This Billionaire's Elopement: This Billionaire, #29

By Rachel Foster

Anthony (Tony) is a travel real estate billionaire who has properties in many different states and even countries. His HR company has recently allowed only two weeks vacation for everyone, including him. He is a workaholic so he doesn't think anything about it. But after a stressful week, he finds himself wanting to take more time off. Danielle is an employee at Anthony's firm. She works in HR and is approached by Anthony who wants to take time off. Danielle is nervous as Anthony is the owner and she rarely sees him. She tells him that the company policy is only two works. He starts getting angry and she calmly says, "Your other option is to get married." He looks at her like she's crazy but explains to him that employees who take honeymoons are given two extra weeks of vacation. He laughs at her and she tells him then he's not going on vacation.He thinks about it for a long time and ends up getting a crazy idea to ask Danielle to marry him so they can both take extra time off. He insists they can get it annulled when they return and that it's solely for vacation purposes. Danielle thinks it's crazy but agrees. However, they end up finding themselves falling for each other while on their honeymoon. When Danielle finds out that Anthony has been married before, she realizes that he must not be a man of commitment. Will they be able to stay husband and wife or will an annulment quickly follow?

• Language: English
• Publisher: 3rd Publishing
• Release date: Mar 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201195328

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This Billionaire's Elopement

Rachel Foster

Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Foster

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

1. Anthony

2. Danielle

3. Anthony

4. Danielle

5. Anthony

6. Danielle

7. Anthony

8. Danielle

9. Anthony

10. Danielle

11. Anthony

12. Danielle

13. Anthony

14. Danielle

15. Anthony

16. Danielle

17. Anthony

18. Danielle

19. Anthony

20. Danielle

21. Anthony

22. Danielle

23. Anthony

24. Danielle

25. Anthony

26. Danielle

27. Anthony

28. Danielle

29. Anthony

30. Danielle

31. Anthony

32. Danielle

33. Anthony

34. Danielle

35. Anthony

36. Danielle

37. Anthony

38. Danielle

39. Anthony

Epilogue – Danielle

1

Anthony

I

didn’t look up from my computer screen when Zach came over and stood next to me. His tall shadow slanted across my desk as he stood there. He cleared his throat as if to remind me that he was there, though there was no way I could have missed him or his shadow.

Keep standing there, I told him. You’re blocking the glare.

You’d think you don’t have blinds on that window back there or something.

I’ve earned that view. I’m not going to block it out. I sighed and sat up, swiveling around in the chair to face him. What’s up? Hope it’s not too important. I need to get back to this.

Zach leaned around and looked at my screen. I had at least fifteen different windows open, with multiple tabs in each one. I was tracking the profitability of one of our locations in Georgia, a stretch of beachfront land with a number of condos. I got them on a whim near the beginning of the year, sold for cheap.

One of these days, Zach said, I’m going to come in here and find you goofing off like a normal person.

Fat chance. I wiggled the computer mouse, pointing at a series of numbers. Can you believe this? How is this going to be one of our most successful ventures this year?

Zach shook his head at me. I’m sure that’s a rhetorical question and you’ll tell me, anyway.

I’ve definitely thought about it, I agreed, and I have the answer. There’s nothing on those beaches. I thought that’d be a detractor. Turns out, that’s likely the main selling point. Everyone wanted their own little slice of paradise. A quiet beach free of litter and the typical crowding was a huge selling point I should have capitalized on earlier, and would take into account from now on.

You’re probably right. Tony, have you seen these? Zach set a couple pieces of paper down on my desk, laying them over the keyboard.

I picked at the papers. What are they?

It’s the new HR policies.

I huffed a laugh. I don’t have time to look at that kind of stuff.

You should have time for this. They finally approved for everyone to get more vacation time. Two weeks.

That caught my attention. I worked damn hard. The field of real estate was killer. There was money to be made in enormous quantity, but a person had to play hard and fast to reach that point. The company had to build, maintain, adapt. Everyone was a key player. Losing someone to vacation was always detrimental.

