Billionaire's Trust (Billionaire Erotic Romance: Never Never Man Series Book 5) Page 2

  “No,” I whispered.

  I felt the mattress shift its position once again as he got up. Listening in disbelief as he walked away, I wondered what the hell just happened. Not once, ever, had he rejected me. As he exited the room, it was as if the passion we once had left with him. If things were like this now, what would they be like when the baby arrived?

  Would we ever have sex again?

  He hadn’t said a single word about the fact I’d dressed up for him and made an effort. No, he seemed more focused on his appetite for food than my hunger for him.

  What was happening to us?

  Didn’t he want me anymore?

  GREY

  I don’t know what the hell had gotten into Maddie tonight.

  Look, I got what she was trying do and I understood she was feeling neglected. She looked fucking beautiful tonight and we hadn’t had sex in a long time. A lot goddamn longer than I wanted, of course. Turning her down hadn’t been easy, but I wasn’t in the mood. Not tonight. Not with what we had to discuss.

  I finished the last of my meal and my beer, tossing it back with a long pull. The grassy hops flavor rolled across my tongue and slid down my throat. Hitching up my pants, I walked back towards the bedroom once again and as I entered, I noticed she’d gotten up and disappeared.

  “Maddie!” I called out as I craned my head in the direction of the bathroom. “I need to talk to you.”

  I heard her slamming doors and making the general sort of racket a person makes when they’re pissed off. Sliding my hands into my pockets, I decided to wait it out rather than get into it with her. She ignored me for a few more minutes, until at last she reappeared in her bathrobe. Her eyes looked puffy and swollen. She passed by me with a handful of wadded up tissue pressed to her nose and plopped down on the bed.

  I thinned my lips as I looked at her.

  “Maddie,” I began. “We need to talk.”

  She nodded. “Yes. We sure as hell do.”

  I paused and wrinkled my brow at her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Uh!” she exclaimed as she lifted her arms in the air before slamming them down, palms flat on top of the mattress. “You can’t be serious, Grey!”

  “What? About the sex thing?”

  “Jesus Christ, Grey!” she yelled. “No, it’s not just about that. It, uh, never mind! You wouldn’t understand and you obviously don’t care, so forget it.”

  I licked my lips, moistening my mouth for a response. But before I could get a word in, Maddie continued. Her eyes started to glaze over with a shine as she moved the tissue back to her face.

  “D-Don’t you w-want me anymore?” she sputtered. Her shoulders started to rock back and forth as tears began to flow.

  Oh hell.

  Shaking my head, I walked over towards her. I lowered my arms, hooked them together around her upper body and tugged Maddie into me. She resisted for an instant before relenting and leaning into my thighs while I stood in front of her. After a moment or two, she wrapped her arms around my legs.

  “Maddie, shhh…” I began as I tried to calm her. “You’re being silly. Of course I still want you.”

  She sniffled for a few more moments before at last releasing her grip on me. Maddie looked up towards my face and as she did, I brushed her hair away from her eyes.

  “You do?” she said with a whisper.

  I nodded. “Yes. Absolutely.”

  She leaned away from me. Maddie’s shoulders slumped as she dropped her hands in her lap and interlocked them. She remained still for a moment or two before looking up towards me once again.

  “Well,” she began. “Why did you reject me in the kitchen earlier?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t reject you Maddie. That’s not it at all.”

  “It’s okay,” she replied. “I know how unattractive I am right now. I just thought if I dressed up and made an effort, it would change your mind.”

  “Maddie, look, the reason I’m not interested in having sex right now has nothing to do with the way you look. I’ve got something on my mind. It’s something we need to discuss. Before it’s too late.”

  As I finished my thought, I looked down at her.

  “Too late? For what exactly, Grey?”

  I ran my fingers through my hair and sputtered an exhale. This wasn’t something I wanted to put off any longer. There was only one correct path for the two of us and it was about time I got Maddie on board. After all, it was what she wanted anyway. There was no question in my mind about it. I glanced down at her for a moment before clearing my throat.

