Boxed Set: Dominated by a Billionaire - Part 10-12: Irresistible Billionaire Read Online Free Page A

While I twist and turn, two young women busy themselves around me for hair and makeup touch-ups. I must have gained at least five pounds with the layers of foundation and hairspray that have been forced on me. I was also made to wear this sensible, little short-sleeved, fitted but not slinky, soft sky blue dress, insisting I acknowledge its “chic classic style à la Kate Middleton.”
    Uh… Does anyone happen to remember that I am “just” Alma Lancaster?
    Right at that moment, I really feel like the First Lady of the United States, used to making my brilliant husband look good, but who should, whatever happens, never gives her opinion. I didn’t get the choice either about leaving my hair out. My shoulder-length blunt cut is apparently “not serious enough," and I got nailed with this sophisticated, low bun. It’s pretty enough but keeps me from moving and makes me look like I have a stiff neck. I stopped protesting when, in the dressing room, my lover kissed me on my ear, bared by the bun, then whispered naughty things that made me shiver and gave all the females in attendance the giggles.
    Uh… Does anyone happen to remember that he’s mine?
    As for Vadim, he is perfectly relaxed: one arm on the armrest, the other along the back of the couch just behind my head. He’s wearing raw jeans, a white shirt, no tie, unbuttoned at the neck and a gray jacket that makes his eyes stand out, the overall effect being a relaxed, devilishly sexy allure. He artfully avoids the little hands that try to discipline his unruly hair. His laughing smile is enough to scare off the hairdressers and make-up artists who only have eyes for him – and who wouldn’t dare annoy him.
    But what am I doing here?
    Adrian’s bright idea consists of giving the TV audience the image of a “normal”, happy and tight-knit couple, so that Vadim can calmly answer Keith’s allegations in the tabloids. The main thing is to not play the media’s game – a calm, friendly interview, based on trust, in which he can express himself, prove that he is untouchable, stop the rumors and glow with happiness. My role? Keep quiet, smile, look at him, overflowing with love and admiration: that shouldn’t require much acting on my behalf. But the fact that everything is so impeccably calculated makes me a little uncomfortable.
    Dozens of reporters would have killed to get this interview, and would have kept harassing us day and night if Adrian and his men hadn’t put a stop to it. My lover chose the only two women that he tolerates in this ruthless world: the American Martha Boyle – star of the channel
E! Entertainment
with a reputation for being “the best at making you talk,” and Margot Vaillant – a young daring, pushy French woman, a big name among movie critics and well-known for her strong opinions.
    These two lucky ladies are going to question Vadim for over an hour and the interview will be broadcast as an exclusive, in France and in the USA, during prime time, on the two biggest TV channels. A “stroke of genius” according to Adrian who keeps giving himself compliments – most likely to make up for his screw-up and to win back his Vadim’s trust.
    As for me, I still haven’t digested the photos found in the ex-FBI agent’s office… but apparently, the case is closed.
    I know that Vadim hates it as much as I do. But he has this way of constantly faking indifference and composure, of locking himself up in his bubble where his mind can escape. Sweetly, he tries to take me there with him, in an attempt to reassure me.
    I think I’m going to reconsider his idea of us settling on a desert island…
    The two TV hosts, finally ready, sit down facing us on the semicircle couch. In a single motion, they cross and twist their slender legs and get into a “yoga-like” position – which seems perfectly appalling to me but which they seem to have been doing their whole life. I try to discreetly imitate them, but my body reminds me that nature did