Billionaire's Revenge (26 page)

Her eyes
fl
ew
back to his,
her head shaking emphatically
, “
No...No it’s not that”
,
the tears now shining in her large eyes
,
“I just can’t go to Italy.  I have to prove that I have my life in order.  Get a job...a home
”
Darius
felt the tearing deep within him as she
refused to accompany him, then the confusion o
f her words. 
Instinctively
he knew she wanted to be with him, this alone
keeping him calm as he
t
ook
a
shaky deep breath.
 
“Do you want to be with me Sara?”
 
Her eyes
stared back
hauntingly
at him as she
muttered almost inaudibly
.
“Yes
”
His
hand
c
ame
to her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing away the tear which
wound its way down.

“Then be with me. 
It really is as simple as that”
She
gave
a half-laugh devoid of humour, her teeth catching her bottom lip which she
nibbled with unce
rtainty.
 
“How long do you have to be in Italy?”
He
sighed deeply at her question, his eyes full of
frustration
“
About two weeks”
,
his answer as she
g
ave
a small nod.

“I have an interview in four days...and I think I have a good chance of getting the job, which means that I can afford to rent somewhere” Raising her finger
,
she
placed it gently on his lips to stop his
argument
“If all goes according to plan Darius...then in two weeks things should be sorted”
,
a small tremulous smile rising to her lips
. 
“Then maybe we can see where this is going”

Darius
frowned thoughtfully
,
“What if you don’t get the job
?
”
He
saw
the fear
which
flitted over her features
,
her expression
so
serious.  “I have to.  I have to prove that I can stand on my own...so much depends on it”
,
her tone sombre.
 
He
regarded her before speaking softly
, “
You should not be working in an office Sara.  I have seen what you are capable of.  What if I were to give you a job within my management program?  You have the ab
ility and the qualifications.  You should not be wasting your talents”

Sara
stared at him, her eyes wide.  “Y
...
you would give me a job?”
 
H
is head
nodded,
“And not because of the fact we are sl
eeping together...you truly have got management potential...and It would mean that you would have a job in three days...not just an interview in four”
 
She
blinked back the tears, happiness now shining from her
. 
“Thank you”
,
her words a mere whisper “You have no idea how much this means
”
Darius
pulled her in close
r, hugging her
,
“No...
I don’t but I would like to know Sara”
,
releasing her to look into her lovely face.
  Sara
seemed unsure before she
gave
a soft sigh.

“When you come back from Italy...things should be right...then
I will tell you everything
, but until then I have to sort things out myself
”
Giving
a deep sigh he
lean
ed
forward to kiss her.  She still did not fully trust him he could tell, but her wor
ds had
given him hope and he could wait for two weeks.
 

The next day
dragged for Sara.
Seeing Darius prepare to leave
had
torn at her.  She loved this man, loved him with everything in her
,
the desire to be at his side rising so strongly within her.  That night they
had
a party to attend and the following day a flight booked to retur
n to Italy.

His call to his office enrolling her in the Management Program
confirmed that she would be expected to b
egin work the day after he left
and Sara
lost no time in contacting her
realtor
with instructions of which apartments she wanted a second look at.

For Sara
,
everything seemed to be slotting in nicely, and for the first time she
allowed herself the luxury of believing that thing
s were
going to be fine.
  The only storm cloud on the horizon was her inability to reach the one person she most needed to talk to.  As her allotted time
had come and
gone,
her phone
continued to ring
out
panic filling her as
she
prepared for the party, that night wearing an off-
the-
shoulder
cornflower blue
figure-hugging long dress. 

Pulling on a smile as Darius
moved behind her, she
allowed him to fasten the necklace he
had
bought for her, turning in his arms as she
sighed
,
“I will miss you
”
His
mouth
lift
ed
at the corners at the sincerity in her voice.
 
“I got you a small present...so you don’t forget me
”
Sara
rais
ed
her
eyebrow as he
pulled a long box from his jacket.  She
g
ave
a small groan, her eyes rising to hi
s, the diamond tennis bracelet sitting snugly within the black box.

