THE BILLIONAIRE’S RETURNED LOVER

ELI THREATENS IVORY

Ivory sipped from her tea and groaned in bliss.

"Ah, that's the stuff."

Sitting before her at a round cafe table was Natasha who chuckled lightly at her theatrics. "You've missed tea? It's the last thing I'll ever miss when we finally leave Oxford."

Ivory grinned, stirring her tea in a slow circular motion. The cafe they sat in was warm and scented heavily with milk, coffee and muffins. It was a mere few meters away from the airport and so the ground vibrated lightly as planes took off.

Taking another sip, she hummed and said "The last thing I'll miss is the men. They're just like their weather. Bland. And quick."

The two girls burst out laughing earning curious glances from the people in the cafe. They sat at a table close to the cafe's sliding doors, with Natasha's bodyguards sitting at another table beside them.

They looked like statues. Ivory mused eyeing their unblinking face. Just how rich was Natasha's father that he needed six men to watch over his daughter?

"Oh don't mind them. They're like dogs and nothing you say or do will stop them from doing that." Natasha said with a winning smile and raised her coffee to her lips.

Ivory nodded, feeling smaller and smaller by the second. When she had first met Natasha, they had been assigned to a project as partners during her second year in Oxford. Things had been awkward because Ivory felt intimidated and Natasha was horrid at making friends.

"Remember when you told me to sign a contract that I would be your friend?" Ivory asked, arching a brow when she blushed good-naturedly.

"Will you stop bringing that up? I just wanted a friend so bad and you looked cool. Cool. If you haven't noticed, it's kinda hard to make friends when you have a dad like mine."

Ivory nodded. "He needs to protect you that much?"

The Mexican's brown eyes flickered with sadness for a moment but she laughed it off in a classy way. After a minute of silence, Natasha spoke up.

"So why were you fuming outside the airport? You looked pretty mad."

Ivory deflated, sighing as memories of the painful morning flooded through her. "I was supposed to return to England today."

Natasha looked like she was frowning, but it was hard for Ivory to tell since her forehead was bare of wrinkles. "Why? It's summer."

"It's complicated." She mumbled in reply. "Anyway, I was about to board the flight when some security man asked me to come with them. Basically, they claim that my visa has expired. Which is impossible! It's not due till next year."

"Aww. That sucks." Natasha hummed. "It's probably a glitch or something."

Ivory shook her head, her black waves followed the movement. "I think it may be more than that."

Humming, the latter reached for her hand across the table and squeezed it softly. "I'll look into it okay? I... My dad knows some people."

Ivory beamed at her, feeling immensely relieved. "Really?! Natasha that would mean a lot to me."

Natasha grinned. "It's all good. As long as you promise to take me to all the best cafes in LA. It's been a while since I walked these grounds.

***

"And that concludes our meeting, ladies and gentlemen," Elijah announced to the board of directors and rose to his feet after a quick bow, he walked out of the meeting room.

He was tired and badly needed a break. How on earth had a meeting of two hours stretched for four hours? And by now he was certain he had piles of dreadful paperwork to fiddle through. An inaudible groan slipped from his mouth as he walked down the hallway to his private elevator.

Behind him, his Secretary's heels clicked rapidly as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

"Sir, you're to have a meeting with Shelly Co in ten minutes, and-"

"What?" He stopped abruptly turning around to face her.

She was an older woman in her thirties average height, her blonde hair had brown highlights and made her slim figure look less slim. She stared up at him with stern green eyes that chastised him sometimes. She may not look like much, but Shirley had saved his father's business life numerous times to count. And now she was saving his.

"I thought the meeting was two?" He asked, feeling deflated by the second. All hopes of eating lunch soon had been cancelled.

"No, it's one o'clock. " She stated.

Eli slid a hand through his golden hair and tugged at it. He had so much to do. He also had to confirm if Ivory was home yet. And worse, Finn was waiting in his office. They had to discuss what they knew about Nick Caraguay and what connected him to Jose.

"Cancel it." He ordered and resumed walking.

"But sir, they might take offence. They had booked an appointment since last week-"

Eli waved a hand in the air to silence her and pulled at his tie "Please cancel it, Shirley. I need a f*****g break."

She pursed her lips in contemplation and nodded. "Next is-"

"Lunch. Get us lunch Shirley." He stated punching the elevator button. Ignoring his Secretary's annoyed look, he stepped in. "I'll be in my office."

A few minutes later, he collapsed in his chair eyeing the golden plaque that read CEO on his black desk.

Carter Industries stood proud. A fourteen-story building in the heart of Los Angeles. His office occupied the whole fourteenth floor and was richly furnished. Its white walls gleamed from the sun that filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows. His black mahogany desk and chair lay right in front of it and Eli had to admit, it made him look good.

"No matter how many times you stare at it, it won't melt," Finn told him. He sat on a sofa facing him.

Eli sighed, staring heavy-lidded at his partner and friend. "Just tell me, what do we have on this man?'

Finn shrugged and whipped out a laptop from a bag beside him. "How about we find out?"

****

When Eli got home that evening, it was to a sullen Ivory standing by the balcony that overlooked the pool. As he approached the house, he watched her from below, taking note of her closed eyes and sad lines around her eyes and mouth.

It tugged at his heart strings. Why did she want to leave so bad? He couldn't figure out why she seemed to think she had to stay away from him. It was the last thing he wanted.

"Hey!" He called out to her.

Her hazel eyes opened, and they stared down at him passively. "Hey."

"Heard you left this morning." He taunted, fist tightening around his briefcase. He had considered hiding that he was behind the whole shebang from her. But when she turned up her stubborn nose at him and ignored him, Eli decided he had enough. She was going to stay those hellish three months with him whether she liked it or not!

Marching into the mansion, he tossed his briefcase onto the floor. Ignoring the maids' greetings, he stormed up the stairs. Some things needed to be straightened out and he'd be damned if he didn't make Ivory understand. Furious, he stalked towards the balcony.

Ivory turned around when she heard his rapid footsteps and her eyes widened in fear and surprise. She hadn't expected Eli would come, heck she had been praying and hoping he would ignore her and she could have a night free of worries to herself.

Bracing herself as Eli neared her, she turned until she faced him fully and stuck her chin up stubbornly. That only seemed to anger the man before her. He stopped right in front of her, breathing harshly.

"You tried to leave." He accused, his green eyes flashing.

Ivory shrugged. "I had to. Besides I'm here aren't I?"

"Stop messing with me, Ivory!" He yelled causing her to lean away from him.

"I'm not messing with anyone! I just want to leave! Is that so bad?!" She retorted.

Eli growled. "Then what about the mandate?! What about Dad?!"

Her face burned in shame and she looked away. Working on building the cottage would mean working with Eli. And she couldn't bear it. "I can't Eli."

"Oh, you will Ivory." He said. "You will."

She frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Eli took a threatening step forward, flattening her against the balcony rail. His lips spread in a wide smile and slowly, he trailed a finger down her face. "It means, dear Ivory, that you won't be leaving me anytime soon."

Her pretty hazel eyes narrowed in slits. "I don't know what you're talking about Eli. And you're clearly delusional."

He laughed, stroking her cheek. "Ivory, you still don't get it, do you? The only way you'll get to go back to hoity-toity Oxford, is if we build Dad's cottage together. Because Ivory, there's no embassy in the USA, that'll accept an expired Visa."

Ivory's narrowed eyes slowly widened and she gasped. "You? It was you?!"

Elijah smiled and gave her a cocky grin before walking away, whistling.