The Billionaire Secret 2 (Billionaire, BWWM, Interracial, Romance) (3 page)

His hands were sweating and he wiped them, one by one as he switched the tiny black box from one to the other, on his suit pants. The limo ride home had been full of kisses, a few caresses, and promises of a fun evening, but he had to do this before he lost his nerve. Negative thoughts and nervous whispers plagued his mind as he sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to undress and prepare for bed. It was already two hours into the first day of the New Year, and he was wondering if he’d make it through the rest.

“So…I saw you with Julia,” Aiyana said as she was opening the door. His heart thudded and he slipped the box into his pocket before she looked up.

“What do you mean?” he asked her as he furrowed his brow. What was she talking about?

“While I was dancing, you were holding her hand. Richard told me you two had a history,” she informed him as she looked up, running her hands down her front to smooth out the white nightgown she’d put on. It contrasted with her dark skin and made his mouth water.

He realized when he caught her eyes that she w While as actually a little worried. Blake felt fear tighten his chest and anger burn through him, hot and cold at the same time.

“And you believe him?” He asked calmly, a little too serenely.

“Well, no, not really.” Something in him uncoiled and relaxed, but not much. “I mean, if it’s true, I don’t think you’re the type of person who’d cheat, so it’s okay if it is true.” He could see the insecurity on her face and the coil tightened again. He never wanted to see a look that like that on her face again.

“Come here,” he told her as he patted the spot on the bed beside him.

Aiyana sat down beside him without hesitation. He rested his hand on her thigh and felt her muscles quiver beneath his touch. “Aiyana, I love you. I’ve never fooled around with Julia. If I had, I wouldn’t have made her my business partner. People at my business, they misunderstand a sideways glance for telling someone you love her. It’s either that or they just really love to gossip about nonexistent scandal around the water cooler.”

“I love you, too.” She told him as she leaned in to kiss him. He felt her lips soften and leaned into her too, parting her lips and placing his hand on her cheek while he kissed her. Before it could get too heated and he lost control, he slipped the box from him pocket and flipped it open. Aiyana was too distracted by his lips to notice until he pulled away gently, kissing her on the lips before holding the ring between them.

“Maybe, when I’m a married man, all those scandalous rumors will end. Aiyana, would you do me the honor of relieving me of this weight: being the subject of those embarrassing break-room whispers?” Aiyana felt her heart stop in her chest as she looked down at the ring. It was so white, the band made of white gold and the tiny diamonds scattered across it as if they were the stars gleaming in the night sky. It wasn’t a huge diamond, and she was glad it wasn’t gaudy, but she also didn’t know if she could accept it.

Moments passed, the first few filled with anticipation from Blake, and then disappointment as he realized she wasn’t answering him.

“I know it’s not as romantic as you probably expected it to be. I should have set up something better.” He offered lamely his apologies as he watched her eyes well up with tears. She bit her bottom lip and he wanted to kiss away the hurt he knew was there.

Finally, as if she’d snapped back to reality, Aiyana looked up at him with watery eyes and gripped the hem of her nightgown. “I know your mother hates me,” she whispered, feeling guilt wash over her.

Blake was stunned into silence as he felt the box lowered to his lap. He didn’t want to lie to her, tell her that his mother loved her and that it was all okay, but he didn’t want to give voice to the reality either, that she’d be marrying him when his mother didn’t approve. But how could she know?

“Did she say something to you?” he asked as he felt his heart smashing into tiny bits. It hurt, like someone had just stuck a hand in his chest and squeezed hard. His breathing was shallow but he tried not to show her how much her obvious refusal upset him.

“No, but I didn’t need to hear it from her lips to see it in her eyes. She doesn’t like me, Blake. In fact, it’s a little more than that. She doesn’t
approve
of me, and I don’t know if right now is a good time to think about, well, this.” She couldn’t bear to look down at the ring. Her throat was constricting and she felt one of the stray tears sliding down her face. This wasn’t how she’d imagined the night going.

