Billionaire On Fire: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (45 page)

“Yes, I did,” I said, the anger replacing
the momentary humiliation I had felt a few seconds ago. “I left you the choice
to leave me alone. Why is this so hard to comprehend?”

“First of all, that’s not really a choice.
It’s not like I can just control wanting to see you.” He looked at me like I
was a three-year-old who failed to understand basic concepts of human
interactions. “And second, it’s not what our contract is about, is it? The
whole idea was that you spend as much time with me as I require, no questions
asked.”

“You were also not supposed to have an
attractive wife up your sleeve, if we’re going to nitpick about the stupid
contract. And since when is stalking me into school a part of the deal? I don’t
remember singing up for that.”

“Well, you didn’t complete your end of the
deal that you signed up for so I just improvised,” he said as though it were an
obvious answer and I was being ridiculous for even questioning what he was
doing. As though it were normal and excepted of him to show up here like this
and I was a moron for thinking he wouldn’t.

“Fine,” I said, completely frustrated at
this point. The only way this was going to be over was if I just went along
with it and let him feel like he had won. “Fine. You’re here, great. What do you
want from me?”

He walked forward with a grin on his face
and his mouth came very close to mine. For a few insane moments, I forgot where
we were and what we were doing. All I could see were his perfect lips so close
to mine and if I only so much as tilted my head half an inch, we would be
kissing. The thought of that sent tingles down my spine and I was close to
giving in when he said in a very low voice, “You know very well what I want,
Aria. It’s what you want to. You need to stop denying it.”

That brought me back to reality and made
me jump. “Stop!” I yelled. “Stop trying to tell me what I want, stop trying to
tell me what’s right for me, stop trying to tell me who I can or cannot speak
to. I have survived a perfectly wonderful twenty years of my life without a man
telling me how best to live it and more than anything else in the world, I
would like to continue to do so. You need to back the hell off, Zayden! My life
is none of your god-damn business.”

Those words seemed to have been the
equivalent of slapping him across the face as he took a few visible steps
backwards and looked at me in a completely different way, with something that
resembled very close to loathing.

“Really? Is that what you want? For me to
back the fuck off?” All humor had disappeared from his face and I felt a shiver
of fear at the look he was giving me. Had I finally done it? Offended him
enough that he would just step aside?

“I didn’t mean to sound hurtful,” I said
more gently. “But I have spent my whole life being independent and this,
whatever this is with the controlling, this aspect of our contract is
suffocating me, Zayden. It all seems unfair – especially after I saw your wife
in your office like that the other day – like you think I am some kind of a
commodity you have acquired. Like a pet that you expect will do your bidding
without asking any questions. Somehow, when all of this started, you had
convinced me that you had respect for me. That is obviously not the case here.
And it’s really suffocating me.”

“You already said the part about
suffocating you,” he said softly. “And for the last time, nothing is real
between Gina and I. You are right, I do have respect for you, which is why I
wouldn’t lie to you through my teeth like this. But you have made your point.
You want me to back off, I will back off. The contract is still valid, so if
you don’t want to pay me a huge lump of money at once, don’t break any of the
rules.”

Then he turned around and walked away. I
stood there and took deep breaths for a few minutes before following him into
the classroom. When I did, it was like a completely different Zayden in there.
Gone was the teasing, joking man who had come here to mess with me. He was
stern and serious now, discussing his business strictly, and not even making
eye-contact with me. I was so confused and irrationally bothered by it that I
actually found myself raising my hand to answer a few of the questions he
addressed to the class, but it was like I was not even in the room.

Chapter 4

Zayden

Things had become very different since the
day I had gone to Aria’s school. Upset by her defiance, I had stopped pushing
for her attention, but that had caused a remarkable affect on my mood. I felt
cranky and impatient all the time and not a single interaction with anybody had
gone by without my snapping.

I was at the dinner table with my mother
and Gina and whatever they were chattering about was making my blood boil.

“What do you think, darling? You haven’t
spoken a single word all evening,” my mother said sweetly. “Should I try acupuncture?
Gina seems to swear by it.”

“Sure,” I mumbled and went back to
nibbling on my shrimp and mashed
potatoes.

“For God’s sakes, Zayden,” my mother
snapped, seeming to finally lose her temper. “Make the slightest bit of an
effort. How much time do you get to spend with family? Do you think it’s fair
that on the odd night that we all get to sit down and have a meal together, you
are not even really here?”

“What do you want me to say?” I snapped
back. “You two seem to be doing fine on your own. I have nothing to contribute
to the conversation. Leave me alone, mom.”

“
Hey, don
’t speak to your mom like that!” Gina gasped. “She is
only trying to spend some quality time with her son.”

“Nobody asked you for your fucking
opinion,” I snapped at her too. “I am done eating.” I through my napkin down
and stormed out of the kitchen.

No matter where I went, I couldn’t find
peace. At work I was forced to look at Aria all day and not be able to approach
her. At home it was the constant whining of two women who somehow seemed to
have vowed to make my life difficult. Maybe now was a good time to take a
vacation…

There was a knock on my door. I ignored it
hoping that would make it stop but I had no such luck.

“Open the door, Zay,” my mother finally
said. “This is really important.”

“It’s open, just come inside.”
I sighed.

She walked in and sat across from my desk.

