Billionaire Husband (2 page)

“He’s, erm, very supportive as any husband would be with their wife.” Addie ran her fingers through her hair, looking off the camera. “He’s a busy man, and we don’t interfere with each other’s businesses.”

The questions moved on, and Shaun stormed out of the staff room. Bruce followed him, closing the door to his office.

“You’re not aware of your wife’s success?”

“What success?” Shaun asked. He didn’t know that Addie could cook. Thinking about it, he didn’t know anything about his damn wife.

“Addie has been making headlines since last year. This cookbook that is releasing in two weeks’ time will be her first, and she already has another two books to create,” Bruce said.

Pacing up and down his office, Shaun tried to grasp what he’d just been told. “Wait? You know about her?”

“With all due respect, sir, I’ve been dealing with calls from her publicist, and the media. They want a response from you.”

Shaun paused. “What? Why wasn’t I notified of this?”

“I tried to tell you, but you said anything to do with the media or your wife, I was to handle. I told them you were very busy, like I do every single time.” Bruce went to say something then stopped.

“What is it?”

“Haven’t you seen any of her videos?”

“No. I didn’t even know she could fucking cook!” He was losing his temper, and was so damn angry. His wife had a whole other life, and he’d not known about it.

Bruce walked toward the laptop, and Shaun collapsed into his chair.

Before him, Bruce loaded up a webpage, and clicked play.

“Hi, everyone, Addie here again, and today I’m going to be cooking the most amazing chocolate truffles. Now, please don’t turn off, or panic. These are easy, delicious, and so damn good. They’re much better than shop bought ones. I tried these on Shaun, and he loved them. Believe me, they’re worth knowing.”

For the next fifteen minutes he listened to his wife talk to her viewers, and showed a warmth he’d never had directed at him. Her eyes sparkled, and there was just an energy and passion around her that he’d never seen before.

“Did you know?”

Bruce’s face went red.

“Just tell me, Bruce.”

His PA was like a friend to him, and Shaun trusted him with everything.

“My wife watches her every week, and tries all of her recipes. They are delicious. Honestly, Shaun, they’re amazing.”

Running a finger along his bottom lip, he scrolled through several of the recipes, and clicked on each one. Some of the food he recognized, as he’d eaten it before they’d gone upstairs, and had sex. What he didn’t recognize was the kitchen.

What the hell was happening?

Bruce left the office to answer the phone calls. Shaun was so pissed off right now, and he just couldn’t think straight. Clicking on another video, he watched as she cooked a turkey, made the perfect mashed potatoes, and even some gifts. She was spellbinding as far as he was concerned.

Scrolling down the page, he clicked on the link to her website, and started going through all of her recent updates. There were pictures of the book, and the places she was going to visit. He also noticed whenever he was mentioned, she always changed the subject. The interview that he’d just seen was actually filmed a couple of weeks ago, and it was only now going live.

He needed to talk to her. Getting to his feet, he told Bruce where he was going, and made his way out of his office.

It wasn’t like him to leave halfway through the working day, but he just couldn’t sit around anymore while watching his wife cook on the internet. This should have been something he knew about.

The truth was, he’d always put Bruce in charge of handling his wife’s affairs. He’d not wanted to get married, and when he was at work, he refused to have any part in her problems. When they first married, he really believed she was going to be different toward him. Addie had been cold. She’d not spoken to him, and talking to her had been a chore. He’d not taken the time to get to know her. Their parents had told them they were getting married, and he’d done what was needed to do.

He controlled two companies worth billions of dollars, and he’d been too damn busy to take the time with his wife.

You still take other women out to dinner.

Shaun wondered if Addie had seen the gossip on his supposed affairs. He’d not had any affair, not at all. The women he’d been seen with, he’d only taken out to dinner. Some of the models were part of the advertisement of his companies. Part of his company dealt with the media. He had his hands in a lot of different pies, and he loved it.