“Just give her some time honey. When she sees how much I love you, adore you, she’ll come around. She’s just set in her ways and needs some time to-to-” he didn’t know what to say. Was she going to leave? He couldn’t tell. He’d asked too soon, and now he feared he was going to lose her because of his impatience. “Just forget about it. I shouldn’t have asked like this. Can we just forget I asked?”

When he looked up, Aiyana could see the raw pain etched across his face and saw it down in his soul. She’d created a fissure she was afraid she couldn’t repair with this refusal. If only she’d been more tactful. If only she’d told him she knew sooner. The conversation she’d had with Briana flashed back into her mind and she grimaced.

Blake took it the wrong way and she saw him emotionally withdrawing from her. There was an invisible wall in between them all of a sudden, and she didn’t know what to do to break it down. “I love you,” she told him quietly as she tried to reach him again.

“I love you,” he told her and then closed the ring box and slipped it into his pocket. She watched him stand and begin to loosen his tie. He stepped away from her and into the bathroom in order to continue getting undressed, and she could feel that fissure growing by the second.

By the time he came back to bed she was already under the covers. He smiled at her as he always did and wished her goodnight, but there was something missing from his eyes. Aiyana swallowed hard when the light flashed off and rolled over onto her side, her back facing him. She lay awake until four or five in the morning, and then sleep finally gave her two hours of rest before she was awakened by sunlight hitting her face.

The terrible event from just a few hours beforehand seemed like a terrible dream, but she knew it was true when she padded out to the kitchen and saw that Blake had left her a note.

Went to the office. ~ Blake

No, I love you, I’ll see you later, nothing at the end of it to tell her that he wanted her to be there when he got back. Aiyana felt her chest cave in and sat down hard on one of the breakfast bar stools. Her bare feet felt the cool tile beneath them and she pulled them up onto the stool with her to keep them warm. But the ice cold feeling wasn’t coming from the outside; she felt it creeping through her veins. She’d done something stupid, and she wasn’t sure she could make it better.

Minutes that felt like hours passed before she could put her feet on the floor and grab a cup of coffee. She took it in good stride that he’d made enough for her. Maybe he was hurt over her refusal, but perhaps there was a chance she could fix it. She went to the room she shared with him and picked up her phone.

Briana answered on the second ring. “It’s seven in the morning,” she said groggily on the other end of the line. “Who’s dead?”

“No one, not yet.”

“You mean someone is
going
to be dead?” Briana quipped.

“No, no. It’s just, I screwed up, Bree. I just-” she felt the tears clogging her throat again and tried to swallow away the lump.

“You’re at his place?” Briana asked, and Aiyana nodded. Then she realized her friend couldn’t see her.

“Yes, I’m here.” She said before the line went dead. She sat down on the edge of the bed and sipped her coffee like a zombie. Repeatedly, she told herself it would be okay and that he just needed some time to think.

But he was supposed to take the day off. They were going to spend it eating at the Chinese restaurant she’d taken him to first, and then they were going go ice skating before they went out for a romantic dinner. He’d told her so, and he’d chosen to go to work that day instead. She felt a flash of jealousy as she wondered if his business partner would be there.

Would he seek comfort with her? Before she could call him to see if it was all over and she should be packing, the doorbell rang and she knew Briana had come to rescue her. When she opened up the door to let her friend in, she caught a whiff of bagels and eggs.

“Breakfast is here,” Briana said before she swept into the apartment and her mouth dropped. “Holy-”

“Oh good, you’re here. You must have gotten my text.” Julia pursed her lips as she settled into the chair across from Blake. She still had her receptionist desk and covered those duties, and Blake had offered her a desk in his office so they could share, but she’d refused.

“I’m here,” he told her as he continued to face out the window and not look at her. She could tell he was distracted, but assumed it was because she’d sent him a text about his cousin.

“So Jonathan thinks he might have a good idea for the next line of televisions, Blake, are you listening?” he swiveled in his chair to look at her and she could see a haunted look in his eyes before he blinked and look like all business again.

“I’m listening,” he assured her with a smile to let her know to proceed.

“Well, he thinks you should team up with a video game company he’s been working with. They’re thinking about a new three-dimensional system and he thought you might want to talk to them about some advertising campaigns together. Now, if you ask me, I think it sounds like a solid plan, but then again, I’m no advertising expert.” He frowned at her as he drummed his fingers. Of course she was an expert on it, she’d half designed most of the campaigns already.

