Chapter Forty
Jane ended up staying in that hotel for the next three days.
She wasn't ready to go home. Things just seemed too weird, and even though she was just as alone there as she was here, it was easier to feel not quite so isolated when she could call for room service, or use the gym downstairs.
Still, it wasn't the same without Silvio here. The fact that he was paying for all this despite keeping to his word and putting all that money in her account made it all the stranger.
She could officially afford to stay here, and she didn't like the idea that he was paying for her stay out of a sense of guilt.
To make up for something that wasn't even close to being his fault.
But if she told him she didn't want him paying, would that make him feel worse? Was this something he needed to do in order to feel even a little better about what happened?
Jane had sent him a couple of texts, but she had yet to receive an answer.
Isla texted her back every two minutes. Jane suspected the only reason why she wasn't spending any time with her was because Isla was with Arturo, and Jane didn't think the other man wanted to share his soon to be wife with anyone else right about now.
Still, the texts were nice.
Except for the fact that Isla seemed to think Jane was with Silvio.
Jane didn't want to destroy her friend's happy ideas about how this was going to end just yet, so she didn't correct her.
Isla would know soon enough, and there was no point in getting into the details when Jane wasn't so sure what they were yet.
All she knew was that Silvio had walked out on her, put eighty grand in her account, and was currently ignoring her texts.
She had a lot of time on her hands to think. She definitely didn't need to worry about going back to work at the coffee shop anymore, though after what happened with Greg, Jane didn't think she would be heading back.
With the money she had, she could take a year or two off work entirely before she had to worry about working again, so that was a plus.
It didn't feel like a plus, and things were still depressing as all hell at night when she was alone in bed, but she was going to take it.
There was more good news, however. Through Isla, Jane was able to figure out when Derrick woke up.
Robert was with him, taking care of him, which was apparently annoying Derrick, but he put up with it, according to Isla.
The thing that pissed him off the most was being jumped and put out of commission.
Jane thought of Calling Derrick, but decided that would be too awkward, so she texted him instead.
She was a writer, but she couldn't figure out what to say to the man who was nearly killed defending her best friend.
Jane texted him thanking him, wishing him a speedy recovery, and ending it with the hope that maybe they could meet up for a coffee to talk at some point.
It was bad enough Silvio blamed himself for what happened. She didn't want Derrick doing that either.
Derrick was more perceptive than Isla was, it seemed, but maybe that was part of his training.
Glad to hear you're all right. I'm so sorry for dropping the ball on you. Of course we'll meet up? Why wouldn't we?
Jane stared at her screen, and she cringed, then she groaned when the second text came in.
Are you with Silvio right now?
She thought of not answering, but he would take that as much of an answer as not saying anything at all.
So she paced around the room, answering truthfully.
As truthfully as she could answer, using proper grammar and spelling compared to her usual texts.
Silvio needs some time to himself. He feels bad about what happened to you. He needs to think.
There was a brief hesitation, and then the little eclipses symbol appeared on the screen as he started texting back.
Jane held her breath for that part.
I don't know what he said to you, but I'll talk to him.
That didn't make her sudden anxiety any easier to deal with.
Talk with him about what? Everything's fine.
She waited for his reply, not at all encouraged when it came.
I'll talk with him.
Jane groaned. She grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and bit down on it, if only to have something muffle her voice when she screamed.
Derrick knew. He knew there was a problem and he wanted to do something about it. He wanted to help her, and she didn't know if there was anything to help.
She didn't know if there was anything to salvage here when Silvio was the one who walked out.
But only because he was blaming himself for what happened.
Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Derrick had a talk with him. It might knock some sense into the idiot.
Her phone buzzed again. Jane was almost scared to look at the message.
NM. Silvio says everything is fine.
She didn't understand that at all.
What do you mean? What did he say?
Again with the little eclipses symbol. It appeared and disappeared a number of times before the response finally came in.
I'll talk with you later.
Jane rolled her eyes. She hated this. Why couldn't the men around her stop being so secretive? For once. That was all she asked for.
Is this something dangerous?
The response came instantly this time, so Derrick didn't need to think about what he was saying the same way he did a second ago.
No.
Well, at least that was a relief, not that it stopped her from being annoyed.
If it was nothing to do with Greg, then why couldn't he say anything?
She texted him back, asking for more information, but of course, the asshole decided to ghost her.
Dickhead.
She was happy he was all right, but Derrick was an asshole.
She debated how many texts she was allowed to send him before it got weird when her phone rang.
She almost dropped the phone, her heart rocket launching and then exploding in her throat at the sight of Silvio's name.
She couldn't see herself, obviously, but Jane could imagine her eyes cartoon bulging almost right out of her head at the sight.
