Boxed Set: Dominated by a Billionaire - Part 10-12: Irresistible Billionaire (10 page)

“I’m not playing any game, that’s just the point! You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about!” I mutter, opening my car door.

“Don’t do that!” he says, grabbing me by the arm. “Don’t get out of this car, Alma. Don’t run away!”

I struggle pathetically and manage to get away from him. I slip out of the car and stride away with no idea of where I’m going. Behind me, I hear Vadim’s voice shouting my name, again and again. Until I take a narrow street and am out of reach. His reach. Everyone’s reach.

“You’re soaked – did you run here, or what? It’s 90° out there, you must be crazy!” Lily says, bringing me a glass of iced tea.

“I needed to clear my head,” I tell her, before gulping down the tea.

“Have you told your man you’re spending the night here?”

“No. I’m a grownup, I don’t need his permission.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” she sighs, rolling her eyes. “He’s going to worry, Alma.”

“Serves him right, that’ll teach your billionaire playboy,” Pippa says, barging in, in her short shorts and midriff tank top. “Lily, I have to teach you everything… If you want a guy to be addicted, you have to be a total pain in the ass. Alma needs to make her King work hard!”

“Thanks for the tip, Pip’s, even if I don’t necessarily agree,” I say, dragging myself to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Sorry, no hot water left… And I kind of flooded the floor,” my cousin fesses up, all smiles. “What? I didn’t make you come, you’re the one who wanted to trade your Buckingham Palace for this teeny-weeny apartment!”

“It’s just for tonight,” my sister corrects her. “Take a cold shower, Alma. It’s so friggin hot out anyway!”

A cold shower… It’ll just be my third one that day…

I pretended to watch the latest Disney movie with my two makeshift roommates, running the car scene through my head nonstop. Then I forced myself to eat the salad that Lily was so nice to make, drink the tea that Pippa gave me – in which she added a few drops of rum – then I went to bed alone, forbidding myself to give in. I didn’t call him. I didn’t send him a text. I wasn’t going to think about it until the morning. Forget his troubling eyes, his soft skin, his warm lips, his roaming hands… Vadim King is my drug.

He must hate me… This time, I’ve gone too far.

Why hasn’t he come looking for me?

…

6h58. I wait until the next minute flicks over to get up. I hardly got any sleep, I must look like a zombie and… the guilt is eating away at me. Vadim didn’t deserve that. I should have just sulked for a few minutes. Instead, I left him there on the sidewalk, and took off without looking back.

Drama queen
, me? Yeah, well…

A quick shower, a few clothes borrowed from the two sleepyheads, a quick brush to smooth down my shoulder-length blunt cut, a quick dab of blush and a bit of mascara to bring my face back to life, and voila. I tiptoe out of the apartment and close the heavy door behind me, without a sound.

I thought of my billionaire all night, but what about him? Is he as anxious to see me?

Something tells me he isn’t…

Well, I guess he is, since he’s there, leaning up against an impressive black SUV with tinted glass windows, when I come out of my sister’s building. My heart starts pounding, I’m dying to throw myself into his arms, but the look he gives me puts a damper on that right away. A mix of intensity, spite and… I don’t know what gives me the chills. We size each other up for a few seconds, his arms folded, my legs wobbly.

“I thought it was about time I got rid of that damn car. And its bad vibes,” he finally says in a recklessly soft voice.

“Vadim, I–”

“Stop right there, Alma, I’m doing the talking this time. You didn’t let me yesterday. But I still had a lot of things to say to you.”

“I…”

He puts his forefinger on my lips and I follow orders: silence.

