The Billionaire Secret 2 (Billionaire, BWWM, Interracial, Romance) (4 page)

“Well, I think it’s about time I got a move on,” Briana said as she picked up the piece of cheesecake she’d brought home from the café they’d visited at lunch. Blake saw her to the door after she said goodbye to Aiyana, but stopped her just before she left.

“Briana, I know you know, and I was just wondering-”

“Nope, don’t even ask me. I make it a point not to get involved in problems that are between a man and a woman. If you need to clarify something or get it off your chest, you talk to your girl in there. Now, I like you Blake.” She smiled and leaned in a little bit lowering her voice. “So make it a point not to hurt her. She’s had plenty of hurt before you came along.”

She took a look at the confused look on his face and shook her head as she pursed her lips. “I’ve said too much already by the looks of it. Go on, go back to her and sit down and have a pow-wow. I’m going to eat my cake with a glass of wine at home and dream about living in your closet.” She chuckled as she patted his face before she left.

Blake, a little shell-shocked, stood in the doorway a moment too long. Aiyana found him standing there with a confused and disoriented look on his face and closed the door for him. “She can be a handful, I know.”

“She’s-” he stopped himself as he looked down at Aiyana. “Never mind, it’s not her I want to talk about.”

Aiyana felt the familiar skip in her heartbeat when their gazes met and she wanted to lean up to kiss him, but they had things to discuss before she could curl up in his arms. “I know. Let’s go sit down.”

Blake followed her into the living room where they settled onto the couch together. Aiyana made a point of keeping a little distance between them. She wanted to have an adult discussion that wasn’t marred by their physical attraction for each other. “You go first,” she told him as she folded her legs beneath him.

“I love you. I want to be with you, and I think my mother will come around. If she doesn’t, it’s her loss. And your friend is weird.” He took a deep breath for the first time after he started talking, and searched her face for a hint of the passion he knew was in her.

“I love you, too, but I don’t want to be the woman that comes between a man and his mother. That’s not fair to all three of us, Blake. I don’t want you to stop talking to your mother because of me. And she may be weird, but she’s a kickass friend.” She saw a hint of a smile on his lips at her last sentence, but it quickly faded.

“So we’re at an impasse. I want to make you my wife, but you don’t want to be my wife unless my mother approves. Isn’t it supposed to be me looking for your father’s approval?” He wanted badly to reach out and touch her thigh, to show her that he loved her no matter what, but he resisted the urge.

“The time will come for that,” she said with a hint of a smile. He wanted to see it blossom across her face, but he knew they weren’t there just yet.

“There’s something else,” he told her as he held out his hand to her. Aiyana accepted even if he noticed a hint of hesitation. “Briana suggested you had some rocky relationships in the past. I know we don’t talk about that kind of things and it doesn’t really matter to me, but if someone hurt you, I want to know.”

It was getting close to the time where they had to start getting ready if they were going to make the dinner date with Jonathan and Candice, but he’d barely mentioned it to her when he got home. He didn’t care if he missed out on the opportunity entirely, as long as he knew Aiyana was okay. He needed to know that they were going to be okay together, and that she wasn’t going to leave him because he hadn’t asked the right questions or done the right things.

“It’s nothing like what you’re thinking,” Aiyana said as she flicked her gaze down to the couch. When she looked back up, he caught pain in her gaze and wondered if she was still a bit in love with someone else. “I was dating a man for a while, Jose. He had a daughter, a little girl I just adored, but it didn’t work out with Jose. We had some disagreements about money and what he was doing with his life. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and I wanted someone I could rely on as much as they could rely on me.” She reached over to grab a tissue and he realized she was going to start crying.

Blake couldn’t take it any longer. He reached over and pulled her over so that her back was resting against his chest. He placed his chin on the top of her head as she held while she told him the rest of the story. “I had to leave him because he was no good for me, but I had to leave
her
, too. I loved her, Blake. I truly, really did, and it ended up that her mother received custody. But I’ll never forget the way she cried when I left. I’ll never forget how much it hurt to do that to her. She wasn’t in danger from her father or anything, but I knew I’d never see her again.”

