The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Knox

POV

I'm ready. It's the night of the fundraiser and everybody except for Lorelai is assembled in the front foyer. I adjust my suit, smooth out my eye mask, and tug my jacket down impatiently. I glance at lan trying not to smirk. He's dressed as a raccoon, grey and white striped pants, a jacket, a shirt, and an eye mask close to my own. Not surprising that we're twins, that our outfits would be close matches, I think to myself. Our father is standing in his patchy black and white suit to resemble a Dalmatian with a top hat and I shoot a glance at lan who nods in understanding, his hands behind his back. "Father I got you a gift to go with your outfit," lan says as Father turns to him surprised.

"That's really quite kind of you but you didn't have to..." Father begins and then trails off as he takes in the large gold chunky bling necklace in lan's hand and the gold-topped cane presented to him. His eyebrows rise almost to his head in disbelief while lan and I beam at him innocently.

The doorbell rings. Father's other gift, I think wickedly. I open the door while Father takes the items off of lan, quickly shutting it again. Father looks at me in alarm. "Knox what have you done" he begins as I place the lead carefully in his hand.

"It seemed appropriate given your outfit," I said mildly.

The dog leaps up and licks my father on the face, causing him to stiffen slightly, his hands still clutching the gold chain and cane. His eyes narrow in suspicion.

"What is this?" he asks, even as the dog continues to nuzzle him "Boys" he shouts.

"You look like a pimp," I say shrugging "We kind of thought we should make it look more authentic."

"What" he screeches.

lan's lip is twitching. He doubles over in laughter. I snap some photos on my phone while Father is too flabbergasted to do anything. The puppy wriggles its tail excitedly. For a dalmatian, it's quite large even though it's not fully grown.

"Knox" my father begins and I hold up a hand, my eyes sparkling "There's a no returns policy," I say as he begins to glower at me "I already checked. You wouldn't deny this puppy a home would you?"

My father deflates, exactly as I knew he would. Ian calmly takes the cane and the necklace off him and my father picks the puppy up, looking resigned, a small smile curving on his lips.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" he hisses looking slightly helpless.

"Take him with you. No one's going to question it. It's matching your outfit" I say blithely.

Father sighs again. He's rubbing the puppy's belly now and cooing at it. lan shoots me a triumphant look.

"What about its food and water and stuff" Father tries to protest.

"Already in the kitchen," I say promptly, taking the wind out of his sails "You need a companion father. It will give you something to do with your time. Not to mention, I've seen how much you enjoy patting Roscoe when you go and visit Flair" I added smugly. He puts the puppy down and pats it while it stands beside him, looking up adoringly.

"I'm going to name you Patches" he murmurs.

Patches let out a little yip, causing my father to give a gruff laugh. lan grins "Good job" he mouths at me "maybe he won't go into the office as much."

I smirk back "Good luck with that."

lan's mouth drops. My father's eyes begin to sparkle. I follow their line of sight and my mouth goes dry. I swallow hard. My hands begin to go clammy and shake. She takes my breath away. She always takes my breath away but right now I'm forgetting how to breathe as I take in just how beautiful she is.

Lorelai stands at the top of the stairs in her outfit. Rachel has done magnificently. Her dress is strapless and begins in a soft white color before slowly turning darker towards the bottom of the dress. She has peacock feathers around the hem of the dress, all leaning into one another. The dress pulls in showing off her petite waist and then flows out. She has a small white wrap over her shoulders. Her hair is done up in a fancy style bun and she's wearing simple jewellery, plain silver that doesn't detract from the gorgeousness of her gown. Her shoes are white heels with shimmering rhinestones. She looks like a princess from a fairytale. For a moment I'm speechless. No wonder she and Rachel kept this a secret for so long. It had the intended effect. None of us men could bring ourselves to speak and break the spell she had managed

to weave over us.

She finally begins to move and my body jolts forward of its own accord. I take the stairs two at a time, halting at the top and offering my arm as she gives me a nervous smile.

"You look stunning" I murmur, grabbing her hand and kissing her palm as she gives me that loving smile of hers "absolutely mesmerizing."

"You don't look so bad yourself" she breathes.

I shake my head "I'm embarrassed to be seen with you" I tell her truthfully "I cannot compare to your gorgeous self."

She giggles as I begin to lead her down the stairs, careful not to trip on her dress.

"You look beautiful," lan tells her as she smiles.

