P.A. to the Billionaire Page 5

  Russell was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk and already behind her, Amanda could hear the cellphone ringing again and it made her cringe.

  “Just leave it,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I have enough messages here on email to keep me busy for a fucking week.”

  “Yeah,” she said tentatively, “Sorry about that, I stopped sending them around fifteen minutes ago.”

  He looked at her coldly and she felt the chill he was projecting roll right over her.

  “I don’t want you to send me each single message,” he said. “I’ve had incompetent assistants who have done that in the past and it riles me so much I’ve got rid of them on the spot.”

  Amanda feared her face was turning red, and she tried not to let herself fully blush. She knew it had been a bad idea the second she had done it, but old habits die hard, and for every exec she had ever worked for as an assistant, that was how they had rolled.

  “I have the rest written here,” she said before he had chance to continue. “If you want the names I can just cross off who you’re not interested in getting back to.”

  “Better,” he said as he put his hands up behind his head and smiled. “But if this wasn’t your first day, and I didn’t see something a little extra in you, I want you to be aware you would be walking out of here.”

  She nodded but glared at him just as coldly as he was staring at her from behind his smile.

  He was so rude and cocky. In fact, he had it in him to just be goddamn mean. But she wouldn’t let him get the better of her. It was only her first day, and she had expected all of this and more. He was going to make her work for this job. He was going to make her earn her stripes.

  “Forget the messages for now,” Russell said as he pointed to the chair in front of him and motioned for her to sit down.

  Amanda reluctantly crossed the room and sat in it, before she looked back at him and stared deeply into his eyes. His were so intense and blue, they were almost alarming, but she still found herself getting lost in them and her heart beat on heavily in her chest.

  He was making her nervous.

  Really fucking nervous.

  But in a way, she was enjoying every second of it.

  “I realize this has all been a bit of a whirlwind,” he said as he stared at her. “But, so far, you don’t seem too phased.”

  “That’s because I’m not,” she said.

  A little smile flashed across his lips and he leaned forward.

  “Normally, by now, the women are toast,” he smirked. “They hate everything about all of this and they can’t stand following me around.”

  Amanda didn’t flinch, she just kept staring back at him.

  “I’ve had male assistants, but I prefer someone who is easy on the eye, know what I mean?” he winked at her and she felt her own eyes narrow.

  “Keep in your lane, Russell,” she said with amusement. “I need this job and I’m not afraid to fight for it.”

  He smirked and clapped his hands together.

  “I like it,” he grinned. “You have a spark inside of you that you can’t teach or learn. You’re not afraid to stand up for yourself.”

  She nodded.

  “I think we’re going to be just fine,” he said. “I’ll still put you through your paces, but I have to say, I’m impressed. Even with the gross attention to detail you’ve emailed me in every single call I’ve had.”

  “It won’t happen again,” she said as she rose to her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. “Anything else?”

  Russell smiled at her again and raised his eyebrow.

  “Yes, there is actually,” he said as he slid his chair back and stood in front of her. “I need to get back to the city, and I was going to let you go for the day. I have some things you can work on at home and I want you to come back tomorrow bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready for a day of hell. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds fantastic,” she grinned from behind gritted teeth.

  As they left the log cabins and began to walk back to the house, she knew she was in deep water with nothing to cling onto. Nothing except her own resolve and her desire to succeed.

  When she felt down, she was just going to have to keep thinking of the end game. If she kept this job, she was free from Rob and she wouldn’t have to rely on him for anything ever again.

  It was good enough incentive for now… and she was determined to make it work. Her and her girls needed the money, and they needed to have their independence.

  Russell climbed into the Range Rover and Amanda got into the passenger side beside him. He started the engine and turned up the radio so the music blared around them. She jumped slightly, but then she cast her gaze to the side to see him smirking at her.

  “The drives back to the city are always a good time for thinking,” he said. “Thinking, and playing music as loud as I can.”

  She raised her eyebrows and smiled as he swung the car around the fountain and away from the incredible house behind them. She watched it disappearing behind them in her wingmirror and wondered if she would end up there again soon, or whether Russell would change up their place of work on a daily basis.

  “Where to?” he asked her over the din of the stereo.

  Amanda bit her lip nervously and wished she was relaxed enough to just let him drop her at home, but she knew she wasn’t. She didn’t want to risk him seeing her kids or knowing which house hers was. She had the distinct feeling he was the kind of flighty personality that could turn up in the middle of the night, unannounced, because they couldn’t tie their shoelaces.

  “I have a few things I need to do,” she said. “So if you could drop me along Broad Acres that would be great.”

  He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as if he was somewhat disappointed and then he nodded his head.

  “Sure, no problem,” he said, and then he cranked up the stereo even more so that there was no question of whether there would be any more conversation flowing between them.

