Losing Pieces of Me (5 page)

Chapter Seven

   Not even half a day goes by before I receive the first text from Jayden.

   Jayden: Have you thought about my proposal?

   Me: I have, but I have some questions

   Jayden: Of course you do, ask away

   I don’t respond right away after that, I decide that I need to sit and think about all the things I want to ask him.  Obviously I want to know where we will be moving to.  I also want to know if I’ll be receiving a wardrobe, since Jayden must have parties and dinners he has to attend. I can’t exactly show up looking like a poor girl from New York, even though that’s exactly what I am.  But more than anything, I want to know if this marriage will include us having to be intimate or if just handholding and kissing will be necessary in front of everyone.

   I don’t think I could fake it if we were to be intimate with one another.  I’ve never had sex or had a man touch me in a sexual way so I wouldn’t even begin to know the first thing about faking it.  I bite my lip for a really long time, staring down at my phone trying to think of what I want to ask.  Then I sit there for a long time after I’ve typed the text trying to get up the courage to hit send.  Finally, I just do it.

   Me: Where would we be moving to?

   He answers the text right away, leaving me wondering if he’s just sitting around waiting for me to text him or if he has some assistant that’s answering for him or something.  God, I hope it’s not an assistant because it will probably be some hot blonde that wants to get rid of me.

Jayden: Cove Neck.  Not too far from where you are at now.  That going to be an issue?

Seriously, why would that be an issue?  When thinking about all the other things I have to right now, moving to another city is going to be the least of my worries.

Me: No, just curious, that’s all.  Sounds like a nice place, I’ll have to look it up.

He doesn’t need to know I have no intention of looking it up.

Jayden: Any other questions?

   Me: What would our marriage actually entail?  Are you going to want me to attend events with you and hold your hand?

   He doesn’t answer right away and that’s when I start to think he’s changed his mind.  I can’t afford for him to change his mind.  Not only do I have no place to go right now, but he’s my one ticket to get closer to Hayden and Katrina.  Although, clearly they aren’t together right now unless he’s hiding her somewhere.  Which is completely possible at this point.

Jayden: We will be just like a real married couple, just minus the love part of it.  We’ll go out to dinner, see my family, and do anything else you want to do.  I can’t promise certain things, but I can make you happy and make it well worth your while.

God, I hate that he makes it sound like I’m some sort of gold digger.  All the more reason to keep my eye on the prize and remind myself that I am doing this for my sister.  I shouldn’t even care what he thinks about me right now.  Yet I do, and that bothers me.

Eye on the prize, Mireya.  You need that money to find Katrina.

   I always knew what my answer would be even before this conversation.  There was never any doubt in my mind that I would accept his proposal and marry him.  I can put my life on hold for a couple of months, get that money, find my sister, and then find a man who will marry me for real and love me forever.  Not a bad plan.

Me: Yes

   Jayden: Yes what?  I can’t see you right now, so be a little bit more specific

   Me: Yes, I will marry you

   I throw my phone down and ignore it after that afraid of what his response will be.  I instead get up and start to pack up the last of my things.  What little dishes I have in here mean a lot to me.  They were one of the first things I purchased when we moved to New York so I don’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon.

I hear my phone vibrating like crazy from across the room, but I ignore it.  I don’t want to read what he wrote.  He probably has a million questions about why I’ve agreed to marry him so quickly.  I can’t tell him the truth, I don’t even think I can ever come clean and tell him that after the first night we met that she never came home.

   A banging at the door has me nearly dropping the pile of plates in my hands on the floor.  I look over at the small clock in the corner and see that the time is really late.  I grab my baseball bat in the corner by the door and hold it in one hand as I brace myself to answer the door.

   “Who is it?” I ask, trying to sound more confident than I feel right now.

   “It’s me, open the damn door,” that’s Jayden’s voice on the other side of the door and he sounds agitated.

