Addicted (A Billionaire Romance Novel) (10 page)

“Did he go to lunch by himself or was he with someone?” Audrey asked, suspicious that he may be cheating on her.
 

“I’m not sure, but I can tell you that when he left the office, he was alone.” Tina felt as though she was betraying her boss somehow and wanted to quickly end the conversation. “I’ll let Mr. Wetzel know that you called.”
 

“No! Don’t do that. I’ll just shoot him a quick text,” Audrey reassured her, even though she had no intention to do so.
 

“Have a nice day, Audrey,” Tina said before disconnecting the call.
 

Whatever Mr. Wetzel was going through must be some serious stuff, Tina mumbled. She’d never had so much drama going on in the office with him before. First he got a girlfriend, which was wonderful, and then he was served court papers; now he was skipping out of the office early and ducking his girlfriend on lunch breaks. This was a recipe for disaster. Tina had worked in enough corporate offices and seen plenty to know that much.
 

While out on his lunch break, he ordered a sub from a local sandwich shop and sought out a corner booth that offered privacy. Once he was settled in for lunch, he pulled out his cell phone and a small piece of paper. Before he’d left his office, he’d written down the names and numbers of several family law attorneys. He was able to get in touch with one from his list and discussed what his options were. The attorney informed him that he was most certainly entitled to 50/50 custody, but also advised him that the courts may frown upon him never paying child support—especially since he was a billionaire.
 

“I’m aware that you said you didn’t know about the child until recently, but the courts aren’t going to see it like that,” the attorney, Thomas Miller, explained to him.
 

“But my ex, Christina, never told me that she was pregnant, nor that she had a baby. I didn’t even believe Kayla was mine until I requested a copy of her birth certificate online and it showed the father field was blank,” Chad argued.
 

“We may need to do a paternity test. You know, to confirm that the child in question is in fact yours,” the attorney suggested.
 

“Listen, I’ve got to get back to work. Can I call you later to schedule a professional meeting so we can sit down to sort all of this out?” Chad asked, gathering up his trash.
 

“I would advise that you call this afternoon to talk to my secretary. I’ll be in court most of the rest of the day and all day tomorrow.”
 

“Okay, thanks. I’ll do that,” Chad said as he hung up the phone and walked back to work.
 

About fifteen minutes later, Chad arrived back at his office. As he stepped off the elevator, he noticed Tina began to open her mouth as if she were going to say something, but quickly closed it.
 

“Is everything all right Tina?” he asked.
 

She debated telling him about the phone call for a split second. “Yes, sir. Everything’s fine. Can I do anything for you?” she asked, hoping he’d let her in on his problems or maybe she could overhear a phone conversation.
 

“No, thank you. I’m going to be in my office going over the new software. If anyone calls, take a message.”
 

“Will do, sir,” she said saluting him.
 

Sitting in his office, he texted Christina to ask if it would be all right if he came by when he got off of work. She called him back and said that would be great, Kayla had been asking about him. Excited to go over to Christina’s house to see her and Kayla, he dove into his work to get as much done as possible. When his work was complete, he bid Tina goodbye as he made his way to the elevator. Once the doors closed, he began removing his tie as he slid his cell phone out of his pocket. Out in his truck, he called Tina to let her know that he was on his way.
 

“Oh, Kayla has been asking about you like crazy!” Christina told him.
 

“Do you think she likes me?”
 

“Does she? I’ve not seen her this excited, ever. She’s been asking so many questions about you.”
 

“What’d you tell her?” he asked, concerned what the questions might be.
 

“Nothing. I told her that she’d have to ask you.”
 

“What was she asking about me?” Chad said as he flipped on his turn signal.
 

“She was asking me what you do for a living, where you live and if you have other kids.”
 

He chuckled. “I guess I should’ve told her more about myself when I was there. We’ve certainly got a lot of catching up to do.”
 

Christina was silent for a moment as she bit her lip. “Chad, I’ve got something to tell you.”
 

Concerned by the tone in her voice, he asked what it was.
 

“Well, I just…Never mind. It’s stupid.”
 

“No, I want to know. What were you going to say?” he asked, looking over his shoulder to get on the freeway.
 

“I…it’s been nice having you around. I know you’ve only been around for a short while, but Kayla has been so happy since she met you.”
 

“That’s a good thing, right?” he asked.
 

“It’s a magnificent thing. We’ll see you in a bit.”
 

Back at home, Audrey began wondering if Chad was cheating on her, who it would be with. What man dodges his girlfriend, lies to her and puts distance in their relationship? The answer: a cheating man. Or possibly, one who wants to break up but doesn’t have the balls to do it. But why would he want to break up with her? They hadn’t argued at all since they got together. It seemed as though they always had a great time together; she certainly didn’t want to break up. She tried to imagine her life without Chad in it. It would be lonely and isolated, just as it had been before he came into her life. She felt a sharp jab right to the gut as the idea consumed her. Saddened by being lonely, she thought of her son.
 

When Alex was alive, she was never lonely. She was also never bored. He kept both of them busy with karate classes, school activities and
playing. She remembered how he always asked her to go in the backyard to play ball with him. Of course, being a single mom, she was always too busy to play ball with him. She’d give anyone of those days back. Missing him terribly, she went into his room and laid on his bed. She never changed his bedsheets and could still smell his scent. Inhaling deeply, she imagined him next to her. She longed to hold him just one more time.
 

