The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress

Lorelai POV

"Lorelai, you look beautiful" Flair whispers as she puts the veil on top of my head and adjusts it for me.

"You really think so?" I asked uncertainly. "Do you think that Knox will like it?"

Flair giggles "Knox is going to love it because he loves you. It doesn't matter what he wears, I've never seen my brother in love so much as he is with you."

"The man is positively infatuated" agreed Rachel with a nod and a smirk as she adjusted her pale purple dress and put on her silver heels, "I'm jealous," she said, Waving her hand at her chest with a dramatic sigh.

"You have Timothy", Flair objected as Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but he's on a business trip, so that doesn't count" she retorted.

I laughed and stepped into my shoes. I wasn't comfortable with heels, so I chose some fancy ballet flats instead. "Smart," said Flair, eyeing them appreciatively, "that way your feet don't get sore when you're on them for most of the night."

"I just don't want to step on Knox's toes," I said with a giggle, "and I wanted to be comfortable."

I turned to Flair, "Thank you for the dress", I said gratefully. "I don't know where I would have found one so beautiful at such short notice. You're an amazing designer, you too, Rachel", I added.

Both women looked smug. "Damn right we are", Rachel said, batting her eyelids at me. "Don't you forget it. Knox won't be able to keep his hands off you tonight" she said, chuckling, while Flair nodded in agreement.

I blushed.

The dress was simple in design, but it fit me like a glove. It was strapless with a heart-shaped neckline containing diamontes that I suspected were actual diamonds, although I was too afraid to ask. It had boning at the front to give it a corset-style shape and a zip at the back. It went in tight at the waist and then flowed down to my ankles.It seems that some sentences in this chapter require you to read the complete chapters on Jo b n i b.com in order to avoid an incomplete reading experience. The color was pure white and the dress was covered in little sparkling diamonds. Especially along the hem. I felt like a princess from a fairytale. When I had first seen it, I had tried to protest, knowing it was extremely expensive, but Flair had given me no choice. "My gift to you" she had said, and I had no choice but to accept it.

I was glad I had. I have never felt more beautiful in my life. I left my hair cascading loosely down my back, knowing Knox preferred it that way and my makeup more natural. My dreams were coming true.

"We should go and get ready," Flair said to Rachel as I stared in the mirror, "we have to go out first, remember", she reminded her friend.

"I'll be out in a minute," I told them, but they didn't even have time to open the door before it was rudely shoved open, forcing both girls to take a step backward as I turned indignantly.

"Excuse me, I don't know who you think you are" I began furiously, as Flair began to shake her head at me and Rachel's eyes widened.

I was looking down at the barrel of a gun. Held by none other than my biological father, my mother beside him. Flair and Rachel moved to stand beside me, trembling.

"Looks like we've got three dumb socialites in our grasp" my father smirks, while I stand there mutely. "We can ransom all three of them, honey, think about that," he says, while my mother smiles tightly.

"Forget about it. We just want her" she says, nodding towards me as my stomach churns "That son of a b***h was so rude to us before. Good thing we got paid anyway" she mumbled, "all we have to do is what they asked and then leave. Hurry, before security realizes that we're here" she snarled. "They're going to change shift any minute, and we'll be discovered."

My father flattens his lips and looks mutinous but nods reluctantly. We're in a spare room I used to get ready and there's a large closet in the corner. "Get in", he motions to Flair and Rachel.

Rachel opens the wardrobe and reluctantly gets inside. Flair joins her. My father hands the gun to my mother, and she brandishes it at me as I fight to keep myself calm. I can't attack her and risk the safety of my unborn child, or Flair and Rachel's lives either. I'm forced to watch as he drags a dresser across and puts it in front of the closet, effectively trapping the two girls inside. He takes the gun back off of my mother. "Come on", he growls, and my mother grabs my arm, digging her nails in "Let's go."

She drags me out to the hallway. It's empty. The servants are busy preparing for the reception that's to take place after the ceremony, and I'm assuming the bodyguards are doing shift change. My mother continues to drag me with her towards the stairs. I could scream for help, but my father put the gun firmly in the small of my back, causing me to rethink my options.

"Try it, and I'll put a bullet in you. I know you're pregnant" he hisses, and my heart sinks.

