The Billionaire's Sextape: An Adult Billionaire Romance (15 page)

              “So you’ve gone and told everyone that the two of you are madly in love. That you met her outside of that strip joint and only found out about what she did afterward. That’s the story you’re telling everyone?”

              “It’s not a story – it’s the truth.”

              “Oh really? But when I came and saw you – the day I took the tape, which I openly admit to doing – well, why then did you allow me to give you a blow job? Surely you wouldn’t have let that happen if you were so madly in love?”

              “I don’t recall that happening,” James lied.

              “Oh please. Lying bastard. There can be only two reasons for letting me do that to you. Either you are just a sex-crazed idiot who has never been in love and never been in a proper relationship, or else you were never with her in the first place. That you said all that just to save yourself because you didn’t want the whole world to find out the truth – that you took a stripper home and then filmed it. Oh no, we can’t have the world finding out about that. What would dear old daddy think? And would he take away all my money?” she said, mimicking his voice.

              “Tammy, please leave. You don’t know what you are talking about. I think you might be delusional.”

              “No – I’m not delusional. In fact, everything is very clear to me.  I know that you are lying about everything, and I refuse to look like a fool because of it. Do you know how hated I am at the moment? Apparently, I’m the crazy ex-girlfriend that wants revenge. Revenge? I’ll show you revenge. I’m sure the media would love to hear my version of the story.”

              “Get out, Tammy.”

He took her hand and pulled her up. “Ow, you’re hurting me,” she cried. He knew that he wasn’t.

              “I’m not, Tammy. Just go. Seriously – you are the crazy ex-girlfriend, and I really want nothing more to do with you. GO!” He practically pushed her out the door. Then he locked it behind her. She pounded on the door and told him that he would regret doing that to her. He walked silently back to the living room and put his face in his hands.

His day had turned sour very quickly. He knew that his past would always come back to haunt him. And Tammy was crazy enough to do exactly what she threatened. There was nothing that he could do about it.

He’d just have to let it happen and continue to assure the public that he and Delilah were in love. He was about to phone her and warn her about what was happening when his phone rang. It was Delilah.

              “Oh, I was actually just about to phone you. Lilah? What’s wrong? Are you crying?”

              “Hang on a second.” James heard her blowing her nose before coming back on the line. “Sorry – that wasn’t very ladylike.”

              “Don’t worry about that. Tell me what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

James could hear her taking deep breaths in and out. Finally, she managed to get out, “Eric. He just came here.”

              “What? Who? Who is Eric?” James mind was working in overdrive, but he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

              “Eric – from that party the other night. The documentary event.”

              “Eric Talbot!”

              “Well, I guess. I don’t know his surname. But yeah, the guy that was sitting next to me.”

              “He came to your house?” James hoped that he had heard that part wrong.

He heard Delilah sniff into the phone again. “Yeah. He just showed up at my door. He seemed a little drunk, too. He was swaying a bit. Unless he’s always like that. I don’t know.”

              “But what did he want?”
And how the hell did he know where you stayed?
James thought.

              “He wanted me. ME!”

              “You? Why?”

              “He wanted sex. He told me that he would pay me for sex. That he knew I needed the money. In his words – ‘I want to help you to reach your goal of finally going to college’ – after he actually licked his lips.”

James felt bile move up his throat. He thought he was going to be sick. “He came to your house for sex? Are you serious? Delilah, I’m so sorry. I’m shocked. I mean, I knew he was an idiot – but I never thought he’d do something like this. Never. Are you okay? What happened after he said that?”

              “I’m okay. I just had to phone you. I’m in shock too. In all my time working at Betsy’s, I was never treated as badly as that. What an idiot. Of course, I said no and told him to go away. He just laughed and told me that he wouldn’t tell anyone if I wouldn’t.

He said that he had just as much money as you. Then he went on about how much better he was at everything and how you had no ambitions in life. I told him that he would never be half the man that you are. Which he laughed at.

Then he tried to make a grab for me. But thankfully he wasn’t in the door yet, so I slammed the door in his face and locked it. I heard him mumble something like ‘whatever, your loss.’ Then he walked off.”

              “Delilah, I’m so sorry. I cannot believe this. I knew there were idiots in this world, but I hadn’t quite expected anyone to go to those lengths. Especially since I know him. I’m certainly not his friend, but we do run in the same circles.

He should know that I would find out about this and that I would be seeing him around. I always knew that he was a scumbag, but still – doesn’t he have any sort of dignity? I guess not. Man, I cannot believe what just happened. I’m so sorry. What was he thinking?”