   My shoulders sag in relief when I realize it’s not someone coming here to kidnap me or kick me out, so I put the bat down in the same spot and unlock the door.  The second I unlock it, Jayden pushes it open and steps inside, closing the door behind him.  He didn’t even wait for me to open the door, clearly he has an issue with patience.

   “Why aren’t you answering the phone?” he asks, pacing to the other side of the room and then turning to face me.  Why he feels the need to put so much space between us is beyond me.

   “I was packing,” I reply, gesturing towards the plates on the table.  “I couldn’t hold the phone at the same time.”

   His shoulders relax a little when I tell him this.  What did he think?  That I told him I would marry him and then changed my mind?  I just didn’t want to deal with his questions and his reaction right away.

Wait a second, I thought he was in Seattle.

   “When did you get back?” I ask, crossing my hands over my chest and relaxing back against the door as I stare him down.

   Clearly he cut that trip short if he’s standing here before me.  Plus, how did he get over here so quickly?  I wonder if he’s been sitting outside my apartment this entire time.

   “I’ve been back for a while.  I went to Seattle, but only got about a third of my work done before I had to come back.  You see, I had to come back to be closer to you.”

   I don’t know if I should be flattered right now that he wanted to be closer to me or if I should feel worried that he’s becoming a stalker.  How ironic would that be if he was stalking me after I just finished stalking him?

   “I have a lot of enemies, Mireya.  I need you to understand that going into this.  I haven’t hurt anyone or anything, but just the fact that I own my own company and have a lot of money has made me a target and some people will do anything they can to hurt me.  Even if that means hurting those around me that they think I’m close to.  Which is why I kept trying to contact you,” he says coming closer to me.  “Did you mean what you said?  That you’ll marry me, I mean,” he stops before me, his eyes searching mine.

   I force myself to look away from him.  This is probably one of the strategies he uses to get his clients to agree to whatever he wants, make them forget what they were thinking by crowding their personal space.

   I nod my head, bringing my face back around so I’m looking at him once more.  “I never say things unless I mean them.”

   He surprises me by pulling me into a hug and kissing my forehead.  I’m a little shocked by the intimacy of the gesture.

   “We need to get this moving then.  I’ll help you finish packing up and then we’re leaving.  I’ll have someone pick up the boxes and take them to storage.  Do you have a bag already packed?  If not, I suggest you get one ready now,” he says, walking across the room and resuming what I was doing before he showed up.

   “Why the hurry, if you don’t mind me asking?”  I ask him slowly, while watching him shove the rest of my plates in the box before moving on to the next one.

   “I’m about to show up with a wife that no one knew about.  I’m not even dating right now, so everyone is going to automatically be suspicious of us.  The goal is to leave the country, get married, move in together so we can get to know one another, and then appear to be madly in love.

   “Is that something you think you can handle?  I need to know before we go into this because there won’t be any going back.  I warn you, if this doesn’t end up working, you won’t receive a dime,” he says this so casually like he’s discussing what we’re going to be having for dinner tonight.

He’s not even looking at me right now, but if he was looking at me, he would notice how much his words sting.  There’s no need to threaten me, he doesn’t even know me well enough to know whether or not this will end up working out or not.

   “I’m going to go and get my things ready,” I tell him as I make my way towards my room at the back of the apartment.

“Oh, one other thing,” I turn back towards him.  “Don’t threaten me again, Jayden or I’ll tell everyone that this is all fake.  You don’t know me, it would be nice if you got to know me before you started passing judgment.”

   He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but I just simply shake my head no and turn back towards my room and walk away.  His threatening me doesn’t make me want to change my mind, but it does remind me that these men are rich and powerful and I’ll have to stay on top of my game or this will never work.

   As I pack my bag and get the last of the things I was saving in the bathroom, I can’t seem to wrap my head around what is about to happen.  I’m about to marry the brother of the man my sister was last seen with.  A man I don’t really know and one that could make or break me.  I’ve never been in a relationship before and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my first relationship would not only be a fake one, but would be with a billionaire who is offering me twenty grand to make it happen.

