Tom Billionaire Ch. 06

The driver got out, and two staff members immediately went forward to get the bags from the trunk. Charlotte simply took Taylor's arm and then guided my wife up to the front doors, directly coming to me.

I squeezed Vivienne's hand and then let go. This time, Vivienne released me and took a step back to the side. And then my wife was right in front of me.

Taylor blinked a couple of times and then pulled the cowl back. Even right out of rehab and after a long flight, her makeup was perfect and her short hair was exquisitely-styled. She gave me a little smile and then admitted, "Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon."

"I'm happy you're here," I replied warmly. "I just wish it didn't have to be under these conditions."

The smile was gone and Taylor looked down, nodding her head. "Have you heard anything new about Cassandra?"

I shook my head. "No. He hasn't called back yet."

Taylor sighed and then stepped forward, reaching up to caress my cheek. "Go bring her home, will you?"

I nodded. "Of course."

She gave me a wan smile, and then looked over at Vivienne. My French girlfriend blushed and looked down for a moment.

A bigger smile came onto my wife's face, a smirk even as she took the time to examine Vivienne from head to toe. And finally, Taylor turned to me and said, "Cassandra was right: She IS quite pretty."

I simultaneously wanted to smile at the compliment and reprimand Taylor for speaking about Vivienne as if she weren't standing right next to me. But before I could say anything, Taylor stepped past me and moved into the house. Various staff members expressed their warm "welcome back" wishes, and Ashlyn immediately went over to hug her best friend.

I watched them leave, feeling torn up inside. While a part of me felt better knowing that Taylor was back in the house, I knew it was only because I'd forcibly removed her from the drug addiction program and only because of the kidnapping concern. We had not reconciled, and she hadn't touched me save for the quick caress of my cheek. It hurt to watch my wife walk away from me, to have her *this* close and yet so far away. And in my momentary bout of melancholy, my hand fished out for Vivienne's, looking once again for something to fill the gaping hole in my heart.

But Vivienne wasn't there anymore. I spun and looked around for her, only to find that she too was walking away from me. She had her head down and she seemed quite in a hurry as she sped away toward the guest wing, reminding me of her reaction after meeting Ashlyn for the first time.

Except for Cassandra, all the people I cared most about were under this roof. And yet I felt anything but harmony in my home.

****

Naturally, I went after Taylor. She was still my wife, and I loved her dearly. All along, I'd hoped we could patch up our marriage and go back to the way things used to be. She'd turned me down in Malibu; but she was home now, and that was a start.

Unfortunately, she went upstairs with Ashlyn and the two locked themselves in the redhead's room. For a moment, I thought about interrupting. After all, I was Taylor's husband. I had the right to speak with my wife, didn't I?

But I knew better than to barge in where I wasn't wanted. If you want to live with multiple women in some semblance of harmony, you learn to live by *their* schedule. Even though I was ostensibly the head of this household, if I'd tried to impose my will, I'd have soon found myself with an empty bed. I'd been trained, and I recognized a "not yet" signal when I saw it.

So I sighed and went looking for Charlotte. If nothing else, she would be able to tell me about her trip and give me some insight into what Taylor was thinking now.

I found her in the dining room. Charlotte had missed dinner in traveling, and while I knew they had food on the plane, it couldn't compare to Dorothy's cooking. But she was not alone. Karl Scott had moved with the family in coming underneath my umbrella of security, and he was chatting amiably with Taylor's ex-assistant.

"Oh, hey guys," I greeted cordially.

Charlotte smiled upon seeing me, one hand waving with a fork and another covering her full mouth.

Karl nodded politely. "Evening, Mr. Kwong."

"Ah, I know you're catching up. But Karl, do you think you could give us a minute?" I gestured at Charlotte.

"Oh, uh, certainly sir." He reached out and patted the back of Charlotte's hand. And then standing up, he left the room.

I watched Charlotte watching him go, a dreamy look in her eyes. Chuckling to myself, I stepped forward and waved a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Charlotte. Come in, Charlotte."

Immediately, she blinked and blushed. She chewed for a second and then swallowed before blushing and looking down at her plate. "Sorry about that."

"No problem." I looked over the archway where Karl had disappeared. "He's cute."