Then her fingers froze as though she were in the arctic tundra. She almost didn't answer. Her brain blanked out like her inner hard drive just crashed.
She somehow managed toward through the slow down in her brain and press the little green phone button on her screen.
"Hello?"
Jane had to clear her throat and say it again.
"Hello?"
She hoped Silvio didn't hear that first one, and that she sounded more confidant to him than she did to herself.
"Hi, are you busy? I can call back if you are."
"No, no, not at all. How've you been?"
"Fine, been fine. Been thinking about a lot of things."
That sounded about as good as the last time he'd said he was thinking."Oh yeah? About what?"
"Mostly about you. Are you free? I was in the area. I can come up to see you if you wanted to talk."
A quick glance around the room was all it took for her to see that she did not want Silvio up here.
Jane had been ordering room service, but she hadn't been letting anyone into the room to take out the trash, recycling, or put fresh sheets on the bed since she'd been here.
It shouldn't have been a lot, but somehow she'd managed to bring in a nice collection of takeout boxes and trash.
Silvio took her silence to mean that she didn't want to see him.
"If you don't want me to come up then I understand."
"No, that's not it. Actually, are you downstairs right now? I can come and see you."
Now he hesitated. God, it was so strange to know Silvio could be uncertain about anything.
"I'm downstairs. I'll wait for you."
He'd called her from the lobby? Well, that didn't matter. He was here. She didn't care about anything else.
"All right, see you in a minute. I love you."
She hung up the phone before he could respond. All the while, Jane cringed.
Really? She told him she loved him and then hung up?
Why? Why did those words have to come out of her mouth? Why couldn't she behave normally for once and not let these things get to her?
It wasn't just the room that looked like a huge mess, she wasn't exactly aso stunning either. She hadn't showered once since getting here, a quick look in the mirror told her how much she needed to pluck her eyebrows, and splashing some cold water over her face didn't seem like the worst idea in the world.
Jane had never moved so fast to make herself even slightly presentable before. Thank God she'd bought new clothes since coming here with Silvio's payment, otherwise she would have been massively screwed, but she didn't have time to change her bra of panties, and aside from getting rid of that stray hair growing in the middle of her eyebrows and a fast scub with her toothbrush, she could barely do anything other than apply some lipstick in the elevator.
Her punishment for turning into a sloth, she supposed.
Getting downstairs to the lobby, Jane inhaled a deep breath, checked herself out one more time in her reflection on any metal surface she could find, then walked with her shoulders back and spine straight around the corner to the lobby.
Silvio was there. Of course he was. He'd said he would be.
The colourful flowers in his hand was something she didn't expect.
She stopped walking. Silvio looked up, spotted her. The uncertainty on his face was out of place considering the getup he was in. His usual business attire. He looked like a man who made and destroyed careers before breakfast every morning.
Like a billion dollars.
And yet the way he looked at her suggested she was the one who could make or break him.
Or maybe she was just seeing that. Her mind making things up to make this easier on herself.
He adjusted his tie, hurrying towards her. All the while, Jane could barely move.
"Hi."
Jane swallowed, wishing she had more time to get ready. His hair was gelled back and everything.
"Hello."
Again, he seemed nervous. Uncerain.
Then he remembered he had the flowers in hand. "O, these are for you."
He pushed them towards her. Jane took them on instinct, but when they were in her hands, she had to admit, they were even prettier up close.
"Thank you."
Silence.
Not really. There were other people in the lobby. The staff behind the counter taking in new visitors, people on their phones hurrying out to whatever business meetings had their attention, bellhops with massive amounts go luggage, and a kid screamed in delight somewhere over, presumably, a game on her tablet.
Jane barely heard any of that. There was a bubble around her and Silvio that blocked it all out.
Maybe that was how she and Silvio ended up talking over each other.
"How've you been?"
"I missed you."
They stopped, looked at each other, and then tried again.
"Sorry."
"No, you first," Silvio said.
She didn't want togo first. Jane was more interested in what he'd just said. "You missed me?"
He pressed his lips together, looked away from her, then met her gaze and held it.
"Yeah."
"Oh."
Jane had no idea what to say to that. She'd spent so much time hoping and wishing he would stop being such a jackass and come back, say those exact words, and now that he was doing it, she was stuck."
"I just needed to think," he said. "I get it if that doesn't matter and you don't want to have anything with me anymore, but before we do anything else, I wanted you to know that I love you."
Her heart swelled, then started drumming hard, hot and heavy in her ears.
Silvio seemed to wait for her to say something, and when she didn't, he kept going. "I've always loved you. When you broke it off with me the first time, I kept thinking about what I could do to win you back, and then this whole fucking mess happened, and then I wasn't there."
"That wasn't your fault."
"Yes, it was. I could have had more security, I could have looked into my fucking neighbours, not distracted Derrick."