   “I’m ready,” I declare, walking back into the living room.  I’m not sure what to do or if he’s ready to go, so I just kind of awkwardly stand there in the hallway with my bag in front of me and stare back at him with wide eyes.

   “Great, let’s get this show on the road then.”

   There’s no hesitation on his part, as he drags me towards the door and out of the apartment.  I look behind me at my old home one last time.  I have this feeling I’ll never see this place ever again.

Chapter Eight

   “Relax, Mireya, you look perfect.  I know this probably isn’t what you had in mind for your wedding, but it has to be this way.”

   I bring my eyes up to meet him for the first time since I walked into the chapel.  He thinks I’m upset because of the fact that we’re in Mexico, about to get married, and at that with no family or friends that I know.  It has nothing to do with any of that. I still can’t believe I’m standing here in a beautiful chapel with the ocean in the background.  This might be the one and only time I ever get married, so I am trying to soak everything in and remain calm standing next to this handsome man.

   I know that a real relationship between us would never be possible, we come from two completely different worlds.  For one, he had a private jet take us here the second we left the apartment.  He said it was best that we leave before anyone spots us together and we end up in the paper.  I can’t figure out if the reason is because he doesn’t want to be photographed with me because I’m not pretty enough to be next to him or because everyone that is pressuring him would find it odd that he’s with someone like me.  I didn’t dare ask him that question, though.  On top of that, he talks in a well-educated manner and uses big words when he’s talking to other people while I just use simple words.  Then there’s the biggest thing of all, he seems to always be working.  In the car, on the plane, and even now looking over at him, he’s on that damn phone of his.  If we were actually getting married for real, I would’ve thrown that shit out into the ocean so we could have some quality time together.  Luckily, this is a fake wedding.

   There was lots of paperwork and rules that needed to be gone over before we got here too.  He brought his lawyer on the plane with us.  He made me sign a nondisclosure agreement stating that I would never tell anyone that this isn’t a real wedding.  There were words in there about suing me if I told anyone and not receiving any money as well, believe me he doesn’t have to worry about me telling anyone the truth, I need that money in a really bad way.

   Oh, and of course, don’t forget the prenuptial agreement.  I expected it, but it still upset me a little when I saw it.  I didn’t want to sign it, I wanted to rip it up and throw it in his face, but I didn’t do that.  Number one because I need him and number two because I understand where he’s coming from, I bet someone took advantage of him.  I guess I didn’t get the shit end of the stick though, because all it said was that I don’t get anything when we divorce other than twenty thousand in cash and whatever I’ve collected in material belongings.  It doesn’t say I won’t have access to money if I need it, simply that when we get a divorce I don’t get half of everything in the way other couples do.

   “You ready?” I turn to the sound of a voice behind us.  The priest is ready to marry us.

   “Yes,” Jayden replies when I fail to say anything.  I do, however politely smile at him and nod.

   Jayden goes in first and I take a few moments before I blow out the breath I’ve been holding and follow him inside.  There’s nobody waiting inside, no rows of family and friends smiling as I make my way down the aisle, there’s no wedding party standing at the front of the church, and for sure, there’s no loving groom standing there waiting for me.  The only people in the church are the priest, Jayden, and a couple that agreed to be our witness.  Oh yes, and the lawyer, the lawyer seems to follow us everywhere we go.

   I am a little sad that this is the wedding I am going to receive.  I always promised myself that I would marry for love and the fact that everything in my life has been complete shit up until this point is starting to weigh heavily on me.  This behavior isn’t like me, if I didn’t need Jayden to help me find my sister, I wouldn’t be doing this.  I guess that’s how I can look at this entire thing, right?  This is all to save my sister.

   Before I even realize it, I’m standing next to Jayden and the priest is pronouncing us man and wife.

