House Of The Billionaire (The Billionaire's Contract Series) Read Free Page B

the car once she left the M6 and got onto the winding country lanes that led to Darkmere House.
    Darkmere House. The name intrigued Kirsty. She knew that the word ‘mere’ meant lake, so it was logical that the house would be next to a lake named Darkmere, or Dark Lake. It sounded kind of spooky and made her overactive imagination travel down shadowy paths that led to crumbling gothic mansions and windswept moors. She knew she was being silly but it might make for a scene or two in her next Red Rose Bound book.
    When she arrived at a pair of looming iron gates set into an ivy-covered wall by the roadside with a sign that read ‘Darkmere House’ half-hidden by the ivy, she wondered if her imaginings had been so fanciful after all. She turned the sat nav off, glad to be rid of the annoying woman’s voice that sounded too mechanical as it read out directions, and got out of the car. The gates unlatched easily and she pushed the huge gates aside before returning to her car and driving it off the road and through the gates. She got out and closed them behind her.
    Ahead, the narrow dirt road led through the trees. There was no sign of  house or a lake. Kirsty got back into the car and turned the radio off, setting off down the road at a slow pace. So this was Tyler’s childhood home. Very isolated place for a boy to grow up in.
    The road led for a mile through the trees before the trees gave way to a large lawn and Kirsty could see Darkmere House. It was a big place with Victorian architecture and its size, along with its secluded location spoke of wealth. Kirsty had always assumed that Tyler came from a wealthy background, despite the fact that his success came from his own efforts. She pulled up in front of the house, noticing that although there was a closed garage door next to the house, a green Lexus was parked outside. Parking next to it, she wondered if the car belonged to Tyler.
    Leaving her suitcase in the Corsa, she climbed the steps to the wooden front door and pressed the doorbell button. She heard a chiming sound somewhere within the house but no one came to answer to the door.
    She waited a few minutes and rang the bell again. Nothing. But someone must own the Lexus and there wasn’t anywhere else they could be unless they’d gone for a walk in the woods surrounding the house.
    She turned the doorknob and the door swung open, revealing a dark corridor beyond. ‘Hello?’ she called into the darkness.
    From somewhere within, a low murmur sounded.
    ‘Tyler?’ Kirsty said loudly, stepping into the house.
    The murmur again. It sounded like a woman trying to call out. Kirsty paced along the hall, listening for the sound and following it to a door that opened into a living room. The walls were lined with bookshelves and a low fire burned in the fireplace. Lying on a sofa near the fire, a woman who looked like she was in her sixties looked at Kirsty with blurry eyes. On the rug next to the sofa, a bottle of vodka lay half empty. ‘Who are you?’ the woman drawled.
    ‘I’m Kirsty. I’m here to meet Tyler.’
    ‘Oh, Tyler,’ the woman said, sounding disappointed. ‘What about Dwayne? I was dreaming about Dwayne.’ She looked around, confused.
    ‘I don’t know Dwayne. I’m sorry.’
    ‘I need to lie down for a while,’ the woman said, getting up unsteadily. She held onto the edge of the sofa for support. ‘Well, are you going to help me?’ she asked Kirsty.
    Kirsty go the woman’s arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
    ‘Upstairs. I need to lie on my bed for awhile. I have a headache.’
    ‘OK,’ Kirsty said, thinking that the half empty bottle of vodka had more to do with this woman’s headache than anything else.
    ‘Didn’t you say Tyler was here?’ the woman asked as they climbed the wide dark wood stairs to the second floor. ‘Why isn’t he helping? Dwayne would help me.’
    ‘Tyler isn’t here yet,’ Kirsty said. The woman was