The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Lorelai

POV

The rest of the week passes by in a blur, and Knox is distant, detached almost. He avoids eye contact and while he's civil, there's none of that friendliness and cheerfulness in his demeanor that was there before. I feel as though I've done something to offend him, but I don't know what it is, and as I try to keep ahold of my tongue while attempting to do the job I was hired to do, it was only a matter of time until I managed to explode. My ability to keep silent was not particularly great. Scratch that, I was terrible at keeping my thoughts or my anger to myself when something was bothering me. Knox keeping his distance from me, was bothering me a lot more than it should have.

When he failed to respond to me again, I fought to keep my temper in check. "With your permission, I'll take my break," I said tightly to his back, wishing I could throw something, like a pillow at him.

Nothing. Not even an acknowledgment. I had no idea if he had heard me or not but I was beyond caring at this time. I was about to scream in frustration at the rate I was going. Instead, I took deep breaths and stormed down to the kitchen, where a startled Charlie was pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Are you going on a break? I was about to sit down" she said, indicating the table in the corner for the maids.

I nodded tightly. She gave me a sidelong glance and then poured me a cup, shoving it into my hands and motioning for me to follow her. The cook gave us both a disinterested look and went back to cooking.

"You look as though you need it," she said sympathetically "Are things not going well?"

I snort "About as well as you can expect when you work for a damn robot" I mutter, glancing moodily into my coffee cup as she gives a small giggle and almost spits her coffee out onto the table.

"Ah, so it's like that then," Charlie said with twinkling eyes "he is hard to work for but I thought the two of you were getting along."

I drum my fingers on the tabletop. "I thought we were too" I admit in a hushed whisper, conscious of how much voices could carry and not wanting any of the other maids to hear us "but it's like he's just gone cold all of a sudden. He can barely stand to look at me. I don't know what I've done" I said a little louder with more frustration.

Charlie sips her coffee and gives a sigh of satisfaction. "Maybe it's not that you've done anything," she said thoughtfully as I gave her a look of disbelief "Maybe it's just that he's being cautious."

"Of what" I snap "All I've done is try to be friendly."

She sighs and cups the mug with both her hands, leaning forward "Maybe that's it. You see, he's gone through so many maids, and not just because of his temper. Some have been, how do I put this?" she bites her lip and looks heavenward as though trying to find the right words "some have attempted to seduce him in the past in an attempt to get him to sleep with them. One went so far as to put something in his drink and was going to take pictures of herself with him to sell to the newspapers. It was a complete scandal. If his brother lan hadn't walked in and found them, you can imagine what the girl would have been demanding."

I stare at her with wide eyes. "That's sick. How come I've been entrusted to be his personal maid then" I demanded "Surely they would have thought that was dangerous after such a trick."

She shrugs "They would have done an extensive background check on you. You must have passed or you wouldn't be working here. The maid who tried to well" she lowers her voice and begins to whisper again "You know, was a daughter of one of the servants here and therefore no background check was done. They won't make the same mistake again."

"Poor Knox" I mumbled "it's a surprise that he feels safe enough to shut the door with me in it."

You would think he would be more wary of being alone in the bedroom with me.

"He can handle himself," Charlie told me, sipping at her drink again and leaning back "I think he's got surveillance equipment in his room now and he's well-trained in defending himself. If he didn't trust people, it would be impossible for him to go out and about or do any of his work," she said explaining.

"Maybe but it does explain why he might have gone so cold on me" I murmured, "Maybe I was being too friendly for his liking."

That was a shame. He had evidently decided he wanted nothing more than a professional relationship and while I couldn't blame him for that, I wished he could have just voiced it instead of turning so indifferent to me. Had he sensed my growing attraction to him and decided to cut it off before it grew into something else or caused problems between us? "Well never mind. Today is Friday and that means you have the weekend free" Charlie said excitedly "What are your plans?"