However, recently, the company had grown so much and I had so many competent employees. New branches opened up near our best vacation locations, taking the pressure off all of us at headquarters. Most major problems could now be handled on location. As workloads eased, my employees started rallying for more paid free time.

Looks like everyone’s getting what they wished for. Good for them.

It is great, Zach agreed.

You don’t sound like you agree so much.

Zach shook his head and grinned sheepishly. I wondered what was on his mind. As my friend and assistant, it was important to know what he was thinking. It is great, don’t get me wrong. It’s still pretty stringent, though. Two weeks for everyone from the janitor to... you.

I laughed at him. Is that what you’re worried about? Me?

I’m always for you taking a break.

Well, don’t worry. I smirked. I don’t have time to take time off.

Sometime you might want to, Zach pressed. He spread his hands. As amazing as the company’s been doing lately, you deserve it. Recuperation. Relaxation. Enjoy your success.

I shrugged and turned away. I picked up the policy papers he’d put on my keyboard and set them aside. If I ever got the bug to go screw off to the mountains, I’d just take more time.

That’s... kind of what I was trying to tell you about before. Two weeks paid applies to you. Anything more than that would be unpaid.

I stared at him. Unpaid? Unpaid meant nothing from the company, nothing from the other branches. All of it would go right back into the company by way of stocks and assets. That wasn’t the worst thing, and I had more than enough money, but that didn’t feel right at all. I’m the owner. I can do whatever the hell I want.

That’s not really how it works.

What would happen if I did it anyway?

If you paid yourself for unpaid vacation time? Zach nibbled on his lower lip. I guess you’d go under an internal investigator for embezzlement.

What the hell? It’s my money.

But that’s not what the policy states. Zach shook his head. You’d probably wind up paying a fine. If you fought it, it’d go from a private case to a public one. Then everyone would see you as the CEO who stole from his own company... even though the money is still technically yours because it’s in your company. It’s just this weird scenario caused by how the policy is set up.

So change the policy.

The policy was set in accordance with company policies. Which you created.

So I screwed myself over? I laughed out loud. It’s not the first time. It doesn’t really matter, anyway. It’s just a funny little thing, that’s all. I’m not taking a vacation of any kind soon.

Good. Zach whacked me on the back.

That’s a sudden change of heart.

Well, that means you can save your vacation time for when Marie and I get married.

My mouth opened and I looked up at him, flabbergasted. You proposed?

Yes. Grinning, his cheeks red, Zach swept his hair back from his face. On Saturday. I took her out to the park and did it on the bridge.

Holy shit! I grabbed him and gave him a hug. Congratulations!

Zach hugged me back and laughed with delight. I really messed it up, though.

It’ll make a better story. What happened?

Marie was looking at the ducks, feeding them some of those pellets from the dispenser. His eyes went misty with recollection. I got on one knee behind her and waited. It took her so damn long, my leg went to sleep. When she turned around, she didn’t see me at first and tripped over me. If I hadn’t grabbed her, she might have gone swimming with the ducks. She landed on top of me and the ring bounced out of my hand. She thought I dropped a quarter or something and picked it up and was halfway through handing it back to me when she finally realized what was going on.

I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Only you.

He grinned. I’m a lucky man. Clumsy, but lucky.

You tell me whenever the wedding is and I’ll be there.

Thanks, Tony. Zach stepped away from the desk. I’ve overstayed my welcome. Next time I’ll have something better to bring you.

Coffee is always appreciated.

Zach left and I got back to work, making tentative plans for the Georgia locations. The new policy was the furthest thing from my mind. I could have laughed at how unimportant it was to me. If I ever really wanted to go on vacation, I’d find a way. I hadn’t gotten so far in the world by letting rules restrict me.