She cried for some time, her shoulders tensing and easing with the sobs, and he felt his heart begin to ache and mend in his chest. If she was willing to open up to him about what had happened to her, he felt he had to reciprocate.

“At the office, a few years ago, I dated a woman. It was going well, and I was even thinking about asking her to move in. Until one day I found her with another man a few floors down, late at night, with his face between her breasts and his hand up her skirt. I broke it up thinking the man was raping her, but I was blind at the time. When I looked at the video after a colleague informed me she’d been cheating on me, I realized the man hadn’t been coming on to her without consent.

I fired the man. He sued and lost because intercourse in the workplace was strictly forbidden, so I won the lawsuit. But a week later, when I broke up with the woman, she sued me and claimed I’d raped her. It was a long, drawn-out court case that was luckily kept under wraps by a highly skilled lawyer and a discreet judge, but it tarnished me. It tarnished my reputation. There were whispers that I’d indeed raped her and I’d paid her off to be quiet. She quit, I didn’t fire her, but everyone said I’d pressured her to quit.

I installed the glass windows to my office a week after she quit. I installed the button that would make the glass opaque at the same time. I hired Julia because I knew she wouldn’t put up with any of that bullshit from the other employees, but it still hurt to know they thought of me that way. I’m sure some of them still do. Some women still try. Before I left and met you, I’d been falsely accused again. It happens a few times a year, but they rarely go to court anymore because there isn’t evidence, but it still hurts.

Sometimes I wonder if they’re watching me, wondering about what I do in my spare time. I wonder if they think I’m dating Julia. In fact, I know some of them do. Then I tell myself it doesn’t matter because I have you. I have you to come home to now. I have you to hold me when I feel like the world wants to crush me. People believe I’m not human because I have money, but it makes me even more of a target for unwanted whispers and accusations. I feel human when I’m with you, Aiyana.”

They sat on the couch for a long time in silence after he finished. He wanted to ease the hurt in her, and he sensed that she wanted to ease some of the hurt in him. He didn’t know how to help her, though. He didn’t know any other way to show her that he knew what she felt than to share with her the pains he’d felt.

“I’m sorry,” he told her finally as he kissed the nape of her neck, pulling her closer to him. “I can look into it for you; see where she lives now and how she’s doing. I’d like to do that for you,” he felt her stiffen and thought he’d said the wrong thing, but when he turned around he saw awe in her eyes.

“You’d do that for me?”

Without hesitation, “Of course.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I guess we all have our pasts, but sometimes they just seem to be uglier than everyone else’s. I don’t want us to end up an ugly past.” She whispered the last part to him and he pulled her near him, showering her cheeks with kisses until she smiled.

“You will never be ugly in my eyes. No matter what happens between us, I will always love you.” And she could tell he meant it. It frightened her and eased some of her worry at the same time.

“We have to get ready,” she told him gently as she slid out of his arms. Blake missed the warmth she’d added to him, but he knew she was right. Besides, he knew Candice liked Aiyana, and hoped that by seeing some of his family was on their side, she’d stay with him.

But he meant what he’d said. He’d love her no matter what happened with his mother. Even if she didn’t marry him, he’d still lie next to her at night in his heart.

Blake held her hand as he led her back to the bedroom, but this time there was no wild sex as she got ready in front of the mirror. He sat on the bed, straightening his jacket cuffs as he watched her lean over the counter. He studied her not for her body, but for the beauty that was inside of her. He didn’t think he’d ever find a woman who cared as much as she did about others. He didn’t want to go looking.

Aiyana pulled on a pair of gray slacks and a white, buttoned-up blouse, fluffed her hair, and turned to him with a look of questioning.

“You look stunning,” he told her as he stood to take her hand.

The ride in the limousine was quiet, but a peaceful one. They pulled up to the restaurant they’d be meeting Jonathan and Candice in and he told her to wait as he went around the backside of the limousine to open her door for her. When she stepped out, he rested his hand on the small of her back and made it very well-known that he was there with her, and nothing was going to make him break the connection he had with her.

“Candice, you look beautiful.” Blake pulled in his cousin through marriage and kissed her on the cheek. She made a show of putting her hand to the spot and feigning a faint. When she stopped she smiled at Aiyana and hugged her tightly.

