Top Love: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Young Adult Stepbrother and Billionaire Romance Stories) (38 page)

But then, part of me wondered if maybe he was relieved.  Relieved to be away from me and this “responsibility.”  After all, I wasn’t fun anymore.  Maybe the big reveal would be anticlimactic.  Maybe he would just stop looking for me.  Stop caring.  Move on with his life while I held onto scraps.

And what do you know…if that were true then Victoria and I really would have something in common.

Right about the time I met a Mister Darkee, definitely planted there by a scheming Victoria, I realized more of what was happening outside.

The man was attractive, obviously a diversion to “tempt” me; he being a buff young Latino badboy with tattoos and a sly smile.  He wore a t-shirt and jeans, showcasing his muscles and toying with my wandering eyes.  But he knew what he ultimately had that I wanted; information, leverage, maybe even an act of kindness.

“The name is Mister Darkee,” he growled through his goatee, letting it be known he was the “bodyguard” in charge of keeping me here and making sure I didn’t reach any contact with the outside world.

“Are you the bad cop or good cop?” I asked with a smirk.  It was a little tough to stay mad at such a hot guy.

“I’m always the good cop.  I’m just here to make sure you stay until the end of our adventure.”

“What adventure is that?”

“To see the unveiling.  That’s what Victoria said and that’s what I was hired for.  After that, you know as much as I do.”

“Something involving my boyfriend, I’m sure.”

“Mmm,” he said with a frowning nod.  “Is he your boyfriend?”

“Well…yeah.  Why wouldn’t he be?”

“A lot can happen in a week, manita.  Remember that.”

“So what?  What do you know that I don’t know?  You know something.”

“You’re just going to have to wait and find out.”

“So what would you do if I make a run for it?”

“You’re not going to do that,” he said with a cocky smile.

“Why?”

“Because you’re preggers and not willing to hurt the baby.  You’re a good mother.”

“But if my life is in danger…”

“Your life isn’t in danger.  If Victoria wanted you to hurt you, that would have been done already.  I think you, me and Victoria all know that the only reason you are still here is because your curiosity is killing you.  You want to know what’s going to happen.”

“Something involving my boyfriend?”

“If I was a betting man I’d say yes.”

“You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

“Men like Alfred Banes hurt themselves.  Always remember that.”

“You have to know something.  Tell me what’s he thinking.  Is he looking for me?  Are the police out there…”

“He hasn’t called the police.  I can definitely tell you that.”

“I see.”  I was a little miffed at the thought.  Maybe he had his reasons.  Maybe there was something I was missing.  It couldn’t be the worst case scenario…could it?

“How does that make you feel, mamacita?  Maybe you’re his second priority.  You know, life is tough.  Always things to do.  Never enough time.”

He smirked again, unable to wipe that bratty smile off his face.

“But is that because you told him not to call?” I said with a pout.  “What kind of lies are you telling him?”

“You’re going to find out everything on Saturday.  It’s going to be quite a show.”

His smile seemed friendly, but the ideas he was giving me about what I might see was scaring me to death.  She was playing a psyche game with me.  It had to be a test of our love.  Maybe that was naïve, to think I mattered that much to a man who sort of had a thing for me, but never really expressed how he felt.  But I had to believe there was something to all this.  Not just the end.

***

I was taken to a room in a blindfold and restrained down.  Just after they retrained my arms in legs in a large cushion chair, they took the blindfold off.  There was Victoria again, never fully smiling—just staring with those bitter eyes.  Darkee was also to the side of her, along with another bodyguard.

I felt a sickening feeling in my stomach as I looked over and saw the “show”—a closed circuit monitor showing me what I feared the most.

There he was.  The man I loved, the genius, strong and charismatic Alfred Banes, looking straight ahead.  He didn’t look to be in any pain.  He just sat there, as if seated and perfectly relaxed.  No bruises, no staggering.  Not even the faintest bit of concern.  More like just concentration.

“How faithful a man do you think he is?”

“No…this can’t be happening.”

And then I saw it.  A young woman entered the room.  Probably a college student.  Blond and curly hair.  Wearing a sexy pink dress, tight and with cleavage just spilling out of her pushup bra.  She was there for him.  I felt Victoria’s eyes on me, expecting to have some sort of huge reaction.  Instead, I just watched.

He remained seated as the young lady began stripping in front of him.  Boldly ripping her clothes from her body, as if she already knew just how hard it was to please this man.  He wanted everything.  Not teasing.  Not toying.  Every damned thing in a person’s heart and soul.

I felt a tear trickling from eye and tried to fight it.  I didn’t want anyone to see that it was getting to me.  But seeing him there, interested, that same cool casual look he always had was harsh.  He watched her stoically as the slut pulled off her shirt and exposed her cupless bra.  Her nipples were showing through the mesh and she took great pleasure in rolling them around for him, kneeling to the floor and then approaching her master kitty style.

It was too much.  But dammit, I couldn’t stop looking.  There had to be more to this.  Was this a tape?  Was this a trick?  Something had to be wrong somewhere.  It was just too cruel to be the truth.

“Is this prerecorded?”

“Does Alfred look three years younger?”

I remained silent, very sure that it was him.  Maybe even in “real time”, streaming live.  Who knows.  I watched silently as the woman stripped down to her panties and then ripped them off, exposing her perfect body to Alfred’s face.  The bastard just looked at her.  Staring like he was watching a TV show or being entertained by his own private dancer.  Just business as usual.  Where was I in the back of his head?  Was I just a long gone thought?

It had to be a trick.  It just had to be.

“Have you seen enough?”

