Undercover Billionaire Boss: A BWWM Contemporary Romance (21 page)

If she had been able to reach the stage, she would have walked to him and slapped him hard on the face. But then again, she never wanted to speak to him ever again.

Raina turned to Kelly, her voice ice cold. She hissed “I’ve seen your surprise and now I’m out of here. Thanks so much for this. I think I would have preferred to spend the rest of my life not knowing. At least then I could have pretended Christopher had actually loved me.”

Her voice caught in a sob, and she ran out without giving Kelly a chance to respond.

Once outside, Raina kept walking. Walking and walking and walking. She didn’t know where, she only knew she wanted to get away from both Kelly and Christoph—
Christian
.

She felt sad and used and broken.

Why had he picked her? There were so many other women available to him, why her? Why leave her heartbroken and yearning for something she could never have? One thing was clear in Raina’s mind.

People like Christian—rich, successful, handsome billionaires did not go for girls like her. Maybe he had wanted a change—a little trip to the “wild side.” Raina sneered. She’d had too many bad first dates that had started with some bastard saying he’d always “wanted to know what being with a black girl was like.”
Jerks
. It stung to find out that she had just been a momentary distraction for Christoph—no,
Christian.

Whatever his reasons, Raina now felt a searing dislike for him.

The memories of him kissing her and making love to her brought a bitter taste to her mouth. Twenty minutes later, she reached the small town. She asked for directions and made her way to the bus depot. Luck was on her side and she got a ticket for a bus leaving for Palm Beach in ten minutes.

She felt a stab of guilt at ditching Kelly, but her supposed best friend had a lot to answer for. How could her closest ally, who supposedly knew her, have the nerve to drive her across the state to meet a man who had lied to her from day one? A man who had used her and then discarded her. Raina settled in a seat next to the window and stared out forlornly.

Christopher Smith
. She snorted, and shook her head at how stupid she herself had been. Just remembering how he had lied so easily and pretended to be a maintenance man got Raina’s blood racing again. She brought back the image of his real self. As Christopher he’d had grey eyes, but his real eyes were blue in color. She tried to recall the instances where they had spent the night together. Had he even removed the contact lenses?

Oh, Christian! Raina thought her heart aching, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

Had he seen her sitting in front at the lecture? Most likely not, and she preferred it that way. She thought of the last time she had seen him, his face a cold mask of disdain after catching Pervy Roger nibbling on her neck.

Christian probably would not have wanted to see her either.

Her chest rose up again when another unpleasant yet maddening thought crossed her mind. Christian thought she was a thief! He must have believed Roger’s allegations. How could he after the nights they shared?

It was just as well that they did not stay together. Clearly he had had zero trust in her. He didn’t know her
at all
, if he could have believed those allegations. The least he could have done was talk to her first, given her a chance to explain her side of the story. Raina tried to fall asleep, leaning her heard against the window, to escape the thoughts of Christian going around and around in her mind.

The image of his startling blue eyes seemed etched in her mind. His smile, the very same one that had lit her world months ago, the one that had brought her such joy—now, the memory of it only brought her pain.

C
hristian looked around
at the animated faces. Hands were still raised for questions and he wanted to take as many as possible. He pointed to a young man at the front.

“Sir, my question regards motivation. How did you manage to remain motivated during those years when you were—?”

Christian screwed his eyes, shielding them from the light with his hand, seeing what he thought he couldn’t possibly be seeing. But sure enough, that was Kelly seated behind the young man who had asked the question.

What was she doing here? He asked the young man to repeat the inquiry, and he answered it automatically, his mind on Kelly.
Was it something to do with Raina? The kids? Was Raina all right?

He rushed through the next questions and then excused himself.

He was too unnerved by Kelly’s presence to pay attention to anything else in the theater. After the applause, Christian came down from the podium. He was immediately surrounded by people and he signaled for one of the ushers to bring Kelly to wait for him.

As soon as he could he extracted himself, held Kelly by the arm and shepherded her to a secluded corner behind the stage.

“Kelly, how are you?” he said. He was distantly pleasant, but his voice was tight.

