Page 85 of Misdeeds of a Billionaire
“We have an agreement, Byron.” My heart and soul ached. He spoke of desire, of heirs, of owning me. But there were no words of love and devotion. The thing I craved the most when I imagined a future for myself. “The only promise I want is fidelity on your part too.”
He looked at me as if he were reading me, digging up all my secrets.
“I will never cheat on you,” he vowed. “You’re the only one I’ll touch. You’re the only one I’ll desire. I will make this agreement between us worthwhile; this doesn’t have to be a punishment, for either of us. I’ll fulfill all your fantasies, Odette.” Heat rushed to my cheeks and I averted my gaze, finding my son. He was too far away to hear our conversation. “But there’ll be no sharing. You’re mine alone.”
At that, an inferno blazed through my veins. He’d laugh—or boast—if he knew I hadn’t had sex with anyone else in all our years apart.
“Okay,” I agreed, resigned to my destiny. I could almost taste the bitterness on my tongue. I could almost see my dream of finding the same love my parents shared extinguished in front of my eyes.
* * *
“What do you mean you’re marrying him?”
Billie spit her water all over her clothes and mine, the liquid shooting through both her mouth and nostrils. She coughed, waving her arms like she was drowning. I came behind her and patted her on the back.
The countdown in my brain was as loud as a grandfather clock, reminding me I was down to minutes before I’d be Mrs. Byron Ashford. A sudden storm broke outside, knocking against the windows. As if it warned against the impending doom.
“It was the condition he required before he agreed to settle our debt. I didn’t have a choice now, did I?” I discarded my clothes, my eyes darting to the dress laid out on the bed in my temporary bedroom. The room was connected to Ares’s bedroom and would be turned into a playroom.Tomorrow, Byron said. It seemed ridiculous that I’d been given this one at all. If anything, it symbolized my waning freedom that much more.
Nobody could call Byron inefficient. He certainly moved fast.
Billie’s eyes darted to Ares to ensure he wasn’t listening. His attention was on the toys that had awaited him in his bedroom, and I knew he’d be distracted for the foreseeable future. I had already changed him into a suit—who knew Armani made three-piece suits for children?—and he looked dashing.
“Does he know about—” I shook my head and she let her question trail off. We agreed we’d never utter those words out loud. I’d been worried that Byron would suspect Ares was his, if not for his age fitting the timeline of my accident, then for his resemblance. But if Byron knew about Ares, he would have exploited that piece of information too. Perhaps he wasn’t as attentive as I’d once thought him to be. “You can’t marry him,” she whispered, yanking me from my thoughts. “Delay the wedding until he pays off the Ghanaians, and then we can take off.”
“So we exchange running from smugglers for running from the Ashfords?" I stared at her, standing in my panties and bra. The consequences of their wrath had already taken so much from us already. She still didn’t know the full extent of the mess I’d brought onto our family, but I hadn’t forgotten. It was a risk we couldn’t take, not when so much had been lost the first time. “I’m sick and tired of running, Billie. It’s not good for Ares. It’s not good for us. When was the last time we had a good night’s sleep? Or even three meals a day?”
Billie flinched as if I’d slapped her, shame filling her expression. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, laughing bitterly. I needed to steer the conversation away from her guilt and shame, knowing it wasn’t fair for her to carry alone. Knowing the role I’d played in landing us in the situation with the diamond smugglers. Billie would have never acted out of such desperation, had I not become involved with Byron.
Everything always led back to the Ashfords, and I was tired of this web of deceit I was constantly weaving. So, I tried to lighten the situation, and to hopefully convey to my sister that we were going to be okay. “I’m starting to think what our parents had was exceptional and as rare as finding a Melo Melo pearl.”
When we were children, Billie was obsessed with jewelry. Obviously, she still was. A Melo Melo pearl was known to be the rarest pearl in the world and one of the most expensive ones. What our parents had was incredible, while it lasted. It was cut short by Maman’s death.
A tense silence stretched between us. The only sound audible was Ares’s constant humming as he played with his toys.
Billie looked beaten down. Tired. She looked like I felt. “I’m sorry.”
I took my sister’s face between my hands. “We have taken care of each other. You did something for me and Ares that I’ll never be able to repay. Don’t apologize. Ever. Even when I’m mad. You’re my sister. My family. There are things that I’ve done… things we’ve never spoken about—”
She shook her head, cutting me off. “None of it matters. I did what Dad would have done.” There was that pain again at the mention of him.
I swallowed down all my emotions and pecked my sister’s cheek. “You have done more than any normal sibling would have done. I finished med school thanks to you. You were there when Ares was born. You took care of both of us. Now, let me take care of you.”
“With his money,” she retorted dryly. “It always goes back to the damn Ashford money.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her. She didn’t know that the Ashfords were responsible for the ruin of Father’s hospital.
Her eyes flickered and her cheeks flushed. “Winston Ashford is an entitled prick too,” she mumbled.
My brows scrunched while I watched her pensively. “What do you mean?” I asked again.
She waved her hand exasperatedly. “I don’t like the fact it’s their money.”
“I don’t care whose money it is at this point.” It might have been wrong, but I really didn’t. I was marrying Byron to save my family. My sister and my son. Frankly, I’d have done a lot worse for the two of them. Up until now, my sister had taken care of us. It was my turn. She’d never said it, but I suspected she saw the diamonds as an opportunity to kick-start her dream. It was the reason she took them, never thinking it’d backfire so badly.
“Let’s learn from this and move on.” I took her hand into mine. “Maybe we can finally focus on our careers. You can move to Paris, work with designers, and start your own jewelry line. And I can finally practice medicine without looking over my shoulder.”