  They kept on driving and Amanda closed her eyes and counted down the seconds until she could get out of the car.

  Russell Newport was a goddamn nightmare.

  But he was also one that she kind of didn’t want to wake up from.

  6.

  Once the girls were in bed, Amanda found herself sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand and the laptop on her knee. She had googled Russell the night before, but she hadn’t truly taken in how insanely ridiculous his life had the potential to be.

  She wanted to know if there was any information on any other office spaces that she could potentially be working in, and she was curious to know what the word on the street was about the warehouse development and if the media had reported anything recently about it.

  She sipped her wine and rolled out her shoulders. There was a huge part of her that really didn’t want to be doing this, but she knew that if she was going to keep ahead of the game, then she was going to have to be as prepared as possible.

  Instead of typing in Russell’s name, this time she entered, The Newport Family, and sat back and waited for the results to flood the screen in front of her.

  As she clicked through various news stories, she saw updates on their charity works, the fact that the older and very elegant parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Newport were away living in Europe, and that since Russell had gotten himself clean, off the booze, and back into the city to work, he had lived a relatively quiet life. This was news she hadn’t found the previous day on her initial investigation. That he had been sober for almost a year and had been putting all his energy into the big projects he had been working on, but was yet to release any solid details of.

  Speculation had crowded around the warehouses and the riverside development, but nothing was yet to be confirmed. And there was a blurry looking photograph of Russell wearing a cap and wandering around the city streets talking into his cellphone while smoking a cigarette.

  He looked as if he
was in hiding, and it was completely different to the man she had been with all day.

  She bit her lip and browsed through more images, and suddenly, she saw another face that she recognized, and she stopped and zoomed in.

  It was a family photograph, and there was Russell and his parents, a few other men who she could tell to be his brothers, and then… the girl. The one from the warehouse, the girl who had been sitting at the reception desk up near Russell’s office who had been rude to her and given her a once over.

  She swallowed as she looked at the names underneath the picture and when she saw the girl’s name, she wanted the world to open and gobble her up.

  Regina Newport.

  The girl sitting in the warehouse when Amanda had gone for her interview hadn’t been a worker there at all. She was Russell’s sister.

  Amanda put her head in her hands and cringed as she remembered how she had asked her for basic information about Russell and the family, and how the girl had coldly told her to look them up.

  Now she felt like a total idiot.

  And she was pretty sure Regina would have filled Russell in without question.

  “Wonderful,” Amanda said to herself as she closed the laptop lid and slugged the rest of her wine.

  On the nightstand, her cellphone buzzed, and she rolled over to pick it up. It was a message from Russell and her heart felt like it was going to stop.

  R: While I remember, tomorrow I want to go through plans for the warehouse refurb. Can you make me some reservations for dinner at 8pm, somewhere not too flashy but somewhere hip? Surprise me! We’ll be over at the house in the morning because the warehouse plans are there. I’ve told the security guard you’re coming.

  Amanda put the phone down and took a deep breath. So it was back to the mansion and the office in the woods. She didn’t even know if she could remember how to get there, but she was sure she would be able to find some kind of clue online if it escaped her. All she needed was a street name and then she would know exactly how to find him.

  She pressed reply and typed a short but sweet answer.

  A: Yes, boss! See you in the morning.

  She was going to have to keep herself nice and relaxed and flowing along at his pace. Russell may have been a nightmare, but the more she looked into his past and the things that had been reported about him online, the more she realized he was probably just damaged goods. He clearly had been off the rails and was on the road to sorting himself out, but the struggle was still there. She almost felt sorry for him. Maybe the attitude and the fact he went through assistants like most people changed their underwear was just a byproduct of the tough times he had been through. It was clear, from some of the articles, that he and his family had had many differences over the years.

  She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply when her phone went off again, but this time when she looked down expecting to see Russell’s name lighting up the screen, she saw that it was dark, and it was actually her personal cell that had chimed.

  She picked it up and looked, and her heart sank when she saw Rob’s name shining back at her.

  Rob: I want the girls this weekend. It’s not a question, it’s a demand. I haven’t seen them properly in for what feels like forever.

  Amanda crumpled her brow and rubbed her temples.

  “Here we go again,” she said to herself as she sighed and pressed reply.

  A: The only reason you haven’t seen them is because you’ve been MIA, Rob. You canceled your last visit with them. We have plans this weekend, so we’ll have to arrange for you to see them another time.

  Rob: I want to see them this weekend.

  A: I’ve just told you, we have plans.

  Rob: Cancel them. I’m going to be there and I’m taking them for the day on Saturday.