  “Maddie,” I began. “With the baby coming, I think it’s time for us to take the only logical step left.”

  As I spoke, Maddie’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “What are you trying to say, Grey?”

  “I’m not trying to say anything. I’m telling you we should get married. And the sooner, the better.”

  Maddie’s mouth dropped open as I finished speaking.

  “What?” she replied. She looked at me as if I’d just killed a puppy. “Uh! You want to marry me? Since when, Grey? Why?”

  This wasn’t exactly the reaction I expected. I’d asked exactly zero women to marry me in my life and I sure as shit didn’t picture a response like hers. Incredulous, I glared down at her.

  “What do you mean why?” I asked. “What kind of question is that, Maddie?”

  She shot to her feet. Waving her arms, she said, “Just like that? Out of nowhere? After all of this and now, all of a sudden, you want to marry me?”

  She was starting to piss me off.

  “Yeah,” I snapped. “What the hell is wrong with that?”

  “Do you love me, Grey?” she fired back. Her tone had the ring of a dare to it. She crossed her arms at her chest as she completed her thought.

  I grimaced at her. “Maddie, why are you acting like this? Don’t you want…”

  “No!” she exclaimed, interrupting me. “Do. You. Love. Me? It’s a simple question, Grey.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. This goddamn woman. She wanted to say ‘yes’ and marry me. I knew it and she knew it. Why wouldn’t she? Funny how what you do is always more important in every situation in life except when it came to this right here. It wasn’t enough I promised to take care of her and the baby. I’m not sure how many more ways a man is supposed to show a woman what she means to him in this world.

  “Maddie, it’s not that simple,” I groaned. I gestured towards her stomach. “I have an obligation here. This isn’t about you or me anymore.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ohhhh, I see. All right. So you are marrying me out of pity? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “What? No! Jesus Christ, calm down would you?”

  “I’m not upset,” she deadpanned. “I just want an answer to my question. I love you, Grey. You see? I have no problem at all admitting that to you.”

  I didn’t get this grandstanding of hers. Instead of engaging it, I decided to make her understand my point, but before I could she continued.

  “I’m not marrying you because you are the father of the baby, Grey. That’s not enough of a reason.”

  I shook my head.

  “Maddie, there’s more at play here than the baby. I’ve got obligations to my family.”

  “What?” she snapped as she stepped in my direction. “What the hell does that mean? Obligations to your family? I’ve never met any of them! You aren’t even making any sense!”

  Over the next few minutes I came clean with her about the whole situation with my grandfather’s will, the trust, all of it. If I couldn’t convince her to marry me for the sake of the goddamn kid, the only option I had left was to be upfront about everything and hope she’d see it from my perspective.

  But she didn’t. Instead, she laughed at me. And it wasn’t a chuckle. She was goddamn amused.

  “Grey!” Maddie said, as she clapped her hands together. “What makes you think that’s a better reason than our own child!?!”

>   My jaw flexed as she guffawed. Losing my patience, I started to reply, but she cut me off with a sharp demand.

  “You need to leave, Grey,” she said, shaking her head.

  I glared at her as she stood there closed off from me.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “I don’t want to talk to you about this right now.”

  As she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her with a forceful slam.

  GREY

  With Maddie frustrating the living hell out of me, I decided to pay Katy an impromptu visit and see if I could get some insight from her. Things had improved between us after everything that happened with Maddie and the baby. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we were the best of goddamn friends or anything, but I think my actions demonstrated to her how much I cared for Maddie.

  I could only I hope I was right.

  Given the way she’d reacted to my proposal, I’d started to question whether or not Maddie and I belonged together at all. Shit, maybe I had it wrong. Sure, I had to keep my end of the bargain with my grandfather and I’d never let my child go without the proper care. But Maddie… I didn’t expect her to behave the way she had, rejecting me. Even so, I thought better of getting down and dirty with her about it instead deciding to see what Katy had to say.