“It’s so good to see you again! Mary hasn’t stopped chattering away about your pretty hair since Christmas. She wanted to come, but I told her that we wouldn’t be here long and she’d get to see you soon enough again. Oh, I’m blabbering,” Candice put her hand over her mouth and sat down when Jonathan pulled out a chair for her. She had her strawberry blonde hair pulled back, but Aiyana could tell she’d cut it.

“She’s a talkative little girl, so I’d believe it.” Aiyana said with a smile. “You cut your hair,” she said as she pulled in her chair. Blake had already said hello to his cousin and was ordering them wine when Aiyana had made a mention of Candice’s hair.

“Oh,” she seemed a little embarrassed and her hazel eyes darted toward the table. “There was a mishap with some scissors. I was teaching Mary out to cut her doll’s hair because she wants to become the world’s first less than ten hairstylist. While I was taking a nap in the sunroom, she decided I needed a haircut. Long story short, I have a new style.”

“Uh oh, well, it looks good on you. Short hair always looks adorable pulled back like that, and I’m sure your real stylist did an awesome job. Short is all the rage again.” Candice relaxed and took a sip of her water. When she was offered wine, she politely declined. Aiyana noticed, but  said nothing. It wasn’t her place to make an announcement like that.

“So how was your New Years?” Candice started off the discussion and filled in most of the silent gaps where Aiyana had nothing to say. She didn’t want to comment on her relationship with Blake just yet and she didn’t want to remember the awful early morning fight, if that’s what they could call it.

“I have to visit the lady’s room,” Candice announced out of the blue, and Aiyana was offered to join her. Feeling the social pressure to go with the herd, Aiyana stood and put her purse over her shoulder. They’d barely gotten past ordering their appetizers and meals before Candice had made the announcement.

The two of them weaved between tables and finally made it to their destination, a quaint bathroom with green tiles on the walls and white on the floor. Candice actually did have to use the bathroom and took her leave, leaving Aiyana to stand by the sinks and stare at her reflection. She decided she needed a little more blush and pulled it out of her bag.

“So Blake’s mother’s playing hard to get,” Candice said as she came out of the stall and washed her hands in the sink. She smiled into the mirror and continued with any prompting. “I know because I saw the look on her face when you stepped out of the limousine. She got it under control pretty quick, but not quick enough. You know, I had a really hard time getting past the woman when I married Jonathan, and she’s not even his mother! I always said I feel bad for the woman who caught Blake Hanley’s eye because she’d have a hard time living up to his mother’s standards.” Candice saw the look of shock on Aiyana’s face and shrugged her shoulders as she wiped her hands on a paper towel.

“The woman is your best friend when you get to know her. She’s sweet and caring once everything has settled, but in the beginning, she’s like a lioness protecting her cub. I heard what she said about you, and I’m not going to repeat it because it’s rude, but I just want you to know that I don’t think that’s really it. I think she’s acting like a boulder about to run you over because she doesn’t want Blake to start ignoring her. She’s an old woman and Blake is her only son,” Candice explained without an air of disrespect.

“I just don’t understand how you can see all of that when it took me until dinnertime to notice it.” Aiyana felt guilty about turning down Blake and she didn’t know if she should mention his proposal, but at the same time, she recognized a kindred spirit when there was one in front of her, even if the woman came as pale as they got.

“It took me three days to realize Ms. Hanley didn’t like me. She was so polite in the beginning, and then it was like a switch had gone off and she was so distant when she realized Jonathan had a mind to propose.” Candice chuckled at the memory and pulled a lipstick from her purse.

“Blake proposed to me on New Year’s Eve, and I basically told him not because his mother hates me.” Candice almost dropped the lipstick tube in the sink but recovered quickly.

“Oh, honey, I know it seems that she’ll hate you forever, but she’ll come around. Give her some time to get to know you better, and tell Blake he’d better cool his heels before he runs you off like a pack of wolves after a deer.” It was right then that Aiyana knew she could be close friends with Candice. She felt relief wash over and was actually a little
nervous
when she realized they were on the verge of a blossoming relationship.

“So how long have you known you were pregnant?” She regretted the words as soon as they flew from her mouth. It seemed only fair that since Candice knew she was terrified of Blake’s mother that she know something about Candice.