I picked up a pizza on the way home from work and ate in the living room while watching the news. The rest of the night ahead of me was free. I decided I felt a little sore from working out early that morning and nothing helped with soreness better than a soak in a Jacuzzi. I had one of the best models in existence installed in my upstairs bathroom. Powerful bubble jets, a dozen different settings, a sleek and beautiful finish. I imagined sinking down into the water and having all my stress melted away.

I headed upstairs and turned on the water to start filling the tub. I set out everything I would need nearby and stripped. I tested the water with my toe and it was perfect. I pushed my foot in the rest of the way, then stopped. I pulled my foot back out and rubbed it on the bathmat. I couldn’t sit around and waste time by doing nothing. There was a book I wanted to read and this was the perfect time to get started.

I knew exactly where it was, on a shelf in the basement.

I went downstairs, still nude, and descended a further set of stairs to the basement. It was unfinished, though I would have liked to turn it into a lounge, and had that dusty, musty basement smell. I breathed through my mouth while walking to the shelf, goosebumps prickling on my arms. I picked up the book and tucked it under my arm.

Something dripped.

I stopped and strained my ears to hear anything else. The dripping came again, a steady rhythm of several drops every few seconds. I hadn’t been able to hear it until I stopped moving.

Basements were strange places, like tamed caves. They had their own sort of ecosystem, their own temperature, their own wildlife. I let the dust gather. I let the spiders make their homes. I let the air thicken with that distinctive odor. That was how basements were. Some condensation was to be expected, particularly in humid weather, but Arizona wasn’t known for its humidity and I had never heard anything like this. The dripping was too steady.

Don’t tell me.

I followed the sound, moving around the corner of bookshelves and boxes of old junk I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of.

One whole portion of the wall had become a miniature waterfall.

The book hit my foot and sprang open, pages fluttering.

Water trickled in a steady, thin stream from where the wall met the ceiling and dripped on the floor. A puddle gathered, sizable enough to splash around in and getting bigger all the while. Looking up, I couldn’t see where the water could possibly be coming from.

Then, it hit me.

I tripped over the book. I caught myself and ran back up the basement stairs and to the second floor bathroom with the jacuzzi. I snapped all the faucets off and pulled the drain plug. I could still hear the dripping, even if only in the back of my mind.

Something had gone wrong with the pipes. Worse still, the water somehow had to run down through the first floor to get to the basement. I had a major problem on my hands.

I pulled out my phone and called the emergency number of a local plumber. He agreed to come out and check out the problem.

While I waited, I dressed and tried to find a leak on the first floor, though to no avail.

The plumber and his assistant arrived fifteen minutes later. I showed them the problem area and told them when it started. They split up and investigated, and convened quickly.

The head plumber was a chunky guy named Delta. He was the classic plumber, loose overalls over an old shirt, baseball cap flipped backwards on his head. His face was covered in stubble, even his nose. Delta scratched his nose and peered at me with his pale, tired eyes. I’ve got good news and bad news.

Lay it on me.

Good news is, this isn’t too big of an issue. Looks like the problem is a pipe down low on the line. We can replace it easy.

That means the rest of your house is okay, the assistant chimed in.

Right, Delta agreed. Bad news is, best way to get to this pipe is from the outside. Involves some digging.

Make it happen, I said. Tonight, if possible.

Delta and assistant exchanged glances. Delta shrugged his meaty shoulders. Sure, we could do that. I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t try to talk you out of it. As long as you don’t run the tub, there won’t be more leaks. You could run a fan in the basement and be fine until tomorrow. We’d only charge you an inspection fee for tonight, then the regular work fee tomorrow.

I appreciate it, I said. I’d rather get it over and done with tonight.

Then we’d have to charge you the emergency rate, plus inspection fee.

He was doing his best to try and cut me a deal. I commended him for that. I had a lot of money and didn’t really care how much this cost as long as it got done. What’s the going rate these days?

Delta nodded as if he thought this might be where I changed my mind. $200.

