Romance: Bad Boss: Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (11 page)

Chapter 2

Ali awoke in his loft and realized he’d slept until well past noon. He checked his phone and saw he had a voicemail. It was from his quietest brother, Brahir.

“Hello, brother,” the recording of Brahir said into the phone.

“Just checking in on you and making sure you got in okay. Hamza and Ibrahim are concerned you’re not going to take things seriously, but I have faith in you. Call me back when you get this, and let us know when you get the business going. Love you always, brother!”

Ali did not bother to call back Brahir right away. He felt groggy and had a headache from the night before and did not wish to rise from bed right away.

He looked around his room from the comfort of his bed, and saw boxes upon boxes that needed unpacking. He looked over at his never-before-sat-in couch. His never-before-used oven.

As he lay in bed looking around his new home, he truly realized just how alone he really was there. He had no family or friends to help him adjust to his new life, and the staff members that came with him returned to his brothers in Dubai.

As he sat up slowly, he began to recall the night before. As the cranks in his brain began to turn, he remembered Mei. The beautiful, fair-skinned, multicultural woman behind the bar. She was sassy and combative, and Ali wanted her.

As he thought more about the night, he remembered how she turned him down. She was the first woman in his entire life to do such a thing, and it baffled him.

He began to over think things.

Was he too forward? Did he smell? What exactly turned her off and caused her to say no?

He knew all women wanted him, and decided to himself there had to be a precise reason she rejected him. He needed to find out. He needed to see her again that night.

Ali got out of bed and showered and dressed himself for the day. He knew he needed to get the ball rolling on the Vegas business section, but it was still the last thing on his mind.

He reassured himself by thinking he still had some adjusting to do to his new life. He was not yet mentally prepared to work on the business.

Unpacking some boxes seemed to be a good distraction, he thought. He decided to unpack what he could and make his new loft seem more like home.

As he unpacked, he thought of Mei. He couldn’t wait to see her again and try his luck with her. He was in the luckiest city in the country, after all.

He waited for the night and returned to the same casino hoping that Mei was working. He slicked his hair, pressed his shirt, and stuffed his wallet full of cash. He was ready.

As he rolled into the casino, women again began to notice him and smile. They’d giggle and blush to their friends as he walked by, and they’d watch him until he was out of their sight. He did not stop at any tables or slot machines again. The bar where Mei worked was his goal.

He saw her handing a glass to a woman and her two blonde friends. She’d smile at them, silently hoping they’d tip her well, and the girls trotted off to play more slots. Mei’s smile dropped from her face.

Ali sat down at the bar again, waiting for Mei’s attention. She was cleaning a few glasses at the sink when she finally noticed him. She was unsure what to say or do at first.

“Hello, beautiful Mei,” Ali said to her.

“I’ve come back for more scotch. I’ve also come back to see you again.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are quite persistent,” she said. She poured him another glass of scotch and handed it to him.

“Persistence gets me everything I want. My multi-billionaire dollar business. My reputation. Everything.”

“Persistence can also get you thrown out if you try hard enough, ya know.”

Ali almost choked on his first sip.

“No, no. I’m pretty sure I haven’t done anything to offend you.”

Mei tried to hold a straight face, but eventually cracked a smile. “I was only joking. Calm down, Ali. You need some more scotch in you.”

It was still early in the night and the bar was not as packed as it was the night prior. Mei had a few customers here and there, but still had plenty of time to stand and talk with Ali.

He kept watching the girl, still baffled by her rejection and trying to understand it. She was friendly enough to him. Made eye contact. Held conversations without trying to brush him aside or make him leave.

Why then? What was he doing wrong?

“Mei, what time do you get off tonight? Please do not say two.”

“It’s an early night for me. I get off at eleven.”

He took a larger swig of his drink and dove in.

“You should come out with me after. I will wait here until you are off.”

She paused and bit her lip. Mei knew her attraction to Ali was there, and she badly wanted to know what his lips tasted like and his arms felt like, but she had to try and stop herself.

Mei had not been with a man since her late husband, a brother of three billionaires she married when she was just nineteen. Her two best friends married the other brothers, and they all left Las Vegas to live like royalty in New York City.

When Mei was twenty-one, she caught her husband cheating on her with his secretary, and she ordered him to leave. Three months later, the heartbroken Mei felt perhaps she’d overreacted, and the night before she wanted to make amends with her husband, he died in a car accident on the highway.

Mei’s friends and her late husband’s brothers barely spoke to her after that as they all moved on with their lives. She wanted to be happy for them as they were all happily married in a beautiful city, but deep down, she had hatred and resentment.

Why couldn’t her story have ended up like theirs?

She looked at Ali and saw traces of her late husband. She was convinced billionaire men cheated on their women, and she couldn’t take that kind of heartache again.

As much as she wanted to meet Ali’s body, she resisted. She feared her secret would surface, and she couldn’t let that happen.

“I don’t know if I should come out with you,” she said meekly.

Ali could not understand. This woman was hurting his ego.

“Fine. It won’t be anything other than the fact that I know no one here and would like to spend some time with another person, getting to know the area. Would that be acceptable?”

Mei thought about it and realized that might be acceptable.

As long as she could resist touching him, and he didn’t try to seduce her, they could probably have a fun night together.

“As long as I am not too tired when I get off,” she said. “I guess that would be alright.”

Chapter 3

Mei and Ali exited the casino after eleven, and Ali was grinning ear to ear. Mei kept a close eye on him; she didn’t want any funny business.

“Are you hungry?” he asked her.

“I can’t imagine you’ve had dinner.”

Mei realized he was right.

“I actually haven’t eaten. We should run through a drive-thru.”

Ali laughed. “A Sheikh doesn’t eat at a drive-thru.”

