The Billionaire's Proposition (The Romero Brothers, Book 4) (5 page)

“Well, you want to pay me…for,” she said,
trailing off, “my commitment.”

“Listen, Venus. I didn’t mean to come
across that way.”

“It’s okay,” she said, hugging
herself
. She was shivering, not because she was cold but
because she was feeling overwhelmed with her feelings for her him. “Besides,
one million dollars a year is crazy money. How long would we stay married if I
can do this?”

“First of all, it would be one million for
each month you are married to me.”

“A month?” Venus felt her heart explode in
her chest. “A month?
One million dollars a month?
Carl, that’s insane!” She wanted to say that she would do it for free. But she
could not even do that. Because it would never work given her past.

She paced in his office, hugging herself.
“I…I don’t know. I can’t do that.”

“Where are you going?” he said, watching
her as she grabbed her notepad.

“I’m sorry, Carl. I have to…I have to be
somewhere. Can we meet later?”

“Sure.” His voice was nonchalant and
clipped,
an amused grin was still on his lips. Did he not
realize what he had done? Did he think this was amusing?

Venus left Carl’s office and went into her
own office. She grabbed her purse from her drawer and fished for her keys and
cell phone. She promptly left the building, her heart pounding in her chest.
Her throat had virtually closed up. She could barely speak. She whisked past
her co-workers and out the door. Would she even return to work at R.M. Fitness
Center?

One million dollars?

His wife?

What the?

And for how long could he keep this up?

Then another thought struck her. If she
didn’t go along with his plan, would he find someone else? She could see a lot
of women at the office jumping, no,
throwing
themselves
at the chance to share Carl’s hot bed and life,
and especially for that insane amount of money. Not that Carl needed to pay
anyone. As sexy and charming as this beauteous man was, women would gladly pay
him
to be on his arm. But Venus just
could not accept his proposition. Besides, she wasn’t free to marry
anyone—something that Carl didn’t even know.

What would Carl expect for one million
dollars a month?
For her to turn all kinds of tricks in the sack?
She didn’t think so. No way in hell. She was hot for him, but she had her
pride. She had her dignity, damn it. Carl was willing to pay her that amount of
money? What must he think of her?

Later that afternoon, Carl and Jules sat at
an exclusive restaurant in the downtown core in a booth discussing his plans.

“So, you asked her to marry you, and she
ran out on you?” Jules couldn’t help but grin.

“It’s not funny, Jules.” Carl was not
impressed right now. Though his brother and he often joked and bantered, he was
just not in the mood for it.

“I’m sorry, man. I just didn’t expect that
reaction from her. I know she likes the hell out of you.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, come on, you must see the way she
ogles you every time your back is turned.”

“If my back is turned, genius, how am I
supposed to see that?” Carl arched a brow, his lips thinned.

“Very funny, bro. You know you have eyes on
the back of your head,” Jules teased him,
then
wiped
the smile off his face. “Seriously, though, man, she’s been talking about you a
lot.”

“To whom?”

“To dear old step-grandma Shelly.”

“Shelly?” Carl wasn’t expecting that.
Shelly was his grandfather’s young, hip wife in her late forties and she was so
good to talk to. In fact, at times, Shelly would step in and babysit Venus’s son
Tristan whenever she was stuck for a reliable babysitter so that she could go
in to work.

“Yeah, Shelly. Apparently, Venus likes you
a lot. She talks about you all the time and asks Shelly all kinds of things
about you and even asks if you have girlfriend.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Well, she’s not gonna ask you now, is
she?”

Carl grinned, lifting his drink to his
lips. “Right.”

“Anyway, you’d better have a good plan in
place either way, bro. These politicians play nasty as hell.”

“Did you find out anything else about my
future opponent?”

“Yeah. His campaign platform is to discredit
anyone who comes up against him.”

“What? Seriously?”

“Wish I was kidding, man. The guy’s a mean
mother f—”

“Okay, okay. I get it.”

“Now on the other hand, he’s not exactly
squeaky clean.”

“Oh, no. I’m not playing their game. If
they
wanna
see if they can sling mud on my reputation,
good luck to them. My platform is what I can do for the people, not how much I
can tear down my competitors. I trust that people will vote the right way.”

“Yeah, just as long as you at least appear competent.
They still want a family-friendly mayor, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I hear ya!” Carl’s lips were pinched
tightly. He was thinking. Turbulent thoughts raced through his mind as he recalled
his meeting with Venus that morning. Shit! She was hurt. Insulted, even. What the
hell had he just done?
And all to get into the mayoral seat.
He knew what he wanted to do to win and to make a change but hell, if it meant
hurting Venus, none of that seemed to matter all of a sudden.

Now wasn’t that the craziest thing?

One moment, he was all for winning at any
cost.
But Venus?
She struck a chord inside him. There
was something that radiated about her. Damn, he’d do anything to protect her.
And if she didn’t want to go in with this with him, he just realized that there
wasn’t anyone else he would want to ask.

Imagine that!

What was this feeling he was having towards
Venus? He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. It perplexed him. Heck,
she
was perplexing!

None of that mattered now.

Could his grandfather be right? Was love
and family far more important than anything else in society? Carl was beginning
to feel it deep down in his soul. Their father was more together when their
mother was around. His folks may not have had much later in their marriage but
they had love and it bonded them and held them together until tragedy struck
down their family.

