Curves Envy 3 - Claimed By An Alpha: BBW Billionaire Romance (10 page)

“Oh, wait,” I say, bringing one hand to my mouth and the other to my stomach before running from the room.

For a second, I’m certain I’m going to puke, but miraculously once I close the door behind me, my tummy settles and the urge to throw up subsides. I’m about to turn on the faucet to splash cold water on my face when I hear him knock.

“Candy, are you okay in there? Should I get a doctor to come over?”

“No,” I yell. “I felt nauseated when you lifted me from the bed, but I’m better now. Let me wash my face with cold water and I’ll be right out.”

“Are you sure?”

I hear the concern in his voice and I remember the last words he uttered before we both passed out cold.
You’re mine now.

“I’ll only be a few minutes. I promise.”

Fifteen minutes later, I open the door to the bathroom and reappear wrapped in a white terrycloth bathrobe. After taking two Advils from the stash in my toilet case, washing my face with cold water, freshening up and combing my hair, I feel like a new woman. He gets up immediately when I set foot in the room again.

“Should I be worried?” His brow furrows slightly.

“Max, I’ll survive. I needed to bring back blood to my face. I might not drink for the next sixty days, but for now I’m okay,” I say, meeting his concerned look.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he says, closing his arms around me and locking me against his chest. “Good. Now you have to sit down and eat something.” Max lets go of me and grabs my hand to drag me to the small table near the window. As I approach, I notice the beautiful spread of foods, the adorable bouquet of blue petals and the cutest little red box with a floral pattern and gold-embossed lettering. When I make out the brand name, I bring my hands to my mouth.
Pomellato?
 

I pivot to face him, still gaping, and I blink rapidly a few times before speaking. “Max. What have you done?”

He flashes me his bad-boy smile before brushing my hair behind my shoulders. “Nothing, love.” He grins. “When I went shopping for your toys, I thought it would be unfair if it was all about my pleasure, so I grabbed these for you. I had them with me all night last night and I intended on giving them to you, but you ran away from me.”

I never thought I’d ever own any piece of jewelry from this prestigious Italian brand.
The closest I’ve ever gotten to this luxury designer has been through the pages of fashion magazines—I’ve never even had the guts to walk in either of the two flagship stores in New York. I’m still so bewildered, I can only shift my eyes from his gaze to the small box I’m cradling between my palms.
Seriously, God, if this is a dream, please don’t even think of waking me up.

“The box comes free when you buy something. I’m sure you’ll find what’s inside the box much more appealing than the package itself,” he mocks with a half smile.

“Wiseass.” I breathe in and out a few times before mustering enough courage to open my present.

When I lay my eyes on the dazzling gift, I gasp at the sight of a pair of small drop earrings in rose gold. I’ve never seen anything so delicate. The dangling ball isn’t solid, instead it’s an intricate filigree of ornate designs all meshed together. “They are exquisite, Max.” I exhale.

“You like them? Deidra came out to shop with me and she said they are so you.”

“When did you go out shopping with Deidra?”

“While you were having your chat with Brian the reporter from CNN. We figured you would be too caught up in the moment to notice Deidra escaping for a few hours.”

“Thank you. I absolutely love them. They are the most opulent pair of earrings I own now.”

“What about the ones you’re wearing now? They’re eye-catching and they suit you so well. If I’m not mistaken, they’re also solid gold.”

My heart sinks when his fingers caress my grandmother’s earrings and I lower my eyes to conceal the spark of pain.

“Candy, what’s wrong, honey? Your mood has shifted dramatically. If you don’t like the earrings, I can get you anything else your heart desires.” Max bends over to try to catch my eyes, but as hard as I try, the first tear rolls down my cheek. “Baby, what’s going on?” He wipes my tear away with such tenderness. “It’s not about the jewelry, is it? Did I say something to upset you?” Max is backpedalling, puzzled by my reaction. I take a few seconds to compose myself before speaking.

“Max, there’s something you need to know about me.”

“This sounds serious.”

“It’s more than serious. It defines who I am.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can work it out. Why don’t we sit down at the table? You can tell me all about what’s causing you so much grief and you can take a bite of food,” he says, pulling a chair out for me before circling behind me and sitting across from me with his back facing the large window.