              “To be honest, James, I think that’s how little he thinks of me. I think that all he was thinking was that I was an easy target. And that might be what the rest of the world is thinking. That I’m just some idiot girl who needed money so badly that she was ready to sell herself.

And you know what – they’re probably right. Isn’t that exactly what I am? They’re right. What was I expecting? That everyone would think I’m this wonderfully brave soul? No – they can see right through that. And it’s probably about time that I admitted it to myself.”

              “Lilah – no. No! Don’t say that. Nobody has a right to treat you the way that Eric did. Nobody. He’s an idiot. And sure – there are many idiots in the world just like him – but that doesn’t mean that you should ever be spoken to like that. You did what you had to do, Lilah.

You did it to keep your house, the house that will always remind you of your parents. You should be so proud of yourself for that. Your parents would be proud of you. You’re not a bad person. In fact, you’re one of the best people that I know.”

He could hear her crying again. “I’m sorry, James. This is just so much harder than I thought it would be. I’m still grateful for everything. I’m grateful that I’m finally out of that line of work. I’m grateful that I am finally going to be doing what I want in my life.

I’m grateful that I can actually look at myself in the mirror in again. But I’m also ashamed at myself – the things that I’ve done to get here. And it’s hard to ignore all of that. Especially when it gets thrown in your face.”

              “Be strong, Lilah. I promise you – soon, all of this will be over. This is just a small bump in the road. After this, everything is going to feel like a breeze. You’ll see. You’ll look back on this and laugh. Everyone will forget who you are, and you can carry on with your life.

Trust me – people are fickle that way. And anyway – at least you’re being honest about everything. That’s more than most people can say. Do you know that Eric has a girlfriend? Yeah – he’s not exactly Mr. Honesty himself.”

Delilah scoffed. “But I’m not being honest, James. We’re lying about the whole thing. That’s all my life has been. Just lies.”

              “I’m sorry.” James suddenly realized that all of this was his fault. Everything she had done had been for him. “For everything. I’ll be out of your life soon, I promise.”

              “No way.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “I mean – you, I can certainly say goodbye to. But Mrs. Bean – no, I cannot just easily walk away from her.”

Relief washed through him. “Want to come around for a cup now?”

              “I do.”

Delilah was over within half an hour. He made her coffee, and the two of them sat together to watch a movie. They were both tired of talking about their problems and wanted to just sit with each other and forget about them.

James kept glancing over at her – especially when she laughed at all the funny bits in the movie. She looked so content sitting there that his heart swelled. He tried to focus on the movie, but all he could think about was her.

Lilah Delilah. He wanted to run his hands over her naked body again. He didn’t even care about himself – even though he could feel himself getting aroused. All he wanted to do was to place his fingers inside of her and to make her happy.

She laughed and he quickly laughed too. He looked at the screen and realized that he had no idea what was even going on in the movie. Lilah was the only thing on his mind. He had never felt that way before, and he felt a sudden wash of fear come over him. Was he falling in love with this girl? The same girl that he was going to break up with in just a week?

Chapter9

The air was cold that morning. Delilah had always quite enjoyed colder days over the hot, sweltering days that sometimes enveloped the city. She liked putting on her slippers – which were shaped like hedgehogs – and gliding around the room.

She liked wrapping a blanket around herself until it felt like she were inside a heated igloo. She liked the way that she could stay hidden and feel safe. When she was little, her parents used to make her a blanket fort. They’d grab all the blankets from around the house and then turn the living room into one big fort.

Blankets would be hung from places and pegged down in places, until the room had about eight different “rooms” for her to crawl into. In some of the “rooms” she’d place books and torches, and she could easily stay in those for hours – especially when her parents sneaked in with hot cocoa or snacks.

Those were happy days. And cold weather always reminded her of that time when life was simple and the whole world seemed to be on her side.

She woke up feeling better about everything. She’d had a nice evening with James where they did nothing but watch funny movies and eat popcorn. And she’d decided to put the Eric event out of her mind. After all, James was right – the world was filled with idiots like him. She couldn’t let him get to her, and she had to be the bigger person through it all.

Eric had a girlfriend, and she could easily go and tell her what had happened. She’d even do that – she decided – if he tried it one more time. He’d get what was coming for him.

She was grateful that James hadn’t tried anything with her last night, although she’d be lying if she said the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. Sex with James – both times – had been incredible. But she didn’t want to complicate things further.

Delilah had never had a proper sex life, but that was because she’d never had a proper relationship. She had certainly seen it all, though – from men who wanted to do strange things with her to men who wanted nothing from her but to talk.

