My Dutch Billionaire 2 Read online

  MY DUTCH BILLIONAIRE

  (Willem & Serenity, Part 2)

  by Marian Tee

  About My Dutch Billionaire, Part 2

  He’s Willem de Konigh. 33 years old. A coldly handsome, excruciatingly polite Dutch billionaire who’s always gotten what he wanted. Only this time, he realizes that what he wants the most is the one girl he’s overlooked and taken for granted.

  She’s Serenity Raleigh. 19 years old. A painfully insecure childhood friend of the billionaire who used to love him from afar…until she realized that it would never work between them.

  But things have suddenly changed.

  Willem now wants her back in his life. In his arms. In his bed.

  And he’s willing to play by her rules to make it happen.

  This is Book 2 of Willem and Serenity’s love story.

  Want More Hot Alpha Billionaire and Biker Romances from Marian Tee?

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  Standalone Novels

  Captivated: 4-in-1 Friends Romance Boxed Set – Enjoy four standalone romances between passionate, domineering billionaires and the women who were their friends first before becoming their lovers.

  All stories have either happy-ever-after or happy-for-now endings.

  His Fair Lady – Prince Julian knows the blind fortune teller Cass is everything he wants in a woman, but she can never be his bride.

  Greek Billionaire Romance Serials

  24-year-old school teacher Mairi, a hopeless romantic, thinks all her dreams will come true with Greek billionaire Damen Leventis. Problem is, he only wants her as a mistress.

  The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire (FREE!)

  The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Loving a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Forgiving a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Wedding a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Kissing a Greek Billionaire (FREE!)

  Schoolteacher Velvet enters into a marriage of convenience but is too proud to tell her Greek billionaire husband it’s because she’s in love with him.

  The Greek Billionaire and I

  24-year-old Willow is an ill-mannered junior editor.

  27-year-old Stavros Manolis is a conservative Greek billionaire. They have nothing in common except…that one night they had with each other.

  The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary (FREE)

  Dear Greek Billionaire

  Love, Your Greek Billionaire

  Forever and Ever, My Greek Billionaire

  Mediterranean Affairs

  (Greek Billionaire Romance Mini-Series)

  A Fling with the Greek Billionaire – Furious over his lover’s deception, control freak billionaire Nik is determined to teach the free-spirited Daria a lesson on revenge.

  Prequel

  Standalone

  The Greek Billionaire and the Nanny – Coming Soon!

  Prequel

  Standalone

  The De Konighs (Dutch Billionaire Romances)

  My Dutch Billionaire (A Trilogy) – Serenity was fourteen. Willem was twenty-eight. She was the black sheep in her family, while he was the Dutch billionaire every girl wanted to marry. She wanted him to be hers, but he was dating her older sister. And so she tried to forget.

  Book 1

  Book 2

  Book 3

  Eternally Seduced: Contemporary Romance (7-in-1) Boxed Set

  How Not to be Seduced by Billionaires (4 parts) – 24-year-old Yanna has old-fashioned ideals about love, and all of it are put to the test when her CEO billionaire boss, Constantijin Kastein – also Netherlands’ #1 Playboy – sets out to seduce her.

  (Chased: Part 1 can be downloaded for free).

  How Not to be Seduced by Rockstars (2 parts) – All eccentric senator’s daughter Saffi wants is a taste of freedom when she attends a concert disguised as an experienced groupie. But she gets more than she bargains for when Staffan Aehrenthal – also Sweden’s #1 Sex God – picks her out from the crowd.

  (Note: The Rockstar and His Fangirl is a short story on Saffi & Staffan, and sold separately.)

  How Not to be Seduced by Dukes – Although Mary’s determined to resist the charms of the Duke of Wellesley – also England’s #1 Heartthrob – fate decides otherwise, and Mary suddenly finds herself an ordinary college student by day, and the duke’s mistress at night.

  (Note: The sequel, The Ice Around My Heart, is sold separately.)

  Warning: Love Moderately (BBW Billionaire New Adult College Romance)

  Derek and Jaike have always hidden the truth about themselves. But when they meet – it’s not just explosive chemistry. One look, and it’s undeniable. Even if they’re too young, they know. He’s meant to be her Master, and she’s meant to be his Sub.

  Unwillingly Yours (FREE!)

  Meant to Be Yours

  Heart Racer: BIKER Romance Series

  Leandro & Bobby’s Story (2 parts) – A young billionaire biker chooses a snarky do-gooder to be his pretend girlfriend.

  Heart Racer (FREE!)

  Driven by Love

  Helios & MJ’s Story (3 parts) - Even though he's commitment-phobic, the aloof president of a billion-dollar bike racing club finds himself jealous of the "secret crush" of a tomboyish camera-wielding first-year student.

  Swish (FREE!)