  Armando drove me to Katy’s office in Westlake just before she closed.

  After getting out of the limousine, I walked to the front door of Katy’s office. Her travel agency took up the space at the end of the strip mall and because of its corner position, almost all of it was framed in glass. As I approached, it looked to me as if she was the only employee still there. A middle-aged woman sat in a chair directly across from Katy’s desk. A customer, I guessed. I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open and as I did, chatter from the women entered my awareness. They both stopped and looked at me as I walked inside. Katy arched a brow in my direction.

  “I’ll be right with you, sir,” she said, pretending not to know me.

  I nodded and took a seat. Considering all of the profane things she’d called me in recent months, ‘sir’ was a nice change of pace, even if it was for public consumption.

  “Help yourself to some of coffee or soda while you wait,” she added.

  Smiling as I sat, I nodded back at her. “Got any vodka?”

  The woman in the chair turned her head nearly one hundred and eighty degrees as she looked towards me.

  “Madam.” I nodded as her eyes locked on mine.

  Katy grimaced in disgust. And before her customer could turn back in her direction she positioned her middle finger towards me in the universal symbol of disapproval.

  “No, sir,” Katy deadpanned, as she glared at me with her digit fully extended. “But there is a bar at the other end of the shopping center. Perhaps they can be of some assistance?"

  I chuckled as the woman turned her head back towards Katy. Maddie’s best friend lowered her non-verbal statement at the last instant.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” I replied.

  “Very good, then. I’ll be right with you.”

  The women chatted on for another fifteen minutes or so until at last, Katy helped the woman put the finishing touches on what sounded like a cruise or some such. After seeing her customer out, Katy locked the front door to the office, drew the blinds and walked back towards me. The heels of her chunky wedges clopped along the linoleum floor as she neared.

  “What are you doing here, Grey?”

  With my hands in my lap, I looked up towards her.

  “Guess I’m not getting that vodka after all, am I?”

  She pursed her lips in displeasure. “No. Now, out with it. Why are you here?”

  “What?” I replied. “Can’t I pay a visit to my good friend?"

  As I spoke, Katy’s hair bounced from left-to-right as she shook her head. Glaring down at me through the short, brown strands, her freckled complexion gave her away. She’d already spoken to Maddie about what happened between us. Well, if nothing else I could save some time without getting into a whole back story with her.

  “What did you expect her to say, Grey?”

  “Yes?” I replied with a rising tone. “What the hell kind of question is that, Katy? Why wouldn’t she want to marry me?”

  Katy didn’t respond but instead let out a deep exhale. She passed by me, taking a seat in a chair to my left. As she did, she swept her skirt under her rear and crossed her legs, turning her upper body towards mine.

  “Grey,” she began. “You really can’t be this much of an idiot. Rich, successful, worldly? It’s not possible. You couldn’t have done a much worse job of this if you tried.”

  Leaning away from her, I wrinkled my brow in disgust as she continued to chastise me.

  “You cannot demand someone marry you based on some feelings of obligation you have.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not following, Katy. This is a ‘no lose’ deal for Maddie. And the baby.”

  “Grey, Jesus!” she said as she lifted both arms skyward. “Don’t you get it? This is not a ‘deal’. Okay? Can you just, for once in your life, not see everything in terms of winning and losing?”

  Scowling, I sunk back into the chair. Katy’s expression conveyed sincerity and while she may have been a lot of things, disingenuous wasn’t one of them. I chewed the inside of my lip for moment or two as we looked at one another in silence. Overhead, the florescent lighting buzzed as I stared at her.

  “All right,” I began. “Fine. I’m listening. Explain this to me."

  Katy remained silent for several more moments. It was obvious she wasn’t sure how to begin.

  “Let’s just get this over with, Katy.” I said, interrupting her self-imposed trance.

