The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Lorelai

POV

So close. I had come so close to uttering the words I love you to Knox and then been interrupted before I could finish the sentence. My cheeks are burning as I pull him outside, where there are several animals clustered together amidst a crowd of people. My heart seizes in my chest as I stare at the various dogs sympathetically. Knox is quiet, observing the animals and the rescue volunteers as they chat to the crowd surrounding them, a pensive expression on his face. There are other animals as well, some of which have been left to sit in carriers or cages alone, and I head towards those, curious to see what they might contain as well as getting away from the crowd which is steadily growing larger. "Hello" a lovely young woman greets us, a smile on her face as I study the cages while Knox merely looks disinterested "Is there anything I can help you with."

One animal catches my eye out of all the rest. Knox yawns "I'm going to go and look at the gardens" he mumbles "I'll come back in a minute."

I sigh in exasperation but this gives me the perfect opportunity. He meanders off and the woman looks at me while I motion towards the cage in the back, the lonely animal looking terrified. It was merely a kit.

"This is a young male kit," the girl said quietly "Abandoned early on by its mother, it will need careful handling and somebody with extreme patience. They can be" she pauses as I listen intently "rather frustrating on occasion and bad-tempered."

I snort. It sounded exactly like somebody else I knew. "I've heard they are intelligent creatures," I said and the woman nodded.

"Oh they are and trainable. This little one needs the strong hand of somebody extremely disciplined" she said agreeably. I wanted it. Not for myself but for Knox. This animal was perfect for him. It suited his personality somehow. I felt drawn to it and I knew, that if he saw the animal and held it, he would feel the same way. It was perfect.

"How do I go about adopting it?" I asked and watched her eyes light up as we began to discuss the process, the woman happily agreeing to drop the small animal off at the Grant house tomorrow morning for me as I paid her for him. She wanted surprisingly little for him and I tried to offer more, but she refused.

"It's enough that he's going to a good home," she said kindly "he comes with the cage and I'll ensure food is provided as well. You just need to think of a name for him."

"I'll leave that up to Knox," I said and thanked her, before turning around and going in search of him.

I found him in the middle of a large clearing, his hands in his pockets, looking thoughtfully up at the stars. There was a crease between his brows. He looked startled when I joined him. "Was I gone that long?" he asked in surprise.

I gave him a stare. He coughed "Sorry, I was trying to find all the constellations I could remember and I guess I lost track of time."

Somehow I was not surprised as I took in his apologetic look. He reached for my hand. "Do we need to go back and look at the animals some more?" he asked interestedly.

I shook my head, glancing at him with a rueful smile "Not unless you would like to have a look?"

He grins "No, I'll just write Flair a big cheque. She knows to expect one. If I look at the animals I'll have a hard time trying to hold myself back from rescuing them all" he explained tightly.

He was such a softie. As we turned to make our way back into the event room, we passed a group of giggling women, Abigail Stevens in the center of them. I could sense their eyes on me. Abigail had something in her hand, it looked like her cellphone and she was showing a movie to all of the women. I craned my neck to see, but the women quickly blocked me and I sighed. It was probably nothing. But they were staring at me with mischievous smiles on their faces. To access the complete chapters for free, visit J o b nib.co m. Maybe Abigail was trying to drum up support from the women because Knox had shot her down or something, I thought nonchalantly even as we walked past them and headed into the room. I was doing my utmost to ignore her, but I couldn't help but feel a churning in my stomach and a sense of foreboding.

Was it my imagination or were the men looking at me closely now as well? A lot closer than before. One man walked past and winked at me. I blinked feeling suspicious. Something was going on. lan came up to us both looking slightly puzzled. "Knox, is it me or are there people deliberately staring at the both of you?" he commented wryly.

Knox took a careful look around the room. Several men hastily slid their eyes away from me. Knox frowned. Several of the women were pointing at me openly and tittering or giggling to themselves. I began to get a sick feeling in my gut. This was to do with me. Not Knox. But what would cause the crowd to act so hostile? lan shot a glance at me while Knox's expression turned to anger.

