The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) (9 page)

They were being dismissed. The worst part? As they walked out dejected and wondering where they went wrong, Henry stood there waiting for her.

Chapter Eight

“
Go away, Henry.” Aubrey walked passed him with her colleagues, who were all watching the interaction with rapt attention.

“
Not without talking to you first. Just hear me out. Please.” He kept up with her, stride for stride, no matter how fast she tried to walk.

“
No. There is nothing to explain. You should have told me who you were.”

Aubrey pushed the door open and walked out. She could hear him cursing from behind her
, but she didn’t look back. Not for Henry, and not for either Jenna or Mike, who were both calling her name. She had to be alone. Her embarrassment was no one’s business but her own.

The sky that had been completely clear when she entered the building
was now filled with clouds. She could feel a mist in the air and hoped to make it to her car before the sky opened up.

She didn
’t. The water poured down on top of her, soaking her straight through to her skin in a matter of minutes. Not caring how she looked any longer, she kicked off her shoes, grabbed them in one hand, and ran to her car.

Once locked inside, she stared out the window through the waves of water that were flowing down the glass, and cried.

How could she let herself get so caught up in a man again? How could she let his deception hurt her? How could she let him in so much so that she jeopardized the first, and probably last, chance she had at becoming more than Jenna’s assistant?

That was it. She was done. Henry was a thing of the past
, and she would pick herself up and move on just like every other time. He would not be the reason she stopped moving forward. If that girl and her mother couldn’t see that a career opportunity was better than a lump sum all at once, then they aren’t nearly as smart as they were made out to be.

Aubrey wiped her eyes and turned her car on. With determination in her
eyes, she left the parking lot and headed back to the office.

~*~

Going straight to the office wasn’t her best idea. Soaking wet clothing are not the most comfortable things to wear while trying to research how best to win the Stines over. Aubrey was desperate to find something about Maximus to show to them to prove that money wasn’t everything. It had to be more than the obvious. Anyone in the gaming industry, or who was interested in it like Becca was, would know that Viola was the largest and oldest company around. They would already know the titles under their belts and the backing they received from other industries. But Maximus was this shiny new toy everyone wanted to check out and play with for the past few years, effectively cutting into Viola’s profits, cutting into all the other companies’ profits, too.

Maybe Henry made a habit of seducing women with his
‘I’m not that kind of guy’ ways. Maybe he had a sordid past she could dig up. Maybe if she Googled his name…

No. This wasn
’t about Henry. She was done with him. Done, done, done.

But when she Googled Maximus industries, it became a little impossible to ignore him. His beautiful eyes stared back at her, picture after picture, article after article. The company was squeaky fucking clean.

Maybe she had to look more into Henry Maximus. Not that she wanted to. She absolutely didn’t want to.

Another quick search brought up his biography. Surely he had some kind of
a sordid past.

Only, he didn
’t. He grew up in her town, went to her high school, graduated the year before her.
Holy shit, they went to school together.

That was when she really began to search for anything she could find on Henry Maximus. Research for work completely forgotten, she was looking for high school photos. Surely
, she would remember him. He was fucking hot as hell, and with those moves he had, every girl would have been talking about him. But then again, she thought, there is no way Henry was a jock. She pretty much stuck to the football team when it came to boyfriends. Yes, she was the stereotypical cheerleader. Hot, popular, and dated the football players.

Thinking back on it, she kind of disgusted herself. Maybe if she tried harder then, actually paid attention to anything other than her friends or boyfriends
, she wouldn’t have started her ‘grown-up’ life completely behind the curve.

His senior picture popped up, or what they claimed to be his senior picture, and she recognized it immediately. Henry was the kid that they all teased. Well, she never teased him, but she didn
’t talk to him either. She just ignored him. She couldn’t bring herself to actually be that mean to someone, but she also couldn’t bring herself to jeopardize her standing and let anyone see her being nice to the outcasts, either. She wasn’t sure what was worse, doing the teasing or knowing its wrong and doing nothing about it.

Could Henry have realized who she was to begin with? Was he trying to prove something? But why should it matter
? She didn’t want a relationship. She wanted a fun night, and she got it. But it kind of stung like a bitch to know she was some sort of conquest, some sort of game.

Aubrey couldn
’t look at the stupid computer screen anymore. She shoved away from her desk and made a plan. She would go home and put on her hottest club outfit she owned. Then she would drive an hour back into the city, and she would make sure that Henry saw her with someone else.

The thought of him knowing he hurt her sucked. He probably did it on purpose
, that bastard. So what if he were a complete loser in high school? That wasn’t her fault. So he made a life for himself, a billionaire type life. Was he having fun shoving it in her face that she only became an assistant without a degree?

But if that were true, he probably would have mentioned the money thing. But it didn
’t matter. He had to have known who she was, and the minute he knew she worked for Viola, he should have been honest with her. He hid who he was from her. He was an ass.

The drive home was filled with loud music and a speedometer that was well above
sixty-five. Aubrey parked the car and stormed into her house, not bothering to speak to anyone. Her brother had yet to get over his little tantrum, and her parents were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner. Food could wait. She had a man to find and another to prove to that she wasn’t affected by him in the least.

