The Billionaire's Sextape: An Adult Billionaire Romance (16 page)

That he’d taken her home and not only paid to have sex with her but also paid to film it. The article said it all. Somehow the truth had all come out. And she was put in a worse light than before. Because now it wasn’t a romantic story about two people from different worlds that had fallen in love.

The story was now about how she would do anything for money – even pretend to be in love. And she had accepted it because she needed the money – and it had seemed like a better alternative than working at Betsy’s. Maybe they were right – maybe she really
would
do anything for money.

She had no more tears.

She phoned James. “Did you see the story about us in
Gossip
?” she asked, not even bothering to say hello.

              “Sorry?” James sounded as if he might have just woken up. She looked at the time. It was going on nine-thirty, so there was a possibility he had still been asleep. She knew he liked to stay up late and get up late.

              “Sorry, good morning. I just wanted to know if you had seen the story about us? I guess not, though.”

              “Story? No, I woke up about half an hour ago. I’ve barely done anything since then. What story? Is everything okay?”

              “Nothing is okay.”

She detailed everything to him, reading passages aloud when she couldn’t explain it properly herself, and she could hear him breathing heavily on the other side of the phone. She’d woken up to such good news, and her high had immediately been plummeted down. James was just waking up to bad news. She felt sorry for him, even though he was partly the reason why this had all happened in the first place.

              “Are there any photos?” he asked.

              “Oh yeah. Quite a few. There’s a blurred-out still from the video showing us in a very compromising position. And there’s also a photo of me onstage at Betsy’s where you can clearly see that you are sitting in the audience watching me. It’s a bit grainy, but it’s still easy to see us. I have no idea how they even got that picture.”

              “Your boss.”

              “What?”

              “Your boss must’ve sold them that photo. I could be wrong, but it’s highly possible.”

              “I guess so. It could be. But what about the rest of the story? I mean, where did they even get all this from? And is that part about your ex-girlfriend giving you a blow job true?”

The phone went quiet for a while. Delilah hadn’t believed that part. The James she had come to know these past few weeks had been a gentleman. He wouldn’t do that. He’d told her just how awful his ex-girlfriend had been and how glad he was to get rid of her. Surely he wouldn’t have allowed that to happen. Surely?

              “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

Delilah couldn’t believe it. “Seriously? You’re sorry? So it’s true. Wow. I guess it’s impossible to really know someone after a few weeks. And I guess because we weren’t really sleeping with each other, you’ve probably been having sex with other girls on the side. I highly doubt you can go this long without sex. Why would you do that? It was just three weeks, James. Three weeks to pretend and then you could get rid of me.”

              “I don’t want to get rid of you. And no, I didn’t sleep with anyone but you in that time. That thing with Tammy – yeah, that did happen. But that was before we decided that we were going to do this whole fake romance. At that time I didn’t even know she had stolen the tape. I would never have put our situation in jeopardy like that.”

Delilah sighed. She believed him, but she still didn’t like what he had done. “You know what, James? This whole thing is such a mess. I’m going to walk away from it now. I’m going to walk away from you. This whole thing has been nothing but trouble. I’ll pay you back for everything you’ve given me these weeks.

I’m going to do my best to get a job – somehow. And when I do, I’ll pay you back. But let’s just leave it now. The truth is out. I already have the eyes of the whole world on me. They know who I am and what I did. I’m not going to deny it. I am what I am. I did what I did.

Maybe it’s time you own up to your own mistakes too. It’s been great knowing you. And, despite all this, I really did have a good time. I’m sorry that you feel that you have to hide and pretend like this. It’s a pity because the person that you were in front of me was actually an amazing man. Goodbye James.”

              “Lilah. Wait!”

But before he could say anything more, Delilah had put down the phone. The phone rang immediately, but she ignored it. She’d made up her mind. She was done with playing games. When the doorbell rang, she jumped out of her seat. It couldn’t be James. It was too soon. Unless he had been outside her door when she was speaking to him, which she knew he hadn’t been. What if it were Eric? She decided to leave it. It rang again. Then she heard Melissa’s voice.

              “Hello? Lilah? Are you home?”

She ran to open the door. Melissa took one look at her face and her eyes widened. “Lilah, what’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

That was all it took. Just one kind face. Soon she was in tears, her shoulders heaving up and down as she let it all come out. For someone who never cried, she was certainly making up for it lately. It was as if she had let it build up for years and years, and it was now finally getting released.

It felt good and bad all at once. Finally, she picked up the magazine and handed it to Melissa. Melissa read it in silence. Then she ripped out the pages and tore them up, throwing them dramatically in the bin.

              “Right, we don’t need to see that anymore.”

Despite herself, Delilah laughed. The sound was strange to her ears. “You’re so dramatic.”

              “Hey, at least I made you laugh. Screw them, Lilah. You’re the most amazing woman I know. You have no idea how much I have looked up to you all these years.”

              “Looked up to me? Why? I’m a mess.”

              “No, you’re not. You’re brave and determined. You’ve worked hard to keep your parents’ house.”

              “It’s mine now,” Delilah whispered. With all the bad news, she had almost forgotten about the call she had received that morning.

              “What?”

              “The house. It’s mine. Aaron, my lawyer, phoned me this morning. I’ve paid it off. I’ve paid everything off. I did it.”