"Something's going on, go find out what it is" he muttered to lan who quickly nodded and turned on his heel.

"Knox maybe we should go" I began to protest but he shook his head, his eyes fixating on mine.

"We're not leaving. Whatever this is, we'll work it out together."

But I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. This was worse than what Knox was anticipating. I could see Abigail Stevens flouncing into the room, a vicious smile on her face as she scanned the crowd, her eyes lighting up as she saw me. Her smile grew wider as she continued to look at me meaningfully. This was her. This was all her. This was her way of getting back at me for daring to take Knox away from her. What had she done? I could feel my heart beginning to pound faster in my chest and my breathing began to grow more shallow as my panic began to set in.

"Calm down Lorelai," Knox said quietly.

A man came over. "How much?" he asked deliberately, raking his gaze over me as Knox's expression turned hostile. "I"m sorry?" I stammered, not understanding the question.

There was a crooked grin on the man's face. He was young and handsome but arrogant with a glint in his eyes that I didn't like. He was wealthy, his suit screamed designer and he was only slightly shorter than Knox but there was such a wolfish grin on his face that I automatically took a step back as the man continued to look me over. There was something about him that instantly screamed danger.

"How much" the man repeated as Knox's hands began to tighten into fists "I mean, stop acting as though you don't know what I'm alluding to. I'm offering to pay you," he said rolling his eyes while I stood there frozen "How much for you to give me and maybe my friends a private lap dance?"

Silence. I was paralyzed, my body shaking. The man looked back towards his group of friends who were grinning and gesturing toward him. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. They knew, I realized, as my stomach began to churn, they knew what I was before I had worked as a maid. It was the only explanation I could think of. But how had they discovered who I was? I had kept it secret and only Constance had discovered it. Even Knox hadn't remembered me, at least as far as I knew. The man grew impatient "Come on" he said sharply, grabbing my arm as I stood there stupefied and offering no resistance "I'll pay you generously for a lap dance. Extra if you do it naked in our private hotel room" he suggested as Knox stood there frozen, his lower lip twitching.

I couldn't bear to look at him. He must be furious with me. Or so angry he was incapable of speaking. Why hadn't I just told him the truth? Why had I let it come to this? Knox must be humiliated by all of this. Tears pricked my eyes as the man yanked hard on my hand while I tried to dislodge it. My cheeks were bright red and I couldn't make myself look up, certain that Knox was disgusted or repulsed by me.

"Let go," I said quietly, while the young man refused "I'm not going to dance for you."

My voice was shaking, my body trembling. It was quiet now. The crowd had hushed and all eyes were on us. I let out a small sob, even as I saw Flair at the back of the room, trying desperately to get to me, a look of concern on her face. Knox was implacable, his body so stiff that he looked like he was about to topple over. His eyes were gleaming as he looked at the young man who still held onto me, refusing to pay attention to the pathetic protests that were coming from my lips.

"Let go" I sob as the young man's grin grows even wider, his eyes going to look around the crowd.

Where was lan? Or Mr Grant? I felt a hand roughly yank mine away from the stranger's and heard Knox's body move as he stepped up beside me. His eyes were blazing with rage.

"The lady told you to let her go" he informed the man furiously.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but this woman here" the man stops and looks me up and down, his lip curling back with open revulsion "is hardly a lady. She's nothing but a prostitute" he sneered as I cringed "and I'm treating her like one."

A tear trickled down my cheek. I had never felt so low, so degraded in public. I wasn't a prostitute. I wasn't lower than any of them because of my status, but they believed they were superior because they had money and connections. I needed to get out of here. I needed to run, I thought hysterically. I was just about to turn on my heel and flee from the room and from everyone, including Knox when he did something that completely shocked me. He punched the man in the face, hard, causing him to fall backwards.