Page 2 of The Billionaire's Housekeeper

“I know,” Chase said, anger seething through him over the Jackson family’s scheme to try and mess up that legacy with their nonsense—yet again. “Listen, Aunt Maya, I know I promised to stay here with Dad, like the rest my brothers until…well, I’ll have to head out west for a while, probably a month or so to take care of some business.”

“What? Why?” Aunt Maya seemed genuinely disappointed. “What could be so important that you have to go out there now, Chase? You know your dad doesn’t have much time left. The doctor said he has only six months to a year left. His health condition could change very suddenly. Oh, Chase,” she continued, putting her hand over her heart. “Can’t this wait until next year?”

Chase sighed heavily, feeling pressure on his own heart. “I wish I could, Auntie. Trust me, I wish I could.” Chase really didn’t want to go into the real reason why he had to go out there. Everybody loved Aunt Maya, but the lovely woman couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. He grinned to himself at the thought. They didn’t call Aunt Maya the Belmont newswoman for nothing. She never meant any harm, mind you, but she’d been known to breach the family trust wall a few times “by accident.” Her memory came and went at times and she’d forgotten the “don’t say anything to anyone” part of conversations before.

The last thing Chase wanted was for his father to know that at this stage in his life, the long-running feud between the Jackson and the Belmont families was still as fierce as ever. And now, the Jacksons had their people trying to dig up dirt and stir up trouble over a piece of prime real estate out west. Up to their old tricks again. Their great-great grandfather, Ernest Jackson, I, was a real estate tycoon back in the day. Ernest Jackson I, who founded the Jackson Inn Bed & Breakfast chain, and Jonah Belmont I, who founded the first Belmont Hotel, which later became the Belmont Hotel & Resort, were best friends and business partners but something went horribly wrong between them. To this day, the Belmont brothers didn’t know all the details, and Jonah III decided not to tell everything to his sister Maya, though Maya did know some details of what went down and how it related to a curse and a dark family secret. Every time she tried to talk about it—the little she knew—Jonah would hush her up.

Based on the tidbits Aunt Maya let slip, Chase was willing to bet it might also somehow have something to do with a deadly love triangle between Ernest, Jonah, and a lovely woman who had apparently bewitched both men. They’d gone from friends to enemies quickly and became rivals. Then came the disputes over land from Ontario to British Colombia.

“No, it can’t wait until next year, Aunt Maya,” Chase said, checking his watch. “I’m sorry. But I don’t want you to say anything to Dad about it, okay?”

“Don’t say anything to your father?” Aunt Maya echoed, disappointed. “Well, what am I supposed to say when you’re not at family dinners and during weekly appreciation events? That you’re wearing your invisibility cloak?”

“Very funny, Auntie. Just say I had urgent matters to attend to. He’ll never know if I come home at nights or not.”

Which was the truth. The Belmont mansion wasn’t referred to as the Belmont Palace for nothing. The massive structure of the estate, built over the last couple centuries, was befitting of a royal family with its seventy-five rooms, four separate quarters and thousands of acres of land. Not to mention, several servants’ quarters, cottages on the estate, a grand pool, golf course and manicured gardens.

“I suppose you have a point, but you know he likes when you boys check in on him once in a while.”

“I will. I’ll fly out here when I can. On weekends. Just let me get the business wrapped up while I can.”

“Where are you going, exactly?”

Chase exchanged looks with Brandon before answering. “Well, I’m going to the resort ranch.”

“Oh, no. Are we having trouble with those Jacksons again?”

Oh, boy. That’s exactly what Chase was trying to avoid. His dear old auntie was a bit too smart for him. “Yes, Auntie. But everything’s okay. Please don’t tell Dad.”

“What are those no-good people up to this time? It’s not over that dispute over horse land again, is it?”

“Aunt Maya. Please, let me deal with this. And it’s called a ranch, not horse land. The situation’s not as bad as you make it out to be.” Actually, it’s much worse. But Chase wasn’t going to get his auntie all worked up about it.

As if an idea breezed into her mind, Maya paused thoughtfully for a moment. “Well, you know, since you’re out there at the ranch resort, why don’t you see if you meet up with a nice country girl? I heard the small town is really-”

“Aunt Maya!” Chase said, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t even go there.”

“Go where? I’m not going anywhere!” Aunt Maya tried to feign innocent. But Chase knew his auntie all too well. If he and his brothers didn’t know any better they’d swear that their father and auntie were both trying to get them hitched within a year.

“You know your father was serious about wanting to see you all settle down before he…goes to be with the Lord, right?” Aunt Maya said. “And look at your brothers, Dane and Brandon. They’re so happy with their new wives. And who would have thought they’d have gotten married so quickly after meeting that special someone? Especially Brandon.”

“I’m still here, Aunt Maya,” Brandon interjected with a charming grin.

“Yes, of course,” she said, dismissively, her cheeks reddened. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“I know,” Chase said quietly, bringing his drink to his lips. A part of his heart tugged with emotion. She was right. Who’d ever thought that Dane and Brandon would have gotten hitched so soon? And they’re as happy as heaven. Laughing all the time, having fun all the time, going to bed and waking up each morning with the loves of their lives. What more could a man ask for?

Then his mouth became dry all of a sudden. Was it the bitter taste of betrayal surfacing again after all these months, dealing with his ex-girlfriend, Giline?

“Don’t tell me, Giline’s still got you riled up, right?” Brandon chimed it.

“Oh, darling, I’m so sorry about what that girl did to you. That human toothpick,” Maya said, followed by a tsk, tsk. Chase appreciated how protective his aunt was over the boys. She didn’t take it too well after what his former supermodel ex-girlfriend did to him.

“Yeah, well, you’ll forgive me if I never trust another woman. I’m still paying the price for Giline.”

“That horrible movie she did,” Maya continued.

Chase felt quite uncomfortable discussing the “movie” with his aunt. “I’m just going to drop it, learn from it and move on. And it wasn’t a movie, it was a serious violation of privacy.”

And that was the truth. Bitterness spilled over in Chase’s voice talking about it.

“Well, good thing you got good ratings on the flick,” Cole teased him. “Come on, bro, it’s not as bad as you think. You should have seen all those comments the girls wrote about you. Pretty hot.”

“Not as bad…?” Chase frowned.

“Listen, boys,” Aunt Maya excused herself. “I’m going to go and check in on your father. We’ll be cutting the cake soon. I hope you guys join us soon. The people from the bank are coming soon to offer their kind words to your father.”

The Belmont brothers were happy to throw fun bashes for their old man at the estate garden with everyone he’d done business with and had acquaintance with over the years. It was also their father’s way of saying his good-byes on his own term. At seventy-five with a full life of wealth, privilege and dreams that came true, Jonah felt it was a good way for him to look at life. Like the mighty tycoon and ruthless businessman he’d always been, he stepped up to the plate, no matter how challenging and took that bull by the horns, never running away from it.

“Life’s tough, but I’m tougher” was Jonah’s mantra, quoting that famous declaration. “Not even death scares me,” Jonah also declared. But he also said “the only thing that terrifies me is leaving you boys and feeling that you’ll be alone and never find and have true love because that is what life is about, to share with someone who loves you and cares about you and vice versa.”

The words settled into Chase’s mind at that moment.

But after what Giline did to him, how could his father ever expect him to be close to any woman again? Giline was a former supermodel. She’d set up Chase during one of their visits to the Vegas strip. They’d done all sorts of wild and crazy stuff on that excursion and what did she do? Had them secretly filmed. She’d brought up the idea to Chase before but he’d said no. He just wasn’t into filming his business like that. As kinky as he could get, that wasn’t something that appealed to him. And if he was into it, he would have liked to have known the motive behind the scheme first. Chase had a serious business reputation to protect, not to mention the family’s respectful name to uphold. His father didn’t take it too kindly at the time. Of course, that was behind closed doors. In public, Jonah shrugged it off as just another attempt at the media wanting more of the Belmonts and there was nothing to it.

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