His Hired Girlfriend (33 page)

“
You liar! You’ve always
lied to me, Jayden!” Alex shouts, tears in her eyes. She runs into
the elevator and pushes the ground floor button. Still crying, she
watches as Jayden gets closer. The door shuts just moments before
he reaches it.

Jayden pushes the down
button a couple of times in frustration. The elevator door,
however, doesn’t open. He swears under his breath and heads to the
stairs. He runs down two steps at a time and heads to the elevator
on the lower floor. He pushes the down button and the door opens.
But not the one Alex is in. He quickly gets in.

Down on the ground floor,
he races through the main lobby to the entrance. Outside, he sees
Alex getting into a taxi.

“
Alex!” he shouts. “Alex,
wait!”

Alex closes the door and
tells the taxi driver to go.

Jayden runs after the taxi. Once he knows he can’t catch
up, he stops, standing in the middle of the traffic. He swears
under his breath and then growls loudly.

* * *

T
wenty-
F
ive

With a murderous
expression on his face, Jayden busts the door open. He isn’t
surprised to see Kyle and Britney there with Sarah. They are
sipping champagne—a toast, no doubt—to congratulate themselves at
pulling off such a splendid show.

The three people look at him in shocked surprise. Jay
doesn’t give a shit that he’s interrupting their little party as he
stalks to Kyle, his chest heaving and his hands fisted
tightly.

“
Shit!” Britney mutters
under her breath.

“
Jay!” Sarah says, rushing
toward him. “I thought—”

She doesn’t finish. He shoves her aside and flings his fist
forward, smashing Kyle’s handsome face, hitting him against the
wall.

Sarah and Britney stare at
the scene before them in shocked silence. Neither of them dares to
move as they watch Jay knock Kyle’s face again.

Kyle groans and touches
his bleeding nose and lips. “Shit, man!”

Jayden turns to face the
two women, his eyes dark with disgust. “Stay out of my life. If any
of you interfere again, I swear I’ll make your life a living hell.”
He turns to Kyle, rage contorting on his face. “We’ve never been
friends, Kyle. Like I warned you before, I can do more damage than
bashing your face.” Then he marches to the door. Just as he’s about
to leave he says to Sarah, “It really is over, Sarah, you and me. I
don’t care why you left me, and I’m glad you did. You and Kyle
deserve each other.” Then he slams the door shut.

In the elevator, he rests
his head back against the wall, his heart heavy.

“
Alex,” he murmurs under
his breath. “I’m sorry.”

She’d be home, he is sure,
and soon he’d be there to apologize and explain everything. His
cell rings. He frowns, wondering who would be calling him at this
time.

“
Jayden
speaking.”

“
Boss, it’s
me.”

“
David? What’s
up?”

The elevator door dings
open, and he steps out into the lobby.

“
You have to come and see.
It’s about Mr. Marcelo’s Island. Jeff is here with me. We’ve got
all the information we needed.”

Jay notes the excitement
in David’s voice. “Yes. We talked about that. Not buying.” He heads
into the hall where the celebration of his sister’s wedding is
still in full swing.

“
Oh, you’ll change your
mind when you see this.”

Jayden pauses, his
attention caught. “What is it?”

“
Oil! They don’t know they
have oil under all that rocky, barren island.”

“
Shit!” Jayden
swears.

“
Yeah, shit all right,
boss.” Jay hears a chuckle. “You coming?”

“
Yeah. Coming.” Jay
terminates the call and heads to his parents.

“
Where’s Alex?” Gracie
asks, noting the uncomfortable look on his face that he has
difficulty hiding.

Jay doesn’t know what to
tell his mother. “She—she’s left.”

“
So early? Is she
unwell?”

“
No,” he mutters, his face dark. “I mean yes. Look, I have
to go to the office. It’s an emergency. I’ll see you back at home.
Tell Alex I’ll be home soon, okay?”

“
All right,” Gracie says
uncertainly. She watches him as he rushes to the door, a troubled
expression on his face.

Jayden speeds his BMW across town to the office on the
other side of New York City. He expertly does a parallel park in
the off-street parking lot, gets out, locks the door, and races to
the modern building with the sign
McCartney’s Realty Co
. As he heads toward the entrance, the security guard sees
him and quickly pushes on the open-door button.

Jayden rushes in as the guard
greets him warmly. “Evening, Mr.
McCartney.”

Jay nods and waves his
hand as he heads to the elevator.

In the office, he meets
Jeff and David, who excitedly lead him to the desk with pieces of
paper scattered everywhere.

Three hours later, Jeff
asks, “Well?”

“
We’re buying it,” Jayden
says.

“
He’s going to think we’re
stupid,” David comments.

“
Let him think that. It’s
what he wants,” Jay says.

“
Yeah. Definitely,” Jeff
agrees.

Jayden flips his cell and dials Mr. Marcelo’s number. The
phone rings a couple of times and then,
“Hello?”

“
Mr. Marcelo. It’s me,
Jayden.”

“
Ah, Jayden. I do
apologize I couldn’t make it to your sister’s wedding today. There
was some problem here. I did inform your father. So how is
it?”

“
Never better,” Jayden says, and he couldn’t care less what
the hell his problem
was that
prevented him from going to the wedding. “I know it’s late, but it
has to be done now.”

“
Yes?”

Jay pauses for a moment, touching the property’s portfolio.
“Straight to the point, I’ve decided to buy the island. How about
we meet up tomorrow and seal the deal?” He hears the older man
laugh—loud and clear
, like he
has just taken over the world.

“
Good
man. Make the
meeting at ten?”

“
Yes. See you then,”
Jayden says and ends the call. He turns to Jeff and David. “Good
job, men.”

“
Thanks, boss,” Jeff says,
grinning from ear to ear.

