Billionaire In Hiding: The Complete Series (Alpha Billionaire Romance Western Love Story) (74 page)

“
And you caught me, hoorah!
”
I said angrily.
“Hope it was worth it.”

She was openly crying, which made me want
to just walk out of the restaurant and never see her again. But I had to be
careful, if I wanted my mother on my side.

“Look, I am sorry, Gina. Mostly because
for once in our lives you were being honest with me when you proposed that
deal. It was a refreshing change to see you so candid. But I am afraid, it
can’t work out. I know you need money–”

“More… than… you…realize…” She sniffed
tearfully. “I’m losing my house. It was the only thing my parents left for me
and it’s getting foreclosed on, and I thought maybe if we could strike up a
deal, I could save it and in return you get peace from your mom. And perhaps
when she, you know, passed on, we could go our separate ways and we would both
have gotten something out of it.”

“Why didn’t you just say that from the
beginning?” I said, a brilliant plan finally playing out in my mind. This was
going to be much simpler than I had thought; in fact, I was disappointed in
myself for not thinking of this sooner.
 
It was the perfect solution and I felt a surge of relief spread across
my whole body as I spoke again, “I will make you a deal. Another one, but I
think you will be quite pleased.”

After explaining to her that I would pay
for her house if she signed the divorce papers, she looked considerably
cheerful, and was almost too eager to accept.

“Thank you, Zayden! You are actually a
pretty good guy, you know?” She said, wiping her face with the napkin on the
table.

“No need to fawn all over me, I am doing
this because I have something to gain from it as well. Pull something like you
did in my office the other day again – or do anything at all to upset me and
the deal is off.”

“
I won
’t! I will be gone forever, Zay, if that is what you
want.”

After another few minutes of hearing the
needless words of gratitude, I paid the check and got up to leave.

“Just one question, Zayden, before you
leave,” Gina said right as I was inching towards the door. “And it is personal
so don’t feel obligated to answer. I am just really curious because I have
known you for so long, but I have never seen you do so much for just a girl.”

“What are you trying to get at, Gina?”
I sighed.

“
I don
’t know. I am just wondering… are you in love this
Aria girl?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” I said
without thinking and walked away. It was true, love was not something I had
ever experienced in my life before, so even if I felt it somehow, I would never
recognize it. Nor was there any reason to recognize it. Love was probably just
a word invented for the weak in order to justify extremely stupid things they
did. I was neither stupid nor weak.

---

Next order of business was dealing with my
mother, and if all went as planned, that was bound to be a piece of cake. I
still couldn’t get over the fact that this idea hadn’t occurred to me sooner.
It was so simple and brilliant. I should have thought of it the day Gina had
made me that offer; she only needed money, after all.

Unsurprisingly, my mom came into my room
at about eight that night looking completely horrorstruck.

“
I just,
” she said almost hyperventilating. “I just got a call
from Gina. Oh Zayden, I am so sorry.”

She was obviously on the verge of tears
and for a split second I almost felt guilty for pulling this off.

“What’s wrong?” I asked innocently looking
up from my laptop. “Is she okay?”

“She is fine… I think,” my mom said in a
shaking voice. “But – but – Zayden I am sorry for all of this.”

“What do you mean? What are you
apologizing for? Is everything okay, mom?” I was trying hard to sound genuinely
curious and concerned, but my insides were jumping in joy; the plan had
obviously worked fantastically.

“No, no, no, no!” she exclaimed
dramatically. “Nothing is okay, and it’s all my fault. I did this to you. I am
so, so sorry son.”

“For what?” I eyed her quizzically.

She waited a few minutes before speaking,
as though her next words held a lot of weight and she wanted to make sure she
delivered them in the best possible way.

“Gina, she is,” she halted for a few more
seconds. “She is gone, Zay. I am so so sorry. I should have never pushed you
towards her like that. This is all my fault!”

“What is your fault? What do you mean
she’s gone?” I stood up from my chair, just to make the whole act seem more
genuine. “Did she go back home for a bit?”

“No,” she said sounding upset. “She’s
gone. Forever. I am so sorry, Zay. She said that she is in love with someone
else and she was only staying with you for my sake and it wasn’t fair to
anybody. I thought she was joking at first.” She was breathing heavily. “But
then… but then…”

“Mom, sit down,” I said, holding her by
the shoulders. “Take a deep breath and tell me everything. What did Gina say to
you?”

“That she is,” she covered her face in her
hands and started crying hysterically. “She is in love with someone else and
she thought she could do this for me but she really couldn’t and to tell you
she’s sorry.”

“She didn’t even have the decency to tell
me so herself?” I asked, pretending to look disappointed. “And that’s the girl
you thought was perfect for me?”

The crying grew louder, and a sinister
part of me felt good about the fact that I had managed to manipulate the master
manipulator. I was, after all, her son. All that stress she gave me from trying
to kill herself; this was but a small payback. And she could never threaten to
pull that shit again; as far as she knew, she had caused me great grief by
bringing Gina back into my life.

“I am so, so sorry, Zayden. I really
thought – I thought she loved you and she would be good for you. I never would
have suggested she come back into your life if I knew she would bail on you
like this.”

“Just when I was beginning to accept her
back into my life too,” I said dolefully. “What have I done to deserve this
shit?”

