Redeeming The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport, #5)

Prepared to put it back, she folded it up. Before she dropped the paper inside what had been underneath it caught her eye, a neat spiral bound binder with the name Miranda Bergman typed under a picture. More curious than anything, she picked it up and found a similar one under it with the name Vanessa Mitchell under a photo. Without a second thought, she picked that one up as well as a third and final one with the name Serena Tasca on the cover. As she held the final slim binder, a manila file folder, which had been stuck to the bottom of it, fell onto the desk. When she saw the name Addison Raimono hand printed in bold black letters on the side tab, she stopped breathing.

Sitting down, she pushed the other binders off to the side and opened the folder with her name on it. Her hand shook as she read the top page, which listed her basic personal information such as her birthday and address. Unable to stop herself, she turned the page and read more. Each page she read added to the file’s mysterious purpose. It contained everything from where she’d been born and gone to school, to when her family had first immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s. There were pages documenting her work history, her driving record and even her credit score.

When she reached the end of the file she closed it. When had he gotten such information and why would he want it? Had he done a background check on her when they first started dating to make sure he could trust her? To make sure she wasn’t someone out to use him for his money? Wealthy people signed prenups for that reason. Maybe he’d thought to protect himself long before they approached that stage. Was that what those other binders were about as well? Had he dated those women too in the past?

Should she read those? Addie chewed on her nail and eyed the stack. They might contain the same kind of personal information her file did. “They’re none of my business,” she said even as she picked up the top one and studied the cover. A picture of an attractive twenty-something-year-old woman with dark brown hair occupied the corner space, the name Serena Tasca underneath. Neither the name nor the face rang any bells, but the picture on another one did. Miranda Bergman, a woman close to Addie’s age, had begun to hit media headlines when Addie had been in high school. The sole heiress to an international restaurant chain, her father also owned a professional sports team, and for a short time she’d been engaged to a wealthy Greek businessman’s son. With slow movements, she opened the binder. The first page was similar to the one in her file. It contained Miranda’s birthday, parent’s name, and several address around the country. The binder also went on to list Miranda’s educational background and hobbies. Unlike her own, Miranda’s credit score and driving record were not mentioned. Instead, her estimated net worth glared back at her. What surprised Addie more than anything else in the report was the benefit analysis near the end. She’d never seen anything quite like it and the more she read it, the less it made sense.

Curious if the other two binders contained a similar analysis, she reached for Serena’s file again. This one too contained a boatload of information as well as the same bizarre analysis. Addie skipped the third one altogether. Even without looking she knew what she’d find. Her hands shaking, she stacked everything back up only then noticing the date in the bottom right hand corner of the cover page, July 8 one week after he bumped into her outside the bakery. In fact all three had the same date, killing her idea that these were all women Trent had dated in the past.