BILLIONAIRE: Protected (A Dark Billionaire Romance) (6 page)

              “Girl, my lips are sealed,” Patrick said, miming a zipping motion in front of his mouth. He smacked my arm and looked me up and down. “I can't
believe
you!”

              I could hardly believe what I was doing either, but not for the same reasons that he could not. Patrick was my best friend and I was lying to him, possibly causing a problem for someone that was not even involved in the situation.

If I had been truthful with him from the start, I could have avoided all of the fibbing. However, I was infatuated with my forbidden relationship. The problem with forbidden relationships is that they are never as easy as fairy-tales portray them to be.

As much as I told myself that I was going to tell Patrick the truth, I knew that I was in too deep.

              “Listen, I'm so happy you got all of the new accounts,” I said, standing. “I really can't stay any longer though. I have somewhere to be.”

              “Are you meeting Nate?” he asked, loudly.

              I gave him a dirty look and he made an apologetic face. The coffeehouse was far from empty and although it was not likely that we knew anyone in there, he could have easily just revealed a secret. 4

His Freudian slip quickly made me remember why I had to lie to him in the first place. He would never air my dirty laundry on purpose, but at one point or another, he would by accident.

              “No,” I corrected, sternly. I threw my purse over my shoulder. “I have an appointment with Fred at five.”

              “Oh dear, you haven't been shoplifting again, have you?” he asked, quietly.

              I gave him another dirty look.

              “No, I have not been shoplifting,” I sneered. “I've just been dealing with a lot of stress with the company and everything. I just have been seeing him to try and work on some coping methods.

I think it's good for me. I have to go, Patrick. I'll see you in the office tomorrow, okay?”

              “Alright then,” he replied with a wave. “Say hi to Nate for me!”

              I glared at him and he covered his mouth. Not telling him about Liam was clearly the right decision.

                                                                      *****

I fiddled with my cell phone as I waited for Fred to finish with his patient before me. Fred had been my therapist since I had gotten health insurance. There were a lot of things that I could not discuss with anyone other than Liam, even Fred, but Fred helped me tackle a lot of the excess stress that I dealt with on a daily basis. He had helped me more than I ever could have thought he would. Seeing therapists was frowned upon in rural Idaho. The stigma that I had grown up with led me to believe that I would never jump on the New Yorker bandwagon and depend on a shrink to get through my problems. Nevertheless, I was sitting in a psychologist's office, watching a cheesy afternoon talk show on the waiting room's ceiling-mounted television.

              Fred's office door swung open and a large woman with frizzy, black hair waddled out of the room. She used a cane to help her walk towards the billing assistant's desk. Fred raised his thick eyebrows and beckoned me, wordlessly. I stood and walked into his office.

              Fred closed the door behind us as I sat on the leather sofa. His office was small, decorated mostly by books. The small, toupee-adorned man did not even have a desk. Instead, he sat in a red leather armchair that did not match the black leather sofa at all. He placed his clipboard in his lap and clicked his pen.

              “So, how are you this week?” he asked.

              “I'm doing okay,” I said in an unsure tone. “My company got a really great investor, so I'm excited about that.”

              “Oh yeah? Tell me more about that.”

              “Well, we have been working rather closely together. It really seems like we work around the clock. In fact, I see him so often—”

              “Are you intimate?”

              I choked on my own words and bewilderment became evident in my facial expression. I brushed my hair out of my face and blushed, looking away from Fred so I did not have to look into his eyes.

              “No! Of course not! Why would you ask such a thing?” I asked, defensively.

              Fred let out a heavy sigh and scribbled something onto his clipboard.

              “Aaliyah, why were you so defensive there? Everything you say here is entirely confidential unless I have any concerns that you or another person may be in physical danger,” the elderly psychologist reaffirmed, sternly. “To get all of these feelings out, it's important that you're honest with me.”

              I sighed and put my face in my hands. As I rubbed my temples, I pondered whether or not I should tell him. It was confidential, so there really was not any reason that I should not. I took a deep breath and looked into his kind, brown eyes.

              “I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma,” I admitted.

              “What kind of a moral dilemma?” he asked, penning down notes.