Climbing in his expensive, top of the range car, he drove toward the house that was just too damn cold for him. He grabbed his key, and turned it in the lock.

“Addie?” He shouted her name, and was shocked by how quiet the house was.

Entering the sitting room, he saw the chairs were covered with crisp, white sheets.

“What the hell is going on?” He made his way toward the kitchen, and again, bare. Opening the fridge, he saw it was empty and turned off.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed the housekeeper, and when she answered, he fired off lots of questions.

“Sir, I’m paid to come and remove the sheets from the furniture, turn down the bed, and fill the fridge with food.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else. Addison doesn’t live there, sir.”

Snapping the phone closed, he paced. Where the fuck did his wife live?

He called Bruce. His PA was the only person he trusted with this information.

Chapter Two

“Damn, girl, this here is a piece of heaven. I mean, you’ve taken chocolate, and you took it from sin, and just wow.”

Addison laughed as Dean kept describing exactly how much he loved the triple chocolate cake she’d just made. She left the cake on the counter, and finished cleaning up the bowls where she’d made her heavenly frosting. Everything was going well according to her agent, Paula. The book was selling well, and the interviews were going great. Paula believed there could be a cookery series in a couple of months as there was talk of people approaching her.

The only downfall to her cookery show was Shaun.

Paula had explained that any show she did, it would be based in her kitchen, where she was surrounded with her friends and family. They would expect Shaun. Her agent knew about her relationship with Shaun, as Addison had no choice but to explain the situation. She’d never lied to anyone, and used her name to get what she wanted. It took a year for her viewers to discover who she was, and it had been a gradual process until it had gone out in the papers. Billionaire’s wife, a video cook.

She’d expected Shaun to get in touch, but he’d done nothing. With the way he acted around her, she doubted he even had a clue what she was doing with her life.

Dean kept moaning and groaning as he took another slice of the cake. Leaning against the sink, she chuckled. Dean was her neighbor from across the hall. The building housed two large apartments, and Dean was a big time model.

Surprisingly, they’d formed a friendship, which was also bound together by the fact he had the world’s biggest crush on her best friend, Darla.

Darla, of course, wasn’t going to fall for a model, nor did she believe Dean wanted anything from her.

“Are you putting this on your channel?”

“Yes, I was thinking, ‘Death by Chocolate’. What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Tell those ladies of yours to serve this up to the man they love on Valentine’s Day, and every guy would be smitten, I swear.”

Addison chuckled and watched as he enjoyed the cake she’d finished making. She really did love cooking, and it was a passion that was never going to stop as far as she was concerned.

Someone cleared his throat, and she turned in time to see Darla and Shaun, her husband.

Everything just seemed to freeze in place as she stared at him.

“Did you forget that you had a husband?” Shaun asked.

“So, you’re the husband?” Dean asked, standing up.

She noticed he’d finished his cake.

“Who the hell are you?”

“A friend.”

“That’s all you better be!”

The threat in Shaun’s voice surprised her. He looked dangerous, as if he was going to flip and attack Dean at any moment.

Then like a jolt of lightning, she realized her husband was in her apartment, and he’d never once asked about this place.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Shaun turned to look at her. “We need to talk.”

“Why?” They never talked.

They were doing what their parents told them to do. Their marriage was a purely basic one, sex.

Only the sex wasn’t any good. It was bad sex. Even on their wedding night, it had been bad.

Throughout the entire time she’d been in pain, and she hadn’t liked a thing that he did to her.

Running fingers through her hair, she stepped away from the sink and made herself useful. She hated thinking of her wedding night. That one night had set the course of her marriage, but she shouldn’t complain, not really. She loved her life.

“We need to talk,” Shaun said again. “In private.”

“Do you want us to stay?” Darla asked, completely ignoring Shaun.

“No. It’s okay. We do need to talk.”

She kept her gaze on his, and he didn’t make a move. The door closed, and the room fell into silence. This was how it always was between them, silent.

Biting her lip, she waited for him to talk.

