To her surprise, she didn’t see any sex worker – actually, she didn’t see any woman at all. Instead, June – still in uniform – was lying on the bed, apparently half-asleep, as well.

He looked at Jennifer with surprise. “Are you calling me a whore, khun Jennifer? I know a lot of Thai men are gay, but hey! I’m not, okay? I didn’t sleep with your husband – I swear!”

Jennifer heaved a sigh of relief as her hands covered her face. “Oh my God, it’s you June! I’m so confused!”

She turned to look at Bruce. “What the hell? There are no girls with you. Why did you scare me like that? What’s wrong with you?”

Bruce put his finger on his lips to tell Jennifer to lower her voice. “Ssshh... easy princess!”

Then, he simply shrugged. “You asked me if there was anybody with me. Yes, there is! YOU concluded it was a woman...”

Jennifer rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Fine... so tell me what happened – how did you guys end up in the same bed?”

“I was too drunk last night, and Kenichi told June to drive me back. Taxi drivers can be tricky sometimes, especially when they see a drunken foreigner.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that, definitely. That’s very thoughtful of him.” Jennifer looked at June. “Thank you, June. I really appreciate. It was probably safer for Bruce to be with you.”

Bruce continued, “June is actually on vacation and will go back to see his family this afternoon. I knew the poor guy was tired as hell, plus the bus station to go to his province is very close to the hotel. So I told him to come up and sleep here.”

“Exactly. Thank you again, khun Bruce.” June said, bending his head out of gratitude.

Bruce shook his head. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing, really.”

“Alright guys, I’m sorry.” Jennifer said, calming down and taking a deep breath. “It’s still early, let’s go have breakfast. June, you still have time, right? I’m starving.”

Jennifer went back to her room and got dressed, while the boys were doing the same. Fifteen minutes later, the three of them met around a table with continental breakfast.

Jennifer tried to get to know June a bit better, and asked him all sorts of questions about his background, his life, and his plans for the future. Bruce could barely keep his eyes opened and simply listened.

June was 28, just like Jennifer, and had a little 2-year-old girl waiting for him in his province and living with his parents. The mother of the girl had died when the baby was born, and June couldn’t take care of her due to his irregular schedule as a personal chauffeur. Money wasn’t a problem – Kenichi paid him well – but it was about lack of time, so June preferred to see his daughter being raised by her grandparents.

June didn’t seem very comfortable talking about his private life and quickly changed the topic. He asked Bruce, “Are you sure you can drive with the steering wheel on the right? I know it can be quite confusing for Americans. You must be careful.”

Jennifer opened her eyes wide open. “What? Are you going to drive? Why?”

Bruce made an effort to find his words. “Well, it’s... yes, I mean... June will go to visit his family today, right? But the car is still here, parked I don’t know where, but it’s there. We can’t just leave it like that, so I said I would drive it back to Kenichi. It’s the least I can do after all he’s done for me.”

“You know how to get to his place?”

“Yes, I remember the way. Plus, there’s a GPS. I mean, it’s about being courteous. I don’t want Kenichi to send another of his men just to pick up the car, when I’m able to do it.”

Jennifer seemed a bit concerned. “I totally agree, but look at yourself, Bruce; you’re still drunk, it’s obvious. I mean, I can see it so clearly, the way you stand, the way you talk, everything.”

Bruce looked at her, with the only eye he could open. “Stop babysitting me. I’m fine. I can do it, okay?”

Jennifer stopped talking, unwilling to make Bruce upset. They all finished their breakfast in silence and went near the elevators.

“So what’s the plan now?” Jennifer asked.

“I need to take the car key upstairs.” Bruce said. “June’s bags are in my room too.”

Jennifer waited for them in the lobby, at the reception, still wondering if it was a good idea to let Bruce drive in his condition. Indeed, when she saw them getting out of the elevator, Bruce wasn’t walking straight and looked very bad.

“Let me go with you to the car. It’s a bit difficult to find, and it will be easier if I show you directly.” June said. The three of them walked out of the hotel and went behind the mall, where the car was parked.

As they approached the vehicle, June extended his arm to give the key to Bruce who dropped it, and the key fell on the floor. Bruce tried to lean toward the key but lost his balance. June and Jennifer quickly caught him just before his head was about to hit another car’s side mirror.

Jennifer looked at June. “Please, you can’t let him drive like this. He won’t listen to me, say something. Please.”

June seemed to be concerned, as well. “Khun Bruce, I think your wife is right. It’s not a good idea to let you drive in Bangkok in this condition. You better rest. It’s still early - I can drive back to Mr. Sakamura’s place and still catch my bus. Don’t worry, it’s okay. Mai pen rai krap.”

Jennifer tried to convince Bruce. “Did you hear him? No driving for you today. We get back to our room and you sleep. It’s really safer this way.”

“Fine, let’s do that. Sorry, June! I hope you won’t miss your bus or be late because of me.”

June bent his head and joined his hands to his forehead to say goodbye to Bruce and Jennifer, who waved at him. “Thank you! Be careful and kiss your little girl for us!”

Bruce and Jennifer waited for June to get in the car and turned around to go back to the hotel as soon as he closed the door. They heard him starting the engine and suddenly, a huge explosion made them jump and fall on the ground.

They were temporarily deaf, but could still hear all the cars’ alarms around them. It was chaos – there was a huge fire with black smoke coming out of Kenichi’s car. June was definitely dead – there was no way he could have survived such an explosion – and there was almost nothing left of the car.

Jennifer was shaking and crying, completely shocked and unable to say anything. Bruce’s jaw dropped and he looked at her with terror.

“Someone tried to kill me...”

To Be Continued

What happened behind the scenes? Who was supposed to be in the car? Bruce is a strong man but even billionaires have their limits. How is he going to deal with the situation?

Jennifer’s love for Bruce will be put to the test: she will be tempted to look elsewhere and Bruce’s difficulties won’t make it easy for both of them. Do they have a future together?

Find out what happens in book #4

Excerpt:

As much as she wanted to believe him, she was still careful about it. Bruce originally wanted to kill the man and that was something Jennifer had a hard time accepting. She did understand the anger he felt towards him but she didn’t approve his willingness to go that far. She couldn’t imagine Bruce murdering someone, even if he didn’t actually do it himself.

He was perfect in many regards but at the same time, he had something deep inside of him that she had never suspected: he could be very cold-blooded and dangerous. It was a dark side of him she was experiencing for the very first time. Bruce was a billionaire but beyond the fancy and glamorous lifestyle, there was something frightening about him. Could he really be a murderer? Or was he simply fantasizing about it? He was definitely an intriguing, mysterious and dark man...

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