              “Well, I have sorta been seeing my business partner. We're supposed to be professional but we just can't stop,” I confessed. I took another deep breath. “I-I think I truly have feelings for him but we can't be open about it in the office. Our P.R. team would have both of our heads. We didn't really think it would be that much of a problem but then my assistant caught onto us.”             

              “How did you handle the situation with your assistant?”

              “Well,” I started with a light chuckle. “I lied to him.”

              “Lied how?” he asked with a frown.

              “I kind of just said that I was in a relationship with a guy named Nate and he assumed I meant one of the custodians that works at the office. I kinda panicked and just went with it,” I admitted. “It was the most convenient excuse that I could find. I really didn't know what else to do.”

              “Wouldn't you also be in trouble for pursuing a relationship with a custodian? Is he not still an employee of your company?” Fred was scribbling down notes more quickly than I had ever seen. I wondered if he thought that I was reaching some sort of breakthrough.

              “I wouldn't get in trouble for pursuing a relationship with him, no,” I corrected. “We do not have any strict policies regarding dating in the workplace.
             

The reason that Liam and I have had to keep our relationship a secret is because he has a reputation in the business world and I am developing my own reputation. Business partners having a relationship can lead to some really negative feedback from other people in the business world and we don't need that kind of media attention. I know that isn't an excuse to lie, but I just didn't know how else to handle it.”

              Fred nodded as his pen danced across his clipboard. I furrowed my brow and, out of sheer curiosity, I craned my neck to try to see what he was writing. He pulled the clipboard to his chest, looked back up at me, and smiled.

              “This is a very trying situation,” he noted. “Your career is on the line, but the emotions that you have for this business partner of yours are very real. Usually, I would have to suggest that you tell the truth, but from what I understand, that would not be worth the backlash.”

              I nodded, giving him an expectant look. Since I already knew everything that he had just said, I wondered what advice he was going to offer me to fix the situation. I longed for an answer to my problems.

              He sighed and added, “Do you have any concerns that this relationship may be based on either you or your business partner's unfulfilled desire to be in a forbidden relationship?”

              The thought had never crossed my mind. I did enjoy the thrill of forbidden romance, but I had never considered that it was the foundation of my relationship with Liam. He had never mentioned anything of the sort, either, but I felt inclined to ask him. Were his intentions only to use me until he had fulfilled his desire to be in a forbidden relationship? I frowned at the very thought.

              “I find the forbidden aspect absolutely exhilarating, don't get me wrong,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “but I don't think that I am interested in him only for that reason. I feel an actual connection there. I...I can't be certain whether or not he's only interested in me for that reason.”

              Fred nodded and wrote down more notes.

              “Aaliyah, what do you know about his past?” he asked, lacing his hands together and placing them on top of his pen and clipboard.

              “From what I understand, he never knew his dad and his mother was a drug addict. I don't know much about him other than that. Why? Do you think that's important?” I inquired. I was beginning to have doubts about Liam's feelings for me.

              Fred pursed his lips and began scribbling again. After a moment, he looked up at me and cleared his throat.

              “We are nearly out of time, but my suggestion is that you speak with your partner about his past and your future together. If he opens up, I would make the assumption that his feelings are genuine. If he seems a bit guarded, he may be trying to fulfill some fantasy,” he said. He chewed on his pen as his eyes met mine and I sighed.

              “I suppose I need to have a talk with him, don't I?”

              Fred nodded and said, “Our time here is up, but I think I would like to conclude this session by saying that my suspicion is not law. He may very well be interested in you and just is a heavily guarded individual.

Nevertheless, it is something to keep in the back of your mind in case you see any signs that may lead you to believe that he is protecting himself from you because he desires the situation, not necessarily you as a person. I hope this clarified some things for you and that you take the next necessary steps.”

              I pursed my lips and nodded, slowly, “Yes, I believe it did... Thank you again, Fred.”

              He shook my hand and I walked out of his office with hundreds of questions rushing though my head.

When I arrived at Liam's penthouse flat, he was still in his boxers on his cell phone talking about business with somebody. I sat next to him on the sofa and took a deep breath to deter myself from yelling at him while he was speaking about important matters.

For a moment, I pondered whether or not I should have even returned to his apartment. I had not been home in several days other than to collect more of my things. Fred's words echoed in my mind and I grew more and more irate as I looked at Liam's smiling face.