I whistled and laughed. I went into the wrong profession.

Delta chuckled. Everyone needs their pipes checked. And I’m good at it. If you’re sure you want this done now, my son and I will start digging. Once we know what pipe we need to replace, I’ll fetch it and the whole thing will be done faster than you can say Jacuzzi.

I stuck out my hand to him. Thanks.

Any time. He shook with me. His hands were gnarled and tough as tree branches.

I went inside to let the two of them get to work. The smile dropped off my face as soon as I was out of their sight. Well, damn. So much for my relaxation.

2

Danielle

A

s if working at a travel agency wasn’t difficult enough already, now there were the new policy changes regarding vacation time. The department was flooded with dozens of employees requesting clarification on the policy terms and putting in for their long-overdue time off. The changes had gone into effect as soon as the policy was approved. Those who had already used their vacation time now had two more weeks to use, and those who hadn’t used any time now had a lot of it at their disposal. That seemed the fairest to the board who made the decision. Everyone would get the full allotted time no matter what.

It seemed fairly simple to me, but I understood why there were so many people needing to talk about it with HR. This was more than they had been hoping for, and they didn’t want to get their hopes up and be disappointed.

I was an HR consultant, meaning I was one of the people the employees were coming to with their questions. I really didn’t mind. People liked me and trusted me. I always did everything I could to help. But even I could get tired of repeating myself all day.

My friend, Ava, waved her hand in front of my face to get my attention. I turned and blinked at her. Yes?

I wanted to make sure you were still alive, she said, giggling.

I smiled. Just thinking. I’m sorry. Did I miss anything?

You’re fine, Ava told me. I wanted to talk. Can you believe how busy it’s been?

I really can’t, I said. It’s crazy. I’m glad people are coming and asking first before doing anything. I’d hate for someone’s plans to be ruined because the verbiage in the documents weren’t clear.

You’re always so sweet. Ava patted me dotingly on the head like I was a small child. I smiled at her. Like, seriously sweet. You deserve a vacation after all of this chaos.

I had already used up the week allotted to me before the changes. My gut twisted. I faced away from Ava and clenched my throat to hide the shaking in my voice. Two weeks is still only two weeks. I’d rather save it for when I really need it.

Maybe you and I should start a petition, Ava said. HR workers should get even more vacation time. We’re the backbone of this company. Treat us well or we can bring it all crashing down!

I chuckled softly at her antics. True that HR was a lot more important than most people would ever realize. We were the ones who settled disputes and held internal investigations. We interpreted policy and answered questions. We hired and fired. We maintained the relationship between our company and others, and the company and the general public. Without us, there would still be a real estate agency, but it would be a Wild West of accusations and crime.

Neither Ava nor I was responsible for the policy changes. The company board, working along with the most senior and respected HR department heads, had done that. They created the terms, they put it in writing, and it would be the rest of us who carried out their orders.

I checked to make sure no one was around to eavesdrop on us while we were supposed to be working. I said, Did you see people who get married are allowed an extra two weeks? For a honeymoon.

Ava gasped. That’s an idea! Let’s find people to marry.

I don’t know anyone who would want to marry me, I said.

You’re kidding. You could have anyone you wanted if you said yes to them. I know how many times you get asked out every week. Ava tutted at me.

That was something else I didn’t really feel like talking about.

There was a knock on the door of the office we shared. Ava and I looked up as a young woman entered. She gulped, her head swiveling back and forth between the two of us. Danielle...Paulson?

My cue.

Ava headed back to her own desk. I waved my hand to bring the girl over to me. What can I do for you? I wracked my brain for names. Lillith, right?

Lillith nodded. She mumbled, I’m sorry for interrupting.

That’s alright. My job is to talk to you, not chat with my gal pal. I wondered where I’d put my box of tissues. It seemed like she was going to need them.

I know you’re busy with all the policy stuff and I really didn’t want to bother you, but... I have a problem.

