THE BILLIONAIRE IS OBSESSED WITH ME

Chapter Five Make the bribe count

I was putting some finishing touches on a piece she was restoring for Jane at the gallery when my phone rang. I looked and observed the number calling me and smiled. I was truly beginning to enjoy when he reached out to me. I prepared myself for the way the goosebumps were going to coat my skin when he said my name, this was always what happened whenever I heard him say my name.

“ Good morning, Cedric.”

“ Good afternoon Carey. How are you today?”

“ Well, I have been working on a restoration piece for two months and it’s finally finished.”

“ What were you restoring?”

“ Customers brought some paintings to Jane which have been damaged over time and we both restore them. It’s one of the services we offer at the gallery.”

“ That is very cool, our work seem to have something in common, I like to restore old homes while like to restore old paintings.”

“ You like to restore old homes?” I smiled at his comparisons in our work.

“ I sure do; I started in this business flipping houses and I much prefer fixing than destroying.”

“ Wow, I didn’t know,” I admitted as I put my brushes into the solution for cleaning. “ I should have googled you.”

He laughed at my comment. “ No need for that, I’m an open book, you can ask me anything you wish to know about me and I’ll tell you.” He offered me.

“ I’ll start with an easy one, why are you calling me?”

He was chuckling earnestly now and his laugh made me warm and comforted. I could picture his dark eyes as I saw them on Friday night sparkling with curiosity.

“ I am calling to say thank you for the tip; I have made wonderful use of the information I received, if you have additional information, I would be thrilled to conduct further business with you.”

“ Is this so?”

“ Yes, it is,” He laughed.

“ Are you busy?” I suddenly ask feeling brave, after talking to him on the phone for the last few days, I wish to see him in person to see if my memory was flawed or if he truly was as gorgeous as I remembered.

“ I am always busy but if you’re asking me if I have time to see you, then I do. Are you asking me out?”

I gave a toothy smile at his words.

“ There is a coffee shop about a block from the gallery and they make extravagant drinks, if you happened to be there at the same time I was there, I might have a thumb drive in my pocket I would exchange for a great cup of coffee, I want an extra large one with loads of whipped topping.”

“ You would give me information for a simple cup of coffee?”

“ I’m a simple woman, Cedrice. Easy to please and if you put the information to good use, it’s almost payment enough. Almost, I need caffeine.”

“ Thirty minutes?”

“ That sounds good.” She told him the name of the coffee shop and then ended the call. When I looked up to saw Jane leaning against the wall, her arms folded and her grin wide.

“ What?” I asked, I know there was no escaping this one.

“ You like him.”

I couldn’t deny it because speaking to him made me forget my problems. “ He called me last night and we talked for an hour about the house and he was asking me if I was a hundred per cent certain on my desire to demolish it. He said it’s a very final decision and once it’s started cannot be undone. He’s received all the permitting, he has the gas shut off and the water disconnected. He has already removed all the fixings he felt he could resell.

Apparently, the marble in the master bathroom was in great shape so he had it all pulled out, he said the interior of the house is almost down to the studs now.”

“ How do you feel about it?” She asked me.

I held up my phone to her, “ My sister is on her way to the alter with my ex, and they planned on going to the hotel Evan took me to for our honeymoon in New York. Instead of doing what normal people do when planning the wedding, she’s been busy spending her time sending me a hundred messages a day telling me how angry she is at me for not giving her support for her wedding and how I need to make it up to her by giving her my house.”

“ b***h!” Jane scowled angrily. “ I truly want to smack her.”

“ It’s not as bad as Evan messaging me yesterday to remind me how I used to imagine our children playing in the sun’s rays in the foyer and how he wants to keep this dream alive by allowing my nephew to grow up in a house of light.” I grimaced with the rage I always feel when I think of his betrayal. It had been a month, I shouldn’t still feel this angry, and I probably wouldn’t if they would simply move on with their lives and leave me the h**l alone I hate both of them. “ His level of emotional blackmail is on par with hers.”

“ You know we never liked him, right?” Jane’s voice was condescending.

I laughed at Jane’s comment. “ Yes, you and Lizzy made it very clear you pretended because I loved him.”

“ Anyway, when I told Cedric what they had been texting me while they were planning their wedding, his question to me was why they were both messaging me about a house when they should be thinking about how they were going to be f***ing their brains out on their honeymoon. He then started cracking jokes about how Evan was probably too busy trying to meet up with business and getting more contracts to achieve his CEO position, which was on point, to be honest. He also was eerily on the money about how Wendy was likely making the housekeeping staff’s lives a living hell. He had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe, Jane. He cracks the most inappropriate comments, and they make me laugh.”

“ Really?”

“ He even commented that their honeymoon would be boring and dull given how both of them got together. He said he’s met Evan multiple times and he assumed he always assumed his wife was a blow-up doll and was very glad to see me escape his captivity, he told me he couldn’t for the life of him imagine a woman like me with a man like him.”

“ He likes you too, how much have you talked to him?”

I twisted my lips before giving her, “ He called me Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night and then last night.”

“ The only night you didn’t speak to him was Monday?”

“ We texted on Monday. He was out of the country but sent me messages.”

“ Carey! Why am I only hearing of this now? You are a mean girl,”

“ I don’t know, but I’m going to go meet him for coffee in exchange for a thumb drive.”

“ You should tell him the next thumb drive is exchanged for o****ms.”

“ I should not!” She made me red all over, Jane had always loved s*x.

“ You definitely should.” Jane smirked, “ And don’t tell me you haven’t considered it. He’s gorgeous and we ogled him for a solid half-hour Friday morning from the kitchen at Mara’s. He is the definition of tall, dark, and handsome and is the exact opposite of your troll, beady-eyed blond-haired, pasty ex.”

“ You know, you really should have told me how much you hated him and it might have made me look at him in a more discerning light.”

“ You were happy.” Jane shrugged nonchalantly. “ I mean in a conditioned, brainwashed, way, but you were happy, Carey, some women are happy to be a housewife and if it was your dream to be with him in the refined, cultured way he demanded you behave, then we weren’t going to crush the dream. However, I will say, that hearing you drop f-bombs and wear brightly coloured blouses and skirts again, the way you did most of our lives, makes me infinitely happy. I feel like you’ve found your way back to the Carey we knew and loved. You changed for him and I’m not saying it was a bad thing. I’m simply saying, as much as I love you, I love this version of you better than the previous version.”

I was quiet as I considered her words. “ You know, I like this version better too, my art feels alive and I wish it didn’t still hurt so much. It’s been a month. There was a night I woke up last week in the middle of the night and reached for him. I had to get out of bed and go to sleep on the sofa because it hurt, I’m glad I’m out of the house now and I think it was a big part of my pain. I just want to see it crushed to the ground.”

“ Well, if you’re going to meet a hot billionaire for coffee, wipe the paint smear off your cheek and get a move on.” Jane tossed a rag at me. “ And seriously, offer the next thumb drive for s*x, try to make the bribe count.”

I laughed at her joke as I went to the bathroom to clean up, strangely wondering what he would say if I proposed such a thing to him. Thinking about it made me shiver as I considered all the possibilities.