The Billionaire's Secret Mistress - Part 1 (Contemporary BWWM Romance) (The Billionaire's Secret Mistress (Contemporary BW) (4 page)

              “Dimitri? Darling where are you? Come on, Thomas, I’m more than able to find my son myself. Darling?”

              The shrill voice grew louder, yanking Angela out of her sleep. She blinked, suddenly aware of the incessant knocking on the door. Dimitri suddenly emerged from the bathroom, clad in nothing more than a towel that hung loosely across his hips. Rivulets of water dripped between his powerful muscles as he stormed towards the door.

              Angela sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. “Is it your mother?” She hissed.

              His face was alarmed. “Yes. Stay put.”

              He opened the door by a crack and peered out. “Hi, mom. I wasn’t expecting you today.”

              “Can’t I pop in to see my son from time to time?”

              “Mom, I’m not dressed.” Dimitri protested as she pushed past him and walked into the room. “Mom!”

              Angela flushed beetroot red as a stunningly elegant woman walked into the bedroom. Like Dimitri, she was blonde and had the same dark green eyes as him. Her face looked suspiciously fresh for her age and her frozen skin was stretched tight, hinting at more than one Botox intervention. With what looked like immense difficulty, she arched one eyebrow, her lips curving in a tight smile.

              “And who is this?”

              “Uh, hello. I’m… Angela,” Angela replied, looking helplessly at Dimitri. “Pleasure to… uh… meet you.”

              The older woman gave her a frigid smile. “Cover yourself up, dear. I can see your nipple.”

              “Mother!” Dimitri scowled at his mother as a flustered Angela yanked the sheet up to her chin.

              “What?” The woman shrugged.

              “Come on.” He grabbed her firmly by the elbow and steered her towards the door. “Let’s give her some privacy. Angie, we’ll be downstairs.”

              “Can’t you ever find anyone in your league, Dimitri?” Angela heard her say as the door closed. “Does she know about Celine?”

              Unexpected tears welled up in Angela’s eyes. She caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror opposite the room. His mother was right. Naked and disheveled with just-fucked hair and smeared lipstick, she couldn’t help but feel that she was certainly out of his league. Nothing - absolutely nothing - about her screamed blue-blood.

              A sudden wave of depression washed over her and she reached for her phone. Flipping it open, she typed a quick text to Dimitri.

              Is she still here? Do you want me to come down?

              His reply beeped barely thirty seconds later.

              Yes, come.

              The wave of gloom followed her as she trudged to the bathroom and took a quick shower. She brushed her teeth and with a sigh of resignation, slipped in the tiny pair of Daisy Dukes and white shirt that she had on from last night. It was either that or the satin negligee that Dimitri had bought her.

              Mentally cursing her outfit, she ran a brush through her hair, trying to work through the curls. Her carefully straightened locks had been rendered frizzy by the sex and humidity and no amount of brushing would sort them out. Gritting her teeth, Angela pulled her hair in a ponytail, dabbed on some perfume and lip gloss, and walked out of the room.

              “Dimitri?” She called, tiptoeing across the front hall.

              “In the dining room, babe.”

              Angela paused and took a deep breath before stepping into the exceptionally wide room. They were both seated at the table, sipping on coffees.

              “Oh, Angela.” Dimitri stood up as she walked in. He strode over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let me formally introduce you two. Baby, this is my mother, Linda. Mom, this is Angela Jones. My…” He paused, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “My girlfriend.”

              Her head whipped up in surprise at the word but quickly recovered.

              “Um, pleasure to meet you, Mrs.… I mean, Linda,” she hastily amended as Dimitri gently elbowed her.

              Linda’s eyes flashed as she racked a scornful gaze down the length of Angela’s body before turning her attention back to her coffee. A magazine was spread out in front of her and she flipped through it while taking slow, deliberate sips.

              Dimitri gave Angela’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he led her to the table. He pulled out her chair and she sat down opposite his mother.

              “Coffee, babe?”

              Angela smiled up at him. “Yes, please.”

              Dimitri nodded at the butler who was standing so discreetly in the corner that Angela hadn’t even noticed him until then.

              “Stanford, please bring out some coffee for Miss. Jones please.”