She’d gotten to know a lot about the human psyche from her time at Betsy’s, and it had shown her that every person in the world has a vulnerable side and that everyone is just searching for something to make himself happy.

Delilah had spent far too many years of her life making other people happy. As soon as this whole thing with James was done, she wanted to spend some time making herself happy.

              “Hello, Delilah speaking,” she said when the phone rang. She was still wrapped up in her blanket and managed to reach for the phone without actually getting up. She didn’t often get phone calls. She assumed it was either James or Melissa.

She hoped it wasn’t some reporter again. She’d had a few of them discover her number and hound her for interviews. But she always politely declined and put the phone down.

              “Lilah. It’s Aaron.” Delilah breathed a sigh of relief at hearing his voice.

              “Aaron! Wow, I haven’t spoken to you in such a long time. How long has it been? Six months?”

              “I think more like nine or ten to be honest. Time has flown.” Delilah couldn’t believe it. There was a time when she had spoken to Aaron almost daily. Back at the start, she had only called him Mr. McFarthom, no matter how many times he had asked her not to.

But over the years, he had gradually become a friend and she’d switched to Aaron. Of course the term ‘friend’ was used loosely – because it wasn’t the sort of friendship where they met over coffee and gossiped about people. Perhaps the correct term should be ‘friendly’ rather than ‘friend.’ They were friendly with one another, and Delilah had grown to like and respect him.

Aaron was her lawyer. The very same lawyer she had spoken to when she had discovered the death of her parents. Because of this, he knew a lot about her. But what she had never told him was how she was getting her money. He’d asked at first – amazed that she was able to pay each month – but she always gave a very brief and uninformed answer.

Eventually he’d stopped asking. She wondered now if he were phoning because he had seen her all over the media. She cringed at that. She was hoping that he would never have to know the truth.

              “How are you?” She hoped that her voice didn’t betray her fear.

              “I’m very good. It’s cold today, though, isn’t it. I think we’re in for a cold winter this year, although I say that every year. I’m sure my body was built for summer and not winter – I’m terrible in winter. I’m on my second cup of coffee already.

But listen, I didn’t phone to talk about the cold.” He paused, and Delilah took a deep breath and braced herself for what was to come. “I’m here to tell you some good news.”

              “Good news? I could do with some of that.” Delilah pulled her blanket in tighter.

              “I wish we had a drumroll for this moment. Maybe try to picture one if you can. Ready? Dum, Dum, Dum… You are officially debt-free.”

              “What? But I thought I still had a few more months to go. Are you sure?”

              “Oh, I’m very sure. You know I never get my numbers wrong. It’s the only thing I’m really good at. Trust me on this one. You’re done. You paid a bit extra some months and you finally did it. You did it, Lilah! Not only is the house officially yours, but you don’t even owe any money to the bank. You did it all on your own. I bet you cannot believe that this day has finally come.”

Delilah could feel her hands starting to shake. She didn’t know what to say. She tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. A sob escaped her.

              “I know this is a lot to take in, and I know that it’s been a very long ride to get to this moment, but I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. That day when you told me that you were going to find a way to pay it all back, well… you were so determined.

I had never met a girl your age like that. But I honestly did not think it would happen. Not that I underestimated you – but I knew the figures. I knew how hard it was going to be. Your parents would be so proud to know that you kept their family home.”

              “I did it,” Delilah finally managed to whisper.

              “You did. Congratulations. I know it’s early, but I was too excited to phone you, and I figured you wouldn’t mind. You now have the pleasure of owning that house all to yourself. So now, any money that you make can go toward you.

No more paying money back. You’ve made a complete turnaround here, and you are now actually better off than most people your age. Heck, you’re better off than most people, period. Trust me, some people never pay back their house.”

              “Thank you, Aaron. For everything. I couldn’t have done this without your support. I really appreciate it.”

              “No problem, Lilah. You’ll have to invite me over for coffee one of these days so I can see the house that meant so much to you.”

Delilah looked around. The house was hers. All hers. “Of course I will. I’d love to see you.”

              “Well then, I’ll wait for your invite. Have a wonderful day, Lilah.”

But just as he was about to put down the phone she stopped him. “Wait. Aaron?”

              “Yeah?”

              “You know, hey?”

              “What do you mean?”

              “You know how I got that money. I mean… everyone knows now. It’s all over the news these days.”

She could hear him sigh, and she could almost see him nodding to himself. “Yeah. I know.”

              “Thank you for never bringing it up with me. I’m sorry, Aaron. I’m so sorry.”

