The Billionaire's Secretary: Billionaire Alphas, #1

By L.J. Love

As Guyton Industry’s senior executive assistant, Aurora Aldridge has been privy to all the goings on in the company for years. Her boss, John Guyton is an aging tycoon with three sons and is seriously considering retiring to his Florida mansion. For years Aurora has been at her boss’s side; she has been everything he needed, when he needed it and her career and influence in the company has grown and solidified. But with Mr. Guyton’s looming departure, what does the future hold for her?

Guyton’s sons converge in the firm’s headquarters in Georgia to hear the old man’s decision on their future roles with the company and despite his many sincere warnings, Aurora is immediately taken with his youngest son, Zach. When things go awry on a weekend trip to Bermuda she finds herself at Zach’s mercy. To Aurora’s dismay, it’s Will, Guyton’s prodigal first-born son, who comes immediately to her aid.

He’s arrogant, judgmental and makes it extremely clear that he doesn’t think she is as talented in her work as she is in her bra and for reasons she can’t explain, Aurora feels challenged to prove herself to him. When Mr. Guyton pairs them up to recover a deal about to go wrong with some Hong Kong acquisitions, the two find themselves at each other’s throats but also gaining a mutual respect for their unique capabilities. With an undeniable attraction growing between them, Aurora is torn between her values and her desires while Will fears he may just have finally met his match.

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Lace
• Release date: Feb 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781540106605

Book preview

Books by L.J. Love:

––––––––

The Billionaire’s Secretary

The Billionaire’s First Love

The Billionaire’s Contract

The Billionaire’s Secretary

Published by Steve Rollins

Copyright © 2015 by L.J. Love

All rights reserved.

Ebook Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The Billionaire’s Secretary

Chapter One

Guyton Industries, Alpharetta, Georgia.

I can’t believe he’s dragging everyone off to the islands in the middle of November. The weather’s got to be worse there than in Alpharetta at this time of year. Not to mention it’s the hurricane season, Aurora thought as she looked about John Guyton’s office.

She was busying herself packing up her boss’ desk for its removal to the study in his house in the Florida Keys. The feeling was bittersweet. Guyton & Lexington was the only company she had ever worked for; Mr. Guyton, the only boss she had ever had. It was sad to see him go even though her position as Senior Executive Assistant had been tenured by him as part of his succession plan. His eldest son, Will Guyton, would probably be the firm’s next managing partner, but for some strange reason, Guyton Sr. had kept those details to himself. It was Aurora’s guess that the trip to Bermuda was so that the old man could reveal those plans.

The spacious corner office boasted the clean lines and angles of modern architecture at its finest but the furnishings and the use of space were a true reminder of who, or what, her boss really was. He was a homegrown success; born and bred in South Georgia and a transplant into Atlanta society all rolled into one. In summary, Mr. Guyton was an old school, southern gentleman who made it to the big time on the back of good old fashioned hard work and the constant support of a good wife: Rae Lexington- Guyton, his college sweetheart. While she had grown up amongst the comfort and influence of Atlanta society, she had gone off to law school on a whim and a dare from her oldest brother. John had worked in steel mills and metal works to help put himself and his two siblings through the local high school of his small hometown. Then he’d gone to Georgia State University on a mayor’s scholarship. After getting a degree in law and then an MBA – that he got while at work in the public defender’s office – he began seriously thinking about bringing his own firm to life. He dreamt of helping to rebuild commerce and trade in the town that had been so good to him and his family and making something of the Guyton name. His wife had wholeheartedly agreed with him.

With a small business loan and a few first cases from Rae’s father and his friends, they had opened Guyton & Lexington in a small abandoned building they rented from the city of Alpharetta and had hit the ground running. Rae had worked civil cases, while John tried to grow their criminal case load. In a few years, they had become one of Alpharetta’s most successful comprehensive law practices. Mrs. Guyton didn’t live long enough to see the firm move into the own building ten years later. She had died from complications while delivering the couple’s fourth child; a little girl that was stillborn.

Aurora knew the story of the family and the company she had worked at for the last seven years by heart. Hell, she had delivered the company’s history a couple of times in the orientation classes the Human Resources department held for new employees. She hated doing it, but matronly Mrs. Hardee always reminded her that an hour with her in a conference room was as close as many of the new recruits was likely to ever get to Mr. Guyton and that meant a lot to them.

There were currently eight partners at the firm. Each had brought their own impressive list of clients and with the support of the company; their lists had all grown exponentially. Since then, Mr. Guyton had expanded his business interests. He’d branched into civil engineering and made a killing brokering construction commodities deals when Hong Kong had been returned to China from Britain. At that point, he had made a big decision and not everyone had been pleased with it. Deciding that he preferred industry over practicing law, John Guyton took a step back from the firm. He put a management team in place to support the partners and took the position of managing partner. Then he created Guyton Industries to serve as an umbrella company for all his new interests. He’d found himself suddenly with almost unlimited resources and Mr. G had decided that for the first time in his life, he was going to have some fun.

Guyton Engineering handled the China commodities and the South American interests in fossil fuels and natural resources. Will had brokered a deal with his new friends in the Venezuelan government to critique their existing gemstone and precious metal buyers, and if required, get rid of them and find new ones. They were highly suspicious of everyone who had done business with their predecessors.