  Burn

  Click

  Kellion & Aria (Standalone) – Aria’s content living her life alone, shut off from the world, but when bad boy Kellion Argyros starts following her wherever she goes, it’s impossible not to start living…and impossible not to start falling for him.

  Yuri & Kalli (Standalone) – He’s the angel amongst Greek devils. She’s the heiress who isn’t quite okay, isn’t quite…normal. Even so, Kalli hopes that when they meet again, Yuri would take one look at her and love her, like he had promised.

  Play With Me: A Sports Romance Series

  All Lace Wyndham wants is to be an NBA coach.

  All bad boy billionaire Silver March wants is HER.

  It’s not a match made in heaven, but since he already had his heart stolen, Silver is willing to do whatever it takes – bribe, deceive, manipulate – to make Lace realize the inevitable: It’s his name she’ll be crying out…every night.

  Play With Me

  This Round I’m Yours

  The Art of Claiming an Alpha: My Werewolf Bodyguard (Paranormal Romance)

  Human-slash-pack-princess Calys is a toughie, but she still needs the help of the powerful, dominant, and gorgeous werewolf Alejandro Moretti to be an ‘alpha’. Unfortunately, he wants her body in exchange for her help.

  Wolf Fight (FREE!)

  Wolf Games

  Wolf Kisses

  The Master and His Soul Seer Pet: New Adult College Vampire Romance

  Life isn’t easy for 18-year-old Zari. As a soul seer, she sees visions of dead people as well as those who are about to die. As a human pet, she struggles to control her feelings for her Master, the powerful, gorgeous, and mysterious vampire Alexandru, who’s in love with someone else.

  Ensnared (FREE!)

  Beholden

  Reviled

  Unclaimed

  My Werewolf Professor

  What I know about Alessandro Moretti: he’s the most beautiful professor alive, and I’m his plainest student. I need to let him know I want him, even if he’s likely to dump me. What I don’t know about Alessandro Moretti: he’s a werewolf…and he may just want me, too.

  My Werewolf Professor 1

  My Werewolf Professor: 4-in-1 Boxed Set

  Thank you to everyone who sent me messages about wanting to read more of Willem and Serenity.

 
You were my inspiration.

  MY DUTCH BILLIONAIRE

  (Willem & Serenity, Part 2)

  by Marian Tee

  Copyright 2015 by Streak Digital Publishing

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Playlist

  Hiding Inside Myself (Cover by Gail Blanco)

  Looking through the Eyes of Love (Cover by Regine Velasquez)

  In My Life (Cover by Gail Blanco)

  The Way We Were (Barbra Streisand)

  PROLOGUE

  Twenty-two years ago

  Eleven-year-old Willem de Konigh’s backside stung painfully. He had a humiliatingly childish urge to cry, but he struggled to deny it. He fought hard to keep his gaze steady, his face expressionless.

  Behind him, his father grunted, and Willem stiffened in preparation.

  But it still took him by surprise.

  It always did, the feel of the buckle of his father’s belt slamming hard, latching onto his skin, and his fists clenched tightly against his side.

  It lasted for another seven minutes – he had counted it by the second to distract himself from the pain – before Willem heard his father sigh in satisfaction.

  It was over.

  But he remained still on his feet, knowing that it could be a trick. The one time he had tried to leave right away, thinking the silence meant his father had succumbed to a drunken stupor, Edgar had beaten him to an inch of his life, and Willem had to ask for a week’s absence from school.

  He had made sure not to repeat the mistake after that.

  The seconds ticked by. Willem dimly thought that his backside might be bleeding. If it were, then he would have to wash the stains off his pants himself. Edgar would be furious if any of the staff found out about his beatings.

  A full minute passed.

  Edgar started to snore.

  Fear clenched inside him, but Willem forced himself to take a step. But his foot had barely landed on the floor when he heard his father start to laugh. “You stupid boy. You thought it would be over just like that?”

  A kick landed on Willem’s back, and as he fell down, he felt it—

  His father stepping on the end of his spine, grinding his shoe down on Willem’s body like he wanted to crush his son.

  A cry escaped Willem.

  His father laughed harder.

  And the beating started again.

  By the time Edgar passed out, it was nearly dawn, and Willem was forced to half-crawl, half-stumble towards his father’s desk in his pain. Now was his chance, he thought dizzily. While his father and the whole house were sleeping, none of the adults on his father’s payroll would be able to know what he was doing. No one would be able to stop him until it was too late.

  When Willem reached his father’s desk, he gripped the edges tightly and used it to pull himself up. Tears stung his eyes at the pain every little movement caused, but he ignored it, not wanting to waste a second.

  He dialed a number he had risked life and death to find out, and when the call connected, he said with hoarse determination, “My name is Willem de Konigh, grandson to the Queen of Contini. My life and my siblings’ are in danger, and it is important we speak to her immediately.”