Stomping up the stairs to the attic, Aubrey stopped mid way. She heard the creak of the bottom step behind her. Slowly
, she turned around to see her brother at the bottom looking up at her with those stupid sad eyes he always got when he really needed to talk. Not because he was pissed off, but because he was hurting over something.

The anger faded quickly and was replaced by concern for him. She just gave him a half smile and nodded up toward her room.

“Come on, Ben.” Aubrey continued climbing the stairs knowing her brother would follow. He had come around as he always does. She just wished he didn’t have to be so upset to do so.

Opening the door, she let him in where he promptly kicked off his shoes and flopped on her bed.
Since her clothing was still wet, she began shuffling through her drawers and found her outfit for the night. She sat it down on the chair next to the stairs and sat on the floor with her knees tucked to her chest and waited for Ben to start talking.

“
I don’t know what to do.”

“
Okay,” she said slowly as she watched her brother’s eyes glass over. A tear fell but was wiped away quickly. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“
Mackenna is pregnant.” Ben’s head fell into his hands as his shoulders shook. Aubrey couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she couldn’t let Ben cry without some kind of comfort. It was rare for her to see him this way. She could only think of a couple times he showed this much emotion since he was about ten or so. She stood and sat next to him on the bed, wet clothes and all, and took her little brother into her arms. Her stupid, stupid brother who had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

“
Have you told Mom and Dad?”

“
No.”

“
Has she told her parents?”

“
Not yet.”

“
What do you want?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Well, little brother, I think it’s time you figured that out. You can’t be a kid anymore. You have to grow up.”

Aubrey held her little brother in her arms for over an hour. He was going to need her more than ever. Her baby brother, in all of his fifteen years, was about to be a father.

“Aubrey?” he whispered, trying to mask his tears.

“
Yeah?”

“
Think you could take me over to Mackenna’s? She shouldn’t have to tell her parents alone.”

“
Yeah, I can take you over there on my way back into the city. Give me twenty minutes to get dressed, and I will drop you off. You call me if you need anything, and I will come straight back. Okay?”

“
Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Ben got up and left her room. All Aubrey could do was sit there and stare at the door. What the hell was he going to do? Should she still go to the bar? Or should she wait for Ben at the house? But if she were home, how could she keep that kind of information from their parents? No, she had to leave, so that way he would be the one to tell them. She would make sure he told them soon, like the next day if he hadn’t managed to tell them before she got home, but it wasn’t her news to tell. He came to her, so she had to respect that and give him the chance to do the right thing.

Aubrey slipped into her little red dress that flowed like waves down her body. It was short and
cleavage-baring, but it wasn’t tight anywhere but the bodice. When she spun while dancing, it sort of belled out, allowing her freedom of movement. Pairing it with a pair of black pumps, and she was out the door.

“
You ready, Ben?” she called as she walked down the stairs.

That
’s when she heard it. The arguing. Low and angry, but definitely arguing.

“
Benjamin, you are grounded or don’t you remember that? Your girlfriend can see you tomorrow at school. It’s nine at night, and you think you are going out? Are you crazy? You are fifteen years old!”

“
I am going. She needs me. Just let me go.” Ben’s voice was steady. He wasn’t yelling, or even being argumentative, but their parents were not having it. Aubrey stood in the doorway to the living room, watching. Should she say something or let Ben handle it? He was right that he needed to go, but their mom and dad didn’t know that.

“
Absolutely not. Go upstairs, right now,” their father said.

“
Dad, come on, please just trust me on this.”

“
HA! Trust you? What have you done to show us you can be trusted? Ever since you started dating that girl you have been nothing but a little hellion. You don’t listen, you stay out all night, and your grades are falling. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your GPA back up? Do you plan on going to college or just living here the rest of your life?”

That stung. Aubrey knew her father wasn
’t talking to her, but he was thinking about it when he said that. Did her brother want to be a failure like her? Of course not, and she didn’t want that for him either.

“
I’m leaving,” Ben said then strolled passed her. Her parents were hot on his trail, but she put her hand to her father’s chest. She didn’t know what she was doing until it was too late, but she had stepped in. Again.

“
Dad, let him go. You have no idea what’s going on. Just let him go. He is trying to do the right thing and right now, in this instance, the right thing isn’t listening to you. Please, just trust me on this, even if you can’t trust him.”

“
He is fifteen years old. The right thing is always listening to me. What the hell is going on, Aubrey?”

“
It’s not my place to tell you, but I will make sure he does, okay?”

“
Not okay. Tell me.”

“
Bye, Dad. I’ll be home later. And so will Ben.”

She followed the path that Ben set and found him in her car, staring out the window into nothingness. Her parents were still yelling after them, but Aubrey was doing what she thought was for the best. They would eventually understand that.

“I stood up for you in there. You need to tell them and soon.”

“
I know, and I will. Thanks.”

Aubrey turned the key and drove off. Life was about to get a hell of a lot more interesting
, that was for sure.