last report you asked for is sent to your email. I’m heading out now.”

“Thank you, Peaches,” in his opinion it was a weird name for a woman, especially one who wasn’t a stripper but considering his line of business it suited.

His cell phone rang just as she exited his office closing the door softly behind him. He smiled at the name on the display, “hello, Papa.”

“Hello Max.” his father’s voice was smiling. “How was your day?”

“Busy.”

“Did you manage to complete your business endeavor?”

He had successfully taken over a competitor and sealed the deal this afternoon. “Yes. I did what I set out to accomplish.”

“Your mother read the article on you in GQ today. She was mortified.”

He gave a chuckle, “it was not my intention. I will apologize to her of course.”

“Did you have to tell your interviewer in high school you stumbled across her vibrator and realized sharp pointy objects should never be near a woman’s v****a?”

“Papa, she owned an old-fashioned battery operated which was straight. There were no curves or bends. It was not anatomically correct. She should not be ashamed. s*x is a normal biological activity and pleasure is important to –”

“Stop!” his father cut him off with a chuckle. “I am not discussing your mother’s sexuality with you. You outed her use of dildos to the world, and she wants your head on a platter. If you keep talking to me like this, I’ll hold the plate for her while she wields her carving knife.”

He laughed at his father’s words. “Fair enough. I will apologize and send her a gift basket.”

“Not a gift basket from your company.”

The horror in his father’s voice made him laugh.

“I was thinking from the spa, Papa. The spa.” In addition to his s*x toy empire, he also ran a reputable and very swanky, if he said so himself, collection of spa and wellness centers. Max Villeneuve made himself a fortune by learning how to please women and keeping them satisfied via any means necessary. As a scientist, he spent a lot of time in product and development sorting out what works best to make the opposite s*x feel good. He did of course have a line of products for men but apart from pocket p*****s, c**k rings or prostrate stimulators, there wasn’t much to expand in the market. Women were far more complex, their bodies each different with needs which varied from woman to woman. He wanted to make sure every woman, regardless of their shapes, sizes or s****l orientation knew pleasure.

“Did you talk to Ollie today?” his father changed the subject.

“She called me earlier, but I was in a meeting. Is she okay?”

“You didn’t call her back?”

“I did but she didn’t answer.”

“Oh, she might have been with Lark helping her unpack.”

“Lark?” his spine straightened, and he pushed away from the wall of windows he’d been leaning against. “She’s home?” She once was his best friend, but she ghosted him years ago and refused to speak to him again. He didn’t know why. She decided at the last second to accept entrance to a different university from him and Ollie. He saw her a handful of times over the last twelve years, but she’d avoided him like he personally killed her dog. He hadn’t seen her now in person for at least five years. She hadn’t even come home for Christmas last year because according to her parents who still lived right next door to his parents, she went on a tropical vacation with her boyfriend.

“Yes, she is moving back to Dallas to work with Grady.”

“No way. I thought she was living with the guy in Houston.”

“She was.”

His father wasn’t telling him something and he knew it was important.

“What happened?”

“Not my story to tell, Max. All I know is she and Ollie were going for dinner and drinks and when I saw your sister earlier, she was teasing Grady about making sure he answers his phone tonight in case they get arrested.”

“Where were they going?”

“I have no idea. You know your sister. It could be a dive bar to go line dancing or an exclusive club for bottle service. I wasn’t asking her. I do know she stole a bottle of my bourbon.”

“She was at the house?” he was surprised. His sister liked her privacy. When they were ten, their mother birthed the triplets and then three years later their youngest sister. The chaos of being new teenagers with four siblings under the age of four always getting into their things drove both of them crazy. When they graduated high school, Ollie opted to move onto campus for university and lived dorm life for four years. She then left college at twenty-one and went to Houston with their great-grandfather for six years. When she’d come back two years ago, she lived with their parents for a total of two weeks before the triplets who were teens by then danced so hard on her nerves she’d packed up in the middle of the night and moved to a hotel. She’d had a condo the next day.

“She was here for dinner. Margot tried to get her to let her intern for her for the summer. She wants the job experience before going into her senior year next year.”