              The butler vanished before reemerging seconds later with her coffee. Dimitri pushed a plate of freshly baked butter croissants in front of her and she hesitantly took one. The atmosphere in the dining room was stuffy and overly formal and, at that moment, Angela fervently wished she had gone straight to her apartment after waking up.

              “Can I get you anything for breakfast, Angie? Bacon? Eggs? Pancakes?”

              For some reason, Dimitri’s formal, overly courteous voice set her on the edge. She shook her head, forcing her lips in a polite smile.

              “The croissant’s fine, thanks.”

              She tore a piece of croissant before realizing that Linda was meticulously cutting up her own croissant with a knife and fork. Her lips pursed in annoyance as she picked up her own utensil. At that moment her phone gave a shrill beep, interrupting the chilly silence. Linda looked up, her upper lip curving in a sneer.

              “Excuse me.” Flustered, Angela dropped her fork and grabbed the phone. It was a text message from Lilly.

              How’s it going with the boss? Was the sex any good?

              Angela hid a smile as she replied.
Sex was amazing. Except for snobby mother who showed up this morning. Having breakfast with her. Croissants. With forks and knives.

              Lilly’s reply beeped back immediately.

              Who the fuck eats croissants with a fork and a knife?

              “Ahem, ahem.”

              Angela looked up as Linda cleared her throat, glaring pointedly at the phone in her hand.

              “Mind your manners, dear. Kindly ensure that your phone is turned off at the table.”

              A spark of anger flared through Angela but she bitterly swallowed it and stowed her phone away. Dimitri touched her hand in reassurance before looking up at his mother with a strained smile.

              “Do you know that Angela enjoys the ballet, too?” He said. “We should go catch a show one night.”

              “I’m afraid that I’m going to be quite busy, dear,” Linda said with a smirk. “But you take your little friend and go. If she can stand to be around some culture, of course,” she added with a syrupy smile.

              That did it. Angela threw her napkin down and pushed back her chair.

              “Please do excuse me.” She said with exaggerated formality. “But I’ve got a few things to attend to. It was nice meeting you, Linda.”

              Before the older woman could respond, she stormed out of the dining room and rushed upstairs. She slammed the bedroom door behind her and sat on the bed, her shoulders shaking with rage. Barely a minute later, the door creaked open and Dimitri walked in.

              “Hey,” he said cautiously.

              Angela looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. Is it because of my skin color? Is this why your mother is determined to put me down so much?

              “What?” He looked horrified. “Angie, no.”

              “Oh, yeah? I thought your mother would only approve a blonde, blue-blooded socialite for you.”

              “Yes, but the way she’s treating you has nothing to do with color or ethnicity!” His voice shook with sincerity. “It’s… well, she’s a bit of a snob, you know? She’s only civil to multimillionaires who went to Oxford or Harvard. I’m really sorry, Angie. If I’d known she would be here I would have…”

              “Asked me to leave earlier?” She finished frostily. “So basically you fuck me and then kick me out when mommy dearest shows up?” An angry tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away.

              “Come here.” Dimitri sighed, pulling her into his arms.

              He pressed her to his chest, tenderly cradling the back of her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, fighting off the overwhelming urge to break down in tears. He ran his fingers through her hair and brushed a soft kiss across her forehead.

              “I meant what I said earlier, Angie,” he whispered. “You’re the first woman to evoke such emotions in me.”

              “Actually your exact words were you’re the very first black girl who ever caught my eye,” she quoted with a sniff.

              He briefly pulled back and searched her eyes. “I love it that you’re black, baby.”

              “You’ve said that already,” she muttered grouchily.

              “Well, it’s true. Look.” He laced his fingers through hers and held up their intertwined hands. “I love to see the contrast between my skin and yours.”

              Her eyes widened as she felt him stir against her lower stomach. “That’s an interesting turn of events. Weren’t you in the middle of breakfast?”

              “Screw croissants.” He fumbled with her shorts, yanking them down in a swift motion. “I’d rather have you for breakfast.”

              “No, wait.” Angela fought against the overwhelming wave of desire that gripped her body.

              “What?” he complained.

              “Your mom said something earlier,” she said. “Something about a Celine?”

              The words were barely out of her mouth but she already wished she could take them back. At that moment, everything she’d come to know and love about Dimitri vanished at once. His eyes hardened, growing almost black with an emotion that she could not place. In front of her stood the cold, distant man she’d always known. The tension that rolled off him was so strong, so overwhelming, that she instinctively took a step back.