Mei’s face turned serious.

“I can’t afford anything else if I expect to still pay my rent.”

Ali suddenly felt bad for his comment, hoping he didn’t offend her too harshly.

“I’m sorry, Mei. I want you to know I will be paying for dinner tonight.”

Mei wasn’t sure whether to accept or decline his offer, but she was interrupted by her phone ringing. It was her roommate, Jackie.

“Excuse me,” Mei said to Ali.

“I should answer this. Hello?”

“Hi Mei,” said Jackie into the phone. She sounded disappointed.

“Our landlord shut our electricity off again. We have no hot water or lights.”

Mei’s face sunk. Ali watched her expression change and was trying to figure out why.

“When can we get it turned on?” asked Mei.

“I’m going to see what I can do tomorrow, but for now, I was just letting you know in case you came home tonight when I was sleeping.”

They got off the phone and Mei shook her head in frustration.

“What’s the matter?” asked Ali.

“We have no electricity again. This is the third time.”

Ali was confused.

“I don’t understand. Why don’t you have electricity?”

Impatiently, Mei responded, “Because we didn’t have the money to pay it on time. Not everyone is made of money like you. Food was more important.”

Ali felt bad again and worried he was ruining his chances with this woman. Then he hatched an idea.

“Mei, why don’t you come stay with me tonight. There are lights and hot water where I live. Just stay until your lights get turned back on?”

Mei thought she should say no as she did not trust herself. She wanted him. She so badly wanted to reach out and touch his hand and feel his body heat.

She feared what she might do, what he might do, if they were alone in his home together, especially after she accepted his hospitality out of desperation. Her brain told her to say no, but her heart missed that memo.

“Are you sure it would be no problem?”

Ali smiled and his spirits lifted. There was a chance, he thought, after all.

“No problem at all. It will be nice having someone there while I adjust the first few days.”

Ali took Mei back to his loft and when they stepped inside, Mei’s jaw hit the floor. She looked around, intimidated and in awe, and felt as though she couldn’t touch anything.

She tiptoed around the floor behind Ali as if the ground were made of lava. She didn’t want to leave a spot or mark on anything, as the place was so beautiful and metropolitan.

Ali stepped behind the bar area in the kitchen.

“Care for a drink?” he asked.

Mei was shaken from her trance. “Sure. Do you have gin?”

Ali pulled out a bottle of gin and Mei stepped behind the bar, taking it from his hands.

“No, no,” she said. “Let me pour it. This is what I do for a living.”

Ali watched as Mei poured herself a glass of gin and added some ice with a hint of lemon. She took a sip then turned to him.

“Can I make something for you?”

“Just pour me some Johnnie Walker Blue,” he said.

Mei laughed as she poured him the drink.

“You and your scotch.”

Ali watched Mei so casually and effortlessly make him his drink. She handed it to him and they clinked their glasses together, taking a sip as their eye contact lingered.

“Your face is a beautiful mosaic,” he said to her.

“I love how many origins are present.”

Mei blushed. She didn’t want him to see she was flattered.

“Thank you, Ali. I appreciate. I think I am rather plain, though.”

“Nothing is plain about your extraordinary face.”

Ali leaned in close to Mei. She was frozen for a moment as she waited to see what he would do. He just stared into her eyes and she could feel his breath on her skin.

Just as Mei was beginning to lean into him as well and feel his lips, she remembered her late husband and the nightmare of a life she once had. She looked at Ali and feared the same outcome.

In order to save her world and his, she couldn’t be with him. She couldn’t allow her life to crumble like that again.

Ali tried to kiss her, and Mei dodged him like he had poison on his lips.

“Stop, I can’t!” she said.

Ali pulled back, ashamed and confused. He was under the impression Mei was beginning to have a chance of heart and couldn’t understand why she was still resisting his efforts.

“I don’t understand,” he said, sounding half defeated.

“Do I repulse you? Why can’t you kiss me? You seemed like you wanted to?”

Mei fumbled over her words. She’d start a sentence then stop. She wanted to tell him but knew she couldn’t.

“Do you find me attractive?” Ali asked. The pushback from Mei, the only woman in the world to have turned him down, made him want her even more.

Mei swallowed her fear.

“Yes, I do find you attractive, Ali.”

“Then what is the problem?”

Mei imagined her two best friends being swept off by the billionaire brothers, leaving her behind to suffer in her own catastrophe and never speak to her again. She imagined her late husband and the moment she discovered his infidelity, then again remembering the phone call she received the night he passed.

It was all too real, and affection from the Sheikh would only make her world crumble around her, quickly and with no discretion. It didn’t change, however, how very badly she wanted to reach out and touch his skin.

“I can’t tell you,” said Mei between chokes.

She feared telling Ali would make her sound like she was victimizing herself or that he would ignore her story and continue on with his efforts. He couldn’t know.

Ali sighed. He felt he was never going to know. He finished off his drink and set the empty glass back on the counter.

“Fine. I’m going to step out for a bit. Please feel free to stay here, though. My offer still stands for you. Make yourself at home.”

Mei watched Ali grab his jacket and head out the door. She stood alone in the quiet loft after he departed, still holding her drink, and trembling.

Resisting men had always been relatively easy before, but Ali was different. She wanted him so badly. As she stood alone, forlorn and confused, she began to cry softly.

Ali fled his loft and hit the Strip. His plan was to drink, gamble, meet a few women, and forget all about his attraction to Mei. He walked from casino to casino all night long, drinking and playing Blackjack.

As he continued to win money, women began surrounding him. He’d walk to the next casino with a woman on each arm, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of emptiness.

None of the women sounded like Mei. None looked like her. He imagined her asleep in his loft alone, and wanted so badly to just lay next to her.