Charlotte blinked at me before furrowing her eyebrows and stuttering, "Oh, well... actually... Karl and I are just-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me," I interrupted, holding my hands up. "Your business is your own. I've got enough things to worry about without nosing into your personal life."

"No, it's alright. Karl and I aren't dating or anything. He's really sweet. But... ah... it's complicated. I mean, we've been living in the same house... which is a little awkward. And really, he doesn't... ah... _understand_ me, you know?" Charlotte's eyebrows rose at that last part, and I got the innuendo.

"Your... ahem... sexual preferences?"

With her eyes lowered bashfully, Charlotte nodded. I knew very well that the pretty brunette was a sexual masochist, finding her greatest pleasures while tied up, blindfolded, and taken to the limits of her pain thresholds. You certainly wouldn't know it to look at her, as most of the time she epitomized the pretty, if slightly nerdy-looking, intellectual. But then you know what they say about the shy ones.

"And how has that gone these past few months?" I asked gently. I'd just stated a minute earlier that Charlotte's personal life was none of my business, but I was curious in this case. I exhaled slowly. "I mean... I know that Taylor meant just as much to you as she did to me. It can't have been easy to lose her."

Now it was Charlotte's turn to exhale. She took her time processing, and ultimately pushed her plate away. I felt bad, thinking I'd ruined her appetite. But at the same time, the way her head was bobbing slowly, I got the impression that this was something she *wanted* to talk about.

"It hasn't been easy," she said at last. After another few heartbeats, she turned and looked at me with big, round brown eyes, magnified by her glasses. "Taylor was my everything."

I nodded. While Taylor had been my wife, she had also been Charlotte's mistress, the domme to Charlotte's sub. It was a unique relationship that had been forged over the past several years, and we had been talking about how special it was while in Tahiti, right before our worlds had gotten dumped upside-down.

Charlotte continued. "Those last few months, when Taylor was still here but not really *here*, you know? I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to help her."

I nodded. One aspect of their relationship was that Taylor was the decision-maker. She was the domme, in-charge, even making Charlotte's decisions FOR her. For Charlotte to tell Taylor what to do was a completely foreign concept. For Charlotte, it would have been like being in a boat without a rudder. "You got through it," I said reassuringly.

"Routine saved me," Charlotte stated. "I focused on taking care of Joey. Taylor stopped modeling, but Ashlyn asked me to help her out with scheduling and other commitments. It wasn't the same as before. It still hasn't been the same as before. But it's kept me busy."

"But is that all, even now? Just keeping busy?"

Charlotte took a deep breath, looking confused. Her eyes clicked left and right, staring at nothing as she was obviously looking inward. "I... I don't know..."

She looked lost for a moment, and I gently patted her arm. "Take your time."

"It's different now... Ashlyn's been great. Her schedule is just as hectic as Taylor's was, busier even because of Joey's playdates. And... ahem..." Charlotte blushed again. "Ashlyn's been quite good to me with sex. She understands what I need."

I grinned, momentarily distracted by the thought of a naked Ashlyn wielding a wicked strap-on dildo and pounding Charlotte from behind while the young brunette was strapped down to the bed. It was something I'd actually seen for myself a few times when we all got together for an orgy.

Charlotte blushed again, reading the amusement in my eyes. But then she gave me a wistful look. "But... it's not the same as it was with Taylor. And even if it was, sex isn't everything. Ashlyn tries to be there for me, but she doesn't have Taylor's... I don't know how to put it. Taylor was just so _confident_. She had a swagger, you know? I always knew that Taylor was in complete control, that she knew exactly what to do at any given moment. It was awe-inspiring."

I nodded. Taylor's self-assuredness had always inspired me. She had been strong; there was no doubt about it.

"I just couldn't ever see Ashlyn as my Mistress. She'd always been more like... like a big sister, which is weird when you consider that she's actually a year younger than me. Actually, I thought of her like an Aunt, like Taylor's sister, who was taking me in for a time of need. But I wasn't hers. I could never be hers."

"So you want your old Taylor back." I nodded, understanding exactly how Charlotte felt. It was how I felt.

"No... actually."

I pulled my head back in surprise. "Huh?"

Charlotte smiled, looking off into the distance. "We talked about this, on the plane. It's a long flight from LA to here, and Taylor and I spent almost the entire time talking."

