The Billionaire's Sextape: An Adult Billionaire Romance (6 page)

Chapter4

James spent the next week hopping from one party to the next. He was always getting invited somewhere, and he found it difficult to say no. Sometimes, when he was simply too tired to go out, he’d turn a party down and gear himself up for a night at home. But a few hours into the night, he’d find himself getting restless.

He hated missing out. The parties were mostly the same – attractive people wearing very little clothes and all trying to be the center of attention. But he didn’t mind. With enough booze and loud enough music – he easily fit in. After the confrontation with his ex-girlfriend, he vowed not to get too involved with anyone for a while.

He wasn’t going to be young forever, so he might as well be as free as possible for as long as he could. It was at one of these parties where Elton called him. He had invited Elton, Tom, and Marco, but none of them could make it. He knew it was because it was a weeknight and they all had work to worry about the next day. They were childhood friends and still spent a lot of time together, but every now and again their different lives would show.

              “Elton! You changed your mind? The party is still going strong! Come join us. I have a vodka with your name on it.”

Elton said something but the music was too loud.

              “Elton, I can’t hear you. Hang on, I’m going outside. Give me a minute.” James pushed his way through the hordes of people until he finally got outside. He pressed the phone to his ear again. “Okay, I’m outside. Sorry about that.”

              “Flip! It sounds crazy there! Where the hell are you?”

              “It’s just a club. But I think I was standing next to a speaker or something. So… are you coming? Loads of cute girls here.”

              “No, I’m not coming. That’s not why I called.”

              “Oh… are you still in love with that waitress from the local?”

              “Ashley. Yeah… I am.” Elton’s voice had gone all mushy.

              “Elton! You dog, you. Have you seen her again?”

              “Yeah. A few times actually. And not just at the local. It’s going well.”

              “Aren’t you glad I forced you guys to go out with me that night?” James teased.

Elton laughed. “Yeah, I admit it. I am. But listen… I didn’t phone to talk about me. I actually have something serious to talk to you about. I know you’re at that party, but is there any way that we can meet?”

              “Just come here!” James insisted.

              “No, somewhere quieter.”

              “Okay. Uh… that does sound serious. Sure. Uh… want to just come to my place? I can be there in about half an hour.”

              “Perfect.”

              “Is everything okay, Elton?” James asked. Elton wasn’t the type to want to ‘talk’ about his feelings like this, and James felt an uncomfortable sensation come over him.

              “Fine. But I do need to talk to you. See you soon!”

James looked at the club and then decided to leave without going back in and saying goodbye to anyone. They’d only try to convince him to stay and he’d probably end up being late. Also, he felt worried for Elton. What was it that he wanted to tell him? It must be serious if he was calling him at this hour to meet up.

James got home with fifteen minutes still to spare and nervously made himself a cup of coffee. When Elton arrived, he made another cup for both of them.

              “Wow, coffee. I thought you had a vodka with my name on it.”

              “Vodka at the club. Coffee at home. What’s going on, Elton?”

              “James, I wanted to tell you this before you heard it from someone else because I assume you haven’t heard it yet.”

              “What? What’s going on?” James demanded.

              “A sex tape has been released.”

              “Okay… what does that have to do with me?”

              “It’s of you.”

              “Me? What do you mean? How is that possible? Are you sure this isn’t some joke?”

              “I’m sure. It’s of you and some very exotic-looking African American girl called Lilah.”

James felt his heart start to quicken and color rush to his head. “Lilah! How do you know this?”

              “It’s all over the internet. It literally just happened, which is why nobody at the club said anything, I assume. I don’t think they know yet. But it’s starting to spread like wildfire. It shows you and this girl, and in it you call her Lilah.”

              “But how? I don’t understand.”

              “I don’t know, James. Did this girl… Lilah… did she have a copy or something?”

              “No. Definitely not. The video is still here.” Suddenly, James stopped and looked at Elton. “Oh no.”

              “What? Did you remember something?” Elton asked.

              “Yeah. Tammy was here the other night. She had used her key to get in, and she had a bag full of stuff. She said it was all her stuff she was taking back. I thought about looking in the bag, but I just wanted her gone. I didn’t even consider that she would’ve taken the tape. It didn’t occur to me. This is totally something that Tammy would do.”

Elton nodded. “That’s for sure. I wouldn’t put it past her. Shit, James. What are you going to do? Your dad is going to freak. Who is this Lilah girl anyway?”

James sat back down and proceeded to tell Elton the whole story. About how after Elton had taken Ashley for coffee, he had treated the rest of the boys to a show at Betsy’s. He told Elton how he had been transfixed with Lilah.

              “Her full name is Delilah. And she is beautiful.”

              “I know. I mean… I didn’t watch the video. That would be weird. But I did see the start of it. And I saw her. She is stunning, James.”

              “I can’t believe that Tammy would do this to me. Although… actually I do believe it. But it’s still awful. She knows my father would freak out. He’s totally going to find out about this. It would’ve been bad if it were any girl, but the fact that it is a stripper makes it so much worse. And even worse is that she’s such a lovely girl. She’s going to be devastated. It was my damn idea to go and film the whole thing anyway. What was I thinking?”

              “Well, obviously you weren’t thinking that your ex-girlfriend would come in and steal it. That’s the last thing you’d be thinking. So don’t beat yourself up about it. I always hated Tammy.”

              “I know you did. You were the only one that told me that to my face. I should’ve listened to you. I’m such an idiot. Elton, what am I going to do? My father is going to be so disappointed in me. Oh no! What about Martha? She’s going to die of embarrassment. She’s always telling me how proud she is of me.

She’s always going around and telling people about me. And what if my father cuts me loose from all the money? I mean, I know that sounds like an awful thing to say right now, but I kind of don’t have anything else. I’m not sure if he can do that. But he might. I have no idea how it all works.”

              “Do you think there’s any way he’ll understand if you talk to him? Tell him it was a mistake?”

James shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve been going around and partying every night and promising him that I’ve been thinking about my future. Which I obviously haven’t. After everything he’s done for me, this is going to come as a big shock to him. He has a big reputation to uphold, and I might have just ruined it now.”

              “There’s got to be something you can do,” Elton insisted.

              “What?” James took a big sip of coffee and lay back. His head was swarming with too many thoughts, and he thought he was going to faint.

              “Hey! I have an idea!” Elton said.

James sat up, eager to hear anything that might get him out of his situation. “Yeah?”

              “Why don’t you say she’s your girlfriend?”

              “What do you mean?”

              “Just tell everyone she’s your girlfriend. You’ve got every right to film your girlfriend surely. You can say that the tape was just for personal use but that your ex-girlfriend stole it out of spite. Turn it around so that she is the bad one – which she is, by the way.”

              “But she’s not my girlfriend.”

              “Well, just pretend. Maybe speak to her. Tell her what happened. Pay for her to be your girlfriend for a while. Then the two of you can break up eventually and the whole thing can be put at rest.”

James looked at Elton, considering the idea. “You know what, it’s not a bad idea at all. It’s not the best idea either, but it may be the only one I have right now. And you won’t say anything?”

Elton looked at him as if he were crazy. “Of course I won’t. I’m your oldest and dearest friend. Although, I wouldn’t say no to a new car.” He grinned at James.

              “A new car? You’ve got yourself a deal.”

              “James! I’m kidding! I don’t want a new car. You’re my friend.”

              “Thanks, Elton. Seriously.”

              “Now, you better go get that girl and ask her if she’ll help you before more people find out. I’ll leave you to it.”

As soon as Elton left, James felt as if he were going to have a panic attack. He quickly went onto the computer and typed his name into the search engine. Sure enough, the video was the first thing that came up. James hadn’t even watched it himself yet.

He started to watch it and became transfixed by the girl in the video again. Lilah Delilah. She sure was beautiful. He felt a sudden pang for her and an immediate sense of guilt for what he had done.

But then he shrugged – surely she’d be fine with the plan. If she was a stripper, it meant either she needed the money or that something like a video of herself on the internet wouldn’t bother her at all.

Perhaps she’d even want the video to be out – he’d met many girls like that in the past. He wondered how much he’d have to pay to keep her from saying anything. But he didn’t mind – he had enough money to get himself out of any situation. James didn’t have her number, so he put on his coat and rushed to Betsy’s.

The same woman greeted him at the door. “You’re back,” she said, smiling at him.

              “Is Lilah here?” He was completely out of breath.

She smiled at him. “Don’t you want to come in and have a drink first? The girls have just finished their dance.”

              “Uh… no… I’m sorry but I really want to see Lilah again. I’d… uh… I’d like to take her home.”

              “Same treatment as last time then? Can I just charge it to your card, sir?”

              “You can. I’ll wait outside for her.”

              “Okay, sure. She’ll be out soon.” The woman looked at him strangely for a second and then hurried back inside. It was her job to remain discreet, but it was obvious that she was wondering why he was acting so strangely. He could picture her going in and telling Lilah that she must have made a great impression the other night. He wondered if Lilah would be happy or annoyed that he had come back for her.

              “James.”

James turned around when he heard his name and saw the beautiful Lilah standing in front of him. “Lilah Delilah.” He smiled at her.

She laughed, “Is that what you’re calling me now?”

              “Yeah. I can’t decide which name I like better, so I figured I’d use both. Thanks for joining me again.”

              “No problem at all. Thanks for having me.” She took his hand, and the two of them walked back to his house. She looked a little sad, and he wondered if she was upset that she was going home with him. They spoke about meaningless stuff on the way to his house, keeping the conversation light.

He had much that he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to do it on the street. Also, he had no idea how he was even going to bring it up. Just a few hours ago he was dancing the night away at a party and thinking that he had the whole world at his feet. He hadn’t expected his evening to turn out this way at all.

When they arrived at his house, he walked straight to the kitchen. “Coffee?” He’d already had two cups with Elton, but he was desperate for more.

She looked at him strangely. Coffee was probably the last thing she had expected him to offer her. “I’d love a cup of coffee. Thank you. Oh, wow – you have a fancy machine. I didn’t notice that the last time.”

              “It’s my baby.”

              “Your baby?”

He looked at her sheepishly. “Yeah. That came across creepy. But seriously – I love this machine. I’ve never had one bad cup of coffee from it, and there’s very little that I have to do myself other than pour the beans into the back.”

              “Have you named it?”

              “What?” he asked.

              “Oh, come on – people always name the things that they love. I mean, most people name cars. But you seem to really love that thing.”

James pretended to feign ignorance. “I honestly don’t know what you are talking about.”