Very Bad Billionaires Read Online Free PDF Page A

his internet business. Now he’s the head of Hayes Industries and owns a little bit of everything.”
    “Including Hayes Security?”
    “Yes.”
    Bryce nodded. She’d always assumed he’d inherited his money, not earned it. “What happened with the family? Why did they force him out?”
    Malcolm paused and looked out the window. “It’s not public knowledge. Only a select few know about it at all.”
    “Including you?”
    “Yes, miss. Mr. Hayes trusts me.”
    “Then tell me.”
    “Bryce, I—”
    “No, Malcolm, listen. If whatever happened in the past is what’s keeping him from me, I want to know. I need to know.”
    He breathed out, softening the lines around his mouth as he looked down at her. “I’m sorry. I’ve said too much already. I can’t betray his trust. But please, don’t take what he said last night to heart. Alston didn’t mean it. He’s pushing you away because he’s protecting you. And hurting himself.”
    Standing up, he smiled down at her. “Don’t give up on him. You could be the woman to slip past his armor. You just have to sniff out a weak spot to break through.”
    Bryce swallowed and tried to smile. It’d been hopeless, but in a few minutes, Malcolm had turned it all around. Just like he always did. “Thank you, Malcolm. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
    “Hopefully you never have to find out. Good luck, miss.”
    Bryce watched the butler walk out of the room before setting the empty mug on the tray. She flopped on her bed, arms outstretched and mind soaring. She longed to know what Alston’s secret could be, why he pushed her away, and how on earth she could force him to see her. Not the awkward teenager he’d taken in all those years ago, but the real her. The woman who wanted him and all his broken pieces.
    Sitting up, she made up her mind. I’ll confront him. Prove I’m not some innocent little girl he can’t touch .
    A half an hour later and Bryce’d tugged on a dress from her luggage, pulled her hair back into a messy braid, and walked out the front door. Scanning the property for Alston, she thought about his routine. He always went riding Saturday mornings and not even a fight with his ward would change that.
    After traipsing down the cobblestone drive, she turned off and veered into the grassy hills that surrounded the house. She’d loved the estate since she’d first set foot on it—acres of manicured lawns ringed by native forests. A place to run and climb trees and explore. Ever since she could remember, she’d been athletic. Thick and sturdy and made for getting dirty. As she’d grown up, her build changed. Instead of blocky and solid, she became curvy and soft. But she still loved the outdoors.
    A smile spread across her face as she walked. The sun warmed her skin and she remembered running through the grass, hiding behind a bush, watching a deer graze in the dew. She’d miss all that if she left, but none of it held a candle to Alston. Not when a single glance her direction sent a bolt of pleasure through her veins.
    No other man ever made her giddy with a smile or hot with a stare. Not like him. She needed his forehead pressed against hers, his hair falling into her eyes, his short beard scraping her jaw. She wanted him—any way he wanted to have her.
    Bondage should scare her. A paddle and a flogger—thanks to the internet she’d figured that one out—should send her running for the nearest Bentley. But they didn’t. Instead, an ache consumed her. A need to be restrained and controlled—to be dominated by Alston and no one else—filled her body.
    Cresting a hill, she heard the horse nicker before she saw it and she slowed down. Alston’s favorite black stallion grazed in the grass, riderless and saying hello. She smiled and walked towards him, holding out her hand before rubbing his nose. “Hello, Dante. Is your master around?”
    The horse nuzzled her hand and flicked his ears toward the gazebo. Bryce glanced up and bit her