With everything going on with Chad, it didn’t help matters. Audrey could feel herself slipping away, little by little. As a fiend, she wished she could take one more hit. That one little hit, she knew, would lead to more drug usage. Alex’s two-year death anniversary was next month, in April. As she laid on his bed, holding his pillow, she perversely thought about joining him. For a second, she pictured him in his coffin and then pictured herself. She wondered how many people
would come to the funeral and whether or not they’d put a picture of her son inside the casket with her. In addition to the portrait she’d drawn of Alex, she also placed a small picture of him and her together inside of his folded hands.
 

I wonder if my family would bury me next to him. I’m pretty sure the plot next to him was available. I wish that I would’ve prepaid for my plot so we could be by each other. Since I haven’t used in awhile, it wouldn’t take much to cause an overdose. One call to Danny could make it all end, and then, I’d be with my baby. The one I actually love. We would be together for all eternity. But what would Alex think of me? His death was a tragic accident that should’ve never happened. If he were alive, I would never contemplate suicide. I would live for him. And maybe I wouldn’t even be in this situation right now. If I could get inside Chad’s head and know what he’s thinking, maybe
it would help me make my decision. No, because Alex would be so disappointed in me. Maybe if he saw me on the other side, he would know why I did it. He’d know how much I miss him. There was no doubt that he knew how much I loved him when he was alive.
 

I should probably call my sponsor, she whispered to herself. Ryan could talk me out of this. He would talk me through everything; maybe he’d even come over. No, that just sounds pathetic. It’s pathetic that I don’t have any friends that I could call to get over. If I wouldn’t have turned into such an introvert after Alex died, I’d have plenty of friends to call. But I foolishly cut all of them out of my life. I’m such a loser. I don’t even know why I bother with life anymore, she said with teary eyes. It’s so overrated. If everything would just end, I wouldn’t have to
worry about anything anymore. I doubt anyone would even miss me.
 

As Audrey wept uncontrollably, she remembered that she still had some heroin. She’d forgotten all about it until now. Before she’d gone to rehab, she found it when she was packing her clothes and hid it so her sister wouldn’t find it. When she found it, she knew that she should’ve thrown it away; she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Sitting up, she got off of Alex’s bed and walked into her room. On the corner of her large oak dresser, sat her jewelry box. It seemed to be calling her name as she glared at it. She opened the top of it and lifted a ring box out of one of the slots. Inside that ring box, under the piece of cardboard that once contained a ring—the ring Rob had given her—was her stash of heroin. She picked up the foil envelope and unfolded it.
 

Chapter Seven
 

As Chad knocked on Christina’s front door, he grew excited to see his little girl. Kayla answered the door, eager to see him too.
 

“Hi dad!” she said as she threw her arms around him.
 

Shocked by her greeting, he awkwardly returned her hug. “Hi, munchkin. Where’s your mom?”
 

“She’s switching over the laundry. She told me that you were coming over to see us!”
 

“Yep, and here I am. What were you doing?”
 

“Oh, I was working on some math homework,” she explained as they made their way inside the house. “But I’m having so much trouble with it.”
 

“What kind of math are you studying right now? I bet I can help,” he offered with a smile.
 

“How long ago were you in third grade?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
 

“A long, long time ago, but I’m pretty good at math.”
 

“Are you really?” she asked as her pigtails bounced from side to side.
 

“I am! I use it every day at work. Let me take a look at your homework.”
 

He and Kayla sat at the kitchen table solving math problems as Christina watched while cooking dinner. Before their meal was ready, she told Kayla to go wash up.
 

“It’s nice to see her interacting with you and having someone help her with her homework,” Christina said as she dried her hands on a kitchen towel.
 

“It feels good. I actually enjoy doing these things. I know it’s only been a couple of days, but she makes it so easy,” he said, adoring a picture of her that hung on the fridge.
 

“Oh! I didn’t even think to offer you a picture of her. I’ll be right back.”
 

So this is what married life is like, Chad thought. It would be nice coming home to a wife
and kid, and a home cooked meal. Speaking of, I need to call Audrey and check in on her. She’s been acting strange lately though I don’t blame her.
 

“Here, these are this year’s school pictures,” Christina said taking photos out of the large envelope. “If you’d like, I can gather up some of her baby pictures and other school pictures.”
 

“That would be great, I’d like that,” he said taking the pictures from Christina’s hand.
 

As the three dined on homemade pizza and salad, Chad developed an overwhelming feeling that he needed to contact Audrey. He tried ignoring it, brushing it off as guilt. True, he wasn’t dating Christina but he knew that Audrey wouldn’t appreciate him having dinner with his newfound
family. The longer he sat there, the more his gut told him that he needed to leave.
 

“Boy, Christina, this meal’s great, but I should probably get going. I’ve had a long day and I’m sure Kayla needs to get ready for bed,” he said ruffling Kayla’s hair.
 

“Okay. Thanks for stopping by and helping her with her homework. I think the two of you are going to get along just fine,” she smiled at him.
 

“I have that same feeling,” he said beaming at Kayla. “You sure are a wonderful girl. I’m glad your mom found me so that I could be a part of your life.”
 

“Are you coming back tomorrow?” Kayla asked.
 

“If I can, I will. We’ll have to see.”
 

“Please,” she begged with puppy dog eyes.