“These earrings are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Max.” I lower my precious gift on the table next to me, teary-eyed. I sigh before scooping up a few spoonfuls of yogurt from a silver bucket resting on a bed of ice cubes and dropping the creamy cloud in the bowl in front of me in the hopes of settling my queasy stomach. I sprinkle the raw sugar and the muesli on top and I take a few bites under his watchful eyes.

After a few minutes, Max breaks the silence. “Candy, how bad can it be? You’ve shut down on me and I feel helpless. What prompted the tears?”

“It’s about my family.”

“Are they okay? Did something happen before you left New York?”

I shake my head and close my eyes before allowing the words to escape my lips. “I’ve been an orphan for the past five years—since I was nineteen.”

“Baby, I’m sorry to hear you lost your mother and father. Did your siblings also pass away?”

“I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I’m an only child. I lost both my parents during a freak accident. My maternal grandparents passed away when I was a small child and I never really knew them. My paternal grandfather Randolph had a heart attack six months after he lost his only son. My paternal grandmother Barbara survived him by only one year. She passed away eighteen months ago. I’m certain she died of a broken heart over the death of my father. Other than my cousin on my mom’s side, who now lives in Los Angeles, and my aunt, who moved to Maine right after my mom died, I don’t have anyone else left who is related to me by blood. I don’t get along particularly well with either of them. My pillar of support and strength in the past five years has been my three best friends––Devin, Lexi, and Lia. You’ve already met Lia. She’s the one I was having brunch with at Vanilla Beans…”

I’m so afraid I might choke up, I don’t even dare to take a breath. I blurt everything out in one sentence hoping I’ve shared enough for him to understand the depth of my sorrow.

“I didn’t want to pry, but you’ve been as silent as a clam when it comes to your family since we’ve met. I only knew of your cousin Trish because she was the catalyst to us bumping into each other again before the meeting at
Sassy
magazine’s office. I had no idea you were dealing with so much emotional turmoil over the loss of people you loved.”

“Yeah, it’s been a devastating road to have to navigate. I’m much better at dealing with my past now, but it’s still very much part of my life. I’ve healed somewhat, but I can’t forget.”

“Of course. What do you mean by freak accident?” Max pulls his chair closer to mine and caresses my thighs. His touch brings me comfort and makes me feel safe.

I sigh and flash a mechanical smile. “They say in life everything happens for a reason. If that’s true, how can you explain death?” I say, putting my elbows on the table before resting my chin on top of my folded hands. “I’ve asked myself this question at least a million times and I have yet to find a logical answer for losing my parents at such a young age.”

“My God, what happened to them?”

“It was a horrific accident, Max.” I’ve been haunted for years by the mysterious events surrounding my mom and dad’s final hours. I’ve even somewhat made peace with it all after my grandmother died, but it’s still an agonizing exercise to voice so much pain. “I lived an idyllic life as an only child of two adoring parents. It’s funny because until my parents’ death, I had dealt with very few devastating moments in my life. I guess the price to pay for such a privileged childhood was to experience the worst kind of suffering possible—losing both parents at the same time.”

I shut my eyes to muster up the strength to continue, but I don’t think I have the courage to tell Max what happened to the two people I loved the most on this planet
. Too many emotions. Too many bad memories. Too much sorrow.

“No, Candy, look at me. Don’t shut me out.” When I finally look up at him, he strokes his warm hands up and down my arm. “You’re mine now and I’m here for you. Please talk to me.”

Okay, you
can do this.
Under his anxious gaze, my words spill out of me, ugly and raw. I confess things I haven’t been able to share with Trish or my aunt Caroline.

“That summer, my parents put me in the back of their Volvo for a road trip to Connecticut, where I was to spend the summer with my paternal grandparents who owned a home there. Once they dropped me off, my mom and dad planned on driving cross-country to Colorado. The drive from New York was absolutely breathtaking and the short trip locked in the car gave the three of us a chance to bond as a family, since we were all so busy with our hectic lives. I was always swamped with assignments and papers for school. We only spent a couple days with my grandparents before they hit the road again. On an early Sunday morning, they waved goodbye to my grandparents and me before heading west.”

I shrug, barely moving my shoulders an inch to brush away the bad memories.