  Even from a distance, he still managed to worm his way in and flaunt his control. Amanda had to fight back the tears. She didn’t want to rage war on him, and she didn’t want the negativity around her children. They didn’t really have plans, she had been debating taking them to the movies, but she hadn’t mentioned anything, and he was right, it had been a while since he had seen them. She braced herself and tried to stay strong.

  The more she kicked against him, the worse he would end up becoming. Did she really want a huge court battle on her hands for the children? She knew how tricky and clever Rob was when he set his mind to something. The last thing she wanted was him orchestrating a case against her which may end up with her losing major access to her children.

  She bit her lip and took another sip of wine before she started to write her reply.

  A: Okay, you win, Rob. You can have them on Saturday.

  She hit send and then she turned both of the phones onto silent, clicked off the lamp on the nightstand and pulled the covers up around her. She felt a sag of disappointment and worry rumble through her as she tried not to cry. Who was she kidding? Her life was a total mess. She was about to get divorced, her ex was a complete nightmare, she was working for the biggest jerk in history, and now she was going to have to get up the next day and do it all over again.

  “But the girls,” she reminded herself as she closed her eyes and willed herself to drop into a deep sleep. “They need you and you need this job to keep supporting them.”

  She would be okay in the end, she knew that much. It was just going to be a long, hard road in the meantime.

  “Good morning, new girl,” Russell said the second Amanda burst through the door to the cabin the following day.

  He was standing there staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest and a look in his eye that let her know immediately he was in the mood for making her life hell. She smiled and tried not to bite.

  “Sorry, I’m a little late,” she said as she slipped her jacket off and held it underneath her arm. “This place isn’t exactly easy to get into.”

  Russell smirked and shrugged his shoulders before he turned and walked back into his office. The cabins were well heated and lit, and it felt much nicer than it had done the previous day.

  Amanda followed Russell into his room and she stopped and waited for him to address her. He was wearing a hoodie and jeans, but his hair was clean and perfectly slicked, and his skin looked dewy and tanned, like he had just had a facial.

  “The reservations, did you make them?” he asked her.

  Amanda nodded her head.

  She had gotten up extra early to ensure she had it done before she even attempted going anywhere near the office. She didn’t want to walk in unprepared, and she knew he was going to ask her the second she set foot through the door.

  “Very good,” he said. “I like that you don’t let things wait.”

  “Not my style,” she told him with a wry smile.

  “So, today, I want us to go over the plans for phase one of the warehouse refurb. My sister Regina will be joining us, I believe you met at the site the other day.”

  Amanda felt her ears burn pink and she tried not to let it show how obvious it was that she was blushing.

  “Yes,” she smiled sweetly. “We did meet.”

  Russell crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side while he studied her.

  “Did Regina play with you?” he asked. “She’s good at that.”

  Amanda shrugged her shoulders, she didn’t want to admit how she had made an epic fool of herself and had been so naive.

  Russell’s eyes were focusing intently on hers, and she wanted to give him a cocky reply to match his attitude, but she didn’t have it in her. She wanted to keep the job, even if it was painful, not lose it by constantly letting her mouth run away with her.

  He sighed and sat down at the desk before he swung his feet up onto it.

  He looked at Amanda and she felt as if he were about to say something profound, but then his humor disappeared and a darker, much more broody version of himself began to appear.

  “I don’t think I’m cut out to have an assistant,” he said with a half laugh. �
��I hire you people and then I’m the worst version of myself.”

  He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Amanda felt herself give a little, as if she too were done. He had been nothing but up and down and he had pushed her all over the place in the space of twenty-four hours. Sure, she wanted to do this for her girls, but he was literally making her life hell. Could she really spend another moment with this guy, never mind the next month, or year, or ten years?

  “Listen,” she began as she took a step forward.

  Before she had a chance to finish what she was going to say, the door to the office burst open behind them and Regina Newport swept in looking like the glamourous ice queen that she was. She crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out to the side, before she smirked down at Russell and cast a disdainful glance in Amanda’s direction.

  “Dearest darling sister,” Russell smirked. “You’re early.”

  “And you’re fucking crazy,” Regina spat as she leaned in close to him and locked her eyes with his.

  As Amanda watched them go head to head, she could see how truly alike they looked, and how their eyes were basically mirror images of each other’s.

  “Mom and dad will be back at the end of the week and you still have all your crap here,” Regina said.

  Russell shrugged his shoulders.

  “I’ll be gone by the time they’re back, don’t worry,” he said. “In fact, that’s exactly why I was so keen to track down a new assistant so soon.”

  He looked in Amanda’s direction and flashed her a wicked smile.

  “Because not only do I need some guidance with the warehouse refurb, but I also need someone to sort me out a new place to live.”

  Oh brother… Amanda thought, and she had to physically stop herself from sighing and rolling her eyes. This just keeps getting worse.

  Regina nodded her head and seemed to be considering what he was saying.