   “I now pronounce you man and wife, you may now kiss the bride.”

   My eyes widen as I stare at the priest with a blank expression.  I have to kiss him?  I wasn’t expecting this, I thought all of this was fake.  Who knew my first actual kiss would be to my new fake husband?

   Yes, I know how pathetic, this is going to be my first kiss.  The one before this doesn’t count, that man tried to stick his entire tongue down my throat and swallow me whole.

   I turn towards Jayden and he has the same expression on his face until he focuses on me.  He shrugs as if to say, sure, why not?  I shrug back at him because if we’re going to do this, we might as well make it official right?

   Time seems to stand still as he takes my hands in his and tugs me closer so he can reach me.  I expect him to kiss me on the cheek when he leans forward or just simply hug me, I wasn’t expecting him to actually kiss me.

   He leans his head in and tilts his head to the side as he comes in closer to me, so I close my eyes and allow my lips to meet his for the first time.  I just try to do what I think I should do.  I’ve read plenty of books and watched movies where couples kiss, so I just copy what I remember.

   At first our lips are just touching, but soon his tongue comes out slowly, as if he’s scared I’m going to reject him and licks the seam of my lips.  I gasp when his warm tongue makes contact with my lips and he takes the chance to pull me in close and wrap his arms around my waist.  I reach my arms up and wrap them around his neck as I tilt my head up to give him better access, I am after all, much shorter than he is.  The moment his tongue meets mine for the first time, I feel an explosion of sensation behind my eyelids.  Warmth floods through me in the strangest way and has me wanting to deepen the kiss.  I forget myself for several seconds as I allow him to kiss me.  Then my brain kicks back into gear and I remember where we are and what we’re doing.

   I pull back slowly and turn my head away from him, while keeping my eyes closed.  I don’t know what just happened, but whatever that was, cannot happen again.  This is fake, one hundred percent fake, and I feel like I’ve cheated somehow and am going to be punished for taking something that was not mine to take.

   Jayden doesn’t push the subject as we walk out of the church as man and wife.  There’s no dinner celebration or party waiting for us.  It’s just me and him walking along the beach with his lawyer following close behind.  When we get far enough away from his lawyer, I tug on his arm to get him to stop and turn to face me.

   “Is he going to be following us everywhere for the rest of our marriage?” I ask, pointing in the direction of his lawyer.  He seems to have quickened his pace when he sees we’ve stopped.  I bet he thinks we’re over here ready to kill one another.

   “He’s just here for my protection, that’s all.  When we get home, you won’t see him again until the time comes for the divorce,” he says casually, sticking his hands in his pockets.

He’s always so calm and collected about everything, I wonder why he never married prior to this moment.  Maybe he was waiting for the same thing I was?  To marry for love.  That thought has me laughing out loud to myself, because neither one of us married for love.

   “What are you laughing about?”

   “Nothing,” I reply, as I resume walking along the beach.  The sooner we get back to the hotel, the sooner I can go to sleep and not think about what happened today.  “Just making sure you didn’t hire your lawyer as my bodyguard.”

   “Why?  Do you need one?” he asks, sounding genuinely alarmed.

   I give him a look before I turn away from him and stomp faster across the beach and towards the hotel.  Does this guy think I’m some sort of monster or something?  He must think that the second we get back to the hotel, I’m going to tell the first person I see that I just married a billionaire because he needed a legit wife.  I mean come on, why would I do something like that?  I’m sure there are plenty of money hungry bitches who would sell their soul to the devil if it meant they could profit off of what happened today, but I’m just a girl from a town who lost her life and moved to New York and lost everything else she had left.  I’m not an attention whore or looking to hurt Jayden.  That’s not the way that I am, and I guess I’ll have to somehow prove that to him, but my patience is going to quickly run thin if he keeps thinking I’m going to run to the nearest tabloid the first chance I get.