He was getting angry again, which she didn't want.
"I could've done so many different things, but I was too focused on getting you back."
Jane wet her lips. I was difficult talk over the pain in her throat, but she managed. "You might want to blame yourself, but I don't. I never did. I don't know what to say to make it so that you don't blame yourself, but I don't, and I never will, so you might as well stop trying to make me."
"I'm not trying to make you do anything." He ran his hand over his hair, messing it up a little. He didn't seem to notice, and he looked even more handsome that way, when he wasn't so proper. "I don't want to make you do anything, that's the point. I mean, unless you want me to make you."
He grinned at her, and Jane smiled back, half the weight on her shoulders immediately relieved from their duties.
"Yeah, I like it when you make me do things. Sometimes," She added.
"Sometimes," he agreed, though she was certain she heard a hint of sarcasm in there somewhere.
Then, things got serious again.
"If you didn't want to give this another shot, if my walking away, regardless of the reason, let me know right now. I get that I took advantage of the situation to get you back in my house for a little while, but I want you there. I need you. I love you."
Her throat closed again.
"The first time I left wasn't because of anything you did."
"I know, but I am what I am. I the house made you uncomfortable, I'll sell it and we can get a small place outside the city. I'll drive a used Prius and we'll only eat lobster twice a week."
Jane laughed. She couldn't help it. "No, don't sell your house. Don't change anything about yourself."
He lived close to family. The amount of money he had, the amount he worked, and his family's past might scare her a little, but the fact that he was so close to his brothers more than made up for that.
"I missed you, too. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind trying this out again, fresh, with no stalkers or agreements between us."
"No agreements?" Silvio's eyes lit up. As if he knew where this was going. That he was about to get what he wanted.
"Other than the agreement that we'll give it a shot, be faithful, have date nights to get around your busy schedule. I want at least one dedicated date night a week."
"Done."
"We don't even have to go anywhere. It could be a stay in night watching a movie."
"Absolutely."
"You have to be honest with me at all times. If I've ever got another stalker or something, you have to tell me. No games. No secrets."
"Yes. Whatever you want."
"And no sex."
He blinked, a terrible horror blanketing his face.
Jane laughed again, reaching for him, pulling his face to hers and kissing him on the mouth.
"I'm kidding."
The End
Author's Note:
Thank you so much again for reading, I know I made you wait, I probably could have uploaded a chapter at a time as I had them ready, but it just got a little embarrassing how long it was all taking, and I wanted to put everything out at the same time so you could binge the rest.
Like I mentioned before, I'll keep this book up as it is for a little while, not sure of the exact length of time, but if I want to earn anything on it on Radish I'll have to take it down with the exception of the first couple of chapters, which really sucks because I liked reading those comments and seeing the engagement, even if I was ghosting in shame
I'll work to keep Arrangement with a Billionaire up here since it's getting closer to a million views and it is also a rough draft, but that will also depend on how Radish is feeling about that. I earned nearly $400 on Radish with AWAB, so that's not something I can ignore when it comes to this book. I'd like to do that again with Billionaire Fantasy, and Wattpad isn't ever going to let me, so I have to try it with Radish. On the other side of that coin, AWAB is not a premium story, so I think it's allowed to stay on Wattpad, or at least Radish isn't going to bother me about it unless prompted and I'm afraid to ask. I might do some experimenting with this book as a freemium on Radish, but I don't want to get into trouble either
As of right now, this book is with my new Publisher's editor. I did go back in the initial draft and add some seeds of who the villain was, more about Jane's desires and her attraction to Silvio, but probably still not enough that it would have made that much of a difference other than the villain was definitely was not Silvio's BFF. Though I was pleased with how I managed to round out his character.
Alpha males in books like this are usually never willing to leave their lovers alone with other men, no matter how good friends they are, so this made sense to me as to why Silvio wasn't totally jealous whenever Derick got to be alone with Jane, and why he would be so trusting of his friend to not make a move or even fall in love after being betrayed so much as a kid by other people. :)
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you did enjoy it, hopefully I'll have this book read in print before Romancing the Capital comes up in August. That will be massively fun :)
Not sure which brother's story will be next. I revealed some things about Orlando here that will need to be taken care of, and Sebastian still has his story that needs to be told, though it will be a while before I can get to them. Hopefully in a timely manner this time :S
Happy Reading,
Mandy Rosko
BTW, I got me a Twitch channel! I'm on it sporadically, like my writing schedule, but I've been writing there, and playing the occasional game if you wanted to chat with me and see what I'm up to a couple times a week :)
I'm trying to get to 200 followers, so I'd love it if you checked me out and said hi :) Then I can respond to you in real time at least, lol
twitch.tv/mandyrosko
Hugs