              Suddenly he blinked and shook his head, forcing a smile. “That’s not important. Come here.” He circled her waist again but she pushed him away.

              “No, it is important.” She insisted. “Come on, Dimitri. You never open up to me.”

              He cupped her chin, dropping a series a soft kisses down her jaw, his tongue lingering on her heated skin. “You’re the one who’s going to open up for me, babe.” He murmured, pushing her gently onto the bed.

Chapter 8

              To Angela’s surprise, Dimitri did start to gradually open up to her. He did maintain, however, they were nothing more than sex friends, at the very least. There was another side to him that he was gradually allowing her to see, though. She didn’t know how, or when, but the walls around him were slowly coming down.

              A few weeks after the scene with his mother, Dimitri even took her out for dinner to celebrate their three months together. And for once, he didn’t choose one of a faraway place to avoid bumping into anyone they knew.

              “This is nice.” Dimitri leaned over and kissed her softly, interrupting her thoughts. “Sorry I’ve been grouchy all week. This merger’s turning out to be far harder than I’d imagined.”

              “It’s okay.” Angela smiled. She suddenly looked sheepish. “I do have something to confess.”

              “What?”

              Angela placed her hand over his. “Please don’t be angry. But remember how I asked if we could double date with Lilly?”

              “Yes?” Dimitri said slowly. “And I told you why I didn’t want to.”

              She gave him a timid smile. “Well, I might have invited Lilly and Luke from sales to join us for dinner tonight.”

              He stared at her. “What?”

              Angela smiled apologetically. “Lilly wanted us to go out tonight so I thought I would ask her to join us. She was actually supposed to bring Darren but he wasn’t free tonight so she…”

              Dimitri pulled his hand out from underneath hers. “You did what?” His face was pale with anger. “Angela, how could you do something like this? You know very well that I’m trying to keep this… this thing between us on the down-low. Do you even know what it means to be discreet?”

              Her smile faltered at the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

              “What’s wrong is that I specifically told you that I wasn’t interested in this double dating thing of yours.” Dimitri snapped. “And yet you went ahead behind my back to set this up.”

              “Well, you left me with no choice,” Angela protested. “Lilly’s my best friend and you keep refusing to meet her. The least I can do is introduce you. And I couldn’t exactly tell her to come alone, right?”

              “What do you mean introduce me?” He asked irritably. “I know Lilly.”

              “Not as your staff, Dimitri, but as my friend.” She sighed in exasperation. “Look, let’s not fight, alright? I’m sorry I went behind your back but let’s just try to enjoy the evening, alright?”

              “No, it’s not alright.” He angrily flung his napkin on the table. “You can’t go behind my back like that, Angela. I told you that I like to keep things discreet.” His eyes suddenly fixed on the door. “Shit, they’re here. And I can’t believe you would invite Luke of all people.”

              Angela turned around to see Lilly crossing the restaurant, an ebullient-looking Luke by her side. Tall and gangly, Luke was practically sweating with excitement as he spotted Dimitri. Angela gulped at the eagerness in his face.

              “Hello!” He thrust his hand at Dimitri before Angela could even say anything. “Luke Mathews, sir. From sales. We met in last month’s brief meeting? I gave that presentation on our online selling system?”

              “Oh, right. Pleasure to see you again,” Dimitri said formally as he shook his hand.

              “And you know, Lilly, right?” Angela smiled encouragingly at her friend.

              Lilly gave Dimitri a warm smile that he did not return. Instead, he shook her hand just as formally.

              “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

              “Thank you.” Lilly glanced at Angela as she sat down. “Sorry we’re late. Luke took his sweet time getting ready.”

              “It’s okay. Would you guys like some wine?” Angela smiled as she held up the bottle.

              Luke poured himself a tall glass and drowned half of it before grinning widely at Dimitri. “I can’t believe I’m here!” He exclaimed. “It’s not every day that you get to have dinner with your boss, right” Luke grinned, nudging Dimitri. He self-consciously adjusted his tie and looked around the table, hardly able to contain his excitement.

              “Here you go, Sir. Madam.” A waiter handed Luke and Lilly their menus.

              “Man, look at those prices!” Luke exclaimed, flipping through the menu. “But I guess I won’t have to worry about these tonight, eh, big guy?” He elbowed Dimitri again.

