BILLIONAIRE: Protected (A Dark Billionaire Romance) (9 page)

It was finally the day that Liam would be coming home. I had fussed over my appearance in the mirror for nearly three hours before calling a taxi to take me to the airport. Sliding into the back of the taxicab, I pulled out my compact and checked my makeup really quickly, just one last time. Although he had seen me looking like a mess a dozen times, I still wanted to look my best to welcome him back home.

              “Where I drive?” the driver asked in broken English, eyeing me in the rear view mirror. He had a heavy Russian accent.

              “Airport,” I replied.

              I scrubbed some lipstick off my teeth.

              “You have credit card?”

              “Of course I have a credit card,” I replied. “I'm in a bit of a rush. Can we get going?”

              “I need credit card for verification,” he said, giving me an annoyed look in the mirror.

              “Oh, right.”

              I fished through my purse and pulled out my credit card. He snatched it out of my hand as I held it out for him. He squinted and nodded.

              “Good. We go now.”

              He pressed his foot down on the accelerator and my stomach began to fill with butterflies. I had not seen Liam in a little over a week and I was giddy that I was going to see him again in just a couple of hours.

              “I am Anatoly,” the driver added. “You pick up relative at airport?”

              I frowned.

              “Aaliyah. And no, I'm picking up my...”

              I paused for a second and thought about my answer. I was not sure what I should refer to Liam as.

              “Your what?”

              “My...boyfriend,” I finished, a smile on my lips.

              It was the first time that I had been able to use the word.

              “He has been gone long time?” he asked, meeting my eyes in the mirror.

              “About a week,” I replied.

              “My wife in Moscow two years. Have not seen her in many, many moons.”

              I felt a little guilty for complaining about Liam being gone for a week. Anatoly's experience put things into perspective.

              “Really? That's terrible,” I said, sadly. “I'm so sorry.”

              Anatoly chuckled and looked at me in the mirror.

              “I am kidding! My wife at three-bedroom apartment with my daughters. You should have seen your face!” he exclaimed.

              He laughed again and shook his head.

              “Wife in Moscow,” he repeated with a chuckle. “Many, many moons. You really believed that garbage! I kill me!”

I tapped my foot, impatiently, as I waited for Liam by the baggage claim. The man sitting next to me stood up and embraced a woman who had just gotten off her plane. He kissed her forehead and I scowled. I stood up on my tip-toes, craning my neck to try to see him in the crowd. He was nowhere in sight.

              I sat back down and sighed as I checked my watch. Tapping my foot impatiently, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket in case he was looking for me. He had not contacted me at all. His flight had come in only five minutes before, but it seemed like I was waiting for him forever.

              Suddenly, I heard a smooth Australian accent call out to me among the chatter of the crowd.

              “Aaliyah!”

              Quickly, I got to my feet and fixed my dress, clearing my throat. He held out his arms and jogged towards me. I smiled and embraced him, burying my face in the crook of his neck and basking in the smell of his cologne. I pulled away and beamed at him, pulling him back towards me and pressing my lips to his.

We stared at each other for a moment, his face in my hands, our eyes sparkling. I was beginning to realize what love felt like and it felt
good
.

              “I've missed your face,” Liam murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead. “You look beautiful.”

              I blushed and chewed on my lip.

              “I missed you,” I replied, softly.

              “I should probably get my luggage, shouldn't I?” he said, scratching the back of his head.

              I cleared my throat and nodded, pulling away from him.

              “Yes, yes, you should do that,” I answered, quickly.

              He started to walk towards the conveyor belt and I crossed my arms over my chest. I looked around the room, awkwardly, waiting for him to get his things so we could leave. We were not in public together often, so I really did not know how to act. Although we were affectionate for a moment, he seemed to make sure that moment ceased rather hurriedly.

              “Are you coming?” he asked, turning around and looking at me.

              I sighed in relief and sauntered to him, clasping my hand in his and walking towards the conveyor belt. Suitcases slowly went by and I looked up at him, a small smile on my face. I squeezed his hand and he glanced at me for a brief second. Frowning, I tugged on his hand once more, but the second look that he gave me only appeared to be a glare. I furrowed my brow, unaware of what I had done that annoyed him. He let go of my hand, which further upset me, but I assumed that he had a good reason and I folded my arms.

              “Carmen Nestor is right there,” he whispered to me.

              My stomach churned. Panicking, I looked around, trying to see where she was. I finally caught the stern-faced, redheaded woman out of the corner of my eye and my heart beat faster. She was looking right at us. I stepped away from him a little bit, hoping that that may curb her suspicions. However, she narrowed her eyes instead.

              Liam was trying to hide the fact that he was watching her, but it was fairly obviated by the sweat dripping down his face. Both of us were showing clear signs of anxiousness.

She furrowed her brow and sucked her teeth as she craned her neck. Had she seen our public display of affection?

              Carmen Nestor was one of the richest women in the nation. She was the daughter of the co-founder of the pharmaceutical company, Nestor & Bravo, and also the company's current CEO. It was the corporation that gave Liam his start and the parent company of his company, HealeRx. Although Liam was working with me on our project lately, his primary source of income was still from being the founder of HealeRx and Carmen Nestor was one of the only people that he feared. She traveled often, but he never could have known that she would be at the airport at the same time that he was. It was all too coincidental.

