Wednesday, 8:05 am
Buried in my bed sheets, my phone woke me with its incessant buzzing. I blindly reached for it without success and cursed as I reluctantly opened my eyes and began sorting through my blankets looking for the damn thing. During the process, my phone stopped which made it harder to find. The entire time, I had to remind myself where I was and what had happened over the last five days. Inheriting billions of dollars, buying a company, and fucking numerous hot women who threw themselves at you was something that most people could only dream about, so it took a bit of convincing that I had received a lapdance and blowjob from my ridiculously hot assistant last night.
I finally located my phone and glanced at it to see a missed call from Helen and a text:
'Turn on the news. Doesn't matter which network.'
I grabbed the remote, turned on the television, and scrolled through the channels till I found the first one that resembled a news network. A blonde, blue-eyed woman was in the middle of a report with a picture of my grandfather's face superimposed next to her.
"...cause of death hasn't been confirmed, but officials say that at this time, there is no indication of anything other than natural causes. What has much of the country on edge though is the burning question of who Gerrard left his estate to."
"That's right Melody," a man said and then the camera panned to focus on him.
"For years, it's been left up to speculation on who would inherit the Gerrard empire. It's no secret that there was a rift between one of the wealthiest men in the US and his children."
The screen cut away from the news reporter to show a clip from an old interview of Colin Gerrard speaking to an off-screen interviewer, "Have you decided who is going to take over your controlling shares at Gerrard Holdings?"
Colin leaned forward, his hands steepled in front of him and bushy eyebrows drawn low in consternation. "Well, I can sooner tell you who it won't be," Colin said. His voice had the raspiness of a man who had smoked most of his life.
"So you don't know?" the interviewer asked.
"'I can't say at this time' would be more accurate," Colin responded.
The screen cut back to the male reporter, "However, an anonymous source has confirmed with the Affiliated Outlet who is to receive the keys to the Gerrard kingdom."
An image of my face flashed on the screen next to the newscaster, and I immediately sprung to my feet on the California King mattress.
"Oh fuck!"
"Marcus Leonard Upton has been named the sole heir of the Gerrard empire."
"Shit!"
"The estate, which includes several companies across the entertainment, technological, hospitality, and fuel industries makes this man one of the wealthiest in the United States."
"What the fucking fuck!?"
I jumped off the bed and started searching for my clothes. My phone screen was already on Helen's text, so I hit the call button.
"Economists estimate Marcus' net worth to be around seven billion dollars."
"Wait. What?"
"Hi Marcus."
Helen answered the phone without the usual husky tone in her voice. This was business Helen, which I needed.
"Helen, what the actual fuck?" I said, hopping around on one foot as I tried to throw on the pants from yesterday. Remaining in my underwear while I was being outed to the entire world as a billionaire felt too vulnerable.
"I don't know, Marcus," Helen said. I could hear her furiously typing away at a keyboard. We're looking into it right now. The break-in and the leak both happening yesterday can't be a coincidence. Someone obviously has it in for you. I know you didn't want the news to spread, but that ship has sailed, so we should commit our resources to damage control and finding out who did this and why."
There was a knock on my door and I snatched my shirt off the bed before going to answer it.
"Who is it," I yelled through the door.
"Erin!" came a muffled response.
"Who is it?" Helen asked over the phone.
"It's Erin," I replied as I threw open the door.
Erin stood in the doorway looking completely different than she had last night. It was hard to do anything other than stand and gape. Her exotically colored hair had been pulled back in a loose bun that left strands of hair falling loose around her face in a subtly messy style. It looked more artistic than sloppy. A pair of thick-rimmed glasses framed her big, dark-brown eyes and magnified them slightly. Her makeup had been reapplied - a dark shade of lipstick, black eyeliner, and a bit of blush that gave her a hint of goth, while remaining on the correct side of looking professional. She wore a suit jacket left open to show a loose cream blouse underneath that showed off almost no cleavage and a pair of pants that did a magnificent job of accentuating her small, tight ass and hips. It was all complimented by a pair of heels that added an extra two inches to her height. She was the perfect blend of professional and sexy.
She didn't look me up and down and give me the shit-eating grin she'd given me last night despite me being bare-chested. Instead, she pressed one of the two coffees she held in my free hand and brushed past me to enter the room.
"Good morning sir. Hot latte with an extra shot, two pumps of cream, and one sugar... just how you like it." She glanced at the phone pressed to my face, "Is that Helen?"
"Yeah," I said, suddenly remembering I was on a call with my lawyer dealing with the fact that I'd barely been able to hang onto the biggest secret in my life for less than a week.
"Good," she said, glancing over my shoulder at the open door to the bedroom. We could see the news on the tv from where we were standing. "I take it you've seen the news?"
I nodded.
"Has Erin seen the news?" Helen asked.
