Missing: Billionaire Boss, #0.5

By Lisa M. Miller

James' life is about to change. His business partner has just screwed him and his billion-dollar company over.

He also needs a new executive assistant--someone he can trust.

Samantha has had a crush on her older brother's best friend for years. She's just moved back to New York and needs a new job.

What she wasn't counting on was that her eyes would get opened to James' other side.

His Dominant side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa M. Miller
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223440482

Lisa M. Miller

Lisa M. Miller is a UK based contemporary romance author. She loves her Billionaire boys best. Lisa loves to read when she is not busy writing. You can follow her on social media on the following: IG @lmmillerbooks TikTok @lisammillerbooks

Book preview

1

JAMES

I leaned back in my leather chair with a view of the city in front of me. A city that now felt more like home with every passing day, week, and month. I couldn’t believe how much things had changed over the last week. A week ago, I believed my business partner and one of my best friends were the most loyal persons in the world. Make that old business partner and former best friend. Today was going to be one hell of a day. Not only did I have to replace my most senior employee, I also had to hire a new assistant. A new assistant, preferably one I could trust this time. Will and I had gone to business school together. I thought I could trust him with my life. I suppose in many respects I had. I had trusted him to help build my baby from the ground up. Having spent all weekend on the phone with lawyers trying to keep this information under wraps as well as making sure Will would never work in this town again, I felt a sense of unease around the building.

Margaret was sheepishly hovering outside my office. She had been loyal to my dad for many years before coming to work for me when Dad finally decided to retire last year. She could read people like nobody I knew. Hell, she even tried to warn me about Lauren. Lauren, my former executive assistant, who had teamed up with Will and stolen five million dollars from the company. They probably thought I wouldn’t notice it missing. Five million dollars was only a small percentage of what the company was worth. I guess it pays to be the control freak that I am. Margaret knocked twice on my door.

Come in, I said, sitting up straighter, looking at the clock in the corner of the room. It was only seven, and I wasn’t expecting anybody to come in until at least eight o’clock.

Mr. Harrison, I have set up the conference room up for you on the third floor. Is there anything else I can help you with before everyone starts to arrive? she asked with a sad look in her eyes.

No doubt my dad had told her everything that happened on Friday evening. No doubt that was why she was at the office at the same time as I arrived this morning. It was no secret I was a in the office at six every morning, but she didn’t usually arrive till eight, and I was happy to see her in the entrance when I arrived.

Thank you, Margaret. Did you send out the memo I gave you this morning?

Yes, Mr. Harrison. Everybody should be aware as soon as they arrive. I have cancelled all your appointments today so that you can have meetings with all your managers today. I also sent a request out to Mr. Armstrong asking for the references you wanted so you can start interviews tomorrow morning.

Thank you Margaret. Make sure nobody tries to interrupt me before the meeting. No doubt, when word gets out, they’ll all be trying to get a scoop on the action.

Yes, Mr. Harrison, she said, smiling at me for the first time today.

Michael Armstrong had gone to college with us and had started up a recruitment agency a few years ago. He was my closest friend in the world and had turned down an offer to join us in the company. He didn’t want business to get in the way of our friendship, but we did own a couple of small ventures together away from our own respective companies. That was after he had invested heavily in a number of clubs, coffee houses, and real estate in the city. While I had helped finance his company, I didn’t have anything to do with it. That was all Mike. Mike had been more than happy to help when I called him yesterday asking him to send over some resumes for me to look over. He understood my need to have a new executive assistant as soon as humanly possible. As capable as Margaret was as a secretary, she was only here part-time until she was due to retire in two months. She also couldn’t handle the workload I needed. Mike liked Margaret and wouldn’t want her to suffer because of how high my workload was.

After being engrossed in e-mails, I was shocked when my alarm went off on my phone reminding me to head on down to the third floor conference room. Where had the time gone? Gathering my phone and putting my jacket on I headed out to meet Margaret who was sat behind her desk.

Good luck, Mr. Harrison. A couple of the vultures came up but soon went away when they saw me here. She smiled back at me.

It was no secret that most of the young staff were more than a little afraid of Margaret. She might look like your grandma, but what she says goes, and there is nobody here who doesn’t know that. She is definitely somebody you want on your side. Hell, she’d worked for Dad for years, and my brother Joe had been gutted when she had left their company last year when Dad retired. It’s no secret she and Dad had always hoped I would eventually join the family business, but that was Dad and Joe’s legacy, not mine. I had always wanted to make a name for myself on my own and not in their shadows. That’s one of the reasons I moved to the other side of the country. But this company was mine, and I’d worked too hard to turn my back on it and move back to California and work with my brother. A hell of a lot of different companies and people relied on me to keep my head in the game.

Getting out of the elevator on the third floor a couple of staff stared in my direction obviously wondering why all their bosses were sat waiting for me. The room that was loud with chatter stopped as soon as I walked in the room.

James, what’s all this about? I had to move two meetings for this, asked Julia, one if my best advertising executives. And where the hell is Will.

Right, calm down, Julia. There is no easy way to get this out, so I’ll be quick. What I tell you in this room does not leave this room, I said, pressing a button on the table to frost the windows so nobody could see in. The last thing I wanted was some secretary reading my lips and letting the whole building know what was going on. On Friday afternoon, I noticed one million dollars was missing from the company accounts. After some digging around, I noticed that five million was missing from the accounts. After some more digging, it came to my attention that Will and Lauren were the masterminds behind this little operation, which was confirmed when I heard that both of them had cleared out their apartments and gone off together to god knows where. The lawyers have been told, and I had investigators looking for them. Now then, we are all going to carry on with business as usual, and if anyone breathes a word of this to the press, your asses will be thrown out of the building quicker than the speed of light. All cheques are going to be signed off by myself until the accounts department has finished going through them, which should be by the end of the week.

By six o’clock, I was happy to hear the phones starting to quiet down. Today has been one hell of a day. The only consolation being that my staff were just as shocked as I was at the recent turn of events. I was more than happy to go home to my fifth avenue apartment until I remembered I had to show my face at a charity event this evening. Normally, attending these type of events was a nice relief, especially when it was for a good cause. I had always given generously to the few charities I held close to my heart. This being one of them.

When I arrived at the New York Public Library, I wished more than anything I could bypass the press and just show my face at this event. With cameras clicking and hearing my name shouted, it was one part of being the very public face of my company that I hated. Most people thought they knew me because of everything they’ve read from the trash they read on the Internet or on page 6; however, only my closest friends know the real me.

No date tonight, Mr. Harrison? shouted one of the paparazzi.

Sorry to disappoint, I said, fake smile plastered across my face. I posed just long enough to not appear rude then I noticed Mike standing to one side. Big smile on his face. He knew me well enough to know I hated the Mr. Playboy tab the press loved to paint me as.

No flavor of the week tonight, J? he asked laughing.

You of all people know the mood I’m in.

Hell J, you know I’m only messing around. How did it go? He asked almost afraid to ask.

Surprisingly well. So which model have you brought to this thing I asked wanting to change the subject. Looking around the room.

I’m playing the good brother routine tonight. Sam’s moved back. She gave me those puppy dog eyes that worked on my dad every time. I don’t know how she still does it at 26.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Samantha, Mike’s half-sister was quite the wild child growing up. But she always managed to wrap Mike and her dad round her little finger. It’s been years since I’ve seen her, I said, looking around the room.

Well, she’s around here somewhere. No doubt causing trouble. When was the last time you saw her, J?

"She had just finished