Bound By By A Billionaire’s Will

Episode3

LEO CAVALLO STARED at the silhouette of the city through the tinted window of his office, but his mind was far away from the events that were happening on the street below him.

By now, the mail should have gotten to her. The legal team had sent a physical email of the will to the home address of all the interested parties. Leo had instructed his personal assistant to submit the address of one of his pseudonymous apartments to June Moore’spersonal file, but the fool forgot and submitted, and June’s copy had found its way to her parent’s home address.

Leo hadn’t anticipated that.

Still, it had been two weeks since the mail had been sent. If June had read it, she would have barged into his office, waving it at his face, pointing accusing fingers at him—acting loud and dramatic. That was the reaction he’d been expecting. The fact that she hadn’t reached out to him yet made him… uneasy.

He glanced down at the traffic below him.

Three months before he died, Giancarlo Gomez, his manipulative grandfather, had divided his fortune like a business deal laced with moral philosophy. Part of it would go to distant relatives, charity, and his only art protégé, June Moore.

Then, the sting. “If you don’t get married before you clock thirty,” the old man had said, “your share—The Cavallo Empire and all its subsidiaries—will go to June Moore.”

“June Moore, again? Who the hell is that? She isn’t affiliated with our family in any way, so how dare you will our fortune to her? Is she one of your brainless mistresses?”

Leo knew his grandfather didn’t keep mistresses, he just said that to spite him. In reality, he knew that the stipulation was a warning to him. He was twenty-eight years old. His grandfather wanted him to stop his wayward way of living, where he partied almost every night and kept women for s****l reasons only. It wasn’t enough to the old man that he, Leo, handled the Cavallo Empire with a ruthless fist. He wanted Leo to do that while carrying a family of his own.

If his parents hadn’t died in a car accident four years after he was born, Leo was sure that they would have given his grandfather more grandkids. That would have laid the old man off his back, but they hadn’t. And now, he was the only one carrying the family’s name, and his grandfather wanted to make sure that he didn’t let it die with him.

But Leo wasn’t ready to settle down. He wanted to enjoy life while he was still young. Later, he would think about having a family. Perhaps when he was forty.

He wasn’t the only with stipulations, though. June was to inherit Atelier Series, a small subsidiary, as well as a three-year grant, over a million dollars, from The Cavallo Empire. But June would only get her inheritance if she got married or had a child a year after she’d read her will. If she didn’t meet the requirement within that timeframe, her fortune would go to her parents.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

He’d been interested in knowing who June was. That was why he hired a private investigator to dig up her history. Because of that, he knew a lot about her.

She was born June Grande but changed her surname to Moore as soon as she was adopted. His P.I couldn’t find much about her birth parents since her father disappeared from her life when her mother was pregnant with her. Her mother abandoned her as well, three years after she gave birth to her.

June had been painting since she was five years old and got accepted to the Art School of New York through hard work and sheer determination alone. From what he’d heard about the school, it was extremely difficult for students to get accepted into art school. His opinion of her had changed after that. So, she wasn’t brainless after all.

Her will and educational background earned her a reputable spot in Lés Miserables, where her skills attracted his grandfather, who’d hired her as his personal artist.

A grainy photo, included in her file by his P.I, showed that she was twenty-five, tall and blonde with blue eyes. She was very attractive, for those who liked blondes with striking blue eyes.

What his Private Investigator hadn’t told him was the history between June and Clarissa Whitmore. He’d found out about it himself when he visited LésMiserables on the pretext of meeting his business associates. Because of that, he knew she’d been blacklisted. Something everyone considered a public humiliation.

When he attended the charity gala for disabled children, he saw Alex Brittan propose to Clarissa, and saw June create an awful scene.

He’d watched with satisfaction. Alex was nobody to him. It was only through pure luck that he’d heard he was June’s boyfriend and wanted to propose to her. When? He didn’t know. But he’d panicked. If June got engaged, she would take everything from him!

Another part of the will stipulated that if June fulfilled her own requirements first, she would inherit Leo’s fortune. His grandfather had tied their fate in the worst possible way.

