The Billiaire Bargain

Chapter Two

I gave my long, blonde hair loose curls. I had put on a light blue form-fitting dress and added some white wedges to complete the look. I only applied lip gloss and winged eyeliner as my only cosmetics. With his family, Rick wanted me to look presentable, so keeping things simple was best. in particular for just brunch..I left the restroom to get Rick 's opinion on how I looked. He was dressed in a gray suit and sat in a chair in the living room. As I stood in front of him, he gave me a quick glance. He got up and started to move. He was also examining the back of me.

“I approve.” He finally spoke, “let’s get going.” He headed for the door of the penthouse.I stuck close behind. As soon as we entered the elevator, we descended to the parking garage. I climbed inside his silver Audi A6's passenger seat. After he withdrew, we continued our journey. I was dreading going to brunch. We would have to put on our act there.

We acted as though we were in love in front of his family. Each time, it gave me the stomach flu. They believed that the Rick and I knew belonged together . They thought he was finally acting like an adult having me around. which was precisely what he desired. He had succeeded in getting his grandfather's approval for his plan. You're going to act properly, right?" he inquired. I gave him a sneer. You keep asking me that, and you already know the damn answer." I grinned wryly.

“You're going to behave right? “He leaned over and grabbed a fist full of hair once more. He spoke in a stern, icy tone. I stared at him in shock when he grabbed me in this manner once more. "Yes." I spoke up subtly. We entered the house of his grandfather's long driveway. The man had a mansion as home. There were far too many rooms in this place, in my opinion. He was Shaw Enterprises' founder and CEO. He was well-known throughout the city and appeared to have some ownership in everything. Everyone was familiar with Michael Shaw.

After parking, we exited the vehicle. The parents of Justin were already present. He took hold of my hand firmly. Rick didn't want to ring the doorbell because we were expected and so we just let ourselves in as we approached the door. We entered the family room. The first person to welcome us was Alice , mother of Rick . "The happy couple is here!"

We grinned and introduced ourselves. We then sat down next to one another on the couch and waited for his grandfather to arrive. Michael Shaw finally graced us with his presence after about five minutes. Coming through the doorway, he greeted everyone with "Hello everyone." He then sat down in the room's armchair.“Are we waiting for someone else?” Robert, Rick’s father asked. Typically it was just the five of us and we would go eat once Michael was down. Rick had no other siblings.

'"Daniel is on his way." Michael responded.

"What?!" Alice was in awe.” He never makes decisions of this nature.”

"This time, I was able to get a yes. When was the last time you saw your brother, Alice? He only appears to Justin at work.” Martin stated.

Alice nodded in response.

The doorbell rang before more was said. After Micheal's butler responded, he brought a stranger I had never met into the room. He was tall and muscular, and he appeared to be in his 30s. He had a slicked black hair, and icy blue eyes. He was certainly appealing. He had a serious expression on his face and exuded confidence.He was younger to be Rick uncle as his physique was extremely attractive.

"Hello, Daniel " Michael greeted .

"Hello." His hands were in his pockets as he spoke.

We entered the dining room and started eating brunch after Daniel arrived. While we were eating, there was an awkward silence. Normally, there was a little more levity, but tension still existed. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on because Rick really only provided enough information about his family to make them look good. I only knew that Daniel his uncle, held the presidency that he sought.

Michael’s words, "So Julia," caught my attention. "You and Rick have been dating for a short while. Will there ever be an engagement?" he enquired.

Daniel glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure, um." When I spoke, Rick immediately gave me a glare. I guess he didn't like my response. "I mean, if Rick decides that." In an effort to deflect his glare, I added.

“What goals do you have for yourself?” Michael enquired.

I replied, "I don't really know." The glare of Rick was back. I haven't really figured it out because I've been so busy trying to monitor my mother's health.I continued, saying .In response, Michael nodded, and Rick stopped staring at me. But I was aware that it was best to keep quiet if anyone noticed. I knew I was in trouble when he appeared to change. We continued to finish our meal.

Rick decided it was time to leave after the brunch. We bid each other farewell and left through the door. Once we were off the steps, he moved from holding my hand to roughly grabbing me by the arm.” You i***t!” He hissed, "How dare you tell my grandfather you don't have any plans for yourself.

"Rick stop holding onto my arm,you're hurting it." I begged. He had surprised me by getting physical once more.

“Telling them you're unsure about getting married. You stupid girl, if you know what's best for you, you should know you're stuck with me.” He grinned.

"Let me leave." This time, my tone was more severe. He was only enraged by that.

Slap. He had hit me in the face, and it hurt. I touched the painful area with my hand as I drew it up to my face. I couldn't understand what he had just done. To be honest, I never imagined that he would go so far. He was nasty, but I had no idea he had it in him to hit me for not responding to his questions.

Is something wrong? I turned around in response to a question and saw Daniel addressing Rick sternly. Rick's parents were standing behind him and were visibly shocked by what he had done. We must have spoken louder than we realized in order to get their attention.

"No, nothing's wrong.” Rick attempted to ignore the situation by feigning a smile.

I returned his gaze. Even though I would take a lot, this was too much. "Rick,I can’t do this anymore , It’s over “,I moved out onto the driveway.

Both my destination and what would follow were unknown to me. Only for a moment did I feel good about leaving him. I had just canceled the arrangement that was covering her medical bills when the guilt began to set in. Before Rick came back, I called an uber and asked them to take me to the penthouse. He had spent a lot of money on making sure I looked nice, so I gathered my belongings. I could only hope that I could resell something and make enough money to pay my mother's next bill.