Mr Reluctant Billionaire || BWWM

Thirty-two

“I believe you,” she murmurs and my head bobs. I hope he will too, he has to. I love him.

Hello brother.

Bile rushes to my throat at that memory, I grimace. How are they brothers? Is Josh the estranged sibling he doesn’t want to speak about? I palm my head in an attempt to stop the building headache, I don’t need this right now. I need to return home to my baby.

Home. My heart skips a beat, I cast one look at my wrist and a strangled sound leaves my lips. I need to leave. Now. With shaky hands, I retrieve the damned key which slips to the floor but a feather-like touch on my wrist stops me from making another move.

I turn to Clarissa, masking my inner turmoil with a glare that can bore holes into a door.

“I ordered you an Uber, I don’t think you are in the right state of mind to drive,” she says. I nod, tucking my hands between my legs, his flight is in a few minutes. But he can wait, he owns the jet. My eyes follow her phone which she slides into her pocket, I nod again. “Your husband is hot,” she whispers, I let out a mirthless chuckle. “Very hot.”

“Yeah, he is.” Some of the tension dissolves, I stare at the window of the diner and ask, “Are you still mad at me?” She coughs, I turn to her but her eyes are on her laps. “Clary.”

Her head finally raises, she tries and fails to smile. “Yes,” the smile that eventually takes over her lips doesn’t reach her eyes, “we had so many plans. I was supposed to be your wedding planner.” I nod, unable to utter a word in my defence, we did have so many plans. Her hand stretches to me, she shrugs. “But you need your best friend right now.”

We don’t speak throughout the wait for the Uber driver but Clarissa’s quiet presence lends me strength and time to gather my thoughts until his arrival. I barely feel the hug she squeezes me into nor her hands swiping across my cheeks to wipe my tears. We get out of my car, I blink, only to see her gently shoving me into the backseat of the uber.

The ride home is a blur, I run up the stairs and into our room as soon as I burst through the doors of our mansion. My breath comes out in rasps, I place a hand over my chest and my heart slows at the sight of our empty room. I skid to the closet and whimper.

His missing luggage causes the suppressed panic to reappear, my knee buckle and my heart hammers in my chest as my hands search through my pockets for my phone. I lift my head slowly and my shoulders sag at the sudden, regrettable realisation that hits me.

My phone is in my purse, my purse is in my bag, my bag is in my car.

Letting out a defeated sigh, tears well up my eyes and my teeth sink into my lip. My feet carry me slowly to the front of our room, a switch goes off in my head, I fist bump the air and scamper down the stairs to the one location I failed to check. He has to be there.

Relief floods my vein on seeing the ajar door of Brandon’s office, I let out an audible sigh and smile at his figure hunched over his desk, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Files lay on the table in a mess unlike him, he skims the first lines on each document before putting them inside the briefcase on the heap. After taking deep breaths, I stalk towards him, my heart in my mouth as my hand reaches out to circle his wrist.

He jerks from my touch, I swallow and straighten up when he returns to the files.

“Baby, it’s not what you think it is.”

Brandon moves around his desk, avoiding me like I am the plague while perusing the files. My chest tightens. I take one step back to stare at his face which he keeps down.

“It’s not what I think?” He barely spares me a glance, I gulp and nod. “Very well then, enlighten me, Elna.” That mask that stood in the way of us growing close at the early stage of our relationship blankets his face. “Tell me something I don’t know, Mrs Stark.”

“I love you,” I whisper and the only sign he heard me is the halting of his hand on a file.

“You don’t.”

“I do, Brandon,” I cry out. Moving to the front of his desk, I fold my arms. “I love you, you know that.” He lets out a cackle that sends shivers down my spine, my hands fall to my sides. “You love it when I say how I feel about you. I’m saying I love you and I’m sorry.”

Our eyes meet, lines appear on his forehead and he slams a file on the table, causing me to jump back. Leaning over his desk, his lips curve into a strange smile. “When you are in love with someone, you strive to make them happy not kiss their younger brother.”

I am broken from the trance of his arresting gaze when he returns to shoving files into his briefcase and a sigh escapes me. I always want him happy, his happiness is mine too.

Covering the distance between us, I wrap my arms around his waist from behind. Tears leak to my cheeks, wetting his work shirt in the process but I don’t care, my heart cannot handle anything less than love from him. Brandon tries and fails to pry my hands off him, my shoulders vibrate and I cry harder. I tighten my hold on him, afraid to let go.

I am never letting go.

“Elna.”

The warning in his deceivingly calm voice has my hands lowering to my sides, I gawk at his rigid back. It won’t change a thing but I still say, “Joshua kissed me, I didn’t return it.”

His laughter reverberates in his large office, he jams his briefcase close and my hands reach out to touch his back. He jerks, the rejection stings as much as the unshed tears in my eyes. At a loss on what to do or say, I start creating random circles on the floor.

The sight of him moving to the door sends a signal to my brain, I rush to block his way out and he eyes me from head to toe with contempt, forcing me to squeeze my eyelids shut.

“Okay,” I say and swallow while slowly opening my eyes, “let’s go to the playroom. You can, you can punish me.” He scoffs. “Please. Anything but please don’t leave like this.”