“Nothing,” she said looking up finally.
“Nothing at all. This is all my fault, Zay. From now on I will never try to
interfere in your life again. I want to be there for you and I have realized
that the best way to do so is to leave you be. I am leaving to go back West
over the weekend. Unless,” she looked at me hopefully. “Unless I can be there
for you in some way by staying? Help you get through the heartbreak.”

“I think you have done enough,” I said.
“You meant well and I really appreciate it. But I am hurt right now and need
some time alone to recuperate. Is that okay with you?” I added the last bit
trying to seem as earnest as possible.

“Of course, but if you need anything at
all, I am just a phone call away,” she exclaimed and hugged me tight.

“I know that, mom.” I grinned behind her back.

For the first time in my entire life, I
had managed to outsmart my mother. And in some ways I had Aria to thank for it.
I was now the ultimate manipulator.

---

Now that most of the issue was taken care
of, I began to fully appreciate the situation I was in; it was, in fact,
perfect! There were only two days until the next payment needed to be made on
Aria’s mother’s hospital bill, and she still did not know whether I was going
to make it or not. In other words, I had complete and utter control over how
our dynamic proceeded once again. And man, had I missed being in this position.

When I went into work the next day, I
didn’t even so much glance at Aria because I wanted to let her continue
believing that I was done with her. If she wanted things to be different, she
would have to come to me this time. Maybe I would even make her beg… after all,
I did suffer a great deal for her sake, and she needed to not only know that,
but appreciate it fully so that she would never try and make things difficult
for me again.

The few times I did look up towards her
booth, I caught her staring at my office, to my great satisfaction. She
obviously wanted to run in here and ask me what was going on, especially since
I never even replied to her email. Well, she was free to walk in any minute;
she just wouldn’t get any prodding from my end.

To my great surprise, she never came in
the whole day, and when I saw her begin to leave from work that evening, I
almost reached out to her myself. But I had to have better restraint, if things
were going to go my way from now on. I couldn’t let my need to talk to her
overcome me, since I was trying hard to never show another sign of weakness.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to test myself for much longer because soon after she
left the bank, my phone rang. It was her, so I thumbed the talk button.

“You have decided to speak to me then,” I
answered the phone.

She didn’t speak for what felt like almost
a whole minute, after which she said, “I sent you an email!”

“How thoughtful,” I said sardonically. “I
sit ten feet away from you.”

“You never wrote back,” she said softly.

“I had nothing to say. What did you want
me to say?”

“
I don
’t know. Our contract. What is going on, Zayden? Just
tell me, are we still doing this?”

“Last I remember, you wanted desperately
to get out of this contract,” I scoffed. Perhaps I should have stopped; I had
already given her enough of a scare, but there was something about the feeling
of being powerful that I just could not pass up on.

“That’s not true,” she snapped.
“Obviously, if I emailed you asking where you stand on the contract, it means
I’
m still in.
”

“I think,” I said with a triumphant smile.
“I think you need to revisit the dictionary in reference to what constitutes
the word ‘obvious.’ In no way have you said to me that you want to continue the
contract. You need to, I mean.”

“Look, I know what you’re trying to do and
I’m not biting. Just skip the games, Zayden. Do you want this or not?”

“What am I trying to do?” I asked
pretending to sound surprised. “It’s pretty funny that you think you know
something I am supposedly doing that I don’t know myself, don’t you think?”

“You want me to beg,” she said simply.
“You want me to tell you just how much I need this and how I will do anything
to continue the contract.”

“Well, then?”

“Are you definitely getting rid of your
ex?”

“Already done it, thanks to you.”

“Sarcasm?”

“No, not at all!” I exclaimed. “Because
you put me in a situation where I had no choice but to end it with her–”

“You had a choice,” she sounded delighted
now. “You always have a choice.”

“
Aria, don
’t be such a smart ass. As I was saying, since I had
no choice in the matter, I had to come up with a way to end it with Gina in a
way that best suited everyone involved. Without that kind of a pressure to get
on this right away, I probably would have been trapped forever.”

“What pressure? I didn’t put any pressure
on you!”

“Right,” I scoffed. “None at all. I am not
complaining, Aria. You did me quite the favor.”

“So your mother?”

“She will not be giving me, herself, or
anyone else any more trouble.”

“You sound like you murdered her,” she
said giggling.

“I wish,” I joked. “I just played her own
games against her so she now feels responsible for ruining my life. Petty
details, really. But let’s stick to what is important. The contract. You were
saying? Something about really, really needing–”

“I didn’t say that,” she said, the defiant
tone back. “Your ex is gone, then, that is good news. And how about who I am
allowed to speak with?”

“Whoever the hell you want, Aria,” I said
earnestly. “As long as I am the only one touching your perfect little body.”

My own words ignited a surge of desire in
my body, and by the sudden silence that had befallen on the other end, I
suspected it had the same effect on Aria.

“
I don
’t want anyone else to touch me,” she said eventually.
“Isn’t that obvious by now, Zayden? That’s why there never was any reason to be
jealous. The fact that you couldn’t see that pissed me off almost as much as
your trying to control my life.”

“What, you thought I couldn’t trust you?”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“Why else would you put restrictions on
who I was talking to?” She asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Because I don’t like the thought of
stupid assholes mentally undressing you every time they talk to you. And as a
stupid asshole who does that every time myself, take it from me, they all do. I
have come to think of undressing you – mentally or otherwise – as a privilege
that is exclusive to me.”