  Katy nodded and flashed a curt smile of uncertainty to her lips before she started to speak.

  “It’s like this, Grey,” she began. “Maddie doesn’t want to be married to you because you feel like it’s ‘the right thing to do’, and she certainly doesn’t want to be a pawn in your family drama. Marriage is about the love two people share. You do understand the difference don’t you?”

  I shook my head. “Frankly, Katy, no I don’t. People get married all the goddamned time for ‘love’, and more than half wind up divorced anyway. I never said I didn’t care about her. I do. I care about Maddie in a deep way.”

  “Mmm, hmm…” she replied. The tone in her utterance suggested I hadn’t done a good enough job of explaining myself. So, I continued to try and get my point across.

  “I mean if she’s willing to be married to me if I tell her I love her, well, then that doesn’t change any of the other things that happen because of it. In other words, I’m still taking care of her and the baby, and she’s still helping me meet the condition of my grandfather’s will. It seems like a game of semantics to me.”

  “That’s just it, Grey,” she said, as she reached across and wrapped her hand around my forearm. “It makes all the difference in the world.”

  I scoffed. “So, what? So none of the other things matter? The fact that I’m here, willing to do what needs to be done to care for her and my child? That’s all a load of shit?”

  Katy shook her head. “No, I never said it was, Grey. You’re doing the honorable thing. No one is disputing that at all. It’s just that, well, the way you’re going about it is wrong.”

  We all make mistakes in life, fuck things up. That’s a goddamn part of living. But frankly, I didn’t appreciate being scolded or corrected by Maddie’s mouthpiece. Katy’s accusations were pushing me close to the edge of my tolerance for bullshit. But before I could reply and tell her what I thought of all her nonsense, she continued.

  “If you love her, then do this the right way, Grey. Don’t make her feel like you’re doing her a favor for God’s sake. Do you have any idea how utterly unromantic something like that is?”

  I thinned my lips as she finished speaking.

  “Do
you love Maddie, Grey? That’s all she wants to hear from you, if you do. She wants to know you feel the same way about her as she does about you.”

  “What am I supposed to say to that, Katy?”

  “It’s simple, Grey. Are you in love with Maddie or not?”

  “It’s not simple, Katy. But, if you must know, actually I…”

  As I started to reply, my phone vibrated inside the pocket of my coat. I reached inside and felt around for it, grabbing it as it buzzed in the palm of my hand. I pulled it out and noticed my mother’s number flash across on the tiny display in backlit bright blue lettering. There was only one reason she would have called. I nodded as I looked at it and then slid it back inside my coat pocket.

  “Katy, I’ve got to be going.”

  “Going?” she asked with a look of confusion on her face. “Who was that? Maddie?”

  I shook my head as I readied myself to leave.

  “No.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said as I began to walk away. “Are you going to talk to her? Straighten this out?”

  I paused for a moment and looked down at her.

  “Thanks for the chat, Katy, but I’ll deal with Maddie.”

  As I began to walk away, Katy continued, “Grey, wait! You never answered my question. Do you love Maddie? Are you going to tell her how you feel?”

  I opened the office door and walked out. I had a grandfather— and a hero--to bury.

  GREY

  It was a helluva thing, saying goodbye to the old man. In a lot of ways, I’d written him off in recent months. It was inevitable, and he wouldn’t have tolerated me getting distracted by it for too long anyway. But, it was the hardest goddamn day of my life so far and frankly, I was glad to have it behind me. Of course, now that he’d passed, I had to deal with the conditions of his estate as the trustee.

  And so it was a couple of days after the funeral I found myself in the offices of the estate attorneys. We sat in a large conference room. A half dozen of the immediate family were there, including my mother. None of them had been privy to the details of the will, so I figured I’d get a good laugh out of seeing their reaction. I have to say I enjoyed watching their expressions transform from a smug sense of entitlement, to abject horror as they realized my marital status would determine their economic status.