“Oh Darius...it is beautiful”
,
her eyes flying to his
,
“You shouldn’t have
”
His
throaty laugh fill
ed
her with small tremors
. 
“Oh...but I did...like I said...don’t want you forgetting me”
,
his fingers removing the expensive string of diamonds and fixing it onto her small wrist before turning her hand around and kissing the small vein, his eyes flashing as she
smiled back
.

“Has any woman ever been able to forget you Darius?”
H
e
laughed softly before drawing her in to kiss her lips.  “Maybe I just give away a
lot of bracelets”.  Sara
chuckl
ed
as she
g
ave
him a pretend glare
;
he
wink
ed
at her as he
left
in search of their tickets for that night.
 
When
Darius
left the room Sara
pulled out her phone, frow
n
ing once more that there
had
been no call that day.  While she was not supposed to call
the manager
, she
finall
y diall
ed the number.

The woman on the other end of the line was
defensive and accusatory
and
b
ec
a
me aggressive, telling Sara that she was not meant to phone so late.  Sensing trouble
,
she
dug her heels in
,
throwing back that she
had
not
received the phone call that she by legal right was due every day at five,
the
woman becoming nervous
. 
Sara
frown
ed,
knowing that something was very wrong.  After constant demands
,
finally the phone
was
handed over to the one voice she
needed t
o hear, her sigh of relief quickly turning to concern.

Sara
spoke
softly, the voice on the other end of the line sounding weak and in pain, the
telltale sniff
ling of crying
ripp
ing painfully at her heart as her voice
struggled to remain calm and u
pbeat as she
insisted that everything would be fine.  As the receiver
was
transferred
once more to the same woman she
had
earlier spoken to
,
her voice
bec
a
me harder and
insistent.
 
“If you do not call the doctor RIGHT now”
,
she
bit
out angrily
,
“
then I will call the police and anybody else who will listen...DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

The huffy answer
made her even angrier as she
stifled the curse which
rose
to her lips once more repeating her threat, before hearing as the othe
r
woman
finally agreed.
 
“If I do not hear from you in a
couple of
hour
s
,
then I am coming over there with the police...Do I make myself very clear?”

Again she
heard the irritated confirmation, as the phone
went
dead, Sara cursing loudly as she
stood trembling with anger and panic.  Everything in her wanted to ditch the party, to go over there herself, knowing that she would not be given entry.
 
“Who were you talking to?”
  T
he amused voice of Darius
made her jump, Sara twirling round
,
forci
ng a smile on her face.
 
“N...nobody important”
,
she
lied, seeing as he
grinned back
.
“Sounded like somebody had
irked you”
,
he
teased as she
g
ave
a shaky return laugh
,
praying that he had
not heard what was said, relieved as he
seemed
to forget the incident almost immediately
.

“Car is here”
  L
ifting her wrap
he placed
it over her shoulder
,
dropping
a small kiss on her neck
;
Sara g
ave
him a wide smile in return, a smile which hid the nerves and foreboding swirling so uneasily within
her.
 
The night
dragged by for Sara, amazed that she
managed to smile and give the appropriate pleasantries.  Darius however,
frowned seeing how nervous and fidgety she seemed, constantly sneaking a look at her mobile phone
,
becoming more and more
restless as the time
slipped by. 

Asking what was wrong with her she
gave
a feeble smile
,
her hand
slid along her
forehead;
her
assertion
of a headache
saw
him smile sympathetically at her.
 
“I will say our goodbyes to our host and we can go home”
,
he
offered gently
. 
Sara
g
ave
him a thankful smile, watching as he
moved to the other end of the room to give their farewells.

As
she
watched him talk to their host
,
Sara
gave
a sigh of relief hearing her phone ring
,
pulling it out quickly and answering. 
From the furthest side of the room Darius
was
surprised to see her on her phone, his surprise turning to a frown as all colour
seemed to drain from her features, her
complexion
suddenly
pal
e
,
as he
r hand reached out to a nearby table to steady herself. 
Turning
,
he
sensed that there was something seriously wrong as she
met his eyes, her
s
full of panic as she
backed out
towards
the door
,
her look frantic as she
turned and fled from the
room.