I really didn’t care about the policy right then. I’m here to listen.

I came in a couple weeks ago to talk about this. Maybe you have a file or something?

I’ll look for that file while you talk to me, okay? I pulled my computer keyboard closer. I’m listening even as I type, so don’t worry.

Lillith’s breath shook in her throat. My coworker, Angela, she’s been bullying me ever since I started working here a few months ago. My lunches go missing, and my work files get deleted, and I swear she’s tripped me a few times. Her cubicle is right beside mine. I said all that last time.

Yes, I’ve found your file. All your concerns are listed here. I read quickly. It looks as though someone was going to talk to Angela. I take it this didn’t work.

It did for a little bit but then the weird things started happening again. Lillith sighed, knotting her hands together. Her fingers trembled. My pen going missing. Money from my purse missing. My things being moved around. I know it must sound as though I’m going crazy.

My heart went out to the poor woman. She was clearly at her wit’s end. It doesn’t sound crazy at all. Don’t worry about that. Things like this happen all the time.

Lillith looked down at her hands and let out a shaky sigh.

I touched the back of her hand and she jumped. Something happened today that pushed you to come see me. What was it?

I wanted to see Kate. She was the one I talked to last time.

Kate’s on maternity leave. Lillith, you can trust me.

Lillith gave a sad little shrug, more to herself than in response to anything I said. Today, Angela followed me into the bathroom and told me she was going to make sure I left. She said I have no place here. She said no one would believe the new person.

When she said that, it all made sense. Angela saw Lillith as a threat, for one reason or another, and was gaslighting her into feeling like she didn’t belong when all the reports on Lillith thus far were nothing but positive.

I wasn’t going to allow this bullying to go on. No one deserved to be made to feel as if they were lesser.

Now that I have all the information, I said, I think the best course of action would be for you to file another complaint.

Lillith said, The first one didn’t do anything.

I know it must feel like that. I shook my head with sympathy. It made us aware of these issues. Now we have something to work from. This second investigation will be much more serious. We’ll have a security guard review footage of your floor and break room to see if we can catch her in the act.

And if you can’t?

I rubbed her arm. We will. I know it’s going to be difficult and pretty overwhelming, but please work on this with me.

Okay. She shuddered. What do I need to do?

To start with, I’m going to recommend that this time, instead of a simple complaint, you file for harassment. That will allow us to look much deeper into this.

Harassment, Lillith muttered under her breath. I guess that’s what it is, huh? Okay.

Alright. To start, I’ll need to ask you some questions.

Ava ended up having to take over for a lot of my work as I took care of Lillith’s problem. I made sure to go over every last detail multiple times. If this problem was really so big -and I believed it was- then it needed to be dealt with quickly. There wasn’t room for errors.

I sent off copies of the paperwork to senior members of the staff, as well as the security team. Then, I arranged for Lillith to be an assistant to someone else on an entirely different floor of the building. She needed to be kept apart from Angela so the other woman wouldn’t confront her about having come to see me.

You look exhausted, Ava told me.

Oh, thank you, I joked, and sat down at my desk.

No joking here. Why don’t you leave work early? I can finish up in here.

Her offer made me smile. Thanks, but I think I’m good. I have some phone calls to make.

I’ll make them for you. Ava looked firm. I know you write everything down. Trust me, Dani, you look like you need to get out of here after all of that. Oscar will be missing you, anyway.

It was the mention of Oscar that swayed me. You won’t mind?

If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered. Come on, where’s your notepad? Ava held out her hand.

I gave her the notepad where I wrote down all the things I needed to do as they came up. It’s the last three calls. The others can wait.

Ava mouthed words as she read my notes. Oh, these are so easy. I’ll have them done in a flash. You go home. Relax. Eat something that’s bad for you.

Thanks, Ava. I couldn’t do this without you. I hugged her.

Ava hugged me and rubbed my back. "Sure, you could. But