              Finally, Liam's luggage emerged. He seized it and began to power-walk out of the baggage claim area. I followed him and quickly glanced behind us. To my dismay, she had gotten her own luggage as well. It rolled behind her as she hurried towards us. She was clearly following us.

              “She's behind us,” I hissed, trying to maintain as much space between us as possible, but still remain close enough that only he could hear me.

              “Liam?” a strict, low-pitched voice said. “Liam Manning?”

              “Damn it,” he murmured.

              He turned on his heel and alarmed, I turned around too. She had seen us together and there was no hiding it at that point. I swallowed, nervously. Not only did she have connections with Mr. Hoffman himself, but she also had some control over Liam's financing. If she found it necessary to cut his funding over something as silly as an office scandal, I would lose the company and my job.

              “Carmen, so nice to see you,” he lied, forcing a fake smile and holding out his arms to hug her.

              She embraced him and patted his back before pulling away from him. Her sharp, ice-blue eyes leered at me.

              “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” she asked, crossing her arms.

              Liam cleared his throat, his sapphire eyes darting back and forth between the two of us. He was sweating.

              “Y-yes, how rude of me. Carmen, this is my business partner, Aaliyah Barr,” he stammered, anxiously.

              I held out a trembling hand and she seized it. She shook it firmly.

              “Nice to meet you,” she replied. “What is your company?”

              “F-Foodinate,” I managed. “We had to change the name. It used to be TrashCanDo, you may have heard of—”

              “I haven't,” she interjected. “So have you and Liam been working together very long? He's been neglecting his work at HealeRx and he hasn't answered his phone. I was wondering if you may know anything about that, since you are his business partner and all.”

              Her icy eyes bore into me and my heart beat rapidly. It was obvious that she knew what was going on, judging by the look on her face. I did not know how to answer her question and I choked on my words. I looked at Liam, my eyes pleading him to help me.

              “I can take care of my own business,” he interrupted. “Carmen, when you want to talk about my work, you speak to me, alright?”

              Carmen frowned and raised an eyebrow.

              “I just assumed she must be wearing the pants, considering you're working for her more than you are your own brand,” she spat, slyly. “Tell me, Liam, what would happen if this were to get out to the public?”

              He swallowed nervously, but he was not ready to admit the truth yet. I did not see the point in continuing to deny it, but he did anyway.

She knew what was going on between us. He was only digging us a deeper grave—a grave for our careers.

              “If what were to get out to the public, Carmen? That I took a few weeks off and left my company in the hands of the other dozen executives? Maybe it's not the greatest publicity, but isn't that pretty common for billionaires?” Liam bluffed.

              I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Our secret was slowly falling apart. We could only control it for so long and we were about to see the consequences.

My stomach was in knots and I was terrified of what was going to happen to my reputation, but I did not see the point in fighting it anymore.

We knew the possible negative outcomes quite well before we pursued our relationship. We just finally would have to face them.

              “Oh don't play stupid,” Carmen snapped. “You're sleeping with her. I wasn't born yesterday.”

              “I don't know what you're—”

              “Just stop it,” I interjected, glaring at him. “We knew this was going to happen eventually. Face the music. Shit happened and now we're here. We have to deal with it.”

              Carmen chuckled and raised her eyebrows.

              “She's a go-getter, I see why you like her,” she said, slyly. “I just don't see why—”

              The airport intercom interrupted her as it announced a flight delay. She rolled her eyes and sucked on her teeth as she waited for the intercom system to silence so she could continue. Liam was radiating nervousness. I knew that I was too, but I was prepared for the worst.

              The announcement finished and she cleared her throat.

              “As I was saying, I just don't see why you have not been fully committed to HealeRx,” she finished.

              I was a little surprised when she finished her statement, but I had a feeling that she would have more to say.

              “I just have been taking some time off to work with this company I invested in,” Liam defended himself.

              I glared at him. As much as I appreciated his help, I would rather that we both were able to keep our jobs and he put in more effort at HealeRx.

              She frowned. That was the reaction that I expected. For being a billionaire, he was quite clueless when it came to dealing with businesspeople.

              “Listen, Goldfield and Nelson just picked up a hint from a disgruntled employee. I've been trying to call you for two days to keep him quiet, but it's hard for me to defend you if you can't even be honest with me,” Carmen said in a stern tone. “If you want me to take care of it, I need you to start taking more initiative at HealeRx. That's all there is to it, Liam. I don't play games. If you can't take responsibility and make time for your little scandal after work hours, you won't be CEO of HealeRx anymore. You can take that as a guarantee.”

              Patrick had gossiped to Goldfield and Nelson. I was not surprised, but I was annoyed. Liam, however, looked absolutely terrified. I did not understand why. With a force like Carmen Nestor behind the cover-up, nothing that Patrick said would matter.

Phoebe received payment to cover up the evidence in the office. Carmen was offering us an out and I just wanted him to take it. I nudged him and gave him a dirty look, silently encouraging him to take her deal.

              “I—I need to think—” he stammered.

              “You take this,” I hissed in an angry voice. “Either you take it or you can say goodbye to both our careers. I can handle more work. You have to let go of some pride and listen to her. Please, Liam. It's our only chance to get out of this.”