The strawberry blond woman blushed and her hand fluttered over her dress as she looked down. “Oh, you’re not showing yet,” Aiyana informed her with a small smile. “It’s just that you were drinking at Christmas and you seemed pretty adamant about water tonight, so I assume sometime between then and now you figured out your you're pregnant.” She washed her hands after she put on her blush and dried them.

“Jonathan doesn’t know yet. I wanted to surprise him on New Year’s, but he was working on that robot he was talking about at Christmas. He’s doing this meeting with Blake as a favor to his friend, a gamer who really wants to get his game launched on the big screen this time. I just don’t know how to bring it up to him. I’m not sure if he’ll be happy or, well, not so happy.” Candice bit her bottom lip and her gaze fell to the floor.

“Why wouldn’t he be happy?” Aiyana didn’t want to pry, but she found the entire thing to be a little crazy.

“Well, we have Mary who’s almost five, so that means she’s going to be five years apart from her sibling. And we’re both so busy with Mary, and then Jonathan starting this business. It’s a lot of stress, having a baby. I don’t know if he’s going to be okay with that.” There was a beat of silence before Aiyana stepped forward and wrapped her arm around the woman’s petite shoulders. She didn’t cry, but she looked a little misty-eyed.

“You should tell him tonight, when the two of you are at the hotel. He’ll be ecstatic, believe me. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and the way he looks at his daughter, I’m sure he’d love another baby.” Candice sniffled and fixed her mascara before she thanked warmly thanking Aiyana for listening to her.

By the time they returned to the table, the appetizers were sitting there and both men were looking at them a little confused. “I slipped with my lipstick and we had to fix it. Took a while,” Aiyana offered up at she smiled.

Jonathan and Blake decided it wasn’t anything to worry about and continued discussing the options. “What’s the extra seat for?” Candice whispered just as a frazzled looking Julia walked through the door. She brushed some snow off her shoes before she looked around and spotted the four of them sitting at the table. A quick chat with the waiter had her heading in their direction.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she sat down, looking a little miffed. “My taxi broke down. Can you believe it? A taxi in New York breaking down? I mean, don’t they check those things before they head out?” A passionate discussion about the pain of taxis ensued around the table, ending with Blake asking her why she didn’t just rent a limousine like he did.

After that, the conversation was steered back to the discussion of the commercial, and Aiyana and Candice shared a glance of mutual understanding as they shared their meal.

“So will you be coming to the Easter dinner in March? Blake’s mother has it at her place every year and she makes up this huge Easter egg hunt for Mary. It’s kind of cute even though she’s the only kid who attends.” Candice picked at her noodles and looked a little green when she went to bite into them. She had to be two or three months along if she was already feeling sick.

“I’m not sure what Blake and I are doing. We promised my parents we’d see them at Thanksgiving, but we didn’t end up going. Then we went to his mother’s for Christmas. I assumed we’d visit my parents on Easter, but we’ll have to see how that works out.” The truth was Aiyana still wasn’t one hundred percent sure, and she didn’t want to make promises she couldn’t keep.

“Well that sounds like a nice idea. I’m sure Blake could use a change of scenery. He sees us so much, he’s probably starting to think the world is made up of only five people.” Candice laughed it off and took a sip of her water.

Blake leaned across the table and reached out his hand to Jonathan. “I think we have ourselves a deal,” he said with a smile. Jonathan reached out and shook hands with his cousin, and then he reached over and shook with Julia. After that slightly solemn moment, the shop talk was definitively over and they all talked about what Jonathan was building. All three women, even Julia, agreed they wanted one of these robots.

Aiyana almost lost her wine out her nose when Julia asked if it could do
other things
with a saucy grin. The resulting blush on Jonathan’s face was priceless, even if it came at the cost of a few cleared throats at nearby tables.

As the rode in the limousine back to the house together, Aiyana made up her mind about one thing. She wasn’t going to give up Blake Hanley just yet. If Candice, the petite, strawberry blonde who looked like she’d never hurt a fly could win over his mother, then she could certainly do the same. It would take some work, maybe an honest heart to heart talk, but she’d do whatever she had to keep herself in his life.

She wanted nothing more than to snuggle up beside him at night like she did that night.