I gave her a rueful smile. I didn't have any plans, unless you counted cleaning the apartment or cooking for Jackson. My life was not exactly glamorous or exciting.

"I um, wasn't going to do anything" I admitted sheepishly "I was just going to go home. I know that my pay is meant to be in the account tonight."

The rent would be paid with extra to spare for expenses. It was all I could think about. Charlie looked disappointed by my response.

"But you're young still," she said teasingly as I grimaced at her "Shouldn't you be going out clubbing and dancing?"

I stiffened at the word dancing. I had to remind myself that she had no idea what my previous job had been. I forced myself to relax and look nonchalant.

"Oh, I'm tired after such a long week" I lied "Besides I want to get an early start on doing my own cleaning" I shrugged. "Well me and some of the girls were going to go to a club tonight," Charlie said raising a brow and looking at me questioningly "Why don't you come? We could have a girl's night."

I hesitate. I've never really had girlfriends before. When you're on the streets it's every man for themselves and the same goes for when you're a stripper and competing with the other girls for tips. The idea of having a friend, any friend really, was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I wanted to have fun, like any other normal girl. I wanted to experience the kind of things I never got to have and other people took for granted.

I open my mouth. Jackson enters my mind. If I'm not home he'll be pissed. But there's such a longing inside of me. The temptation is so strong that I can't bring myself to refuse her. Besides, Jackson was always busy on Friday nights. What was the chance that he would be home tonight of all nights waiting for me? I was taking a gamble and a big risk, but just once, I wanted to be like every other girl and go out and dance without stripping. I looked Charlie in the eyes. "It sounds fun," I said agreeably, hoping my tone wasn't giving anything away "Where do we meet?"

"At the club in the front. But..."

"I'm afraid she won't be attending tonight Charlie."

Knox's voice interrupts our conversation, causing Charlie's eyes to widen and her voice to go silent.

I blink and look towards the doorway, seeing a scowl on Knox's face as he stands there, leaning against the frame, his eyes glinting with some indescribable emotion.

"Excuse me?" my voice is loud but I don't care.

He doesn't have the right to tell me what to do after hours. My time is my own and how I spend it is up to me. I glare at him. He continues to eye me while Charlie glances at me nervously.

"I need your services tonight."

Services? I splutter, choking on my coffee as Charlie hastily pats me on the back, while Knox looks slightly alarmed.

"I'm not sleeping with you" I splutter, while Charlie giggles beside me and Knox's eyebrows shoot straight up in alarm. "That's not what I meant."

"You said services" I coughed.

"Charlie would you mind?" he asks politely.

She gives me a sympathetic look and leaves the kitchen. The cook eyes us curiously. I glare at Knox, not in the mood to give him any favors after the way he's treated me all week.

"I think this is best described in private" he murmurs, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels.

I get up and put my mug in the sink before heading swiftly for the stairs, a perplexed Knox following after me. "Lorelai will you please wait," he says with frustration in his voice "I'm trying to talk to you."

I fume. All day he's ignored me barely spoke to me, treated me as though I was invisible and now he has the audacity to want a favor! I was close to blowing up. I walked into his room and then turned, my arms folding across my chest as I gave him the iciest stare l could muster.

He blinks taken aback. "You have some nerve" I hiss, my anger pouring out of me "With the way you've treated me the last few days, and then coming to demand a favor from me" I'm almost shouting.

Screw it. My nerves were shot. If I lost my job, I didn't care. This man was infuriating, even with those charcoal-dark eyes of his that smoldered as he looked at me and that chiseled jaw and... Damnit I was angry and still eyeing him like he was a piece of eye candy! I give a low growl, turning sideways, and glance towards the window. The tension in the room is thick as Knox struggles with what to say. Whatever it is, it isn't going to dissuade me from refusing him. Unless he had a good reason for his behavior, I was going to fling his favor back in his face and leave. Then he spoke and all my self-control simply began to fade away as I listen to the musical tilt of his voice.