Billionaire In Hiding: The Complete Series (Alpha Billionaire Romance Western Love Story) (57 page)

She looked nervous. “I am finishing up
college, studying to be a loan officer. I also work at the bank.”

“That’s great,” Mr. Kirk said, with much
less enthusiasm and started walking away. I had never quite taken someone plain
to a public event like this. Sure, I fucked all the young women that worked for
me, but that was usually confined to the walls of my own house; I never dared
take a teller out to a coveted event like this one.

These things were boring beyond belief
though, and her company, with her snarky humor and challenging attitude, would
provide a lot of entertainment. I enjoyed having her around.

“I think you’re being judged pretty
hardcore right now,” Aria looked at me with amusement.

“You aren’t… offended?”

She laughed. “Why should I be? I am sure
he’s used to seeing you with supermodels. Everyone is. It is quite amusing
watching people’s reaction. I never quite realized this before, but messing
with rich people is fun.”

“Fucking rich people is even better,” I
winked.

“Okay I practically led you to that one,”
she shrugged. “What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?”

“I’ll grab one for you,” I said and
started walking but remembered something. “You’re not twenty-one.”

“Meh, it’s just a matter of a few months,
nobody will care.”

“I hear it’s impossible to get a
comfortable king-sized bed in jail,” I retorted.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, if it’s such a
big deal-”

“I’m teasing you. Champagne okay?”

“Grab me a beer,” she grinned. “Let’s see
how your acquaintances will react to a working-class girl who also shamelessly
drinks beer at a classy event.”

I chuckled. “You are crazy. I don’t think
they even have beers at this thing. I can ask Ned to-“

“It’s okay, you don’t have to make
everything happen at the snap of your fingertips. Get me anything you want.”
She put her hand on my shoulder again and smiled. Her touches were distracting.

I returned with two glasses of red wine
and handed her one. “So I have to make a speech in like five minutes, you think
you’re going to be okay on your own for a little bit?”

“Of course not. Oh wait, I’m not a
five-year-old that needs constant adult supervision,” she pulled out her
tongue. “Break a leg.”

“Don’t interrupt my speech if you need
anything. You’re on your own. We can always screw later.”

She covered her face with both her hands.
“Zayden, go make your big important speech.”

CHAPTER
9

ARIA

I took a huge gulp of my wine as Zayden
proceeded to the mini-stage that had been crafted in the middle of the room. It
was a very interesting taste; bitter, but rich enough to make my whole mouth
feel like velvet. I was already starting to get a bit buzzed from a few sips. I
looked at Zayden adjusting the mic and took a deep breath. The plain black suit
fit his lean body immaculately, and the dark blue shirt made his eyes pop. His
skinny black tie was slightly loose and I wondered how it would feel to undo
it. And then his shirt. Aria, focus. I slapped my own forehead and frowned,
trying hard to pay attention to the words now coming out of his mouth, rather
than his mouth itself and just how succulent his lips looked.

“As many of you know, I lost my
grandfather to cancer,” Zayden was saying. The room was utterly silent, every
pair of eyes concentrating on him, as though he was reciting the next set of
global constitution. What must it feel like, commanding any room you walk into?
Someday, I would find out. I may never make it to Zayden’s status – I wasn’t
born with the right set of luck in order to get there – but someday I would
become successful enough to have a room full of people care about what I am
saying.

“It was my complete honor to sponsor this
gala, and I want to thank you all so much for your generous contributions to
this truly wonderful cause.” It was obvious that this truly meant something to
him, that he actually cared. There was a rumor around the office that he turned
down an offer to speak at a local TED talk, so the fact that he was willing to
come over here and take the time to address these people for the sake of cancer
research was oddly heartwarming. He was definitely a much better person that he
led himself and everyone else to believe. As he spoke with passion and
intensity, I began to feel a very uncomfortable knot in my chest. It was a knot
of feelings beginning to develop. I always thought he was attractive, but
that’s simply an objective fact; he was attractive like the sky is blue, and I
was also certainly very grateful for all that he did for me. But somehow, it
was beginning to feel like there was more, like I appreciated him for who he
was outside of who he was with me.

I was in trouble.

When he finished his speech there was an
applause that lasted for minutes. People were cheering him on and screaming his
name.

“Now let me invite Ms. Cameron Elizabeth,
the head organizer of tonight’s grand event, to begin the auction,” Zayden said
and stepped aside to speak with an older blonde women on the stage. I was
surprised to feel a tap on my shoulder, since I didn’t really know anyone else
at the party. I turned around to find Mr. Kirk smiling at me.

“That speech was quite something, huh?” He
asked.

“Absolutely! Zayden is passionate and a
wonderful speaker.”

“I’m sure you think so,” he shrugged in a
way that made me uncomfortable. “How much is he paying you anyway?”

“Excuse me?” I felt a fit of rage begin to
spread inside me.

“I’ll write you a blank check to fill in
as you please for one night. But I have some very specific requests. Things not
every girl is comfortable doing. Even though you’re a professional.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I
was so angry I didn’t even care about my language or creating a scene. “I am
not for sale.”

He laughed. “Oh, he’s taught you well.
Come on. I have known the kid since he was ten years old, you’re not going to
convince me that he’s just taking out a lowly employee because he likes your
personality.”

“Actually, that is exactly why I brought
her here tonight,” I heard a different voice say. Zayden was standing in front
of us and he looked like he was about to commit murder. “And why you should now
exit this event. South National will no longer be dealing with your company.”

Kirk’s face turned to a deep shade of
purple. “Come on, Zayden! Are you really going to side with a whore?”