I did not want to be in a one-sided relationship.

              He hung up the phone and beamed at me. I crossed my arms and offered him nothing more than a scowl.              “Did you not hear all that?” he asked. “Babe, I just got us
four
accounts! Paolini Pizza wants us at every one of their locations! Isn't that great?” I sucked on my teeth and shrugged.

              “What's wrong?” he asked, frowning. “Why haven't we talked about your past or our future or anything like that?” I inquired. He looked taken aback as he slowly responded, “We've only been seeing each other for what? A couple weeks? Ally, most people don't talk about those things right away.”

              “But I told you all about my past!” I exclaimed, getting to my feet. “Is this relationship just some kind of a joke to you?”

              Liam stood and put his hands on my shoulders, looking at me with his deep, sapphire eyes. I refused to look at him and shrugged his hands off my shoulders. I saw the dumbfounded expression out of the corner of my eye, but he was only reaffirming my suspicions that I was merely a toy to him. “Did something happen with Fred that I should know about? You aren't making any sense,” he said. “What on Earth would make you think that I think of our relationship as a joke?”

              “Fred suggested that you may only be seeing me to pursue some sort of desire for a forbidden relationship,” I murmured. “If you can't even talk about your past or our future, how can I think any differently? All you do is screw me and talk to me about business. Without any depth, how can I know you're serious about me?”              Liam sighed and ran a hand through his hair, collapsing back onto the sofa. He buried his face in his hands for a moment and then looked up at me, expectantly.              “What do you want to know? Out with it then,” he said. “Really?” I asked, incredulously, sitting next to him. “That's it?”

              “That's it. Ask me whatever the hell you want if that's what it takes. Ally, I don't want you to think all I am is some rich jerk trying to sleep with you. If this is what it takes to prove it, I guess we'll discuss it. I hate talking about these kinds of things. I really do. But if this is what you want, I'll make an exception,” he said. He took my hand and pressed his lips to my palm. I blushed.

              “Well, er...oh right! Do you want children?” I asked. It was the only thing that came to mind. I felt a little silly for making such a big deal and then asking such a generic question, but it was a question that I wanted an answer to. “It's honestly up in the air at this point,” he admitted. “I like kids and all but my job gets in the way. I'm not sure if I can do much for them other than throw money at them and I don't think that will do them much good.”               I smiled and replied. What about marriage?”

“I feel exactly the same way.              

“Eventually,” he said. “I don't want to go to Vegas and do anything stupid, though. Sorry if that's what you're looking for. I don't like making rash decisions.” He said.

“We're on the same page there, I think,” I quipped. I chewed on my lip for a moment.

“What about your past? You said your mom was a drug addict and you didn't know your dad. Is that why you came to New York?”               He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before nodding slowly. It was obvious to me that it would take him a moment to discuss the topic, and I was not trying to rush him. He had diminished a lot of my concerns already.             

“Well,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck, “my mum used to use heroin. Intravenous use, you know? With a needle-like… I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I needed to do to make her stop. Good grades didn't do it. Scholarships didn't do it. I honestly came to New York hoping that maybe if I became successful, I could pay for her to get into a really great rehab one day.” “And did you?” I asked, softly.               He shook his head and cleared his throat. “I didn't get the chance,” he murmured. “She passed away about nine years ago. I didn't get into the pharmaceutical industry until about a year after that.” A tear fell down his cheek and I wrapped my arms around him. He buried his face into my chest and latched onto my waist. I kissed his forehead to comfort him as I rubbed his back, cooing at him. I felt guilty that I had pressed him to face his mother's passing, but at the same time, I felt a strange sense of relief. His vulnerability made me feel so much more connected to him. After a moment, he stopped crying and his face flushed as he looked up at me. He wiped his eyes and cleared his throat, averting his gaze away from me as though nothing had happened. I quickly realized that he was not ready to further discuss the matter and I changed the subject before he had another mental breakdown              

“How about I order a pizza?” I suggested. He nodded and muttered, “Yeah, go for it. Pizza sounds good.” I smiled and pressed my lips to his forehead. We were both a little psychologically unsound, but that only brought us closer. Our future looked bright.