Carl squeezed his eyes shut and opened them
again, bringing his drink to his lips and taking a long swig. He could barely
taste the fluid going down his throat. He was numb. He was dazed.
And all over a woman.

Venus bewitched him—in a good way, of
course. There was just something strong about her that resonated with his soul.
He couldn’t get her out of his system, out of his mind. And it took something
like this morning’s encounter for him to realize that?

“Well, put it this way, Carl,” Jules
interrupted his concentration. “At least you know she’s a good woman.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You know. Most women would have probably jumped
at that kind of cash you offered her but she has to think it through. What does
that say about her character?” Jules shoved a bite of steak into his mouth.

Carl had also ordered the steak and pasta
lunch but hadn’t touched a morsel. He had other things eating at him.

“Yeah, you’re right, Jules.”

His brother was in fact right. Venus not
jumping at the chance to take his money proved that she was the woman he
wanted, more than anything else in the world right now.

And Carl wasn’t going to let Venus go that
easily.

“I’m glad you came here to see me in
person, Venus,” Amber said at the Murumbian Consulate. “I felt terrible about
our phone conversation this morning.”

“It’s okay,” Venus said quietly, sitting in
the chair in the bright office at the consulate. It was strange. She hadn’t
been there since she came to Canada. Seeing her country’s orange and green flag
on the wall and coat of arms brought a sad feeling to her heart and a sense of
longing. She missed her old life. She missed the way things were before…that
tragic incident two years earlier that had her flee her homeland and take up
residence in Kansas and then now here in Mayberry Hill, a quiet town on the
outskirts of the city of Toronto in Canada. What a journey she and Tristan have
had during the past two years. But going to college and finding work had kept
her going and kept up her spirits.
Until this morning.
She was torn about what to do.

Never had Venus been in so much emotional
turmoil since residing in Canada. What to do? Why had she come to the embassy?

Carl.

She desperately wanted to help him but not
on his terms and not until she found out if she was truly free to…marry.
Even if it were for a contractual period of time.

“So let me get this straight,” Amber
clarified after Venus told her that somebody was interested in marrying her. “Someone
you like asked you to marry him and you said no?”

“Well, it’s not quite like that,” Venus
murmured.

“What is it then? Venus, what are you
worried about?”

“Well, you know about my past. You’re one
of the few who knows.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Well, how can I even think about getting
married and not tell my…future husband?”

Amber drew in a deep breath. “You’re right.
It’s something you need to think about clearly. But if
you’re
worried about Eduardo, I wouldn’t let him keep you from moving forward. You
need a life, Venus. Like I said before, he can’t come near you to harm you or
Tristan. And he doesn’t even know that you’re in Canada.”

“I know. But he could find out.”

“Like I said before, once you continue to
keep a low profile…”

“But that’s just it. It’s possible that
my…future husband may have a high profile career in the future.”

“I see. That could be a problem. But you
have to weigh the odds, Venus. Besides, you look so different than when you
first came to us two years ago. Your hair color has changed. Your weight is
different. You were so emaciated then. You look healthy now. A nice glow about
you! It’s up to your comfort level, Venus, but…” Amber looked as if she was
feeling sorrow or pain, Venus couldn’t quite tell which.

“Is everything okay, Amber?” Venus was so
grateful for all that Amber did for her and Tristan when they came to Canada to
help them get settled when she had to flee her country and find this nice place
to reside. She hoped Amber was okay. She was one of the few people who knew
about her past, whom she could trust.

“Venus, I shouldn’t be telling you this,
but it’s not every time in life that we meet that special guy. The one who
could make our hearts leap in our chest or bring unbridled joy to us. And when
he asks you to marry him, well,” she shrugged, giving Venus a hopeful look. A
smile then crept on her face. “I say, go and follow your heart. I wish I
could.”

“I’m sure you could. You’re attractive and
single.”

Amber laughed. “Thank you, Venus. But my
life’s a bit more complicated.”

“It can’t be more complicated than mine.”

“Actually, you’d be surprised.” Pain
flashed in Amber’s eyes. “Take the opportunity when you can to be with the one
you love, the one you care about. Let things take care of themselves. I’m
telling you this because I believe you deserve to be happy. Since you’ve spoken
to me about your job, you seem to glow when you speak about this man…and I’m
assuming that he works with you.” Amber grinned. “Anyway, I wish I had the
opportunity that you have but…I don’t. And I may never get that chance. We
women keep denying our chance at being happy for the littlest things
sometimes.”

“Little? I would hardly call my past little.”

“No. And I didn’t mean it like that. What I
meant was, love is so huge, Venus. Having love in your life is bigger than
anything in your life. Remember that. It’s always worth fighting for.”

Venus swallowed hard. No way in hell was
she going to make herself a high-priced “wife” but she wanted to be in Carl’s
life. She now had to figure out how she was going to do this without getting
either of them doing anything they could regret later.

But was Amber right? Was having love in Venus’s
life bigger than anything else in her life?

Later that afternoon, Carl leaned back in
his leather office chair and skimmed over his notes for his upcoming candidacy
announcement. He agonized over the fine details and weighed his chances of genuinely
winning over voters given his background.

Fellow
citizens,