"About what?"

"About me." Charlotte took a deep breath and then looked at me. And I realized she was absolutely beaming. "Taylor says she's proud of me."

I blinked rapidly, not understanding.

After a moment, Charlotte glanced over at me and realized I wasn't following. She chuckled and then patted the back of my hand. "She says I've grown up. She says I don't need her anymore."

I arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"Before Taylor, I was an admin for Aline Weisberger, the fashion editor, remember? Aline was *really* dominant, and I was her slave. Taylor took me in when Aline got tired of me, and for the last four years, she's been training me to take care of myself. I didn't realize it, of course, but she's been pushing me the whole time."

"Really?" I hadn't noticed, either.

"Do you remember Taylor telling me to open a flower shop? There were dozens of suggestions like that over the months before Tahiti."

"_Really_?"

Charlotte nodded. "When she went to rehab, I was left on my own. I had things to keep me busy, and Ashlyn took me in. But for the most part, I've had to make more and more decisions for myself instead of depending on someone to make them for me. What to wear, what to eat, what to do. It hasn't been easy... but I guess I've been adapting. I didn't have any other choice."

She seemed so proud of what she'd accomplished so far. I had to admit that I still didn't really understand. My only role in Charlotte's life to this point had really just been as an employer and as a convenient dick. I hadn't been involved at all in Charlotte's emotional well-being, leaving that to Taylor. Really, I just gave Charlotte orders when I needed something done and I fucked her brains out whenever Taylor wanted me to. But I could appreciate what she was telling me now. "Congratulations," I stated warmly.

She smiled, and I felt like I was seeing the real Charlotte for the first time. For the past four years, she'd just been Taylor's assistant, a sexual submissive who'd become a trusted member of my family. But that was all I'd known about her, and of the four women who'd been on my infamous "List", she was by far the least intimate with me.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Now? Now I take charge of my life." Charlotte inhaled deeply, and then looked over to the archway where Karl had left. "I told Taylor about Karl. She said she thinks it's time I did something about the way I feel for him."

I looked at the empty archway and then back at Charlotte, reading the warm glow all over her face. It warmed my own heart, and then just as suddenly, I felt a rock fall into the pit of my stomach. "Oh, crap. Charlotte, I'm sorry. Were you and Karl just about to talk about this?" I pointed back where the handsome young man had disappeared.

Charlotte blushed, looked down at the table and nodded.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

She smiled and shook her head at me. "Don't be. It was good for me to talk about this. And... I was nervous before. The conversation was a little awkward, the way it's always been between me and Karl lately. I was eating to fill in the uncomfortable silences. But I don't feel nervous anymore. Thanks, Mr. Kwong."

"Anytime." I nodded and took a deep breath. "Actually, after everything we've been through these past few years, I think we've had precious few serious conversations."

"Yeah. I enjoyed this."

"Me, too."

With that, Charlotte pushed her chair back and stood up. She smiled and then gestured toward the archway. "I'm going to go find Karl now."

I smiled up at her. "Good luck."

"Thanks." And then she left.

I sat alone in the dining room, feeling happy for the young brunette. She deserved to be happy.

But then a second later, I remembered what I'd come to Charlotte for in the first place: to find out more about Taylor and her current state of mind. But I hadn't gotten the chance to ask, and now my one source for new information was gone. And the last thing I wanted to do was pull her back from going to see Karl now.

I exhaled. There was nothing I could do now.

****

I stood in the familiar environs of my master bedroom. Though I'd spent a lot of time here over the years, staring at this exact same view, it felt like an alien place to me. I'd spent a grand total of one night here in the past four months, and it simply didn't feel like home.

But it was my home. This was Jonathan Kwong's bedroom. My only problem was: it lacked the other people that belonged here with me.

Sure, Cassandra spent more than half her nights in her own room. But this place was still somewhere she could walk into unannounced, as if it were her room as well.

This was Taylor's room as well. But my wife wasn't here, either. She'd gone into Ashlyn's room immediately upon arrival, and she hadn't come out since.

I'd taken a shower to clear away the day's grime. Alien or not, I DID enjoy that shower. But even the full-body massage of the pulsing jets couldn't fully relax me, not when I walked out into the big cavern of emptiness afterwards.