“Are you feeling alright, sweetheart?” The
look of genuine concern on her face took me aback. “You seem to have been very
disturbed by something these past few weeks. I know you have the weight of the
world on your shoulders, and whatever it is that is bothering you, you know you
can really talk to your mother.”

“Do I?” I glared at her. “It has never
quite seemed like it.”

Her eyes started to moisten but she held
back. I had never seen her this way before. The only times I had seen her cry
were full-blown episodes where she wailed until she manipulated me into doing
whatever she wanted.

“I know you think I am a horrible mother.
You always have. Even before your father passed away, and you learned about
things that I wish you never had to hear.” She looked at me with a kind of rare
intensity for a long while before speaking again. “And you are right.”

“What’s that?” I was surprised to hear
what she was saying. It was not like her. Unless this was some new twisted plot
intended to manipulate me.

“You are right. I could have been a better
mother and a better wife. I had you when I was too young. Married your dad at
an age when I should have focused on my career and living my life, without
understanding the repercussions of being a wife. He wanted a child right away
and I loved him so much, I went with it. Without warning, my youth was suddenly
over and I became responsible for a whole new life at a time when I wasn’t sure
I was doing a very good job of taking care of my own. Your dad had a huge
business to run, so even though he had wanted a child, he didn’t have the time
to care for it. Obviously, I had to quit my job – I was working towards being a
chartered accountant – and then I started getting lonely and distant with your
dad always working. I started finding comfort in other things, other men, and a
part of me felt like I had given up so much, that I deserved to stray a little
bit. Subconsciously, I blamed you for some of the things I had to give up, but
it was never your fault. As you grew older, your dad started spending more time
with you and going to all your football games and you two bonded while I stayed
home and made dinner. So it always looked to you like he was more of a parent
to you than I was, but he never helped me raise you, Zayden.”

“Why are you telling me these things?” I
asked softly. “Why now?”

“Because it is important that you
understand. I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, Zay, but maybe you will
understand why I was always the way I was and why I want so badly for you and
Gina to work out. It’s not for my sake, not at all.”

“Why then? Because if you haven’t picked
up on it yet, mom, Gina is only around for your sake. She is what you want for
me, not what I want.”

“I know you feel that way right now
because you’
re hurt
–
”

“I am not hurt. I don’t love her. She
means absolutely nothing to me, but that doesn’t matter to you does it? You
have decided that she is the perfect woman for me and you will just continue
emotionally blackmailing me into trying to make it work with her. Whether or
not I am happy in the process doesn’t matter to anybody, does it?”

“Have you been listening to a word I have
said?” She was getting teary again. “I love you very much, Zay. You are my son,
and no matter what happened in the past, I want to make it up to you by being a
better mother now. Of course your happiness means a lot to me. It means
everything to me. I have very little else to live for.”

“Then why don’t you give a shit that I
don’t want to make things work with Gina?”

“Because I have been where she is now, and
it’s a terrible, terrible place! If I had gotten a chance to make things better
with your dad, I would have given everything I had to make him happy, and I
know she will do the same. She used to make you happy once, and I just want to
see that again.”

“Would you care if I told you there was
someone else I am certain I would be happier with?” I didn’t know why I had asked
that. It wasn’t like Aria and I were going to spend the rest of our lives
together. Hell, she barely even spoke to me, yet I was having this
conversation, as though she were ready to seamlessly take Gina’s place in my
life.

“You’re only saying that to shut me up.
Believe me Zay, just give her another chance. She will make you happy again,
you will see.”

“So we are back to square one, then? You
want what you want and obviously think you know what’s better for me than I do
myself. Why are we even having this conversation?”

“Because I had to tell you I loved you, I
don’t think I do it nearly enough,” she said, crying openly now.

“It’s not necessary that you do. I have a
lot to get done for work, so you should go back to your room.”

She didn’t say another word but hugged me
tightly before leaving with tears in her eyes.

---

The next day Aria was already at the bank
when I got there, and she was by herself. Taking the opportunity, I strode over
to her desk.

“
Hello,
” I said, unsure of what I was hoping to achieve from
this interaction.

“Good morning, Mr. Sinclair, how may I
help you?” she asked with a fake bright smile.

“We’re still at Mr. Sinclair, then?” I
frowned.

“Depends. Am I allowed to talk to whomever
I want yet? You still married?”

I shook my head and walked back to my
office, not having the energy or the will to deal with this for now, and then
buried myself in paperwork for the next few hours.

No matter what I did though, I couldn’t
take my eyes off her. The way she moved in her body-hugging dress sent tingles
of excitement throughout my whole body. Aria had such an incredible presence.
Every customer who walked up to her would leave looking happier than they were
walking in. She exuded the kind of charisma that very few people I knew could
muster, and this was when I knew for certain that she was going through a bunch
of issues in her personal life.

The truth was that I missed her
incredibly. She had been great in bed, despite only having sex once before me.
It was like she had this inherent talent that drove me completely mad. And it
wasn’t just the sex that I missed, I missed talking to her, hearing her laugh,
and working through her schoolwork together.

When I had first thought up the contract,
I never imagined that this girl would have such a powerful impact on me. It was
supposed to be a game, a challenge to show myself that I was capable of making
any woman want me. To an extent, I could say I had succeeded. Then why was the
fact that she would refuse to meet my eye frustrating me so much? What could I
even do to make her stop being so distant?