“First of all, I love you. So much I could die. Every day a little more. I can’t explain it, it’s beyond me, but I’m proud of it. Because not everyone gets that chance, to experience what you and I have. Second of all, you can run away as far as you want, I’ll always find you. No one can tear you away from me, this time. Not even you. Thirdly, I am ready to slaughter the first bastard who hurts you. Which brings me to yesterday. The problem is that, in this case, it’s your father. And that makes me totally powerless. But I promise you one thing: I will never be him. Our children will never experience that. Last of all, I have a dream. The greatest, the wildest and it was, for a while, the most unattainable of all. I’ve been dragging that dream around for twelve years. It is engraved in me and I want you to realize once and for all that it is all I want…”

My CEO, with his troubling eyes, undoes the knot of his tie, unbuttons his shirt collar and opens it, giving me a glimpse of his chest. I giggle with excitement then sob with emotion seeing the big letters written with a bright red marker:

[YOU + ME, D –19]

He throws himself towards me. I leap forward and press against him, totally up against him. Against his skin where those words are written that make me cry with joy. Against his lips that are already kissing me with a passion that only he knows how to show me. Against his hands that hold me, giving myself utterly to him.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, snuggling up to his neck.

“Shh… Apparently, love means never having to say you’re sorry…” He laughs softly.

“A quote from
Love Story
? Vadim King, you are a hopeless romantic,” I gently tease him, inhaling a whiff of his Paco Rabanne fragrance.

“And you haven’t seen anything yet… Wait until the big day!” he boasts, opening the car door for me. “Your coach, Mrs. (almost) King.”

“Thanks, Mr. (almost) Lancaster.”

At certain key moments of our existence, a bit of silliness doesn’t go astray.

It’s even absolutely necessary…

To do, done, so long & farewell:

- Think ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times about Vadim’s wonderful declaration. In 24 hours. World record.

- Put my phone on silent to avoid Daphné’s non-stop calls.

- Trust him blindly – or more like, deafly – for all the wedding plans. Including the choice of menu: lamb shanks or Rossini tournedos. Heads or tails?

- Save my keyboard from drowning after an umpteenth cappuccino attack.

- Tell Clarence, barely back from paternity leave, that he’s got to fix all the mistakes his replacement made. Give him a little pat on the back and remind him the world didn’t stop turning while he was gone.

To do, no time, oh my God:

- Stop thinking about Vadim’s wonderful declaration, that’s been stirring my heart – and monopolizing my brain – since yesterday morning.

- Concentrate on work: three meetings today!

- Get together with Lily and Clémentine to tell them they will be my maids of honor. And pray they don’t kill each other organizing my hen’s party.

- Get it into my head that I’ve oohed and aahed enough over the huge diamond sitting on my ring finger.

- Go for indifference over anger as far as my father is concerned.

- Stop thinking about V’s wonderful declaration… Already on the list.

- Stop making lists: substantial waste of time. Time I don’t have!

10 a.m. I limp – damn heels – to Alistair’s office, with a huge stack of files under my arm. I’m not sure I’m as capable as I usually am to deal with questions and answers, but I intend to try, just to keep up appearances. Budgets, scenarios, results, forecasts: cut me some slack, please!

Vadim King’s fiancée + assistant director: mission impossible?

“Sorry, Alma, I was about to call you,” Lloyd grumbles, leaving his office right when I’m about to knock on his door. “Our meeting will have to be postponed.”

“Everything OK?”

“No. I mean, yes. Well, I don’t know…”

The director busies himself frantically in front of me, obviously stressed out. He fumbles through his briefcase, straightens his bowtie, looks at the time, reads the text that just came through on his cell and looks back at me. He’s got circles under his eyes and looks like he’s about to launch killer torpedoes:

“Can I be of any help?” I smile, despite myself, a little amused by this uncommon show of uneasiness.

Alistair is always so… composed.

“King has been giving me hell the past few days. He changes his mind every two minutes, he loses his temper for no reason. Do you really think it’s a good idea to marry such a moody guy?” he grumbles even louder.

So Vadim isn’t only being weird with me!

“Are the two of you mad at each other?” I ask.

“Not really. He’s just on my back constantly about work, but I don’t think it’s personal. If it were that, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

Not sure, my fiancé loves playing King of Silence…

“If it reassures you, he didn’t mention it to me.”

“OK, that’s clear at least. Well, I have to run before he decides to change my whole day’s schedule again!” the dandy groans, walking off quickly.

“Good luck,” I shout in his direction.

“You’re the one I should say that to, future Mrs. King!” he shouts back, opening the door that leads to the service stairs.

No time to wait for the elevator? Is he in that much of a hurry?