“When did you get this place?” Shaun asked, breaking the silence.

“Er, I got this place about six months after we were married.”

“You don’t live in our house?”

She snorted. “No! That place is a damn museum. I hate it there.”

“That’s your house, the one you wanted.”

“No. I hate that house. I never wanted that place. You pretty much dumped me there, and left.”

Shaun cursed. “Your mother said that was the house you liked.”

Addison laughed. “My mother? My mother doesn’t know much about me, Shaun. You’d be best asking Darla. My mom, she likes to have a certain status, and as we’re not a family, there’s no way future Woodsides would ever be caught in a place like this. A home.” She held her hand up, looking around them. “This is my home.”

Her large apartment had color and character. Everything that she enjoyed about life was in this very place. She loved artwork and life, love different experiences. The kitchen was her domain, very similar to her grandmother, who ruled over the kitchen in any house where her grandfather took her.

This was all of hers, and that house she shared with Shaun, it was nothing more than a cave.

“Fuck, I hate that house. I can’t stand that house.”

“The white walls and old furniture don’t do it for you?”

“Fuck no!” Shaun placed his hands on his hips, which showed off his rather impressive expanse of chest. She’d seen him naked many times, but hadn’t taken the time to enjoy what she was seeing. Even covered, he was a gorgeous man. “I didn’t like that place. I thought
you
wanted it.”

Addison shrugged, and covered the cake with the dome for the stand. “I don’t like that kind of thing. I take it you’re here because you’ve discovered my blog, my book?” She tried to show him a blank face, but the truth was, she was scared that he’d laugh at her love of cooking.

He shouldn’t be surprised. Look at you, you’re not exactly slender.

“I saw your interview. Why did you keep this a secret?”

“I didn’t keep it a secret. Paula, my agent, tried to reach out to you. You weren’t interested, so we continued on with the process of the book.”

“I can’t believe you had this whole other world.”

“I don’t miss our monthly appointments. This isn’t your world.”

“How did you afford this? I checked your statements, and the money I put into a personal account for you hasn’t been touched.”

“My grandparents. They left me a large inheritance.”

“What about Evangeline?” he asked.

Ah, her older sister, the one he was supposed to marry instead of her.

“My grandparents didn’t leave her anything, nor did they leave my parents. They have the billion dollar corporation, and I’m just me. They believed I wouldn’t get anything, and they wanted me to be safe, and comfortable.” Her grandparents had known that Evangeline was destined to marry a rich, successful businessman, whereas she had been cast aside as scraps. It was only because Evangeline screwed up that she wasn’t married to Shaun. “You and I both know you were going to marry my sister.”

“I wasn’t. I can’t stand her.”

Addison raised her brow. “Seriously?”

“Her getting pregnant, and causing that fucking scandal—there was no way I was going to ever trap myself with her. She’s far too wild.”

“I’m up just plain and boring, right?”

There it went again, the old insecurity rearing its ugly head. She was the plain Jane, and her sister, the wild child that everyone loved.

“Shit, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Folding her arms, she stared at Shaun. “Do you realize this is our first real conversation?”

“I know.” He stepped up close, leaning against the counter.

“Are you going to ask me to quit my cooking?”

“No.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. She’d expected him to make her quit, or at least to stop what she loved.

You don’t know him. Not really.

“I don’t.” He took a seat at the counter. “I want to try that chocolate cake that had that guy moaning as if he was having sex with you.”

With her cheeks growing warmer by the second, Addison cut him a slice of cake.

****

Shaun couldn’t believe how little he knew about his wife. Addie’s cheeks went bright pink, and she cut him a large chunk of cake without saying a word. He’d seen Darla pull up outside of the building, and he’d simply walked over to her.

“You’ve found her out?” Darla asked.

“Take me to her apartment, Darla. I’m not in the mood to play games.”

“I’m not in the mood to help you hurt my best friend.”

“I’m not going to hurt her. I need to talk to her.”