The gold ring on his finger gleamed brightly in the light. We passed by mine and Knox's bedroom. I swallow hard. Once I'm downstairs, it's only a small matter of going out the back entrance, and then I'm gone. Knox won't know what happened to me, not until he brings up the surveillance tapes. I glance wildly around, hoping that somebody, a servant, will spot us but with no such luck. "Who paid you?" my tone is even.

"If you must know a certain Abigail Stevens", my mother snapped and my father glared at her.

She shrugs. "Who cares, she's going to find out anyway once we get her back to the location."

Abigail. Somehow I'm not surprised, but part of me had suspected it was Karen. I guess I had more enemies than I anticipated. We reached the foot of the stairs and I hesitated.

My father jabs me in the back with the gun. "Move" he snarls.

I reluctantly take a step but then hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet. I frowned, clutching at the balustrade. My father turns, scowling. Something flew towards his face. Midnight. He's biting at the gold ring on my father's finger. My father begins to violently swing his arm around, panicking as Midnight scratches and claws at him. It's almost comical.

Now's my chance. I begin to fly down the steps, but my mother yanks me back. "Where do you think you're going" she hisses, turning me around.

My father is still tussling with the ferret. He flings his arm out and the gun goes flying, landing at the base of the stairs. "Get off me, you f*****g animal" my father grunts.novelbin

Midnight lands on the floor and winds between his legs. My father stumbles and then falls, hitting his head on the balustrade. I hear a sickening cracking noise as he falls to the ground. My mother gapes, looking petrified, and then glances at me and then the gun. I read her mind and as she tries to run past me, I do something I never thought I was capable of. I do the unforgivable. I scream, a sound that is wild and filled with desperation, and shove with all my strength, pushing out with both arms.

For a moment, I thought that I'd failed as she managed to keep her balance. Slowly, the look of triumph on her face changes as her foot slips from beneath her, and she tumbles, rolling over and over again until she rests her body contorted into various positions like a human pretzel. There's blood coming from a large gash on her head. My hand shakily reaches out for the balustrade and I sink down onto my knees, putting a hand to my mouth, even as Mr Grant and Knox come racing in. Knox takes the steps two at a time, while Mr Grant stops to check my mother's pulse, a grim expression on his face.

Knox cups my cheek "Are you okay?" he asks urgently.

Mr Grant rushes past to check my father's condition. I nodded blankly, staring up at Knox dazed "Flair and Rachel, they're locked in the closet", I remember suddenly, trying to get to my feet. "We have to go get them."

He pushes me gently down "in a minute."

He met his father's eyes. I saw Mr Grant give an imperceptible shake of his head. Somehow, the fact my parents are dead doesn't fill me with as much grief as I expected. Knox meets his father's eyes. I hear the sound of an ambulance, "lan's been shot" he says, as I stiffen and Mr Grant looks panicked.

"Go", Knox urges his father as he hesitates. "I'll get Flair and Rachel and then meet you at the hospital. Lorelai" he looked at me as I stared at him wearily, feeling tired to my very soul "I'm sorry, but the wedding will have to wait."

A bodyguard sits next to me as Knox goes in search of his sister and his friend. He releases them while Grayson makes his way inside, shocked at the events. Flair flings herself into his arms as he hugs her tight. Tears were streaming in her eyes. Rachel is shaken up and accepts the offer of a lift home with security. I continue to sit and then stand up, still in my wedding gown. I give Knox a meaningful look as he begins to debate with Flair about what to do.

"Let's go," I said, expressionless.

"Lorelai, you've had a shock" he begins. "Your parents are dead, and you had a gun pointed at you. I can't just leave you..." he trails off.

I interrupted, "Your brother is in the hospital and that's what's important right now, not them," I said scornfully, glaring down at where the bodies were still lying even as the authorities began to usher everybody away from the crime scene." Please, Knox, he's all that I care about right now," I told him determinedly, as Flair began to head out the door with her husband in tow "Everything else can wait."

If lan died, I would never forgive myself. This happened because of Abigail Stevens and because of me. Knox offered no more protests as we began to rush to the car. The bond between brothers was strong, but even I knew that Knox would not survive the loss of his brother. Not this way. I held his hand and prayed, wishing I could turn back time and start the day over again, even as Knox quietly began to explain how lan's injury had occurred. Ian had saved his brother's life but at what cost? Later we would find out that it cost more than we had ever known, and lan would never fully be the same again.