A Very Bad Billionaire (BWWM Contemporary Romance Novel) (10 page)

“She’s from a different time, though. You have to remember that. She comes from a time when segregation was normal and black folks couldn’t even use the same bathroom as she did. With the sheltered life she’s lived, she’s still in the mindset of being able to say whatever she wants and getting confused when someone gets offended by it. To her, she probably thought she was paying you a compliment by saying you weren’t on welfare.”

“Oh give me a break Lupita. She asked how many welfare babies I had. There’s no possible way that wasn’t meant to be offensive. I don’t care how old she is or how things used to be, you just don’t talk to people like that.”

Lupita didn’t know what to say. She shrugged her shoulders and made her way into the kitchen. The cook was working on getting dessert together, but we still had quite a bit of time before it would be time to serve it. I hoped that she would be able to handle the final course on her own. If I walked back into that room, I doubted I was going to be able to keep my mouth shut. There were a million things I wanted to say to both Kaiden and his racist mother. I felt like I needed to keep venting or I was going to go crazy.

“Kaiden pissed me off too. You would think he would have at least attempted to defend me. But nope, he just let it roll off his back like I don’t matter?”

“Honey, I think we may have been in a different room. I did hear Kaiden stick up for you. He told her you weren’t hired because of the color of your skin nor were you recruited to get you off of welfare.”

“Yeah, I know he said that but that’s not good enough for me. He defended me in a professional manner but not a personal one. He could have told his mom that he liked me but instead I was treated as just another employee.”

“What do you mean he could have told her he liked you? What’s going on Natalia?”

Oh shit, what had I said? Her mouth popped open and she used her hand to cover it, concealing the gasp she’d just let out. I was so upset that I let my big mouth run a little too much. I could have told her that my words had come out wrong, but I didn’t want to lie to her. Besides, she knows me too well and would have seen right through it.

“If I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone, especially anyone that works here.”

“That’s fine, I promise. I just wanna know what’s up with you.”

“Okay, I’m not sure how to put this so I’ll just come out and say it. Me and Kaiden, we kind of went on a date last night.”

“Are you messing with me? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that man go on a date.”

“I swear on the Holy Bible that he and I went out last night. He had a limo come to the house to pick us up and everything.”

“Girl, this is crazy. Where did you guys go? Probably some fancy restaurant where you couldn’t pronounce anything and the portions are the size of a tablespoon.”

“No, it was nothing like that. He took me to a nightclub so we could dance,” I lied, not wanting to betray his trust by telling her about the sex club, even though I was highly pissed at him. “He’s actually a lot of fun. Not nearly as uptight as he seems when he’s in the house.”

“That’s crazy. Are you sure you aren’t making all of this up?”

“I swear Lupita. Have I ever lied to you about anything before?”

“Well, no.”

“Okay then. But that’s not all. After our date, I came back here and spent the night with him.”

“What does that mean? Spend the night?”

“It means I spent the night. With Kaiden. In his bed.”

“So you’re saying the two of you…”

“Had sex? Yes, we had sex and it was unbelievable! Stupid me, I thought it meant something but apparently I was wrong and now I’m so confused I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Oh Natalia, you only have to look at that man to know he’s a playboy. I’m not sure what you were thinking.”

“I’m not sure either. It felt so right and I didn’t want to miss out on it. Now, I’m dealing with tons of regret and it makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

Just then, Kaiden came around the corner and into the kitchen. Surprised to see him, I jumped.

“Lupita, would you mind giving Natalia and I a few moments? I need to speak to her in private,” he asked her. Part of me was hoping she wouldn’t go because I wasn’t sure I wanted to be left alone with him. On the other hand, I was dying to know what he had to say for himself. I was sure he’d try to defend his actions somehow. I’ve heard that’s kind of his thing.

“Sure thing Mr. Melrose. Just yell if you need me,” Lupita said as she left the kitchen and disappeared into another part of the house. I crossed my arms and trained my eyes on the floor. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I was much too angry.

“Natalia, I know you’re hurt and pissed,” he began. “I just want you to know that I am truly sorry for what happened in there.”

That caught me off guard. The last thing I expected him to do was apologize. I was especially surprised that he led off the conversation with an apology. I figured if I got an apology at all, it would be a thinly veiled one where he wouldn’t actually have to say he was sorry.

“I don’t understand, Kaiden. Why didn’t you do more to defend me? Why didn’t you tell her about us?” I asked.

“It’s not that simple Natalia. If you couldn’t tell, my mother isn’t exactly the open-minded type. She’s still stuck in the times when black women were relegated to the back of public transportation. It wasn’t the right time.”

“The right time? When exactly would be the right time? Let me guess. She’s getting up there in age so maybe you can just hold out until she kicks the bucket? Then she’d never have to know that her baby boy slummed it up with the nigger girl.”

“What? No, I never said anything like that. It’s difficult. Please try to understand.”

“Oh, I understand just fine. I understand that I was stupid for thinking that this could actually mean something. I was an idiot for believing that the great Kaiden Melrose could possibly want to be with the housekeeper. I was a fool for thinking that you could fall for me, what did your mom call me? Oh yeah, a minority with welfare babies that don’t exist.”

“Natalia, believe me when I tell you that I do actually like you. You’re very different than any girl I’ve ever met. I also want you to believe me when I tell you that I am not the type of guy you want to get involved with.”