“You have reservations and you’re afraid to tell me because Jonathan is my cousin.” The deadpan tone of his voice tipped her off that something was wrong and she refrained any answer. Suddenly, as if something had taken him over, he stood from his chair and his fist slammed down on his desk. Julia visibly jumped and glared at him. “Damn it! Why does my family have to ruin every relationship I have? First Aiyana, then you! Who’s next?”

His cheeks had flushed red and his pulse was racing in his neck. Julia stared at him, watching the nervous tick in his jaw. She saw the moment he realized he’d made a fool of himself, and then the moment when he resolved to the teasing he thought was going to come next. She felt pity for him, but still, she wasn’t going to sit there and be treated in such a disrespectful manner without a reprimand.

“You’re buying me a Frappuccino for that, Mr. Hanley.” The flush disappeared from his cheeks and she saw his chest rise and fall in a deep sigh. “Now, you’re going to tell me what’s wrong and why you’ve just cracked your desk. It’s expensive, by the way, and I’m not happy about it.”

“Not happy about it?” he asked incredulously as he looked down at the hairline fracture. He wondered if that’s what his heart looked like last night. Now it felt like it’d turned to cement.

“The cost, of course. We’re going to have to buy you a new desk and now that I have a stake in this business, I don’t like frivolous spending on furniture that shouldn’t have been damaged in the first place.” He felt a twitch on his lips and his fists relaxed as he rested his hands on his thighs. “Now, tell me what happened.”

Blake took a few deep breaths and wondered if he should really tell Julia about it. Shouldn’t he be talking to Aiyana? He thought about it a moment and decided that if Julia were a man, he’d tell a male friend in a heartbeat. It was something friends shared, and there wasn’t anything wrong with being friends with a woman. Still, people talked.

“I proposed, like an idiot, when we got home last night. And she declined.” He wasn’t one to mince words when he was hurt, but Julia seemed inclined to poke into the wound.

“Proposed? How? What did she say?” She looked genuinely confused, and he was glad he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Well, she came out of the bathroom, I kissed her, and then I asked her to marry me. She told me she wasn’t sure about getting engaged because she knows my mother doesn’t like her. I’m sick of people walking around my family on egg shells because I make money. If Jonathan’s idea is crap, then you tell me it’s crap. I’ll break it to him easy.”

“We’re not talking about Jonathan, but nice attempt at deflecting. So you didn’t tell her you knew?” Julia sounded accusing and he felt his defenses rising.

“No, of course not. I didn’t want her to know because-” He stopped when he realized what he was about to say would sound asinine. But then he continued. “Because I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t want her to leave because of my mother. But Julia, I love them both. What am I supposed to do?”

“Like I said before, this isn’t going to diminish the love between you and Aiyana, so you’re just going to have to have a sit down with your mother and explain your intentions. If she has any kind of heart, and I believe she does, she’ll accept it.”

“And if she doesn’t?” Blake knew what he was going to hear, but he needed to hear it.

“She will,” Julia said firmly before she moved on to the topic of Jonathan. “So, I do think the commercial would be a good idea, but I think we should take a look at the game first. I want to make sure it’s something that’s not going to cause us trouble in the future.”

“I agree, we should take a look at the game.”

“Good, because Jonathan’s coming out with his wife to meet up with us at the Carlton tonight at seven.” Blake agreed, reluctantly, as he wondered if Aiyana would go with him. He knew he’d been brisk this morning, but he hadn’t wanted to wake her. He hadn’t wanted to see the sadness in her eyes again, and he worked until late that afternoon in order to avoid it.

~

“So he just went to bed, without saying anything?” Briana drank another gulp of her black coffee and tried not to stare at the appliances that most likely cost as much as her monthly rent did.

“Well, he said goodnight, and left me this note this morning.” Aiyana tapped on it for the third time. Briana didn’t seem concerned with the note, but she just didn’t understand. It was unlike Blake to leave without saying goodbye.