"Absolutely gorgeous" my father chimes in, kissing her on the cheeks while the puppy prances about.

"Oh where did the puppy come from" Lorelai exclaims with a small shriek.

Father shoots me and lan a filthy look while we give innocent smiles. Lorelai takes one glance at us and giggles. "Knox, what did you do?"

"Nothing. Merely gave father a gift" I lie as she stares at me, and then bends down and pats the puppy some more "we should get going before it hits peak hour traffic" I add smoothly.

Lorelai straightens up with a sigh. My father picks the puppy back up. We all have our own bodyguards tonight. As we head out, there are two limousines.

"Oh," Lorelai says turning to me, "I thought we were all going together?"

"Nope," I say cheerfully as lan and father glare "the bachelors are going in one and we my sweet" I wink at her "are taking the other one."

"Thanks a lot, Knox" lan huffs but he's not really that angry.

My father flips me the finger. I blow him a kiss. They head towards their limo and I lead Lorelai to ours. The driver opens the door and I gently help her inside.

I get in and the driver shuts the door. Lorelai's eyes are sparkling. "This is so exciting" she whispers, careful of her dress. She looks bewitching. My fingers twitch. I grit my teeth and clench my jaw, trying to force my body to keep itself relaxed. "I just want you to enjoy yourself," I tell her trying to look casual.

She eagerly reaches for my hand. God, she's soft. I can smell her perfume. It's light and flowery, reminding me of some of the tropical flowers we saw in the exotic garden. I blink and feel her thumb stroking my hand. A few minutes pass in comfortable silence. "Knox" she whispers as I lean in to hear her more clearly "there's something that I really want to say to you" she begins and I can feel my heart beginning to race.

What is it? What does she need to tell me that sounds so important? I stare at her anxiously and she licks her lips, her other hand smoothing back her wayward hair even though it already looks immaculate to me.

"Gods" she groans "how do I do this. Okay" she mutters, taking a deep breath and looking incredibly nervous "the thing is that I think I'm in l..."

She's cut off as the limousine pulls up in front of the hotel. The door is swiftly opened b the doorman before she can finish her sentence.

What was she going to say? I feel frantic. It felt like I had missed something important. Lorelai looks frustrated as I climb out of the limousine and the driver helps her out. I take her hand but she's already looking down at the ground. The moment is gone. Lost. I fight back a growl of frustration. "Lorelai what?" I begin to ask, as we make our way towards the door, invitation in hand.

She shakes her head and sighs. "Never mind Knox" she mutters while I begin to deflate "We can talk about it another time. It's not important" she whispers.

It felt important. I hand the invitation over absent-mindedly and we make our way inside towards the event. I grip Lorelai's hand tightly as we get closer. I feel irritable. She had been going to tell me something and now there was no chance she was going to say whatever it was now. I sigh and head inside the room, Lorelai's dress drawing envious looks from the other women who begin to look our way.

I see men looking at her appreciatively and protectively putting an arm around her waist. Where in the hell is Flair? I scan the room frowning. Lorelai is quite, lost in her thoughts. I spot Flair, dressed in a stunning light and dark brown dress that instantly reminds me of a doe or deer. It matched her coloring perfectly and she even wore a crown that resembled antlers. She spotted me at the same time and smiled beginning to make her way towards us. I pointed "there's Flair" and Lorelai's mouth parted. "She's gorgeous" she whispers enviously.

"Yes," I say automatically "but not as gorgeous as you."

She blushes as Flair reaches us. I hug my sister who is looking around for lan and our father.

"We took separate limousines," I said calmly.

Flair nods and then hugs Lorelai. "You look absolutely stunning."

"So do you" Lorelai is shy, her cheeks pink.

Flair winks "We both are" she laughs "I see that Knox is quite speechless by you."

I turn bright red. Lorelai squeezes my hand. "I think Knox looks quite handsome," she says defensively.

Flair raises a brow "He does" she says agreeably, raking her gaze over me "red panda?"

"Of course," I say and she grins.

"It is his favorite animal," she tells Lorelai. "I must go but please mingle, drink, eat. There are several animals outside that I'm trying to find homes for and rescue volunteers looking for donations. I find it's harder for people to say not to the rescue directly when they are asked for money" she said with a glint in her eyes "I have some more schmoozing to do in order to separate people from the money in their wallets."

Just like that she was gone and Lorelia was pulling me towards the outside, an eager smile on her face.