Because of that, Leo had pretended to be friends with Alex, he involved him in business discussions and invited him to dinner parties. The poor guy had been thrilled, thinking his sudden engagement with him meant a promotion of some sort was in order.

Then, one night, he casually remarked that women like Clarissa, while they acted independently, were secretly submissive and didn’t bother their men with too much problems or question their authority. “Now, women like June Moore,” he’d added with a sad nod, “are sexually boring and independent for their own good.”

Knowing that Alex had a huge ego, Leo was certain he would take the bait. And he hadn’t been too surprised to see Alex studying his wine glass with a frown on his face.

A month later, he and Clarissa were secretly dating.

From the staircase, he’d watched June swear to destroy Alex and Clarissa. That was when he decided to step in. She was vulnerable and he knew she wanted back into Lés Miserables. He had the power to make that happen.

He would use that to start a conversation with her and keep her as his friend, just to know if there would be other guys in the picture. So that she would never be a step ahead of him.

That had been his plan anyway, until he’d looked into her baby blue eyes and felt something stir within him. Then, he’d heard himself offering to get her back into Lés Miserables if she went to bed with him. Surprisingly, she’d agreed.

He hadn’t expected to enjoy it, but he had. But after that night, he didn’t hear from her again until two months ago, to tell him she was pregnant.

His stomach had dropped.

Instead of keeping her far off from her terms, he’d helped her fulfill one of them. He cursed his male weakness.

“You can’t keep it,” he said.

She shrugged. “I expected you to say that, but why, if I may ask?”

He didn’t answer her question. “If you’re looking for a rich man to squeeze out financial support from, he’s not me.”

“I didn’t come here for that.”

Leo eyed her warily. “Then why are you here?”

“To remind you about our deal.”

“And what about the baby?”

“I won’t ask you to be in its life, if that’s what you want to know.”

“So, you’re keeping it?”

She looked at him as if he had two brains and still couldn’t figure out why one plus one equals two. “Of course,” she said.

Leo banged his fist against his smooth mahogany table. “And I said you can’t! What the hell is wrong with you?”

She took a step back, shocked at his outburst. “You can’t honestly expect me to kill a child,” she whispered.

“It’s mine, and that gives me every right to say you can.”

She took a deep breath. “Leo, the only reason why I’m here is to tell you to keep your own end of the bargain, not because I wanted to tell you that you are the father of my child. You had two months to do something, but you did nothing. If you had, you wouldn’t have seen me again, neither would you have known I was carrying your baby. I promise you, I intend to keep it that way. No one will ever know you’re its father. And,” she added mockingly, “the precious reputation you’re so intent on protecting will not be stained.”

Leo looked at her then, breathing hard and saying nothing. She didn’t know how close she was to winning the whole world while he lost it. Then, a thought occurred to him. He could still save himself.

“I’ve changed the terms of our... agreement. Do something about that child, and you’ll be welcome back into your beloved company.”

“What?” she said, shocked.

He smiled. “You heard me.”

“Are you crazy? That wasn’t the deal.”

“It is now.”

She stared at him, breathing slightly through her mouth. He recognized that emotion from the night she stormed out of the ballroom. She was angry and... helpless.

Then, suddenly, she closed her mouth and folded her arms. “If you don’t give me what I want, Leo, I’ll accuse you of rape.”

Leo shot up from his chair. Now, it was his turn to act shocked. There were four things that could ruin a man in the corporate world: bankruptcy, tax evasion, falsified reports, and r**e. “You wouldn’t dare,” he gritted.

“Try me.”

They both stood there, silently staring at each other. Waiting for one person to give in.

“June,” he said her name through clenched teeth. “If you don’t do something about that baby, I will.”

He saw an emotion flicker in her eyes. Did it hurt? But before he could examine it closely, she blinked and tossed him a card. “Here’s my address in case you change your mind.”

He hadn’t seen her since then. He’d hired two men to watch her, but they’d lost her. And now? There was nothing. It was as if she had disappeared.

He opened his encrypted messaging line: “Found anything yet?”

There was no reply.

He pocketed his phone and stared out the window. For the first time since his men lost her, Leo Cavallo wondered if he had underestimated her.

Badly.