The Billionaire Trap Read online

  The Billionaire Trap

  The Young Billionaires Book 5

  Emma Lea

  Copyright © 2018 by Emma Lea

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Michelle Birrell

  Book design and production by Michelle Birrell

  Cover photograph licensed by Adobe Stock

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Other books by Emma Lea

  About this Book

  Author’s Note

  Previously

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Manscaping

  Chapter 1

  Something About You

  Chapter 1

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Thanks

  Also by Emma Lea

  Other books by Emma Lea

  Other books by Emma Lea

  This is Emma Lea’s complete book library at time of publication, but more books are coming out all the time. Find out every time Emma releases something by clicking here and signing up for her New Release Alerts.

  SWEET ROMANCES

  These are romantic tales without the bedroom scenes and the swearing, but that doesn’t mean they’re boring!

  The Young Royals

  A Royal Engagement

  Lord Darkly

  A Royal Entanglement

  A Royal Entrapment

  A Royal Expectation

  A Royal Elopement

  Bookish Book Club Novellas

  Meeting Prince Charming

  Broken Arrow Trilogy

  Broken

  Cursed

  Eternal

  SWEET & SEXY ROMANCES

  In my Sweet & Sexy Romances I turn up the heat with a little bit of sexy. No swearing, or very minimal swearing, and brief, tasteful and not too graphic bedroom scenes.

  Love, Money & Shoes Series

  Walk of Shame

  Strictly Business (coming soon)

  Skin Deep (coming soon)

  In The Money (coming soon)

  All At Sea (coming soon)

  Love, Money & Shoes Novellas

  The Five Year Plan (coming soon)

  Summer Fling (coming soon)

  Standalone Novels

  Amnesia

  HOT & SEXY ROMANCES

  Hot & Spicy Romances turn the heat way up. They contain swearing and sexy scenes and the characters get hot under the collar.

  Recommended for 18+ readers

  TGIF Series

  Girl Friday

  Black Friday

  Good Friday

  Twelve Days

  Twelve Days of Christmas - Her Side of the Story

  Twelve Days of Christmas - His Side of the Story

  Quickies (Collins Bay Novellas)

  Last Call

  Standalone Novels

  Learning to Breathe

  TOO HOT TO HANDLE ROMANCES

  These are definitely 18+ reads and contain graphic sex scenes and high level swearing – not for the faint of heart

  The Young Billionaires

  The Billionaire Stepbrother

  The Billionaire Daddy

  The Billionaire Muse

  The Billionaire Replacement

  The Billionaire Trap

  The Playbook

  In Like Flynn

  Manscaping (coming soon)

  Music & Lyrics

  Rock Star

  Songbird

  Strings

  Sticks (coming soon)

  The Secretarial Pool

  Something About You (coming soon)

  About this Book

  Willa had a plan. Get a good job and marry a billionaire.

  Growing up below the poverty line with a mother who was physically present but emotionally distant had made Willa wary of love. In her world love equalled pain, so her solution was to marry for money, not love. Part one of the plan was successful. She had just scored the perfect job at Ashby Chocolates. Now it was time to put the second half of the plan into action and Jonathon Ashby was in her sights.

  Jonathon Ashby was being impersonated and he didn’t have a clue who it might be. The guy was gallivanting around town handing out Ashby Chocolates like they were candy and giving him a way bigger media profile than he was comfortable with. Jonathon had no clue what the guy’s end game was but he was determined to find out before the imposter did something detrimental to the company Jonathon had built into an empire. The only way to do that was to go under-cover as Jake Campbell in his own company and see if he could ferret the imposter out. He hadn’t planned on meeting Willa. And he definitely hadn’t planned on falling for her, especially when she was looking for a rich man to take her away from all her troubles just like his absentee-mother.

  *This is a ‘Too Hot to Handle’ romance on the Emma Lea rating scale - These are definitely 18+ reads and contain graphic sex scenes and high level swearing – not for the faint of heart.

  Author’s Note

  The Young Billionaires takes place in a very real city, Melbourne (situated in the state of Victoria).

  It might also be good to note that this story is set in Australia which happens to be in the Southern Hemisphere, and as such, the seasons may be different to what you’re used to. Summer in Australia happens at Christmas (December to February), the new school year begins in February and finishes in December and the final year of high school is Grade 12. Tertiary education is usually University or TAFE (Technical And Further Education) or other vocational training.

  Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26 and started as the traditional day for servants and tradesmen to receive their ‘Christmas Box’ from their bosses or employers. It is a Public (or Bank) Holiday and has become synonymous with big retail stores sales.

  Other fun facts about Australia:

  - We use the metric system for measurement (millimetres, centimetres, metres and kilometres)

  - We use Celsius for temperature (30℃ is equal to 86℉)

  - We use dollars and cents for currency

  - Yes, we have some of the most dangerous creatures on earth living in our country

  - No, we don’t have koalas, kangaroos and wombats as pets

  - We like our beer cold (and our wine too)

  This book uses UK/Aus English so you may notice some alternate spelling. And since this story is set in Australia, you may also stumble across some Aussie slang words. If you’re unsure of their meaning, a quick Google search should clear it up for you.

  Happy 50th Birthday Kathryn!

  Previously

  Jonathon sat back in his chair, crossed one suit-c
lad leg over the other and with a drink in one hand, checked his phone with the other. His groomsman duties were done and the party was winding down. The bride looked lovely, the bridesmaids were beautiful, and everything for Hunter and Bailey’s wedding had gone off without a hitch.

  With Declan finally getting Brandi to agree to marry him, Jonathon was the last official bachelor of the Alpha Pi Tau. It was a position he’d always thought he would relish. Relationships had never really been his thing, although he appreciated them for others. He always imagined himself staying the lone wolf, like George Clooney…oh. George Clooney tied the knot, didn’t he? Whatever, it didn’t matter. He styled himself after the likes of Dean Martin in all those old movies except… oh yeah, Dean always ended up with the chick at the end of the movie. Regardless, relationships weren’t his thing… or he didn’t think they were his thing until all his friends had managed to find amazing women. Suddenly his life seemed a little less ideal and a little emptier.

  His thoughts were distracted by a Twitter alert. He swore under his breath as he opened the notification. It appeared that someone was trying to take over his life. The guy didn’t even look like him. Okay, well maybe he did look a little bit like him, but surely there wasn’t enough of a resemblance for people to mistake the two of them as the same person. And yet…

  “Fucking hell.”

  Jonathon had always guarded his privacy. He’d built up his grandparents’ chocolate company to be one of the finest in the world and he, Jonathon Ashby, was touted as the finest chocolatier. It was his passion. He loved creating the confections, combining flavours and textures to create something memorable. He loved to watch people when they took their first taste of one of his masterpieces. It was a rush. But he didn’t court the media. He lived large - the sports car, the fancy clothes, the mansion - but he didn’t have a social media profile or try to get his face in the papers. Apparently, someone else thought it was an opportunity not to be missed.

  It should be easy to track down the guy who was impersonating him all over town, but the guy was clever. He never stayed long enough at any event to let people get too close. The photos posted online never gave a clear shot of his face and no one could give the authorities a clear description of him. They all thought it was him, even though most of the people questioned had never actually met him. To make things worse, the guy was getting bolder and the glitterati were opening their homes to him more and more regularly. He even arrived with a bountiful gift of Ashby Chocolates. Jonathon had scoured the sales reports to try and find out who was buying these gifts but he hadn’t found anything which meant the guy had to work for him. This was a damned inside job which made it personal, which was why Jonathon had taken the radical step of going undercover in his own company.

  Yep. Starting next week, Jonathon would become Jake and he would start work as the new Research and Development Manager at Ashby Chocolates. His own fucking company. Instead of developing recipes in his test kitchen at home like he preferred, he would need to work in the test kitchen in the main manufacturing plant in Melbourne. And he would need to investigate his own employees. Whichever way he looked at it, it sucked arse. He hated that someone was trying to take over his life, but he hated even more that he had to doubt his own employees.

  He threw his phone on the table and downed his drink. He didn’t want to think about what next week would bring. He didn’t want the culprit to be one of his employees but who else could it be? No one else had access to stock like this guy seemed to have. No one else would be able to move so much stock without it showing up on his reports. It wasn’t like the guy was just handing over a small sampler as a hostess gift. He was supplying enough Ashby Chocolates gift bags to give away to all the guests at these swanky parties he attended. The thing that really bit Jonathon in the arse was that it was building the reputation of the brand and his sales had gone up because of the added exposure. The fucker. How dare he do that!

