The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Knox POV

I can feel her body trembling next to mine. It's all I can do to steer her in the direction of the main function room, handing over the invitation to security who are plastered outside. Lorelai is speechless, no doubt due to the run-in with the media earlier and as we walk into the room, she glances wildly around her, no doubt trying to take everything in. I cast a disinterested look about the room and then go back to looking discreetly at her.

God, she's stunning. Even more than I had imagined her to be. That champagne-colored dress hugs her tightly and shows off every single curve while hugging her breasts and showing them to advantage. Her skin looks like it's a honey-golden color and her hair is in a disheveled chignon that gives her a look of elegance without being too over the top. Her heels make her the perfect height to kiss her on the lips without having to bend and I struggle with that thought as I keep one hand on the small of her back and take her slowly around the room, which is decorated in shades of silver, gold, and white.

"I see Mr Deluca" I murmured, steering her over to a friend of my father's and a friend of mine.

His eyebrows rise as he looks at me and Lorelai together, a smile stretching across his face. I shake his hand. "Lorelai, this is Mr Deluca, Mr Deluca, this is Lorelai" I introduce them swiftly.

"Well I must say I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight Knox" Mr Deluca grunts and then smiles at Lorelai warmly "It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady."

"It's nice to meet you," Lorelai says demurely, and Mr Deluca gives a low whistle.

"Well you're much more polite than Knox already" he mutters as I look indignantly at him "And you should look out, that hussy is already making tracks towards you" he advised me with a chuckle and a shake of his head, a look of amusement on his face. I groan. "Don't tell me that..."

"Abigail Stevens has spotted you" Mr Deluca chuckled "and I'm out. I have no interest in being in the middle of a catfight, although I may watch from the sidelines for my own amusement."

I open my mouth to object but he whistles under his breath and moves off with a grin on his face. "The old bastard" I mutter sourly as Lorelai gives me a disapproving look.

I exhale slowly. Lorelai is looking behind me, while I can hear the distinct sound of heels clacking loudly on the floor. My stomach churns and my body tenses. A nauseating smell of flowers and a disgustingly sweet aroma fills the air and offends my nostrils, causing me to gag. I feel a woman hug me from behind while Lorelai stiffens behind me, a look coming across her face that almost looks like jealousy.

"Knox" Abigails high pitched voice makes me wince out loud as I dislodge her from my back and I turn around, while she beams at me "I was so hoping that you would come to this boring charity" she gushed "I haven't seen you in such a long time" she added as I stared at her.

She was as heavily made up as usual, her raven black hair in an elegant chiffon with no strands escaping it. She wore a white cocktail gown that barely reached her mid-thighs and her makeup was heavy and dramatic, rather than subtle and natural like Lorelai's. It made her look beautiful and exotic, but as far as I was convinced all it did was hide the annoying woman beneath it. Her beauty was skin deep, the rest of her was ugly.

"I'm sorry" Lorelai's voice is sweet and breathy "I'm afraid I didn't get your name" she continues, stepping closer to me and putting her hand on my chest as she peers at Abigail as though she's an insect she'd like to step on with her shoe or stomp to death "Knox who is this girl?" she turns and looks at me questioningly.

Abigail turns red. She looks furious. My lower lip twitches. Lorelai is playing her part perfectly. She's acting like a jealous girlfriend already. I put my arm around her waist, acting like her lover for all I'm worth. To be fair, it's not hard to do.

"I'm sorry honey," I say obediently as Abigail gapes "This is Abigail Stevens. Abigail this is...." I trail off and pause, looking at Lorelia expectantly.

"Lorelai Mathews" she supplied, holding her hand out to Abigail who looked offended by the mere sight of it.

Abigail reluctantly took Lorelai's hand and shook it, looking as though she'd been forced to shake hands with a snake, before letting go and looking at me with anger.

"Knox, who is this woman?" she asks me deliberately between gritted teeth.

"Oh honey" Lorelai coos, c*****g her head and regarding Abigail with sympathy as I glance between the two girls with wide eyes and a grin on my face "I'm Knox's girlfriend and you are...?"

Her tone is mocking. Cruel. I couldn't have asked her to do any better than she already was.