Something’s fishy in this company…

Vadim isn’t in his office when I get there, impatient to feel his lips again, but also to get some explanations. Akiko, who was in a meeting with our CEO a few minutes earlier, informs me he won’t be back until the end of the day.

The head of advertising is more informed than I am about the whereabouts of my man. Me. Alma. His fiancée.

Doesn’t that shock anyone?

My text message remains unanswered. I figure he’s in the middle of a meeting and so I try to consider the case closed. But not solved. I’ll make him talk sooner or later.

Unless his mouth, his hands, his skin and Paco Rabanne get together to distract me…

It wouldn’t be the first time. Nor the last.

As I come down the hall, Sophie Adam swoops down on me and bursts my bubble. The giggling blonde apologizes for running into me. Then she looks at me weirdly, without saying anything.

“Sophie, what have you done now?” I laugh, seeing her sheepish face.

“I wanted you to be the first to know…” she mumbles shyly. “I’m pregnant. I couldn’t tell you last time, it was too early…”

“What? So why are we whispering? That’s great!!”

“Shh – that’s not all,” she goes on, talking softly.

“I’m all ears…”

“It’s a high-risk pregnancy. The doctors have ordered me to do as little as possible and I intend to follow those orders. I want to resign, Alma. Today. And I know that I’m asking for the moon, but I hope you’ll agree to breach my contract without notice,” my colleague says, with tears in her eyes. “You’ll be saving my life…”

“Come here,” I say softly, taking her in my arms. “Don’t stress out about that. We’ll work something out.”

Leaning on me, the future mommy – she’s been hoping for so long… – starts sobbing. I guess this pregnancy is both a huge gift, but a fragile and terrifying hope. Sophie knows very well what the doctors have told her: she has to get ready for the best, as well as the worst.

“Your priority is taking care of this baby,” I whisper in her ear.

“We’re going back to live in Saint-Tropez. Life on the Mediterranean is calmer, you know? And I’ve found a great maternity clinic there.”

“You don’t have to make excuses. I’ll go talk to the HR department about letting you go straight away. We’re going to miss you. I mean, I don’t know about the others, but I sure will,” I joke, trying to make her smile. “It won’t be the same without you…”

“I don’t know what to say,” she says, crying again. I can see how much she appreciates my understanding. “It would be ideal if I could wrap up all the urgent projects and divide up the rest between my team members. I think I can do that between now and tomorrow night.”

“OK, Sofia will start the recruiting process for your successor right away. And keep tomorrow night free, honey. I’ll let the events department know: you’re going to get a going-away party worthy of the name!”

“Oh no, I don’t want to bother everyone…”

“The decision is final, no ifs ands or buts! Go tell our Will Smith and don’t forget the Kleenex! He’s going to be sad that you’re leaving…”

“I know. You and Clarence will always be my favorites,” she mutters, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

No more Sophie Adam at King Prod? I’m going to have a hard time getting used to that…

Judging from the number of people at the going-away party, our colleague has lots of fans in the King Prod ranks. After getting the green light from Vadim, I managed to arrange her rushed departure in the best possible conditions. As from tonight, Sophie Adam is no longer part of the company. She is as free as can be and is going to be able to “keep her little baby chick warm” – those were her words – in total peace of mind. But only a handful of us know about her pregnancy – she wants to keep the news to herself for now. Meanwhile, she goes from group to group, holding a vitamin-packed fruit cocktail, with a big smile on her lips. I hear her say something sweet to each of us – sometimes along with a joke, a talent she alone has.

The King Prod hallways are going to seem pretty gloomy all of a sudden…

For the past two hours, everyone has been bubbly, talking loudly, having a good time, drinking abundantly and gobbling down the hors d’oeuvres. Vadim and Alistair gave their speeches, raised a toast in Sophie’s honor, gave her a generous gift card to a round of applause, then started talking shop again between the two of them. That’s when I decided to slip out. I catch a glimpse of them from time to time, furtively, pacing in the room, and see them laugh several times.

Lunatics, both of them…

As for Clarence, he sulks in the corner. Even though he likes his colleague wholeheartedly, he can’t get used to the idea of her leaving and refuses to join in the general cheerfulness. I’m watching him on the sly when Sophie comes up from behind me and pulls me by the arm and drags me towards Grumpy: