Staying in the guest suite proved to be so much more convenient than I anticipated. I had so many opportunities to use the flash drives. Christopher seemed to trust me completely. Coming clean to him about his father’s visit must have made him feel more secure with me.
I decided to stay as I did feel pretty safe there. My friend’s apartment was still available to me and knowing it was there helped me to feel confident in my decision. I would use it anytime I felt I needed it and nobody knew about it, not even Mac.
Speaking of Mac, over the course of a few weeks, I was able to easily fill up all the flash drives and sneak away to drop them off at secure drop off locations he had devised with his hacker group. He said it was best if we weren’t seen together for a while and we kept communication through text via a throwaway phone he bought. It was all very cloak and dagger and kind of exciting. I really started to miss that big lug, though.
Christopher had given me a lot of free reign of his place and I was surprised at that but I was in the “inner circle” and wasn’t questioned by security when I would waltz in places. He would carelessly leave his laptop in his room while taking a shower. The opportunities were endless.
Even though Christopher seemed to trust me, I still didn’t trust that I was safe and I slept with mace under my pillow, though I rarely slept there. Christopher and I had found a lot of comfort together in his bed and even though I didn’t trust him, I felt safe with all the security he surrounded himself with.
Of course, it was always in the back of my mind that the security could be used against me but I felt like I was safe, especially after finishing the last of the flash drives. I had no more evidence on me and no more adrenaline filled moments of using them on Christopher’s computers or tablets.
Mac had told me that he was getting really good stuff and that it wouldn’t be long now, maybe months or even weeks. In the grand scheme of things, compared to how long we had worked for this, that was no time at all. I was giddy and feeling good. I was spending a lot of time with Christopher and soaking in everything I could before his downfall.
I figured that I owed it to myself to let myself enjoy the way I felt with him, while still keeping my emotional wall up. It was good practice and I felt like it was a challenge, which I loved I loved rising up to challenges. I felt pretty clever, too, I had to admit. He never suspected a thing. I did have twinges and sometimes full blown attacks of guilt but I had coping mechanisms for that.
I made myself look at my mother’s picture every morning when I was alone, getting ready for work so that I wouldn’t forget my purpose, so that I wouldn’t get sucked in by Christopher again. It was hard not to. He still did things to me. He made me so weak in the knees physically. Not to mention the fact that he was fun and clever. He challenged me in ways most men didn’t and I knew that I was going to miss him but ultimately, this had to be done. My mother’s picture never ceased to remind me.
Our banter was always on point and he would take me on great dates like rock climbing followed by a candlelit dinner in Central Park in a private area just for us. My life was strange and unusual. I was enjoying this pseudo relationship and yet had to constantly remind myself that it was all a house of cards that was getting ready to fall, partially by my hands. It was a confusing and kind of exciting existence. I tried to only focus on the exciting part.
Mac was also helping me stay away from the guilt. Even though we had stopped meeting each other, the contact through text and a phone here and there went a long way to keep me focused. He kept the exciting part going and encouraged me to hang in there by telling me how close he was.
He wouldn’t tell me his source but he said he had a bunch of information on top of what we gathered that would bring the Ward empire down. I trusted that he knew what he was doing. I was doing my part by keeping Christopher distracted. Mac never failed to remind me of how horrible our lives were turned upside down by our parents’ deaths.
He also never failed to remind me that I was Alice through the looking glass. It helped. I needed that help because I still had quite a bit of my mother’s compassion and empathy. It was something that I was usually able to control but it kept rearing its ugly head in ways that I found more difficult to deal with as I spent more time with Christopher. He was a tough one. I couldn’t let myself falter, though. Thank goodness I had Mac.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
“Mr. Ward is on the line, please hold.” Gloria’s flat, emotionless voice came through my ear. I was at my desk and had been very focused on a report from one of the analysts on my team. I started to thank her but she had already put me on hold. I chuckled at myself for thinking that she would even care.
Going back to my report, I felt a bit of a somersault go through my stomach. The effect this man had on my was keeping me on my toes. I smiled at myself. Sometimes I was human and I had to let that happen. I would go back to being a robot later.
“Miss Bishop.” Christopher’s voice startled me. I quickly composed myself and got my bearings from my thoughts to interact with this puzzle of a man.
“Oh! Mr. Ward.” I smiled at my bubbliness from being startled. “I was lost in a report, Sir.”
“Good, good. I like hearing that but this is important. Do I have your full attention?” There was something a bit off in his voice and I wondered if it had to do with his father.
“Of course. What’s up?” My bubbliness disappeared as I took on a more serious tone.
“I would like to take you to dinner this evening. Are you free?”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. That’s what was so important? My furrowed brow relaxed and I leaned back in my chair.
“Considering I live in your building and my social life is all but nil because of the danger I might be in, um, yeah, I think you know I’m free.”
“Oh, Miss Bishop. None of us are ever as free as we think. I wont be in the car tonight on the drive home after work. I’m staying later. I’ll let your guard know when the car is ready and meet you at the restaurant.”
I started to answer until I heard a dial tone. He hung up? His voice was very tense and he didn’t seem like himself at all. I wasn’t sure what was happening but it felt personal. My stomach filled with anxiety. I had no idea if I should be worried but I was going to worry anyway.
I hung up the phone and did some deep breathing as I tried to gather myself to a place of being in control of my anxiety. This was not going to get the best of me. I was going to show up tonight confident and ready for anything.
I got back to my report after a few more minutes of breathing and poured myself into work the rest of the day. I was grateful that I enjoyed this work. It was a perfect cover but also something that played well to my strengths. Keeping up with my work made me build my confidence back up over my anxiety and I felt secure that I would be able to hold my own tonight. As I always did.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
“Driver says car is ready, Miss Bishop.” The text came through from the guard who had been assigned to me, Igor. We had set up a texting system to maintain my privacy after his constant knocks on my door became intrusive. He was sweet and meant well but it was not the way I wanted to exist. It didn’t stop me from having a soft spot for him, though. He was a big Ukrainian teddy bear and one of the reasons I decided to stay.
I took one more look at myself in the mirror. I had decided to wear a black pencil skirt with a form fitting black and white blouse and black Valentinos. My hair was down and my makeup was tastefully done. I was pretty good at that kind of stuff; I wasn’t shy to admit.
I looked very good and I knew Christopher wouldn’t be able to resist me. As I was leaving, Mac texted me that he was getting very close and had a lot to fill me in on. I was glad to get the text. It was a good reminder and I used that cue to look at my mother’s picture on the way out.
A surge of grief went through me and I cursed the Ward family. This changed my perspective from being incredibly excited and nervous to see Christopher to being determined to remember why I was there.
The car pulled up to FIN. I rolled my eyes as I realized that we were at the restaurant owned by Guillaume, the French chef who had come to my apartment and made me feel like I was dirt on his shoe. I did get him to warm up to me slightly and ended up enjoying myself but I still wasn’t left with the best impression of the guy as he was still a snob and that never went over well with me.
I was shown to my table and immediately noticed that it was empty, Christopher had not arrived yet. I sat down and tried to maintain my confidence, though I was not happy about being in Guillaume’s restaurant by myself at all.
I ordered a glass of wine and tried to maintain my composure as I continued to sit there without Christopher for over twenty minutes. I was fuming. I was actually looking forward to leaving. I started to make plans to move my stuff to my friend’s apartment. That’s how mad I was.
I didn’t want to be around a guy who would think it was okay to treat me like this. No text, no phone call, nothing. I was not used to that at all. I did not tolerate it well, not even from a billionaire. Mac had everything he needed. Me keeping Christopher distracted surely wasn’t a hugely important thing.
As I finished my wine and self-righteously made my plans to leave the restaurant and then leave Christopher’s building after that, I saw the big sexy lug walk towards my table. I kept my gaze stern but I was absolutely reminded of his allure. Those eyes were focused on me and they were very dark tonight. It made me want to go home for a different reason now. I held firm, though. Nobody would be that late with me without some kind of message explaining things.
I folded my arms and watched him as he came to the table and sat down. I was expecting him to be at least somewhat apologetic but he was nothing of the sort. He sat down with a smug smile on his face and opened the menu. He didn’t even say hello.
So now we were in a game of “hello” chicken. I certainly wasn’t going to say hello first. He should be the one talking right now. Talking and explaining. What was his problem? From the tone in his voice on the phone this afternoon to being late with no explanation and now this kind of attitude. That was enough for me. I stood up to leave.
He didn’t say anything. He just looked me up and down with those sexy eyes and smiled in that way he did when he wanted me. It didn’t make him say anything however. He just went back to his menu. That was it. I had had it.
I rolled my eyes and started walking away. He cleared his throat and I stopped for a split second. Obviously, that was just to mess with me as he didn’t say anything. I was now feeling like a fool so I made my determination to leave and headed for the entrance.
Nothing. No words, no following me out. Nothing. I was livid. I made my way to the car and got in, telling the driver to take me back to Christopher’s building. Before the driver started the limo, he pressed the button for the partition to come down.
“Yes, Anton?”
“Mr. Ward sent me a message to make sure you check your phone. I can’t leave until you do, Miss.”
I rolled my eyes again and took my phone out of my bag.
I’ve ordered for us. Off the menu, of course.
What was that even supposed to mean? Did he really think that I was going to respond to that without some kind of explanation or apology? No way. I didn’t care how sexy he was. I would not be treated like that.
“I saw the message, Anton. I’m good now. Please take me back.”
“With all due respect, Miss. I was told that I can’t leave until you respond to his text.
I sighed heavily and dramatically. Talk about control. This man was amazing and not in a good way.
I hope they off you a to go box. I’m heading home. I hit send with gusto. Take that, billionaire.
Anton has orders not to take you home until I’m with you. Sorry. Either come back in or wait until I’m finished and can join you out there.
That’s okay. I don’t mind getting a cab.
Good luck finding one. :)
I looked out the window and he was right, the traffic was insane. This was not going my way at all. I thanked Anton and asked him to put the partition back up. Once it was up, I stomped my feet in frustration and decided to go in and join him. I would not be good company, though.
I turned out that he wasn’t very good company either. He still didn’t greet me but he did smugly pour me a glass of cabernet from a bottle ordered. I accepted the wine but that’s all I would accept from him .
“Monsieur Ward!” Guillaume showed up to our table. Just wanted I needed.
“Guillaume! Halo!” They hugged and I wanted to puke. Neither one of them were my favorite people right now.
They began to speak in French and I rolled my eyes as I took a drink of the wine. I had to hand it to him, he really did know how to pick a wine. I had to stop myself from moaning out loud, it was so good.
“You remember, Alison?” Christopher broke their cozy little French conversation to bring me into it. I straightened up and gave Guillaume a tense smile.
“Yes, of course. Hello Miss Bishop. Lovely to see you again.” The lack of emotion could actually be cut with a knife. It wasn’t tension, it was a palpable, I do not care about you.
“Guillaume.” I nodded my head, making sure not to show any emotion on my side as well.
“Well, your food is arriving soon. I shall go check on it.” He left and Christopher looked at me, smiling a cocky smile.
“You’re going to love what he brings out.”
I looked at him in awe. Was he on drugs? What was he doing? None of this was like him.
“Do you know what I don’t like, Christopher?”
“French chefs?” His eyes gleamed and it almost looked like he was taunting me out of anger. He was acting as if I were the one who was late!
“Haha. I’m pretty sure the dislike comes from the direction of the chef. No, I dislike waiting for half an hour by myself in a restaurant.”
“Oh.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his phone.
“Alright, Christopher, what happened? Why are you acting like this?”
“Am I acting strange? Do you think this is rough? You are pretty funny. You of all people are upset about the way I’m treating you.”
I looked at him incredulously.
“What are you talking about? Who are you? This is not the guy I have been spending time with the last few weeks.”
“Yes, that’s a good question. Who am I? I’m exactly who I say I am. I think that question is best bounced back to you. Who are you, Alison? Are you who you say you are?”
All of a sudden I felt my stomach tense up in anxiety. I tried to stop my eyes from going wide but I’m sure I wasn’t very successful. I just gawked at him, not knowing what to say.
“I was late because I was finishing up with a presentation. A presentation I was thinking of making to the FBI at some point. A presentation that I would like to run by you tonight.” He stared at me with a hot intensity that had to be the temperature of the sun.
“Christopher…I…”
“We aren’t going to talk about it now. We are both going to need nutrients for what we are about to tackle tonight. We are going to eat and be awkward as hell and you are going to sit there and wonder exactly what I have on you. Consider this part of your punishment. If I’m acting funny, it’s because today has been nothing but a constant reminder of exactly what this is to you.” He gestured between the two of us.
“Christopher…”
“You’ll have your chance tonight. For now, I’m going to enjoy your anxiety. Because you deserve it.”
With that, I shut up. He was right, I did deserve it. How much did he know? What was he thinking? Was I going to prison? Was my life over? Was he mad? I had to stew over all of that for the next two hours as Christopher made us do the whole five course experience. I could barely eat but he was enjoying himself. I wanted to puke.
As we finished up, I was sitting there shaking, having hardly been able to eat anything. I had thought about running but where would I run to? He had guards everywhere and I had no doubt he clued them into the fact that I might take off and now he had enough to do a citizen’s arrest on me. I was trapped. He looked up at me after handing the signed credit card receipt to the server.
“Okay, Alison. Let’s go. Time for your reckoning.”
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
I sat there in shock as I looked at the papers on the cherry oak dining table in front of me; papers that could put me in prison for years. I would be old and gray by the time I got out. No lawyer would be able to get me out of this and unlike my mom, I was guilty.
Words would not form. I looked up at Christopher with wide eyes. He was sitting cattycorner to me at the table in the dining room of his guest suite. I was in pure reaction mode. Fight or flight? I was ready to choose flight but I knew there was no way out. He would have the cops on me in no time. I had to go with fight. He stared back at me with a blank expression. He was always hard to read with that expression; I hated that about him.
“You look so cute when you’re in trouble. Oh, and you are in trouble, Ali. So much trouble.” He broke into a smug grin.
I felt anger well up inside of me. How dare this man, this spoiled brat who had never known struggle call me by the nickname my mother used to use? That’s when I lost it. I looked up at him with contempt.
“You don’t get to call me Ali.” Each word came out in a hiss of barely controlled anger. His smile got bigger as he leaned forward to bring his face closer to mine.
“I get to do whatever I want. I’m holding all the cards here, Ali.” His voice was almost a whisper and I couldn’t deny that his dominant demeanor made me feel more than anger. I wanted to deny it. God, was there something wrong with me? This only made me hate him more.
“What are you going to do, CJ? Blackmail me? Is this how you’re going to tame me?” I seethed back at him calling him the name he hated most in the world. “Are you going to try to control me now, like your family does with everybody else?”
His smile turned to anger in a flash. Why did that turn me on? Why was any of this turning me on? I was awash in competing emotions.
“No, this is how I impress you. Do you think I’m stupid, Ali? Do you think I didn’t know who you were from the beginning? How could you not know that a guy like me would cover all my bases and have everybody I sleep with checked out?” He sat back and stared at me. His eyes were piercing. His mouth was tight. “Is your brain so clouded with revenge that you didn’t consider how powerful I am when you and your brother started on this little caper?”
I sat there stunned. He knew who I was? He knew why I came to him? He knew I was after revenge this whole time? My anger got the better of me. I bolted up from my chair.
“Go to hell! Go to hell, you bastard. You know what your family did to my mother? You know everything and you played me like this? You’re as bad as I thought. You’re a spoiled trust fund baby with no conscience. You’re as much of a monster as your father!” I was shaking. Tears of frustration filled my eyes.
Christopher sat back and crossed his arms. He stared at me with that deep stare of his, eyes squinted. I stood there, opening and closing my fists as I tried to control my tears. I was feeling light headed from the intensity of everything.
“Did you ever think to talk to me first? Did you ever think to ask me what my relationship with my father was before he disappeared?” His speech was slow and controlled like he was trying to control his own emotions. “You made so many assumptions about me, Alison. Too many. Am I the monster? You are the one who put me in a box and never even thought about the fact that I’m my own person.” He stood up and looked down the four inches he had over me. “I know what my father did. I know why you wanted revenge. And guess what? I wanted you to have it, Ali.” He stared me down, his eyes so full of intensity. I didn’t know what to think. This was not going in the direction I was expecting.
“I don’t…I don’t understand.” Was he messing with my head? His father’s words from our coffee meeting kept haunting me. I wasn’t sure what was real anymore. He stepped closer to me and I stepped back around my chair.
“Alison, Alison. I am not my father. I am not my grandfather. I’m on your side.” He continued to step towards me, his eyes still full of intensity but this time they were softer.
“Why? I used sex to get close to you. I was going to ruin you and your reputation. I was going to get you arrested. Why would you be on my side? Why would you do anything for me?” I continued to back up until I hit the dark red wall of my dining room.
“Oh, I think the sex was more than just part of your little revenge caper. It’s time to let go now, Alison. I’m giving you permission.” He smiled now as he continued towards me, taking advantage of the fact that I was trapped against the wall. He stood in front of me and looked right into my fear filled eyes. His dominant presence overshadowed me and made me feel vulnerable in a way that I both liked and didn’t like.
“Are you…are you trying to seduce me right now? After all of this?” I made myself look at him even though I felt light headed again. He looked up at my forehead as he swept his right hand across it to move a lock of hair out of the way that had fallen in front of my face.
“What am I going to do with you, Ali?” He looked back into my eyes and put both of his hands on either side of me against the wall. I felt weak. My fear was leaving as I felt my body flush with excitement.
“What do you want to do with me, CJ?”
“I could have easily put you and your stepbrother in prison already but I didn’t. By the way, the gay friend having a problem with his husband was a nice touch. I figured out who he was fairly soon after that. I know you, Alison. I knew you needed to get this out of the way. Now, I want to show you what’s possible.” He became more serious but kept me pinned to the wall. I looked at him and felt tears well up in my eyes again, only this time they were tears of a different kind. Was it relief? My shell was cracking.
“I don’t know what to say, Christopher.” Tears escaped and slowly crawled down my cheeks. Christopher leaned in to whisper.
“Don’t say anything.” He smiled as he kept his face close to mine, almost kissing me but not quite.
A moan escaped me as I felt his breath and I could no longer hold back. I tried to kiss him but he pulled his head back, stopping me from taking control. But that was all he needed to know I was his, at least for this moment.
I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anybody. My obsession with revenge had gotten in the way of me enjoying any of our previous time together. It made me stop myself from relaxing and enjoying the effect this man had on me. The idea of giving up control and letting go was so tempting.
He brought his hand down and grabbed me by the waist as he kissed me harder. I melted into his grasp. Bringing me away from the wall, he started walking me towards the stairs. I knew I was his. He knew I was his. And now he was going to take me. This would be the first time we would be together without any false pretenses.
I could finally admit to myself that I was right, he was different. I was still skeptical but he could have easily sent me to prison. He had gotten plenty of sex from me. Unless he was a pure sociopath, I was pretty sure that this was a turning point for everything. Convincing my stepbrother was going to be a different story.
***********************************************
We entered the room and as soon as the door was shut behind us, Christopher pushed me up against it, kissing me hard. I kissed back, reveling in the feeling of how in control he was.
His left hand stayed possessively at my waist while his right hand traveled up, lightly caressing my nipple through my shirt and then took hold of my ponytail, gently pulling the elastic out of my hair. I stopped kissing him and looked into his eyes as my chestnut hair fell around my shoulders.
“Take off your clothes, Alison. Slowly.” He let go and backed up to sit on the bed. I looked at him shyly.
“I…I can’t do that.” Looking down, I felt so exposed and vulnerable.
“Why? You have done so much more, what’s changed?” There was an air of amusement in his voice.
“Everything.” I looked up at him in disbelief that it hadn’t changed for him too.
He stared at me for what seemed like forever. Finally, he got back up and walked over to me.
“Nothing has changed for me.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before pulling my hair back in a gentle but firm manner.
He held my head in place and bent down to kiss me hard. I melted into the kiss, grabbing him around his waist, pulling him closer as I moaned.
“Take your clothes off, Alison.” His voice was firmer and more serious. He let go and went back to sit on the bed, continuing to watch me.
My face was flushed. I wanted nothing more than for him to take me now. Slowly, I unbuttoned my white blouse and threw it towards him. Kicking off my heels, I smiled at him coyly as I pulled my black pencil skirt down my legs.
When I was finished, I stood there in black, lacy thigh-high stockings, black lacy thongs, and my breasts spilling out of my black bra. The look of lust in Christopher’s eyes was hitting me in a big way. He motioned for me to come over to the bed.
Guiding me to his lap, he held me up and put his arm around me possessively. I squirmed as I felt his hardness against me. He started to massage my shoulders as he kissed my neck. It felt so good. It felt too good. I needed more of him. I needed all of him.
“Oh god, this is too much. I’m yours, Christopher. Take me. Please.” I whispered to him as my head rolled back into his massage.
“I know you are and I already have you. Why would I be in a hurry?” He nibbled my ear as one hand traveled to my breast and one rubbed me through my lacy panties. I was in heaven and a delicious sort of hell at the same time.
“Why are billionaires always such teases?” I jabbed him a little, wanting to spur him on.
“Oh yeah? And how many billionaires have you been with?” He mocked being offended as he tickled me at my ribs.
I tried to pull away as I laughed and he continued to tickle me. He then pulled me back by my neck, kissing me. Finally, he let go and I stood up, playfully running back from him. He smiled as he undid his belt, took it off and snapped it in his hands, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.
“Are you going to spank me, Christopher?” I was breathless as I stood two feet away, continuing to playfully keep my distance.
“I think you deserve one, Ali. Don’t you?” We locked eyes and I felt such a raw lust that I would have let him do anything he wanted to me at that moment.
“I think we both do.” I smiled as he laughed and dropped his belt. Standing up, he advanced on me, pulling me by the waist so that I would fling onto the bed.
It happened so quickly that I squealed and he laughed as he got on the bed with me, straddling me so that I was trapped on my back. His hands began to massage my breasts and he undid the front clasp, letting them escape.
I was breathless as he worked me over. I closed my eyes and moaned as his skilled hands made me feel a nirvana. He leaned down and kissed me as I felt his finger spread my moist lips. He entered me then, firmly. I gasped at the pleasure of his welcome intrusion.
My eyes closed again and I felt his breath on my neck as he kissed me from my neck to my shoulder to my breasts. He rolled my nipples with his tongue and I arched my back as he ground himself into me.
“You’re mine.” He growled as he pumped harder and faster and I felt myself fill with a building pleasure.
“Oh God.”
“Say it.” He pulled my hair and I couldn’t hold back, the pleasure continued to build. His firm tone and dominance were too much.
“Yes, Sir! Oh God, yes! I’m yours! I’m yours, Sir!” With that, he kissed me hard and we both let go and let our bodies go together. All the emotions of the night swirling together in a crescendo of pleasure.
I woke up the next morning with Christopher’s arms around me in a spooning position. I grabbed his wrists and pulled them into me. It must have woken him up because his strong arms squeezed me even closer to him. It was ecstasy. I never wanted to let go.
We made love several times last night after the heightened emotional confrontation. I couldn’t believe what was happening and what’s more, I couldn’t believe how much I was able to let my mistrust of Christopher melt away.
I wasn’t stupid, I was still going to be cautious but last night, Christopher showed me exactly who he was, in more ways than one. He wasn’t his father, he wasn’t his grandfather, he had been so far removed from them and he was basically raised by his schools.
Something right happened there. I finally let myself feel his genuineness. He had a humility to him that was real. I remembered my conversation with Matthew and how his vulnerability seemed to be put on like a show. He all but tap danced for me, trying to get me to feel bad for him.
Christopher didn’t have that air to him. I recognized that already but I didn’t let myself really accept it. I wanted to, I tried to but so many things got in the way. I was almost glad that he had caught my stepbrother and me hacking his personal information. It was going to lead to much better things.
“Are you hungry, Miss Bishop?” His sleepy voice let out a warm breath in my ear as he rested his head against my neck.
“I’m famished. You definitely wore me out last night. I need fuel.” I pushed my neck back against him to try to meld with him as one. He felt so good to me and it just felt good to let him in. It felt good to just relax and be a person instead of a revenge machine.
“I’m going to make you breakfast this morning. Are you ready for that one?”
“As ready as I can be. I’m kind of ready for anything right now.” I turned my body around so that we could face each other. He smiled and put his arm around me as I burrowed my head in his chest.
“I have to go out of town today. I want you to come with me. We’ll be back tomorrow so you won’t miss any work.”
It was Saturday today. I wondered if he chose last night on purpose. I trusted that he wasn’t a sociopath but he could still be pretty manipulative to get what he wanted. I wondered if he assumed that I was going to forgive him, that we would have the weekend to be together and all would be well and normal on Monday.
“You planned it this way, didn’t you?” I sighed as I buried my head further into his chest.
“Is that a crime, Miss Bishop? Do tell because you would be the one to know more about that between the two of us.”
I gasped at the dig and lightly slapped his arm.
“Mr. Ward! You are terrible. And, by the way, you are a billionaire, do not expect me to believe that you have done every single thing in your life on the up and up. You may not be the sociopath or psychopath I suspected but…come on.” I laughed as I tried to pull myself away from him and he held on tighter with a smirk on his face.
“I think it’s time I plied you with eggs and coffee.”
“Just don’t crush up any roofies in it and we’re good.”
“Not my style.” He laughed as he tussled my hair and then pulled himself away to get up.
I pulled the blanket up and laid back down trying to take in the supreme comfort of the bed in his guest suite.
“Do you have to get up already?” I whined as I tried to make myself look alluring. This is how normal people did things, right? This was a normal life. Well, as normal as it could be with a billionaire whose family killed my family.
“Yes, I do. I have to leave in three hours. Speaking of, are you coming with me?”
I closed my eyes tightly and put a pillow over my head. I didn’t know what to do. I should get in touch with Mac. I should see how my apartment was doing. There were so many things I felt like I should do. But I did have lots of questions for Christopher and we had so many things to discuss. The idea of waiting until tomorrow felt like torture.
I started to form a thought that going with him and getting more information would help me present all of this in a much more informed way to Mac. He was going to be cagey and the more I got form Christopher, the better.
“Come on, Alison. I don’t trust leaving you here. I would feel so much better knowing that you were safe with me. Plus, from now on, my security team will not grant you such easy access to my office or any other private information. You have nothing to gain by staying here.” I could hear his smile under my pillow.
“Fair enough, you smug billionaire.” I peeked my head out from under the pillow. There was so much seriousness coming our way, I didn’t feel like being serious yet. “Where is it you want to take me?”
“New Orleans. I have a house there, in the French Quarter, with a courtyard. You’ll love it. I promise you will regret not seeing this place.” He smiled at my childish energy as continued to peek out from the pillow.
“The French Quarter?” I was all the way out of the pillow now and sitting up. I loved New Orleans.
“Yep. With a beautiful French country courtyard and a pool and fountains. It’s paradise, Miss Bishop.” He stood there expectantly, waiting for his answer. I sheepishly nodded my head as I looked down. “That’s what I thought. I’ll let my people know you’re coming.”
“Oh? You haven’t already? I assumed that you just made arrangements with that entitled thinking of yours.” I winked at him and he laughed as he put on a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms.
“Of course I did. I just said that to you as a formality. Breakfast is in 20 minutes.”
With that, he was out of the door, leaving me to get myself up and get ready for a night in New Orleans. I put on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top and put my hair up into a pony tail. It was wavy and unkempt as we took a shower together in between everything last night and I did not have time to bother with blow drying my hair.
I smiled as I thought of how good last night was. The confrontation beforehand made it that much more incredible. How was all of this actually happening? How did I get so lucky as to have Christopher not send me to jail and to actually understand my motives? Not to mention the fact that the anger and tension that was released made for a very hot memory.
I made my way downstairs and sat at the island – which was much bigger than the island in my little condo – and watched Christopher finish breakfast. He was making some sort of scrambled eggs with vegetables and cheese. It smelled incredible and I wanted to eat it all up right then.
“That smells really, really good. Where did you learn to cook?”
He turned around and looked at me like I had two heads.
“I do cook for myself quite a bit, Miss Bishop. I would say around 60% of the time, actually. The housemother in my 8th-grade dorm taught us all how to make a few dishes and then my love of fine food led me to observe my favorite chefs and it all just went from there. I’m actually quite good.”
As he said that, he laid a beautiful plate in front of me filled with perfectly scrambled eggs, kale, tomato, garlic and some seasoning. A few strips of very thick and perfectly cooked bacon sat next to it along with some artisan toast with butter. He also put a glass of what looked like freshly juiced orange juice, water and a cup of coffee in front of me.
“Wow, you have the works going on here, don’t you?”
“I take care of my people.” He smiled and nodded in agreement as he laid out everything the same for himself across from me at the island.
“Are you saying I’m your people?” I arched my eyebrow as I took a sip of what was probably the best dark roast coffee I had ever tasted.
“You are in the running.” He winked as he took his first bite.
“Wow, I’m flattered, Mr. Ward.”
“As you should be.”
I’m pretty sure that last part was serious and he was probably right. He did have an ego on him but you had to expect that with a billionaire who wields so much power and controls so much of this world. It’s a lot of responsibility. I was realizing that somebody like that has to be so careful about who they let into their inner circle. There were too many Brutuses who wanted to overturn Caesar.
I had to ask him later how he could want to let me in after everything, even knowing my motives were honorable, how could he still want me around? I didn’t want to get into it yet, though. I needed to eat and drink the coffee and have light conversation.
After breakfast, he went to the penthouse to get ready and I went to my huge room in the guest suite to do some yoga and then get ready to meet him. We were taking his private jet and I couldn’t deny being excited about taking a ride on that.
As I was packing a few things, my phone went off and it was Mac wanting to meet that night. I instantly felt a surge of guilt and dread. How was I going to tell him about this? He was going to be like a caged animal wanting to escape. I had to play this perfectly.
I let Mac know that today wasn’t good and I would fill in later. He immediately responded that he had made a breakthrough and we needed to discuss it ASAP. Oh no. What breakthrough? What the hell was I supposed to do now?
Wait for me, Mac. A lot happened in the last 24 hours and I have to fill you in but not over text. Wait for me please.