“
Well, good night and see you tomorrow.”

“
But what about the
contract? We need to write that up before tomorrow,” Jeff points
out.

“
Shit! Yes.” Jayden rakes his fingers through his hair. He
wants to go and see Alex, but he knows he has to finish writing up
the contract before the meeting tomorrow. “All right. Let’s
begin.”

The three men have their jackets off and their shirt
sleeves rolled up to their elbows as they brainstorm what to put in
the contract. Late into the night they all fall asleep, David on
the sofa with notes on his chest, Jeff on the seat with his head
resting beside the laptop, and Jayden in the armchair near the
window that overlooks the city of New York.

* * *

The house is so quiet Alex can hear her own heart beating in her
chest as she lies there in bed, sobbing. She thought a good shower
would help clear her head and calm her anger and frustration, but
she’s wrong. Now more than ever, she’s upset with herself. She
simply can’t believe Jayden betrayed her trust. Everything was a
lie. She punches the pillow a couple of times before snuggling her
face against it, allowing her tears full rein to flow from her eyes
down her cheeks.

An
hour later, when
she feels a bit better, her Blackberry rings.
Who could it be? Jayden? Is he calling to
apologize?

She picks it up and notes
that it’s from New Zealand.

“
Hello?”

“
Alex, it’s
Dad.”

Alex feels the knot in the
pit of her stomach. She sniffs and wipes her tears. “Hi, Dad. How’s
things? Are you all right?”

There’s a long, intense pause.
“Alex, I know what’s going on. I know you’re not in
New York for a conference.”

Alex feels as though her
heart dropped down to her shoes. “Wh—wh—what?”

“
I know you’re with a man.”
Another pause.
“I’m
very disappointed in you, Alex.”

“
But, Dad, I—” She sniffs again and more tears brew in her
eyes. She knows when her dad says
‘he’s disappointed in her’
that it’s a big deal. He never says that to her except when
she does something very stupid. Her throat is so tight with
emotions that she can’t find a way to express it.

“
I want you home, Alex. I
don’t want you with a man who treats you like you’re worth nothing.
You’re better than that. We love you. Come home.”

Alex wipes tears from her cheeks and sniffs again. Her
voice shaking with emotions, she says, “Al
l right. I’m coming home.”

She hangs up the cell and just sits there, staring into
space as tears continue to brew in her eyes. Then she tosses the
Blackberry to the side of the bed, throws herself onto the soft
pillows, and cries her heart out.

* * *

When morning comes, and New York City is buzzing with life again,
Jayden wakes up to find Jeff and David all neatly dressed in their
brand new suits, both sitting behind their prospective laptops
furiously typing away.

“
Sorry, boss,” Jeff says. “Couldn’t wake you because you
looked so tired. Thought you needed it. You know you could have
slept in your bed next door.”

“
Yeah,” Jay mutters as he
stretches his body. “Forgot about that.”

Just then a middle aged PA by the name of Mrs. Smith
bustles in with a cup of strong coffee in her hand. “Morning, Mr.
McCartney. How was your sleep last night?”

“
Good, thanks,” Jayden
replies, taking the cup she hands him and ignoring her smirk. He
sips the coffee gratefully as he heads next door to his private
bedroom. He opens the wardrobe, takes out a new suit, and lays it
on the bed. Then he hits the shower. Once he’s dressed and looking
fresh and alert as the young and handsome, powerful Jayden
McCartney, he heads back to the office.

“
How’s the contract
coming?”

“
Good. Nearly done,” Jeff
responds, still typing away furiously.

“
Why don’t you have some
breakfast, Mr. McCartney?” Mrs. Smith suggests, laying a silver
tray of cereal and another cup of coffee in front of him on the
table.

“
Thanks, Mrs. Smith,”
Jayden says, picking up the spoon.

Fifteen minutes later, Jeff prints out the contract and
Jayden finishes his breakfast, just in time to go to the Marcelo
Hotel for the meeting.

On their way, Jayden keeps
ringing home to speak to Alex, but no one picks up the phone. He
becomes frustrated after three tries and curses
fluently.

“
Calm down, boss,” Jeff
says as they come to a red light. “You know it’s not like you’re
not going to see her again. You both have your whole life
together.”

“
Agree on that one,” David
confirms from behind.

Jayden just shakes his
head. All he knows is that he wants to see Alex. He needs to speak
to her. Only he can’t. Not yet. Not until he’s finished with this
first.

“
I can’t believe you let
me drive your car, boss. Never have driven a BMW before.” Jeff
says. “Well, not like this one.”

“
Then after this you
deserve one, both of you, and a hefty pay raise and a good
vacation,” Jayden comments.

Jeff widens his eyes.
“Really, boss?”

“
Yeah.”

Jeff and David look at
each other, grinning from ear to ear.

Jayden finds himself sitting in front of Mr. Marcelo and
his attorney in an immaculate office overlooking Central Park at
ten sharp. David and Jeff stand on either side of him, acting as
his left- and right-hand man.

“
You’ve done the right
thing, Jayden,” Mr. Marcelo says, handing over the contract in a
neat folder.

“
I know I have,” Jayden replies softly, his eyes sharp.
“Five million dollars,” he murmurs as he scans through the clauses.
Once he’s done, he passes it over for Jeff to look over. Jeff takes
it as David hands their contract to Mr. Marcelo.

“
Yes. Five million
dollars,” Mr. Marcelo says, grinning, not bothering to look at the
contract that is handed to him and instead passes it to his
attorney.

Once the contracts have been thoroughly read and checked by
both sides, they put their signatures on the dotted line. Jayden
now owns a barren island with oil that’s worth billions of dollars,
and Mr. Marcelo has just lost some billion dollars he didn’t know
he had.