“Why is that? Because you’re a pervert who can’t keep it in his pants?”

“No, because I have a dark side. You saw a glimpse of that last night at the sex club.”

“Like I said. You may call it a dark side but in the end, it’s still you just wanting to be a man whore.”

“It’s really not like that at all. I’m not sure how I can make you understand this. I don’t go to the sex club because I’m a pervert. I mean, I love sex. I love sex a lot, but what man doesn’t? That’s normal. I go to the sex club because I need the anonymity that comes with it.”

“I don’t really see the difference. You wanted to go to the sex club so you could get off without anyone knowing you were there, is that correct?”

“Yes and no. Some men and women go there to have casual sex because they want to have as many partners as they can. Those people have no clue what monogamy is and that’s what they’re into. There’s nothing wrong with that but that’s not my thing.”

“Okay? So what is your thing?”

“Honestly? I go to the club because I’ve been burned badly by women in the past. I mean really badly. The club allows me to feel close to someone, even if it’s just for a few hours. Because of my past relationships, I’m very hesitant to start a new one. It’s a scary proposition for me.”

“I kind of get it, but not really. I’ve had my fair share of bad relationships myself so I know where you’re coming from. At the same time, I realize that not every man is going to treat me the way the men in my past did. That’s something you might want to think about. I’m not one of the girls that you’ve been in bad relationships with. I’m not one of the girls who did you dirty or whatever. I’m not looking for anything like that. I’m a good girl who only wants a man to be good to me. Nothing more and nothing less. If that’s not what you want or you’re not open to it, that’s fine, but you need to let me know now.”

He didn’t say anything in response to what I had just said. Instead, he took both of my hands in his and looked down at the floor, which was completely out of character for him. I could tell he was conflicted. He looked like he had something he wanted to say but was struggling to find the words. After a few seconds, he finally looked me in the eyes and started to speak.

“Natalia, I believe you when you say you’re a good girl, but I have to warn you, I have my own set of secrets. They’re secrets I’ve never shared with anyone I’ve dated before. Only one woman that I’ve dated in the past knows this secret.”

“We all have secrets Kaiden. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be normal. I know you have trust issues. I can see it in your eyes. You can tell me your secrets whenever you’re ready. I’m not going to force your hand. I’m not like that.”

“That’s the thing. I want to share this secret with you, but it’s not something I want to tell you because I would rather show you.”

“Okay, so show me.”

“I can’t right now. I need to finish up dinner with my parents. Do you need to head home right after work?”

“No, I can be here as long as you need me.”

“Good. As soon as my parents leave, you and I are going to take a little trip.”

Kaiden put his hands on my cheeks, pulled my face to his and gave me a kiss on the forehead. As he walked away to rejoin his parents, I was left standing there wondering what in the hell had just happened.

CHAPTER TEN

Kaiden

I didn’t think my parents were ever going to leave. I tried to move dessert along as fast as I could, but my mother wouldn’t hear of it. Once her food was gone, she demanded coffee so we could sit around and talk as long as possible. I know I don’t get to see them all that often and I’m sure they just wanted to spend some time with me, but I wasn’t able to enjoy the visit like I should have. My mind was in another place. All I could think about was what I was going to show Natalia and wondering how she was going to react to it.

After I tried dropping hint after hint that maybe it was time to go, I started to realize that it wasn’t going to work. It may have seemed rude, but I eventually had to tell my parents, more specifically my mother, that it was getting late and I still had a lot of work to do before I would be able to go to bed for the evening. Between the two of them, my parents consumed nearly three bottles of wine, leaving them unable to drive themselves. I called my backup driver to give them a ride home while I arranged for someone else on my staff to follow in my parent’s car so it would be there for them the next morning. Once my parents were safely in the car and on their way back to their hotel, I went off to find Natalia, hoping she hadn’t changed her mind and gone home for the night. I found her standing in the kitchen reading from a newspaper that had been sitting on the counter.

“Sorry that took so long. When my mother drinks, she never wants to shut up. I’ve finally got them on their way. Are you ready?”

“Sure, but where are we going?”

“I know this sounds strange, but I’d much rather show you than tell you. Will you trust me on this one?”

She didn’t say yes or no. Instead, she just gave me a half-smile and folded the paper back the way she had found it. I grabbed my cell phone and contacted my driver to make sure he was available since he wasn’t scheduled at the time. He told me that he’d have the car ready for me in about fifteen minutes. I couldn’t help but realize how fortunate I was to have a staff that I could always count on.

When the car pulled up, my driver looked surprised to see that Natalia was with me. As I opened the door for her to get in, the driver asked where we were heading. I told him we were making a trip to Bear Mountain. The driver had a look of shock on his face, surprised that I was having Natalia accompany me to our destination. He knew exactly what a trip to Bear Mountain meant. I glanced over at Natalia and could see that she noticed his reaction as well.

“I promise you’ll understand soon,” I said to her.

It was already getting pretty late and we had close to a one-hour drive ahead of us. The drive to Bear Mountain was eerily quiet. I had only known Natalia for a short time but in that time, I had learned that she was a talker. Not only that but she was inquisitive as well. She always wanted to understand things and would never hesitate to ask a question if it would help with that understanding. On this trip, however, she was exactly the opposite. I’m not sure if it was because she thought that what she was about to discover would be a bad thing or if she was only respecting my wishes of showing her rather than telling her. Either way, she spent the majority of the trip looking out the window in silence.