   “Wait, Mireya, please come back,” Jayden begs me when we reach the hotel.

I don’t stop when I get there, instead I go up to the floor where my room is and look for my key.  Of course I don’t have it, my dress doesn’t have any pockets.  Looking down at my dress I feel silly now for wearing it.  It’s not expensive or fancy, the dress is white and has pink flowers on it, it was the nicest thing I owned.  I thought it would prove to Jayden that even though we’re not really married, I want to make an effort and make this thing appear legit.  I guess I was wrong, wasn’t I?  He still doubts me.

   Now here I am, forced to stand outside of my room, which just so happens to be next door to Jayden’s, and wait for him to decide to come upstairs so he can let me in.

   “Are you sure this was the wisest decision, Jayden?  We could’ve continued to look for ways to fight the board’s decision.  There was no need to actually go out and get a wife just so you could keep majority shares of the company.  There’s always other ways.  Plus, I don’t think that girl is capable of pulling this off.”

That damn lawyer of his.  We haven’t even been married an hour and already he’s trying to talk Jayden out of the decision he’s just made.  No way am I going to allow that to happen.  Not only did I sign the prenup and that contract, but I need that money.  I’ll just have to prove to Jayden he made the right decision.

   I think about storming over there and giving them both a piece of my mind, but I decide instead to wait and see what Jayden says to his lawyer.

   “God Rich, no wonder she wants to know when you’re going to go away.  I know you are against this decision, but I think I made the best one.  I’m running out of time and I couldn’t leave this up to chance that you would find a way around this decision.  I like Mireya, she’s a really nice girl and she’s pretty.  I’ve made my decision and make no mistake, this may be a business arrangement she and I have, but I will not tolerate you speaking of my wife in that manner. If you so much as talk out of turn in front of her or say something to make her cry, I’ll fire you.”  He sounds really upset right now.

   “But Jayden you can’t do that,” replies the lawyer.  Their voices are getting closer now and I have nowhere to hide as I lower myself down so I am sitting on the floor.  I might as well take a seat, this might take a while.

   “I can do that and I will Rich.  You know that I hate it when women are disrespected and worse than this just being a woman, she’s not just any woman, according to the law, she’s
my
woman.”

   I hear a door slamming and Jayden’s sigh as his footsteps approach.  I take it the door slamming was the lawyer’s door and not his.

   I sit there and play with my fingernails as I wait for him to notice me sitting out here all alone.  A strange feeling of pride fills me when I look up and see him standing before me.  He defended me and more than that, he said I’m his woman.  Okay, okay, I know, this is a business deal, but I think I’ve read one too many romance novels because that right there, was the most romantic thing I’ve ever had a man say about me.  Sad existence I know, but I might as well take advantage of the fact that I just married a rich and handsome man.

   “You okay?” he asks when I finally smile up at him softly.

   “I guess,” I shrug.  “I take it the lawyer doesn’t like me very much?”

   “He’s just worried, that’s all.  Why are you sitting out here on the ground?” he asks, offering me his hand to help me stand.

   “I don’t have my key, remember?”

   He reaches into the front pocket of his slacks and then it dawns on him that he has two room keys.

“I completely forgot about that,” he says, handing me the key so I can go inside.

   “Thank you for defending me,” I tell him as I finger the key.

Spontaneously, I walk up to him and kiss him on the cheek before I turn and open the door to go inside of my room.  I don’t want to see the reaction on his face, so I quickly close the door behind me, leaving him standing out there.

   I know he stands over there for a few seconds before heading over to his room and going inside.  Why?  Because the walls are so thin in this hotel that I could hear his footsteps and when he walked over to his door and closed it behind him.

   This isn’t the way I dreamed of spending my wedding night.  But I could be in a worse situation right now, I guess.  I could be hiding from my landlord in that crummy old apartment instead of here, sleeping in a bed with expensive sheets that smell like wild flowers.  Who knows, things might just end up being okay after all.