Guyton Transport was his ‘fun company’ and he had really just formed it so he could have garages and maintenance for his expanding fleet of vehicles, boats and planes.

Aurora absentmindedly left the large desk which was a copy of the Resolute, the famous desk that had stood in the Oval office of the White House since 1880. She walked past the entertainment system on the built-in shelf unit and pressed a button to turn the unit on. Instantly, the raspy sound of Edith Piaf’s voice jumped out at her as the song, Emporte-moi rolled to its dramatic close. Josephine Baker’s rendition of J’ai Deux Amours followed. Aurora was intrigued. Ever since she had bought the surround sound system with the Bluetooth receiver for Mr. Guyton’s seventieth birthday, she loved to periodically check what he was listening to.

Music had always been Aurora’s ultimate escape. Whatever she was feeling: lonely, doubtful, elated; it didn’t matter, she had a soundtrack for that. Early in her time with Mr. Guyton, she had found out that they shared that passion. The first time she had been to his mansion in Stone Mountain, she had been blown away by his fervor. It had been one of the few times she had seen all of the Guyton men in one room, let alone under one roof. She remembered that there had been a compact stereo unit in every room of the house and a surround system in the den, the library and dining areas downstairs. There was a theatre-quality system in the entertainment room. He even had music outside on the patio and in the garden.

Aurora herself was extremely talented with music too. Had life gone more to her plan, she would have become an opera singer, but her parents were having none of that; she was going to make them proud and go to college to get a real degree. There were no two ways about it. It didn’t bother her much though; her life had turned out great, being the only person in her small town graduating class to have gained a four year college education and managed to not get pregnant while she was doing it.

Aurora Aldridge had received her Bachelor’s in business law with a minor in administration and was scooped up by Mrs. Hardee’s assistant at a college job fair. But even fresh out of college, she had eased into her new station at the company seamlessly and the old man had been smitten with her from the very start. Aurora was convinced that it had been her entrance on the first day, having been extremely prepared with his day’s calendar, his coffee and a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that had won him over. She had more of a penchant for organization than she did for paralegal work. Mrs. Hardee insisted that it was because her black-rimmed glasses and ponytail reminded him of his late wife when they were young while the rest of the office had attributed the man’s instant adoration of her to her push-up bra and tight pencil skirt.

Despite being met with excessive opposition, she’d kept on plowing her way through, taking on everything that Mr. Guyton had to throw at her and polishing her knack for staying a few steps ahead of him as well. After a few years at the company, Aurora’s personal assistant position had started to grow into more. Guyton Sr. began to teach her more about what they did as a company and how the firm was run. At first, she thought nothing of it, relishing the opportunity to learn as much about real business as she could. He took her to more of the big meetings and engagements that she confirmed for him and Aurora was thrown head first into a whole new circle of colleagues, businessmen, corporate executives, builders and contractors; the list was endless. It excited her initially, but then she became worried that Mr. Guyton had ulterior motives. Still, she took Mrs. Hardee’s advice and embraced every opportunity to learn from him. The move had turned her whole world around and suddenly she had found a place where she felt that she truly belonged.

She sighed and turned to look at the desk again. Besides the ‘Resolute,’ Mr. Guyton’s office spoke volumes about his life, character, background and interests. There were three trophy heads mounted elegantly on the wall above the fireplace; a gigantic moose bull, a Kodiak bear and a wild boar; one animal for each corner of the continental United States that the man had hunted while in his prime. He had often regaled Aurora with the stories of his hunting trips to Louisiana, Maine and Alaska. On the fireplace’s marble topped mantle was a three-tiered stand that displayed three priceless Japanese blades that he had bought at an auction at Sotheby’s. They were the katana, wakizashi and tanto swords of the last samurai, Saigo Takamori. At either end of the mantle was a small cluster of Chinese and Japanese vessels; all antique and of various precious metals. They had either been gifts or the result of John Guyton’s extensive collecting. The room was dusted with an opulent mix of period furniture and tasteful artwork and was a testament to his wealth and influence.

Thank God, I got DeMarco’s to do the moving. No one else sure as hell wanted to touch the job with a ten foot pole! Aurora thought out loud.

What did you say, dear?

Mrs. Hardee’s voice came wafting in from Aurora’s place just outside Mr. Guyton’s office door. Soon after, she stepped inside.

I was just saying to myself how pleased I am that Mr. DeMarco and his people agreed to move the office effects, ma’am. It’s quite a collection and they were really my first choice for the job. When they hesitated at first, I was rather disappointed.

Yes. It was an insurance issue, for sure. Fred would have hated for anything to go wrong and not be able to do right by Mr. Guyton.

I realized that was what it was; and I’m grateful for his integrity too.

So, how’s the packing coming along?

Well, I’ve backed up his PC and packed the knickknacks from the desk, she said, waving her hands toward the ‘resolute,’ but I’m just not sure what else to do.

You’ll want to get all his old diaries and such from the bottom cabinet of the credenza, Mrs. Hardee replied. "Also the writing box and his collection of Tibaldi pens."

Yes, Mrs. Hardee.

"Gerald will be here with the Expedition in around an hour. While the rest of you are