              “Why are you sorry?”

              “Because that wasn’t very brave of me. I took the quick way out. And in the process, I lost so much of myself. I am ashamed about everything. And that tape – I hate that the whole world has seen that side of me. I’ve already had guys come up and ask me for sex. Because now everyone thinks that I’m easily bought. I made a mess of it all.”

              “Lilah – Betsy’s is a strip joint, right?”

              “Yeah?” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

              “So most of the time you just had to take off your clothes? What else did you do on a normal night?”

              “Uh… we just had to dance up on stage. Sometimes we had to go and interact with the customers. Mostly, that was it.”

              “So, the sleeping with the guys? Was that extra? How often did you do that?”

              “I hardly did it at first. I said I didn’t want to, and as a new girl, I was allowed to refuse. I started getting asked more toward the end – especially since I was more confident on stage. I never went home with anyone else.

Only James. He asked and my boss said yes. I guess because he offered so much money. Because, really, that was all she cared about. I guess it was all I cared about, too. Uh… so normally we could go in these separate rooms and do extras with the guys.

It was hardly ever full-blown sex. It was almost always blow jobs. And a lot of the times the guys wanted to do nothing but talk. That happened more than you’d think.”

              “What I’m trying to say, Lilah, is that you weren’t a prostitute. You were up there on stage providing a service and doing your best to get yourself out of a horrible situation. There are millions of women and men who are doing the same thing.

And you know what – there are people who are doing even worse. You’re not out there killing people to get money or selling drugs. Yeah, so maybe you didn’t feel proud of yourself. We all have things we’re not proud of. But you’ve done so much that you should be proud of, and you should concentrate on that. This is just going to make you stronger -- I know it.”

Delilah felt the tears rushing down her face. What had she done to deserve such kindness from this man?

              “Thank you, Aaron. For everything.”

              “Don’t thank me -- you’re the one who made this happen. I’ll see you for that coffee soon, then?”

She laughed, “You sure will.”

She’d done it! She had paid off all her debt. It was a strange feeling. She had thought of this moment many times in the past and wondered what she would do. Would she go out and celebrate? Would she cry? Would she immediately quit her job? Well, that last one was already taken care of.

She considered opening up a bottle of champagne, but it was too early. Also – she had always hated drinking alone. Maybe she’d phone James later to see if he wanted to celebrate. They were gearing up for their big breakup, so they might as well have some fun beforehand. That’s when she heard a big thud outside.

She jumped up in fright until she realized it was just the mailman. He always threw the mail down that way. She’d opened the door once and caught sight of him doing it in front of another house. It was as if he wanted to tell people that he had been there.

Delilah peeled off the blanket around her and went out to fetch the mail. She never received much except junk, so she wasn’t sure why she even bothered. But from the sound of that thud, there was probably more junk than usual. She opened the door and saw a few letters, as well as the morning newspaper, and a thick magazine that she didn’t normally receive.

She picked it up and saw that it was one of those gossip-type magazines that all the girls at Betsy’s used to read. Which meant that they were all probably reading it today as well. Why was it here? She didn’t subscribe to any magazine – especially not a gossip one.

Her heart quickened and a feeling of dread filled her entire body. Someone had put it there on purpose. Someone wanted her to read that magazine. She quickly took it inside and locked the door behind her.

For a while, she just ignored the magazine. She put it on the kitchen counter and set about making herself some breakfast. She put two slices of bread into the toaster and then lathered them with butter as soon as they popped out.

She topped that with some slices of cheese and poured herself a cup of coffee. Then she sat at the counter and stared at the front cover of the magazine. It showcased a young celebrity with a smiling face. Her teeth were too white and her skin was too flawless to be real.

Delilah was finished with her toast and halfway through her coffee when she finally decided to open up the magazine. She did so tentatively, peering slowly at each page as she turned, worried for what she might find. Three-quarters of the way through, she started to relax. There was nothing so far.

Maybe she’d been worried for nothing. Maybe she had just gotten someone else’s magazine. She started to turn the pages faster, eager now to get to the end. And that’s when she saw it.

A six-page spread, all about her and James. Six pages of photos and words that Delilah was too afraid to read. But the heading said it all.

Delilah and James faked a relationship to keep the world from finding out the truth. Turns out James is not quite the innocent boy his father thinks he is. In this exclusive, we found out more…

So, that was it. The truth was out. Everyone already knew what she had done for a living. She’d come to accept that over these past few weeks. She was happy that she was at least telling the truth for a change and happy to be out of it. But now everyone would know that she’d been paid by James.