  ****

  Wilhemina wanted to weep at the photos of her grandson’s injuries. A dark rainbow of colors had been imprinted on his back, all the way down to his legs, and she couldn’t imagine the strength it had taken for the eleven-year-old boy to withstand all the beatings and not ask for help…until now.

  “I wonder what I’ve done in my past life,” she said bitterly to her adviser, “to be cursed with children who are either spineless or conscienceless.”

  Egbert wisely said nothing. The Queen of Contini, while a devoted mother, had also been harsh and strict in the way she had reared her children. Instead of instilling love, she had inspired fear and resentment in them, and these feelings had only festered as they grew up.

  The queen’s hands shook as she finally lowered the photos back to the desk. “Where are Edgar and his wife?”

  “They have been requested to remain in their residence while this matter is sought out.”

  Her lip curled. “You mean, he tried to leave and you had to use security?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  Wilhemina massaged her temples. “You’ve questioned him, yes?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “And everything the boy said was true?”

  “It took considerable time and certain manipulation to have him speak the truth, but yes, Your Majesty, every word of Master Willem’s story is, sadly, true.”

  The queen’s face became rigid at the confirmation. “I see.” Her eyes took on a faraway look as Wilhemina tried to put herself in her grandson’s shoes.

  It had started when Edgar suspected his wife of cheating and of their youngest, Nicolaas, a bastard and fathered by one of his wife’s lovers. He had gotten drunk every night afterward, and his alcoholic stupors would often send him into a mad fury. He had wanted to beat someone, and Willem had been the most convenient punching bag.

  Willem had done his best to tolerate the beatings because he knew that if he spoke out, Edgar could send him to boarding school and then his younger siblings would be forced to bear the brunt of their father’s anger. But lately, Edgar had become moodier and unreasonable, and last night when Willem had to forcibly bar his father from entering the young Nic’s room, Willem had known it would never stop. He had needed to ask for help, and so he had called his grandmother.

  But he shouldn’t even have had to ask, Wilhemina thought in despair. Guilt rested heavily on her shoulders, a burden she knew she would carry to the grave. She should have known. Dear Lord, she should have known. But she had been too blind, too busy – oh Lord, it was the same cycle all over again. She had ignored her children’s needs for the sake of the kingdom, and look where they were now. And she was doing it again with these innocent children!

  She closed her eyes, feeling much older than her fifty-eight years. How was it that running the kingdom had always been a black-and-white issue to her, something she had been able to instinctively master.

  And yet with her family, with those born of her blood, she remained clueless as a newborn babe.

  Even though she felt it was too late to change her ways, there was still time left for her grandson.

  Squaring her shoulders, she asked, “Where is Willem now?”

  “St. Anne’s, Your Majesty. His identity has been kept private, and security is posted outside his room round the clock.”

  “He’s conscious?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Good.” Coming to her feet, she started pacing her office, a tool that had long proven effective in helping her think. And right now, she had many, many decisions to make, choices that – once made official – would have irrevocable effects.

  “I want you, Egbert, to fly to Amsterdam and personally deliver a message for me.” Too many tongues would wag if she made a personal visit to Willem, and she didn’t think her rather reserved grandson would appreciate such interest.

  “Tell Willem that from this day forward, he has my official protection and his parents will be duly informed about this. He and his younger siblings will never have anything to fear again.” When the royal adviser only continued looking at her expectantly, the queen lifted a brow. “You may go now.”

  Egbert was surprised. “T-that’s it, Your Majesty?” Unspoken was his confusion as to why the queen, who was one of the most powerful women on earth, did not offer to take the children in.

  The queen shook her head, saying softly “It’s a surprise to me how, after all these years of working for me, you are able
to remain naïve and kindhearted.” Sighing heavily, she continued, “If it suits your conscience, you may ask him if he and his siblings would like to join me at the palace. You may even command him, but I will tell you now, my dear adviser, that boy will refuse.”

  “He’d be crazy to,” Egbert argued.

  “Not crazy, no, just raised differently. He knows that him and the other children coming to the palace would create a scandal, and he doesn’t want that. He knows where his duties lie.” Wilhemina’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s what makes him a true de Konigh, but I’m afraid it also makes him too much like me. Someone who does not – and will not – love too easily.”

  Chapter One

  Present time

  The barest amount of sun peeked behind Serenity as she stacked her bike’s wire basket with her essentials. Her bike was a black classic, old but well maintained, and a custom-designed pink-ribbon mask wrapped around the bike’s stem was the only clue to its owner’s feminine tastes.

  Straightening when she was done, she ran her fingers over the handlebars and gave the seat a pat. “Ready for a run, Femke?” She closed her eyes and could almost imagine her bike nodding and humming serenely while waiting for her to get on.

  A smile played on Serenity’s lips at the fanciful direction her thoughts had taken, but even so, she found herself nodding back as she straddled the seat and placed her foot on the pedal.