Melissa squealed so loudly that Delilah had to cover her ears. “What? That’s brilliant news, Lilah! And it’s earlier than you expected. You did it. Screw the story. Who cares what people think about you? It’s what you think about yourself that matters. And what your closest friend thinks about you. And I’m so proud of you. I say we celebrate.”

              “I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood to celebrate.”

              “Well, I don’t mean that we go out and party. I say we stay indoors all day. It’s damn cold out there today. Let’s stay in and eat ourselves sick.”

              “Let me guess… pizza?”

Melissa giggled. “Well, if we must. But seriously. What’s the time now? 10? We get pizza for lunch. We wrap ourselves around in these blankets and we watch movies all day. And if you don’t mind lending me something to sleep in – well, then I’ll stay here all night too. We’ll have the laziest day known to mankind. Just you and me. Because as long as we have each other, we don’t need anyone else.”

              “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

              “No, you haven’t. Please. Tell me.”

              “I love you, Melissa.”

              “I love you too, Lilah.”

The phone rang. It was James. Delilah left it, and Melissa raised her eyebrows.

              “He’s been trying to call me back. But I’m through with him and his lies. Seriously – I did a lot for him. I didn’t have to do all that. And yeah, he paid me. I’m very aware of that. But I don’t want to be that person anymore.”

              “Good for you.”

              “Hey, Mel, what about work tonight? Don’t you have a shift?”

              “Well, that’s actually what I came to tell you.”

              “What?” Delilah sat up and looked at Melissa. Melissa suddenly had the biggest smile on her face. She looked like the Melissa that Delilah had first met rather than the tired and worn out girl that she had become.

              “I quit!”

              “What? When? Why?”

              “Well… last night actually. I wanted to phone you, but I decided I’d rather come and tell you in person. I got a job.”

              “You did? Where? Was it that one that you were telling me about?”

              “No. That one went horribly wrong. But like I said – I was determined to do more. I remembered a client that I had a few months ago. He was very sweet. He wanted to do nothing but talk. But he was just the nicest man. He told me all about himself, and I remembered he told me that he worked at a Graphic Design firm in the city. He even mentioned the name.

Anyway, I took a chance and went to see him. He was shocked when he realized it was me – although it took him a while to figure it out. I guess I look different with all my clothes on.”

At that, Melissa burst out laughing. It probably wasn’t that funny, but they had long ago learned how to laugh at themselves. “Anyway, I told him how much I wanted to get out of working at Betsy’s and how much I appreciated the conversation we’d had that night. I assured him that I believed in client confidentiality and that I was just curious to see if he knew of any job openings.

We got talking again and we went for coffee. At first, we spoke about everything but the job – I think he was trying to figure me out. Then, right at the end, he stuck out his hand and welcomed me to the company. He said he had seen something in me that night and knew that I would one day be out of there.”

              “So he gave you a job? At his company?”

              “Yeah. I won’t actually be working with him – which is probably best considering how we know each other. The company is massive, so he’s putting me in another department. It’s just a secretary job for one of the designers, but he says they’ll show me the ropes while I’m there in case I have a knack for design.”

              “You have a proper job. Mel! I’m so excited for you. Now I’m the one proud of you.”

              “So you see Lilah – there really is a life for us beyond Betsy’s.”

              “Maybe.”

              “Actually… I have more news.”

              “What? More?” Delilah couldn’t possibly imagine what more Melissa could say to her.

              “Oh yeah… but listen, this is completely up to you. No pressure. Okay?”

              “Okay, but spill it out. I’m dying here.

              “There are two job openings at the company. The company has been growing so fast that they need all the help they can get. The one is to be a secretary – which is the one I got. The other is just a six-month position to help with the backlog of all the work. They need someone to input data into the computer and get everything online. He said it’s a very easy job and that it will only be for six months.”

              “For me?” Delilah whispered.

              “Only if you want it, though. But here’s what I’m thinking. We’re halfway through the year, right? Well, you want to start college next year. Which means you have six months or so before the first semester starts.

What better way to start saving for college than to get a job? Then, once you’re done, you can start college and find another part-time job. This is exactly what you need.”

              “But… what about… what about everything that’s happened? What if he takes one look at me and says he doesn’t want someone like me working for the company?”

              “I told him about you. I knew that would be an issue for you. And in his words – ‘I don’t give a damn about her past. If she can do the job well, then she can have it.’”

              “Are you serious?”

              “Yeah. I told you – he’s a nice man. The pay is good. I mean, it’s not amazing. But it’s steady income and the company seems great. You’ll be working in a small office so you won’t even interact much with the other people. And… I’ll be right around the corner.”

              “So we can meet for coffee breaks? And lunch? And go to work together?” Delilah could feel the excitement building up.

              “Absolutely. What do you say? I said I’d let him know today.”

              “I say yes. I say yes a million times. Thank you, Mel. Thank you. I cannot believe we’ll be working together again. I feel like I need you by my side. At least while I figure out who the hell I am and what I want in life.”

              “I’ll always be here.”

              “This has been the craziest day.”

Melissa immediately phoned their new boss to tell him the news. They were to start on Monday, which was great news. The sooner Delilah could start, the better. She was sick of being at home and thinking about her problems.

She had a job. A real job! And soon she’d be applying for college. Things were actually working out for her! She tried not to think about James, even though his face kept popping up in her mind. She hated him and missed him, all at the same time.