Page 20 of Falling for the Hot Billionaire

“Then I will find someone else. You have to give him a chance.”

That got a scoff from Jacob, and I wanted to know that he would give it a chance. The company was in good hands. Jacob was my backup; he was the one that was the failsafe. If everything started to go wrong, he would let me know and I would be able to change course and save the ship. I just wanted him to know that I would rather not have to get involved. I wanted to believe that I could finally truly take some time off, but that couldn't happen if I had to step in every time there was a problem. They needed to fix the problems themselves.

“It's going to work out, Jacob. Get ahold of me if you truly need me, but not until it’s a dumpster fire. You have to give it a chance.”

Jacob wasn't happy with my direction, but he went to do what I asked of him. He always had and it was one of the many reasons he had worked for me for so long. I could trust him, which was saying something in this business. It would just be easier though if he could trust in himself.

He agreed that he would give it a chance, but by the way he gritted his teeth, it was certainly not something that he wanted to agree to. I had to stop myself from asking what he was calling for to begin with. I'm sure that it was a problem that I could solve, but just like I told him, they could figure it out. I needed to figure out how to not always be there to step in.

By the end of the conversation, I wondered if I was making a mistake to leave at all. How was I ever going to have my own life, if I couldn't get away from the office? I felt unsettled after Jacob’s call, curious about what was going wrong, and it took everything in me not to find out. Finally, I had to go for a run because I simply couldn't take it anymore. It really was driving me crazy and the only thing I needed to stop it was to focus on what it was that I really wanted. Justine.

* * *

I took a nap,the first one in a long time, and when I woke up, it was not from my alarm going off, but the sound of fire trucks not far from my house. Then they got closer, and the smell of smoke started to creep into my nostrils.

Popping up, I didn’t have to go far to see what was going on. The house next door was on fire. The blaze was all the way through the whole thing by the time I looked. It wasn’t close, but that wasn’t why I was so upset. I wasn’t worried about my house. I was worried about the woman who lived there and how Justine was going to take the news.

My twisted mind immediately saw it as an opportunity. I didn’t smile, not on the outside anyway. Justine was going to need some help and I was going to be there to do just that. I didn’t know what happened over there, but it had brought about an opportunity that I hadn’t seen coming. She was going to get a chance to get to know me intimately, and I could finally get her to relax around me. Maybe she would, when we had all the time in the world to be together.

16

Justine

Isaw several calls from Tyrell, though I didn't take them at work because I didn't even think I could talk to him without completely losing my cool. The last thing I needed was to lose myself like I had before. Tyrell was just that kind of guy. He had some kind of hold on me that was hard to explain. I didn't think that it was a big deal. I figured that I would talk to him later tonight, as we had talked every single day or night. I was hopeful that I would have time to get ready before I saw him tonight. I wanted to look nice for him. Maybe I was pushing something that I wasn't ready for yet, but I couldn't stop myself from trying. I told him that I was nervous, and I was. I hadn't told him the whole truth. I was more afraid of nothing happening than I was afraid of something. Nothing would be more of the same and that did not seem tolerable at all.

Tyrell was waiting for me by my car when I got off work, and I probably had a strange look on my face, because I didn't even have to ask what was going on. Obviously, it was something.

He had a worried look on his face, so when he told me to brace myself, I tried to think of what it was I was bracing myself for. I really had no idea. When he finally said it out loud, I thought I must have heard him wrong. I thought he said that my house had burned down, but that couldn't be right, right?

“What do you mean my house burned down?”

“I'm sorry, but it's just like it sounds.”

“What happened?” I really couldn't imagine how that could happen.

“I don't know, I was taking a nap, and I woke up to the sirens,” Tyrell said. He wasn’t looking at me then, like he couldn’t bear to look me in the eyes.

“Is it like a little fire? How bad is it?” I asked the question, as if I knew the answer. If it was something small, I doubt Tyrell would be standing in front of me. It was bad.

He just kind of shook his head, still not meeting my gaze. “I don't really know what kind of scale we're going off of, but I don't think there's much left.”

I felt my heart beating hard in my chest. I couldn't believe that this had happened. I leaned against the hood of my car and asked him why he was here.

He looked at me kind of funny. “I wanted to be here for you. I didn’t want you to see it on your way home and not at least be expecting it.”

“Well, I suppose there's nothing to be done,” I said blandly. I didn’t want the emotions to overrun me. They threatened to.

“It's okay to be angry, to feel whatever you want.”

He was just trying to make me feel better, I knew that, but I didn’t know if that was possible now. I felt like I was going to be sick. What was I supposed to do now? I knew that I had to get home and look at it, but it certainly wasn’t the first thing on my mind.

“Do you want to ride with me?” Tyrell suggested.

I told him that I did, and it was the truth. Tyrell made me feel better, and I knew that this would be no different. Once again it felt like my world was coming apart at the seams, and I'm glad that Tyrell was there for me, I still had no clue what I was going to do. Where was I going to stay? I couldn't believe this was happening. As we drove back to our neighborhood, I couldn't help but think that I just might have the worst luck. What else could it be? Nothing else really made sense, but the trouble I’d encountered the last few months had to be blamed on something. Bad luck seemed like a good culprit.

When I saw my place, I was filled with emotions. There was so much damage. It was the sort of damage that didn't look like it could ever be fixed. It was either burned up or soaking wet from putting out the fire. Either way, it didn’t look like there was going to be anything left. He asked me if I wanted to go look through it, but I couldn't think of anything worse than sifting through my belongings right now. I didn't want to do that. Anything else would be better.

When Tyrell suggested that we go to his place and get a drink, I was all down for that. I didn't really drink that often, but lately it seemed like the world was trying to give me a reason. What else could it be? I had no answers for the way things were going, just questions, unanswered questions.

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