{"product_id":"the-ultimate-billionaire-romance-1","title":"The Ultimate Billionaire Romance","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eI’ve been sleeping in my car on the top floor of a hotel parking garage.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMy daughter is curled up in the backseat using her backpack as a pillow.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis morning I woke up in the penthouse of the man who owns the building.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe sun was bright. That’s the first thing I notice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI haven’t slept past dawn for as long as I can remember.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWilla is on the couch beside me, still asleep, the blue blanket from our car pulled up to her chin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI watched him do it at four in the morning, and I still don’t know his name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI keep replaying it, trying to make sense of everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe three knocks on my window, evenly spaced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe way he stood there for ten seconds first, hands empty and visible, like he was giving me time to decide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“Grab your things,” he said. “Follow me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThen he opened the back door and lifted my daughter out like she was something that might break.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWilla didn’t wake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWilla wakes when a floorboard creaks two rooms away. She has spent ten years learning which footsteps mean trouble.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eShe slept against a stranger’s shoulder the whole way up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI followed him with the duffel bag clutched to my chest, keys cutting into my palm, telling myself I’d run the second something felt wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eNothing felt wrong. That’s what scares me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eYesterday afternoon I was a deputy’s wife in North Carolina with a gold ring on my finger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eNow my hair is short and ginger from a gas station sink, my daughter is dressed like a boy, and the ring is somewhere in a roadside ditch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSix thousand dollars, stolen twenty at a time from my husband’s wallet while he slept. A car bought under a name that isn’t mine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLast night the cheapest room downstairs was $280. I did the math and walked back to the car.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI cut our last sandwich in half and gave Willa the bigger piece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI have a plan for every emergency. Exits, cameras, distances, how many seconds it takes to carry a sleeping child to the ramp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI don’t have a plan for kindness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe door opens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eNot him. A man in a suit that doesn’t fit as well, two security guards behind him, phone pressed to his ear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eHis eyes land on me. The wrinkled clothes. The child asleep on his boss’s couch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eHis face hardens into something I recognize. It’s the look people give you right before they decide what kind of person you are.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“How did you get in here?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI’m already standing. Already folding the blanket, already counting. Duffel by the door. Keys in my pocket. Two minutes if I wake her now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“I’m sorry,” I say. “We’re leaving.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“That won’t be necessary.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe voice comes from the doorway. Quiet. Completely certain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIt’s him. A different suit than last night, but the same stillness, like he has all the time in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe manager turns, and his whole posture folds into apology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“Mr. Hale, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how she got past security, but I can have her removed from the building and her vehicle towed immediately.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eMr. Hale doesn’t look at him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eHe looks at me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThen he crosses the room and steps between us, close enough that I can feel the warmth coming off him, and his voice drops into a low growl.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“She is going to live here now. With me.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Author Gracie Bell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62987019780236,"sku":"GBSWH","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0747\/8804\/4940\/files\/Gracie_-_Safe_With_Him_-_Main_Product_Image.png?v=1792165512","url":"https:\/\/www.authorgraciebell.com\/products\/the-ultimate-billionaire-romance-1","provider":"Author Gracie Bell","version":"1.0","type":"link"}