I stood now at the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring across the private beach as the moon illuminated the waves of the Atlantic Ocean before me. The house lights lit up the area immediately adjacent to the house. But beyond that, as far as the eye could see, was nothing but darkness covering the dunes and the ocean beyond. There were no other lights but those coming from my house. Out here, at the Eastern edge of my world, I was all alone.

I didn't want to be alone tonight. This was my home, and the people I loved were nearby. I'd missed my wife, and though an opportunity to talk to her had not yet presented itself, I felt it was time for me to flex my own weight. The girls could tell me "not yet" for only so long. And their time was up.

Cinching my robe around my waist, I left the Master Suite. Ashlyn's room was right across the hallway, and I went and knocked on her door. It took a minute before the response came, "Who is it?"

"It's me," I answered gruffly.

Thirty seconds later, the door opened and Ashlyn stood before me, wearing a diaphanous evening gown that did little to hide the supple curves of her spectacular body. My eyes yo-yoed to the swells of her tits for a moment before I focused on her face. But then my attention was dragged down again when she crossed her arms just beneath her breasts, lifting those melons up and squeezing them together.

"No, Johnny. We're not there yet," she commented dryly.

I blinked and shook my head to clear my vision. "I didn't mean..."

The redhead nodded in understanding. "I know you didn't. What's up?"

I looked past her, looking for Taylor. My wife was seated at the foot of Ashlyn's bed. Apparently the two had been in deep conversation up until my interruption. She looked at me with a look of simultaneous apology and weariness.

"She's staying with me tonight," Ashlyn informed me.

"Taylor, come to bed," I said directly to my wife.

Pursing her lips, Taylor frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Johnny."

"Taylor, please."

"_We're_ not there yet, either," she sighed.

"I'm not talking about sex. You're my wife. I'm your husband. I miss you and I want to spend the night with you."

"I'm not ready to go back there. I'm still broken."

"Then let me fix you!"

Taylor shook her head more emphatically. "We've been over this. Besides, you've got to run off after Cassandra."

I exhaled and rubbed my forehead. "Do you NOT want me to go after Cassandra? Is that what this is about? Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"Of course not. Cassandra needs you."

"So do you."

Taylor went quiet, just staring at me, unblinking. It was as if she was daring me to decide between her and Cassandra. My wife was physically present, but emotionally she still needed rescuing. Cassandra quite literally needed rescuing. Which of them would I make my priority? Which of them would I choose? My wife? Or my assistant? I couldn't answer. I needed them both, and I just stared at my wife with a pained expression.

"Cassandra needs you more," Taylor finally stated. "Ashlyn's here with me. You're the only one who can get Cassandra."

My shoulders sank. "Please... come to bed. I just want to hold you again."

Her face softened. I saw the old tenderness in my wife's eyes as she looked at me with pity. But then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. And when she opened them up again, her old stubborn determination was there instead. "I'm sorry, but not tonight."

"Please..." I said, almost begging. "I don't want to be alone tonight."

Taylor shook her head and then picked her head up. "Why don't you ask your new girlfriend to spend the night with you? I'm sure it's something you both are used to doing by now."

I raised my eyebrows. "Is *that* what you want?"

Taylor got off the bed, finally walking over to me. Her jaw was set and she had that stubborn look in her eye again. "It doesn't matter what I want. Johnny, I'm only here because you forcibly pulled me from the program. I get that it's for my safety, but really... I'm not home yet. I'm not here. Do what you've been doing for the past four months. I honestly don't think you've spent a single night completely alone since I left, and you don't have to start now. Go get your girlfriend."

Actually, ever since Evania and I started fucking, I _hadn't_ spent a single night alone. If it wasn't my valet, it was the Naoussan local girls, or the Spanish Ibiza girls, or Althea or Nika from the yacht. Then of course there was Vivienne. I pinched my lips together in a line. "You really want me to spend the night with Vivienne instead of you," I stated skeptically.

Taylor shrugged, reaching up and pushing on my chest until I'd taken two steps back into the hallway. "Whatever. Do what you think is right." And then she closed the door in my face.

I stood there, staring at the solid wood now separating me from two of the great loves of my life. And I scowled. 'Do what you think is right'? Fuck. I HATE it when girls say that.