Abigail flushes. "That's not true, is it Knox?" she demands shrilly.

Guests are staring at her. Abigail is oblivious as she looks to me for answers. The stupid girl won't quit. I take a deep breath. "Abigail, this is my girlfriend Lorelai."

"But Knox, you promised..." she began, her pallor going pale.

"I made no such promises to you" I growled, my own anger rising now as she stared at me "Or your father. You made an assumption that I would be willing to take you as my wife and no amount of trying to correct it has gotten through to you. Perhaps now, you might see that I have no intentions of dating you, let alone marrying you" I snapped.

Abigail took a step back, a hand going to her mouth in distress. Lorelai looked pained.

"How could you" Abigail whispered to me, her voice shaking and the blood draining out of her face.

"I haven't done anything," I said with exasperation but she wasn't even listening now, whirling around and running as fast as her legs would let her, towards the bathrooms, sobbing into her hands.

I sigh. "Maybe I should go after her" Lorelai murmurs looking wretched "She doesn't look as evil as you made her out to be" she added with a glower.

"Trust me she is. Don't make the mistake of feeling sorry for her. The tears are to get everybody's sympathy, nothing more. If you go after her, you're admitting that we did something wrong" I warned her and Lorelai sighed and then nodded, looking up at me with a frown.

"Why does she think you would want to marry her?" she asked curiously.

"Because she and her father entertained the idea once and I didn't refuse straight away," I said impatiently "Now she thinks

I will simply because she's being persistent. Stop worrying about her, she'll be fine" I advised.

I knew how Abigail operated. She was seeking sympathy and hoping to get people on her side. I refused to let Lorelai be manipulated by her as well.

"Look, let's go and find the organizer of the gala and write a check," I said nonchalantly.

She steps forward and then stumbles, tripping on her dress. I immediately grip her arm. "Sorry," she said breathing while I tried not to let on that just touching her was affecting me "I'm not used to wearing such high heels" she apologized.

"Don't worry about it" I winked as she straightened back up and recovered her composure.

She was about to walk forward when her stomach gave a light growl. She flushed while I smirked at her.

"Why don't we go find our table instead" I said smoothly "and I'll get you some food. It's my fault you haven't had dinner yet."

We could find the organizer later. Lorelai looked relieved and I guided her to the tables, finding my name and seating her. "What do you eat?" I asked.

God, please don't let her be a vegan like my sister. "Pretty much anything," she said honestly.

I grinned from ear to ear. Fantastic. I loaded up a plate and came back, Lorelai's eyebrows shooting up "I can't possibly eat that much" she protested.

I put the plate down between us and reached for a spring roll. "We can share" I shrug as she gingerly takes a pastry and bites into it "I'm hungry too."

Only I wasn't hungry for food, I concluded miserably, as I watched her mouth wrap itself around the pastry and her lips bite into it. God, it was hot. It was arousing to watch her. I blinked and tried to focus on the food, aware that my private region was beginning to harden and not wanting to be embarrassed when I needed to stand up next.

"So what made you choose this charity?" she mumbled between bites, crumbs littering the tablecloth.

"I like children," I said truthfully "always have and cancer is something that I wish I could help to discover a cure for one day. But I don't have the brains for that, so the best I can do is write a check and pray that somebody else discovers it with the funds I'm able to provide. No child should have to go through the pain of cancer and chemo treatments. Not to mention the impact it can have on the family."

It had the ability to tear families apart. That's what I hated. A disease that struck those most vulnerable and left the ones still standing with grief and pain in their hearts when they didn't survive. I swallowed hard and felt Lorelai's hand on top of mine. "What you do is a good thing" she whispers as I focus on my breathing and try hard not to stare at her breasts "And you're a good man Knox Grant" she adds.

Oh if she only knew what kind of man I was. I doubt she would be saying those words so easily. I swallow past the lump in my throat and reach for some more food, praying she couldn't read the expressions that were covering my face. Donating to charity would never redeem me from the things I had been forced to do, and it would never make me into a better man. All it could do was ease my conscience slightly.

Couples began to make their way to the dance floor as music began to play and it was just the distraction I needed. I glanced at Lorelai and raised a brow "Care to dance?"