“Yes…” I said softly, still watching the slut shake her privates closer and approaching him.  I had seen enough, at least for the time being.  Maybe I still wanted to rationalize that there was something I was missing.  I had to hold onto that…

“You see, there is only one thing that matters in this world,” Victoria said with fire.  “And it’s that Alfred gets what he wants.”

“I don’t understand…what did you tell him?”

“Just what I said,” she replied.  “That we wanted twenty million or else we would take you.  He chose the money.”

“No…” I said, panicking slightly.  “That’s impossible.”

“You know how much twenty million is to a billionaire?  It’s fucking tip money!  A fucking week’s worth of typing.  About a thousand words.  Now how do you feel about your precious Alfie now?”

“Just take me back to my room.”

She stared at me long and hard, as if thinking about what emotional torture to dispense next.

“Or am I free to go now?”

“You’re NOT free to go now,” she said adamantly, once again going from “friend” to psycho in a heartbeat.  “I still don’t think you understand the gravity of what’s going on here.  Get her out of my site,” she barked to Darkee.  He untied me and stood me up.  I watched Victoria watch the home movie, a bizarre fascination came across her face.  No doubt she had watched him…many, many times before.  Always enamored at just how much it hurt to see her lover with someone else.  Always poking herself where it hurt the most.

Darkee took me by the arms and escorted me away.

***

I felt vulnerable for the first time in a while as I snacked on cheese crackers with tea, the surprisingly tasty meal prepared for me after a very brief show.  I felt a bit lonely, not to mention jealous of Alfred’s very short memory of me, so I didn’t mind that Darkee stayed behind with me.

He told me about his life in Ecuador as well as how he came to be in the employment of Victoria’s brother, probably some gang banger.  Jesus Christ, where in the world was I?  That’s all I could think. 

But more than anything I just felt confused.  About my future.  About the past.  I even came up with the scenario of how I could forgive Alfred for cheating…if it even was cheating, I don’t know.  And yet none of it seemed very realistic or even productive.  I was wasting my time.  And had a baby that apparently no one really wanted.

“Maybe you should get his side of the story,” Darkee said, a surprisingly mature though.

“I don’t know.  I guess I could.  But what does any of it matter?  What good would hearing his side do me, anyway?  This is all about me.  Not him.”

“Fair enough.  I don’t care either way.  Personally, I don’t think he appreciates you that much.”

“Oh really?” I said with a raised eyebrow.

“If it were my baby, I’d have kicked ass, taken names and came through those walls with a tank.  But you know, rich people, they got too many things on their mind.”

“Well, I’m sure your girlfriend is a lucky lady.”

“I don’t have time for commitment,” he said.

“I’m sure you don’t.”

“You’re my responsibility, chica.”

“I’m sure you would do anything I asked, wouldn’t you?” I said, flirting with disaster. 

“Well, you sleep tight, mama.”

“Mister Darkee, how long am I going to stay here?  I mean…where does this end for Victoria?”

He looked a bit miffed, and a bit stressed.  He turned back to me and made intense eye contact.  “You want to ask me honestly?  It ends with the bitch going crazy.”

I took a gulp and lost my smile.

“She has no master plan.  Everything you see on that camera is really happening.  But Victoria is fucked up in the head.  I was hired to do a job, that’s the only reason I’m here.”

“So why aren’t you doing your job?”

“I dunno,” he said with a smirk.  “Maybe I like you, doll face.  Maybe I feel some compassion for a mother to be.”

“Is that what it is, Darkee?  Compassion.”

“Yes, although maybe compassion isn’t the word.  I just think you’re very nice person.”

I relaxed on my “cell bed”, which wasn’t a too far off from a little hostel bedroom.  I had to think of a way to get out of here, to placate Victoria somehow.  I was obviously not crying or screaming enough for her satisfaction, so she was on slow boil for whatever was coming next. 

I thought about faking it, giving her the “show” she wanted.  But something in my gut told me it wouldn’t be enough.  She was going to kill me, or at least hurt me really bad.  Maybe nothing planned, but damned if that crazy bitch had any control over her own emotions.

Darkee seemed to be thinking the same thing; although he turned around to leave, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling of responsibility.

“Tell you what.  I’ll get you out of here.”

“What?  Why?”

“I think we both know why.  We know how this is going to end, don’t we?”

“Shit…” I sighed to myself, already feeling my nerves leaping into action.  We were on borrowed time.

“I just hope you know that I’m going to be fired, maybe even killed by my brother for abandoning my post.”

“Oh…I’m sorry, Darkee.  I can’t have sex with you if that’s what you have in mind.”

He laughed.  “Dammit, you women are so ungrateful for what a goes through to save your ass.  You know that?  Okay, I ain’t going to pretend I’m a nice guy or a hero or any bullshit like that.  But how about we talk deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“You don’t want to cheat first, I respect that.  Besides you got a baby developing inside of you.”

“Ohhh,” I hacked.  “Well, that’s very kind and modest of you to think of me.”

“Yeah.  What can I say, I’m such a sweetheart,” he snarked back.  “So I’ll tell you what.  I’ll get you out of here.  But I want a lot of money for it.”

“Yes, that’s OK. I have saved some money and I can make sure that you are well taken care of. But get me safe first and then we can arrange your deal, is that OK?”

“OK, lets go! We have no time to waste.”

Darkee rushed back down the stairs to my “prison” room, approximately an hour after he said he would, calming my suspicions of being screwed over.

“She’s asleep.  Now’s our chance.”

“Oh God, I can’t thank you enough.”

“No, but we’re off to a good start,” he said with a lecherous smile.

“Fuck you,” I said, with a reluctant giggle.

“I go out first.  You wait five minutes.  You run to me, get in the back seat of the car.  I ain’t taking you far.  Just into town.  I’ll give you twenty bucks for a cab ride.”