The Billionaires Too (#2)

Trust

When MJ first asked him to refer to her by her name, it had come as a shock, that he'd imagined she had grown two heads. It had to be the only explanation to her change in attitude towards him.

She now treated him like a friend and not just her driver like she used to. He was happy, but it was not an easy task because changing her attitude towards him or anyone else did not exactly change who she was. She was still the same person. MJ Billings, the cold, heartless and ruthless billionaire. She was still the same heartless person who only just offered a smaller pure part of her heart.

And after everything she had been through for the past few weeks, he knew her good Samaritan act was too good to be true, she was playing a game that no one was aware of. But he knew better, she was not to be trusted in her state of mind, not even now that they were having a drink together in her office.

"So, Miss Billings–" he started, but she interrupted him with yet another correction.

"Please, call me MJ," she said smoothly with a calm look on her face as she rotated her chair from side to side, her legs crossed.

"MJ," Liam said with a tight-lipped smile, earning himself a proud smirk from MJ. "Tell me about Esperanza, what's the story? How did you guys meet?" He asked.

MJ leaned against her chair and sighed. "Esperanza Montero. Such a mystery isn't she?" She asked rhetorically. "She's a smart girl, but not that smart. Her father is behind her every move she makes." The despise in her voice was unmistakable. "The first time I met her, was at the orphanage about a year ago. She pretended to be homeless to win both Sandra's and my compassion, and like fools we fell for it. When Sandra told me her story, I could relate to her and thought I could help, but then one week into her arrival at the orphanage, a girl drowned in the pool at night. Nobody heard or saw anything; we found her in the morning."

"Is that why the pool was sealed and replaced with that ugly fountain?" Liam asked in surprise, and MJ nodded. "Damn!"

"When one of the girls spoke up and told Sandra and Alastair that Esperanza was the last person to see the drowned girl, Esperanza straight out manipulated us," she laughed dryly. "Especially me." She walked over her glass wall and looked over the city. "I was ready to adopt her, only to find out that we'd fallen into a trap; they framed us for child trafficking and murder, and trust me, if the case went to court, the evidence would definitely stand up."

"And she planned all that by herself?"

"No, it was all her father."

"So, the reason you are going after her is to get back all that evidence and get a confession?"

MJ turned around, her hand twirling the pearls around her neck. She stared at him in thought, as if debating whether to trust him or not.

He remembered that he had to actually catch Esperanza in order to get back into her good books, especially after he disappeared on her in Cape Town during the time of her kidnapping.

If only she knew the reason he could not do anything. "I hope you are not just asking this for fun, Liam," she warned.

"I will bring you this girl, dead or alive," he swore.

MJ threw one look outside the window and then strode to her desk, packing up her things before turning back to him. "Have you seen Cameron anywhere? I haven't seen him all day."

His hand twitched as he started cooking up a lie in his head. How was he supposed to tell her that he told Cameron everything they got up to in Cape Town? He was trying to win back her trust, but he was a step away from getting fired.

"I saw Jackson drive him out earlier, he's probably at home," he said, hoping for his own sake that Cameron was indeed home.

MJ nodded and gestured at the door. They left the building together and got out with Jackson and half the security team outside. Once they got to the car, MJ asked Jackson if he had seen Cameron, and he told her that he was home.

Liam played hard to hide his relief. "MJ, the next time we see each other, it will be to tell you that I got the girl," he said as she stepped into the SUV.

"I hope so, Liam." She said and closed the door before rolling down the window. "And, Liam." He met her eyes. "Her father is not going to come after a corpse, I need her alive."