  On the outside it looked harmless enough, but Jonathon had no control over what the guy was doing. He could turn around and without too much trouble at all, burn everything Jonathon had built to the ground. That was why it was important that Jake ferret out the imposter as soon as possible and nip his little scheme in the bud. He didn’t know what the guy’s ultimate endgame was, but it was imperative that he never get to act on it. Jonathon would do just about anything to protect the only inheritance his grandparents had left him. It was all he had left of his family and he would defend it fiercely.

  “Stop scowling,” Hunter said, sitting down beside him. “My wife says you are ruining the night with your frownie face.”

  “Are you going to be continually referring to Bailey as your wife from now on?”

  Hunter grinned, his white teeth stark against the dark fur of his beard. “Yep.”

  Jonathon shook his head but smiled. “So,” he said, scanning the room, “point out all the single women.”

  Hunter snorted. “You mean to tell me you haven’t scouted them out already?”

  Jonathan shrugged. He hadn’t, which was surprising. He’d had too many other thoughts on his mind, but now he needed a distraction and a beautiful woman was just what the doctor ordered.

  “Please tell me the spitfire in the pink dress is available,” he said nodding toward the dark-haired beauty who blew him a kiss and gave him a saucy wink.

  Hunter chuckled. “Go for it buddy,” he said. “I have no idea who that woman is. She must be a plus one.”

  Jonathon stood and tugged at his cuffs. “Perfect,” he said. “I feel like a challenge.”

  1

  “Mama. Wake up Mama.” Willa stood back and huffed, hands on her hips and her lips twisted in disgust. The house was a mess…again. The bedroom smelled musty and dirty dishes and used glasses littered the top of the bedside.

  “Leave her,” Kirra said, coming into the bedroom. “She was crying all night.”

  Willa forced the anger down and turned to her sister. Kirra looked resigned as she stared at their sleeping mother. Willa felt the familiar guilt tug at her consciousness but she didn’t have time to give in to it. She started her new job today and she refused to be late.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  Kirra nodded. “I just have to get my bag.”

  Willa nodded and followed Kirra from the room, leaving Devi to sleep off her hangover. Willa loved her mother, but at times she kind of hated her too. Devi had fallen into a pit of grief and despair when her husband, Willa and Kirra’s father, was killed in a work accident. Devi and Tom had shared a big love, but he had been gone for sixteen years and Devi never recovered. Kirra had only been a baby at the time and she never knew Devi as the woman she used to be. Even Willa had trouble remembering the fun and full of life woman Devi had been. The woman snoring unconsciously in the bedroom was not the mother Willa remembered, and not one she wanted to be around.

  “Have you had breakfast?” Willa asked, stepping into the kitchen and trying hard not to curl her lip at the state of the room.

  “I’ll grab something at school,” Kirra replied, swinging her backpack over her shoulder.

  Willa walked over to the fridge and pulled the door open. A wilted bunch of celery greeted her and something unidentifiable eyed her suspiciously. She snapped the door shut and suppressed a shiver.

  “We’ll hit the drive thru on the way,” she said. Willa knew if she left Kirra to her own devices, she wouldn’t eat at all.

  “So today’s the big day,” Kirra said with a grin as they drove away from the house.

  Willa huffed out a breath. “Yeah.”

  “Nervous?”

  “A little,” she said with a grin to her baby sister.

  “Do you think you will meet him?” Willa asked.

  “Probably not. I’m sure he’s a busy man.”

  And by all accounts Jonathon Ashby was somewhat of a recluse. Although, according to the gossip pages, he had been making surprising appearances at all the hottest clubs in town. Willa had
missed seeing him by only a couple of minutes the other night at Vibe. He may be making a splash around town, but he was still a hard guy to pin down and Willa would know. She had been practically stalking him for the last couple of months. Getting a job at Ashby Chocolates was the ace in her hand. If she couldn’t accidentally on purpose run into him out at a club, then maybe she could find her way into his office. It didn’t matter how she met him, just that she met him. It was the key component in her big plan and failure wasn’t an option.

  “Can you get me a box of those tequila chocolates?” Kirra asked.

  “Not on your life,” Willa replied.

  “Come on,” Kirra wheedled. “I bet you get a hell of a discount.”

  “It’s not the cost of them,” Willa said as she pulled into the drive thru lane of McDonald’s. “It’s the fact that you’re not yet old enough to drink.”