A Family For The Billionaire ✅

2.

"He knew exactly what he wanted," Aubrey told her sisters," and he wasn't backing down."

"He's never come up against you before," Wynter said with a grin. Aubrey's middle sister was a tenacious Southern woman, with a temper to match her copper-colored hair. Aubrey possessed a core of the same stuff but it only made a quiet appearance when necessary. She wouldn't scream and cry, but she didn't give up until every hope had been squashed flat by a steel-toed boot.

She might look like a lady, but she had more strength than most men. The tragedies in her life had demanded it.

"Well, I believe I left him with some food for thought."

"So, you were wearing your red dress?" Aubrey frowned. Her sister's guess hit a little too close to home.

"I didn't wear the dress to entice him. It's perfectly presentable."

Her sisters shared a grin and Aubrey tried to let it go. After all, she knew more than most that a little cleavage helped smooth the path she traveled. She'd be a fool not to take advantage of her God-given assets-especially when they'd help her put both her little sisters through college- in a completely respectful manner.

"Well, maybe the dress helped a little..." she admitted in a low voice as Auntie stepped into the kitchen with Luca. The sight of her adopted son, and being surrounded by the people who meant the most to her in the world, filled Aubrey's heart and pushed aside thoughts of today's tedious meeting.

She reached out to 8-month-old Luca. He was in his snuggly jammies, his skin lavender-scented from his bath. As he settled onto Aubrey's lap, Aubrey breathed deeply.

"I love you, baby boy," she whispered against Luca's curly black hair. Then she smiled at the older woman, "Thank you, Auntie."

"You're most welcome," Auntie said, bending to big Aubrey and the baby together. Aubrey would never have made it through the first six months of Luca's life without Auntie. Technically, she wasn't their aunt. She'd been their mother's nanny when she was small. She'd returned to Savannah when their mother hadn't needed her anymore. But when the girls' parents had died, leaving them with no family at a very young age, Auntie had brought them home to Savannah.

Aubrey had been a young teen, but her sisters were even younger. Auntie had finished raising them in this house and never once complained. She was as close to another as she could get without being a blood relation. Each of the girls loved just the same.

Aubrey's baby sister, Summer, joined them at the table with a plate of oatmeal cookies Auntie had made while they were all at work that day.

"I've seen Aston King at some of the meetings of the transportation planning commission since he knows one of the biggest shopping companies on the east coast," she said, her bright green eyes wide," He's pretty hunky."

Aubrey could practically see every set of ears around the table perk up and Summer continued, "But I've heard he's all business, 24/7."

Aubrey agreed, "He made that very clear."

Wynter pouted, "What's the fun in that?"

"Dealing with demands is a lot easier when they're pretty," Summer said with a grimace that still managed to look cute. Aubrey threw her napkin across the table at her sister, making sleepy Luca giggle.

"The last thing I have time for now is a man," Aubrey insisted. Her cell phone gave a quiet chirp, which was the ringtone she used at home so she didn't accidentally wake the baby. She glanced at the screen.

"He certainly is a workaholic," she mused as she handed Luca to her younger sister. She hadn't expected to see Aston's name on the caller ID at this time of night-or at all, really. But she had her principles. She needed to remember that.