The English Billionaire

Chapter 34

Milton chatted the whole way to the hotel, pointing out stores and other landmarks along the car ride. Alison and Gerald kept asking questions about the things Milton brought up and he would give them such crazy answers that it made everyone in the car laugh.

"And this is a wonderful statue called El Gato," Milton was saying pointing at a very fat cat statue out of the window.

"What's the inspiration behind it?" Gerald piped up.

Milton grinned, looking like a court jester who held the fascination of the entire court in his hand. "Well," he said, I could see the story spinning in his eyes as he paused for dramatic effect. "In the year 1004 there was only one cat in Spain. He was so cute that everyone wanted to own and love him but he was greedy so he would go from home to home living with one family for a period of time and then moving on to the next family. Then one day, the family he was staying with left an entire pork roast on—"

"Mil," Landon said with an amused look, "we're here." He opened the door of the car and hopped out. I followed still smiling from the silly stories that Milton had come up with. I could still hear Milton chatting about the fat cat as everyone filed into the hotel lobby.

There's only one way to describe it: extravagantly huge. Everything was shining it was so clean and marble seemed to be the only surface that the architect could use. Chris had separated himself from Forest's side and made his way to the front desk where a man in a black suit stood. Landon stopped by a large pillar and since I was following him I stopped too.

"It's really something," he said, he must have noticed my gaping at the tall ceiling and expensive furniture. "Although Forrest would much rather not have to stay somewhere like this," he added shooting a glance at the billionaire who was chatting with Milton, Alison and Gerald laughing at something Milton had said. "He's always liked the idea of not having to live like the whole world is watching him."

I was surprised and looking over at Landon. He looked lost in thought. "How did you two meet?" The question was out before I could think.

Landon looked away from his two friends and shrugged. "We've known each other for a while. Childhood friends."

"Oh," I said, understanding dawning on me. Forrest's family wasn't always rich, he was the one who had invented the Air Riders, the 15 million dollar flying cars. He was a child prodigy and had come into money quickly. "That's cool." I didn't really know what else to say.

Landon shrugged, "yeah, I've been here almost as long as Chris, and that's saying something." A half laugh, "those two came out of the womb and attached themselves to each other." He looked down at me and raised his eyebrows quickly, seeming to shake off the subject. "Ready to do some global service?"

I smiled, that must be a hard subject. Landon must have seen Forest go through some serious highs and lows. Being thrust in the global spot light and then losing your parents must have been horrible. I'd let the subject dodging slide.

"¡Sí!."