“I never saw them again. I vividly remember the life-changing knock from the police on my grandparents’
door at one o’clock in the morning—it had taken them a while to connect the dots and to contact family members. Had it not been for the fact my dad paid with his credit card at Sweet Sally’s, we might never have found out what had happened. Since Dad had parked right across from the eatery, the cops were able to piece the puzzle together when they interviewed witnesses.” I shudder.

“I can’t believe you had to live through this. Did the police investigate the accident?”

“The news claimed it was a freak accident—a downtown crane parked in front of a new real-estate development malfunctioned and an enormous steel cylinder dropped like a brick right on top of my parents’ parked car. My mom and dad had gone to the same place for Sunday-morning brunch for as long as I can remember—everyone knew them at Sweet Sally’s. They had stopped for a quick bite at their favorite spot before their long drive. They never expected it to be their last meal. There was nothing left of my parents. The crane destroyed their car and crushed them to dust. The puzzling thing to this day is how the crane dropped on top of their car like a missile, barely denting the cars parked in front or behind them—it seemed too precise.”

“Jesus Christ.” Max has shifted from his seat to sit at my feet. He’s hugging my legs and dropping soft kisses against my skin. I can read the devastation in his eyes as I recount my catastrophic tale.

“My grandparents nearly died when the police broke the news to us, but they found the strength to fight back after the development company offered me a pittance to keep me quiet—they didn’t want us talking to the press. My feisty grandmother sued the hell out of them, but after a nine-month court battle and a frightening legal bill, she resigned herself to the fact she had sunk in all her savings into this—she even remortgaged my parents’ home. The police’s case went cold and they stopped cooperating with our attorneys. We were left alone against a giant with deep pockets—the classic case of David and Goliath, but this time, the monster won.” I sigh again and drop my shoulders, relieving them from the tension of having to dig so deep.

“I can’t believe the police didn’t pursue this further.”

“Me too, but I was a teenager back then. What was I going to do? I simply retreated into myself and I suffered in silence.”

“It’s unfortunate your attorney couldn’t dig up anything incriminating on that development company.”

“Yeah. I thought we might have had a lucky break a few months before my grandmother died, but I was wrong. My grandmother told me the lawyer had been in touch after not hearing from him for a long while. Apparently he had located a source who had some really important details about the case. Nothing ever came of it. He was in contact with my grandmother up to a few weeks before she gave up on life and then she said he never returned her calls so she figured he had hit another dead end.”

“Did you follow up with the guy after your grandmother died?”

“No. After her passing, I was too consumed with grief to chase after another pipe dream. My parents were dead, my grandmother was dead, I was alone. I resigned myself to the fact I’d never get a resolution to this sordid tale.”

“My God. What a heavy story,” he says, kissing my hands. “Was there anyone who wanted to harm your parents? Did your father have problems at work he never told you about? I’m speculating here, but I can’t imagine this came out of the blue.”

“Everything surrounding the death of my parents is so strange and that’s why my grandmother fought so hard. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to harm my parents. My mom worked in an accounting office as a clerk and my father was part owner of a pharmaceutical company. He was a lab nerd who found pleasure in complicated chemistry experiments. Dad had been approached six years before his death by an investor with deep pockets who was looking to diversify his business assets and he was eager to tap into the fountain of youth industry.”

“The what?”

“You know, the booming industry that’s selling women all sorts of creams, lotions, potions and pills of eternal youth.”

“I see.”

“My father’s business partner, Quintin Grayson, offered him something he never had in his previous job as head of research at a prominent biotech lab—freedom. That’s a dream for any geek. My father could spend his days playing around with formulas and pushing the envelope, something he could never do at his old job. In his mind, although he was still a scientist, he was no longer forced to work in a restrictive box. Quintin had bought out a fledgling pharmaceutical company a few years before meeting with my dad. He was looking for the type of partner who could help him take the company to the next level and a chance encounter at a conference connected the two men. My parents were also grateful for the boost in my dad’s income and they used most of that extra money to pay for my expensive university studies.  Living on the edge for my parents meant trying out Greek food instead of steak and potatoes or taking an impromptu salsa class instead of playing cards with their friends in the middle of the week. My dad was doing well at his job, but we weren’t gazillionaires. He didn’t have an enemy in the world and neither did my mom. None of it makes sense to this day,” I say, shaking my head.