              Angela cringed at Dimitri’s face. His expression was completely blank but the look he gave her was absolutely thunderous. She took a deep gulp of wine as she flipped through the menu. “So. What’s everyone going to have?” She smiled much too brightly at the table. “I heard the steak’s great. Dimitri would like that,” she grinned at him.

              “Yeah. I may go for the salmon, though,” he muttered.

              Another awkward silence fell around the table. Lilly cleared her throat and grabbed a bread roll, immersing herself into buttering it.

              “So… Dimitri,” Luke said with another stab at conversation. “You… uh, you like salmon, right?”

              Dimitri looked up in exasperation. “Yes,” he took a sip of water. “Yes, I do.”

              “Oh, good. That’s good.” Luke tugged at his collar. “Can I just say one thing, though?” He looked almost reverently at him. “It’s a complete privilege for me to be here tonight. Sitting at the same table as you. Having dinner with you. It’s like we’re buds now, right?” He punched him playfully on the arm.

              Embarrassed, Lilly rolled her eyes at Angela. She started to say something but Luke spoke over her. “Man, seriously you’re like my… inspiration or something.” He held out his glass towards Dimitri. “You’re the reason I got into sales. Man, the things you accomplished at your age…”

              “Um, Luke?” Lilly took the glass from his hand and set it on the table. “I think you’ve had too much to drink already.”

              The waiter thankfully arrived at that moment. Dimitri glowered at Angela over his menu as they ordered. She shrugged apologetically at him and was about to attempt a subject change when Luke whipped out his phone. He edged his chair closer to Dimitri and held out his phone in front of them.

              “Can I have a selfie with you, man?” He asked, pressing on the button before Dimitri could even reply.

              Angela winced at the glaring flash. She sneaked another glance at Dimitri. His face was like stone as Luke took several more pictures before finally shoving his phone back in his pocket.

              “So!” Lilly said brightly. “It’s a nice restaurant, right?” She looked helplessly at Angela.

              The latter nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. Dimitri and I came here last week. We had the seafood linguini. It was awesome. Wasn’t it, darling?”

              “Yes,” he snapped.

              Angela’s heart dropped as Luke opened his mouth again.

              “So, man. Any chance I can get in on the merger? I could use some overtime, if you know what I mean.” He playfully punched Dimitri’s arm.

              Dimitri finally turned to him. The look on his face would have made anyone falter but Luke didn’t seem to notice.

              “I’d rather not discuss work over dinner, Luke,” he said acidly.

              “I get it.” Luke gulped down his wine. “But, still. It’s nice to discuss stuff in an informal setting, isn’t it? I’m not implying that there’s anything informal with this place. This is grand man. Just grand.”

              Angela leaned towards Lilly. “
Luke?
Seriously?” She hissed. “You couldn’t bring anyone else?”

              “Sorry,” her best friend hissed back. “But you didn’t give me much notice. When Darren bailed I had no choice but to ask Luke.”

              “Excellent choice.” Angela shook her head as she sat up again.

              To her dismay, Luke was still engaged in his tirade. It went on well into dinner. He hardly paused for breath and he must have been the only one who hadn’t realized that Dimitri was looking practically murderous by the time that they’d finished eating.

              “Boy, that was a great meal, wasn’t it?” Luke said enthusiastically. “Shall we have a look at the dessert menu?”

              “I don’t want any dessert, but you go ahead, Luke,” Dimitri with a tight smile.

              “Darling, don’t you want some molten lava cake?” Angela said coaxingly. “You enjoyed that last time, didn’t you?”

              “I’m fine, Angela, thanks.”

              “I heard their crème brulee is excellent,” Lilly chimed in. “Maybe you want to…”

              “I said I’m fine.” Dimitri interrupted in a cold voice.

              Lilly flushed and took a long sip of water. The three of them declined dessert and sat in uncomfortable silence as Luke scoffed down his chocolate cake, seemingly unconcerned by the glacial atmosphere at the table. Angela glared at Dimitri, growing angrier by the minute. By the time they finally left the restaurant, she was practically seething.

              She had tears in her eyes as she said an apologetic goodbye to Lilly and her best friend squeezed her hand.

              “It’s okay.” Lilly whispered, glaring at Dimitri’s back. “I’ll call you.”