“I think you’re overreacting. I mean, I know it’s upsetting that his mother doesn’t like you, for whatever reason, and I don’t completely believe it’s because you’re black.” Briana raised her eyebrows and waited for Aiyana to object, but she’d learned to keep her mouth shut the first time she objected this morning. “So here’s what I think we should do. We’re going to go back into that amazing, awesome, expansive room and I’m going to map out where my cot will be going in the closet, because I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than my apartment right now.”

Aiyana felt a ghost of a smile on her lips until she looked up to see that Briana looked half serious. She chuckled as she emptied out her coffee mug in the sink and placed their dishes in the dishwasher. “Okay, let’s go.”

When she opened the door to the bedroom, Briana’s remarks were almost identical to her unladylike comments when she’d walked through the front door. “I’m seeing this, right?”

“You are.” Aiyana was still a little flabbergasted that she got to live in a place like this, but that wasn’t what drew her to Blake. There were so many things about him that she loved, and as Briana walked around the room exclaiming over the duvet made of silk, and the nightstands that were made of gleaming, dark wood, she realized that she didn’t want to give up her place in this room because she didn’t want to give up Blake.

She’d do whatever it took to get his mother to see that she was a fine woman, a woman who loved Blake with all her heart.

When Briana turned to her, she smiled and motioned her into the closet. “It really is as big as my apartment,” Briana said with some awe.

“No it’s not,” Aiyana rolled her eyes and chuckled as she turned on the light and took a look at her sparse belongings. There were more items than what she’d moved in with, but she wasn’t sure if she’d ever fill up the closet at her disposal.

“We’re going to need more clothes,” Briana stated as she put her hands on her hips. “I think we need to go shopping after this. Next weekend you’re going to get more shoes, and maybe also some dresses. Do you still buy your own stuff?”

“Of course I do!” Aiyana bristled but Briana didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care.

“Well, that’s silly. The man has more money than I do heartbeats left in my lifetime. Wait, maybe, I think.” She pulled out her phone and proceeded to look on the search engine app. “Yep, way more considering I’m not an infant.”

“How many times does it beat in the average lifetime?” Aiyana asked as she sat down on the cushioned bench in the middle of her closet.

“Two and a half billion times in an average lifetime,” Briana told her as she idly put her phone away and started sifting through the hanging shirts. “Oh my god,” she said a she shook her head.

“What?” Aiyana asked as she raised her eyebrows.

“You didn’t even sort them by season! Who are you and what did you do with Aiyana?” Briana began to pull the shirts down with their hangers and haphazardly dropped them onto the bench.

“That’s why I have you,” Aiyana said as she smiled and felt her chest beginning to unwind and loosen. She’d talk to Blake tonight and let him know she was sorry. If he’d have her, she’d wear the ring he bought for her because she thought it was beautiful, and because she wanted that symbol of everlasting love on her finger. She wanted
him
.

“I know you’re thinking sappy thoughts right now, but snap out of it and help me put these back, color-coded and by season.”

By the time they were finished, Briana was exhausted and needed more coffee. It was past three in the afternoon, and Blake still wasn’t home. Aiyana was starting to lose her resolve, but she figured that by having Briana there when he came home, she’d get to solidify their relationship by introducing him to her friend. The more connections they had, supporting their union, the better chance they had.

Besides, she’d need someone there if she had to take all those clothes out of the closet and pack them away in an evening. The thought made her throat constrict and she tried to tame it by taking a sip of her ice water. “Stop sweating about it. It was just a fight that wasn’t really a fight. Wasn’t it worse the time you found out he lied to you about who he was?”

Aiyana thought about and determined it wasn’t. This was worse. She’d denied him the opportunity of a joyful proposal, and she wasn’t sure she could fix that.

“He’s home,” she said when she heard the door open, and her panic kicked up four more notches. Briana put a bracing hand on her shoulder and then let it slide away before Blake came into the kitchen where both women sat at the breakfast bar

“Oh, good. You’re here,” he seemed genuinely pleased to see her, and she felt relief flood her when he kissed her sweetly, not on the cheek, but on the lips. “Briana, it’s nice to see you.” He held out his hand and Briana took it cordially.

“And you.”