“Watch your language or I will have you
thrown out of here in a manner that will make it impossible for you to ever
show your face in public again. Aria is a beautiful young woman with a deeper
intellect at her age than you have acquired in sixty years. I would rather
spend the very little free time I have in the company of somebody like her,
than do business with some sick bastard who has no respect for another human
being. Call her a whore again and my lawyers will ruin you until you’re on the
streets. Now get the fuck out.”

People had begun watching and I wanted to
draw a hole underneath me and disappear. This must have been embarrassing for
him, yet he was fighting for my so called honor, and I was completely paralyzed
in shock. The truth was that he was, in fact, paying me, even if it wasn’t
exactly for sex. But the fact that he was still supremely offended by Kirk’s
behavior made a small part of me ridiculously happy. The rest of me kind of
wanted to collapse and never see humanity again.

When we finally left the Gala, every
single person was apologizing to me for Kirk’s behavior, and I realized that
not all rich people sucked, contrary to what I had convinced myself of. In
fact, Zayden seemed to run around circles of some truly nice people. All in all
though, the evening ended on a nice note, and by the time we made it back to
Zayden’s car, I was tipsy, tired, and in a much better mood than I had expected
to be.

“I’m sorry about Kirk again, Aria,” Zayden
said once we sat in the car again. “I have known him all my life, but he’s
never acted so sleazy before. I wouldn’t have introduced him to you if I knew
he was going to act that way.”

I gently put my hand over his and he
started to move his fingers against mine, causing an internal volcano to begin
popping in my system.

“You don’t have to apologize. I feel
terrible about creating a scene. I am sure you didn’t come in here today thinking
‘Hey, guess what would be fun? If I had to insult one of my business partners
on behalf of my date and cause for a whole dramatic production.’” I laughed.

He lifted both our hands and put his arm
around me. “I have never in my life used this word to describe a girl before,
but Aria Roberts, you are really amazing.”

He must have thought calling me amazing
was somehow amusing since that’s what I had called him.

I giggled. “How long have you been
practicing to say that?”

“Since I read your paper. It was… amazing.”

“Amazing. You’re…amazing too.” We were
both gazing into each other’s eyes at this point and I barely knew what I was
even saying. “Very, very amazing.”

He removed his hand from mine and lightly
brushed his index finger against my cheek, the effects of which I felt across
my whole body. He was leaning in and I gazed at his perfect mouth and wondered
if he would taste like whiskey. As soon as our lips slightly touched, however,
I jerked away. A few seconds later I got the courage to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry, Zayden. I
can’t. I just…”

“It’s okay,” he said and looked away from
me, without any hint of disappointment in his voice. “I know you don’t want to
and I shouldn’t have-”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I blurted
before I could stop myself. It was too late to take it back now. “Whenever I am
around you, it’s difficult to breathe. And all I want in the whole world is to
let you win and feel the taste of your mouth and to touch you and let you do
whatever you want to me.”

He didn’t speak for almost a few minutes.
Then he said, “The screen isn’t sound-proof, Ned can hear you.”

“No I can’t,” I heard Ned say, and then I
felt absolutely mortified.

“The point that I have been trying to make
– sorry Ned – is that it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t. And I’m
sorry.”

Zayden sighed like he didn’t care. “Don’t
be. It’s your stop. I’ll see you on Monday. Sleep well, Aria. Thanks again for
coming out with me tonight.”

I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the
car for the longest time. I finally forced myself to say, “No, thank you, for
everything.” Then I ran out of there as fast as I could.

I didn’t sleep well that night. I didn’t
sleep at all.

---

On Monday morning I was woken up by a
phone call from my mom.

“It’s 5 a.m. Mom,” I mumbled on to the
phone. “Can I call you back?”

“I’m sorry for waking you up, sweetheart,
I just wanted thank you for the 10,000 dollars that you paid to the hospital on
my behalf. I’m glad your loan went through.”

Wait, what was she talking about? My loan
never – Oh. I sat upright, suddenly understanding.

“It was paid?” I asked stupidly.

“Of course, from your name.”

“I know, I meant to ask if it went through
alright. I’ll call you later okay, mom? Don’t worry about it too much, I got
you. Love you!”

I dialed Zayden’s office number and
immediately hung up remembering what time it was. It would just have to wait
until I got to work. I couldn’t believe what he had done. I felt a sense of
warmth and affection throughout my whole body.

The contract was real.

I tried going back to sleep but spent the
next few hours thinking of him and just how underrated he was as a person. I
had expected him to be upset with me, given the rejection from Saturday night.
He hadn’t tried to get in contact with me all of Sunday and I assumed he was
miffed. Instead, he had decided to go on and make the first payment early. And
the way he had fought for me at the gala. Perhaps I had judged him unfairly,
but I would never think he would jump to defend me against his own kind. His
business and reputation, I assumed, were way more important than some girl he
was trying to seduce, yet I was wrong, as I seemed to be on many accounts when
it came to Zayden. I would have to find something nice to do for him, soon. For
the first time in a long time, I could not wait to get out of bed and get to
work.

Which is why I was very disappointed when
I got to work and Zayden was not in his office. He usually got there before
everyone else, and I was convinced that he slept in his office most days. I
wondered if everything was okay. I thought about writing him an email and
drafted something:

Hi,

I
wanted to thank you in person but you seem to be out today. I hope everything
is okay. My mom called me about the hospital payment and I wanted to thank you
for going ahead with that way earlier than our contract demanded. And for
sticking up for me in front of Mr. Kirk the other day. It meant more to me than
you ever imagined.