“I’m well, thank you.”

They stared at each other warily, neither knowing what to say next.

“How did you—,” Christian started.

“I found out it was you—” Kelly’s words tumbled over his.

They both paused, then Christian offered her a seat. “Please. Tell me. How did you find me? Are you all right? Is something wrong with Raina—”

“Yes, she’s fine. In fact, she was here less than twenty minutes ago.”

“Raina was here?” Christian asked, his heart beating rapidly. He looked back out toward the audience. “Where is she now?”

“She left when she realized who you are,” Kelly said in a flat voice. “Look it’s a long story.”

“Come, let me take you where we can have a little privacy,” Christian said hurriedly when he heard the hesitation in her voice.

He took her to an office and he shut the door behind them.

“It’s like this, Mr. …”

“Call me Christian.”

Kelly started talking. And talking. And talking. She found that once she started she couldn’t stop. She barely took a breath, and she didn’t let Christian interject a single question.

“Raina was innocent. She did not take any money from the company. She never would, she’s an honest and kind person. You were with her! You must know that!” Kelly’s voice accused him and it shot through him, stinging like an arrow piercing his heart.

Christian held on to a thin thread of hope that his suspicions had been wrong. All the months since he had left Palm Beach had been hell for him. He missed Raina day and night and he questioned his judgment constantly. How could he have been so wrong about a person?

“Your Uncle Roger is the one behind it all. He set Raina up and now he’s about to do the same for me.”

“Why would he pick on her or you for that matter?” Christian said, his mind racing with possibilities.

“Because we wouldn’t sleep with him.”

Kelly began detailing Roger’s continual abuse of the staff, and Christian’s mouth dropped open. How could he have been so blind? That Roger was capable of such disgusting behavior was nothing he had wanted to see, he admitted to himself. Kelly’s numerous stories about the many incidents over the years started adding up. Christian recognized some truth in what she was saying as he thought back to the number of staffers that had been let go by Roger.

Most of the names on the list had been young women, Christian realized with dismay.

Christian thought back to the scene he had seen between Raina and his uncle that day. He zoomed in on the memory of her expression. Was it possible that Raina had not worn the face of a woman in ecstasy, but had worn an expression of fear? According to Kelly, she had been petrified. And what had he done? Instead of coming to her aid, he had left his uncle in there with his Raina.

“Did he hurt her?” His tone was murderous, his hands balled into fists. He wanted to punch his uncle in the face and break every bone in his body.

“No, he didn’t. Let me show you something on my tablet, and then you’ll really believe me.”

She removed her tablet from her bag and turned it on. She put it at an angle where Christian could observe over her shoulder. What he saw turned his stomach. He couldn’t believe that Roger was capable of such violence and against someone so helpless.

“God!” he muttered, completely sickened.

When it was over, Christian said to Kelly: “I’m so sorry. That is absolutely unacceptable! Are you okay? Is Raina? Where is she—I need to see her.”

She nodded, “I’m fine.”

Kelly went on to tell him about Roger’s schemes and how he had implicated Raina. Christian felt murderous. He clenched and unclenched his fists. After all the work he had done to ensure that Del Mar employees were well taken care of, his very own uncle was destroying it all, and worse, destroying lives.

A thought crossed his mind, one that had been bothering him. If Raina hadn’t stolen money, then where had she gotten money from.

“What about the money that Raina spoke of that day in your office?”

Kelly looked at him blankly.

“The five hundred thousand?” He prompted her memory.

“Oh
that
? It was from the insurance company of the driver who killed her sister and brother-in-law.”

It was getting worse and worse. Christian was starting to realize what a stupid ass he had been—how he had treated Raina, leaving her without any explanation. There was no excuse for the way he had acted. He was starting to see how she would have experienced his actions and it was gutting him.

She must believe he didn’t care about her. But nothing could be further from the truth. She had occupied his thoughts daily—hourly—since he had left her.

He had reached the inescapable conclusion that he loved her.
He loved her desperately.

Christian’s head pounded with anger. But first before he dealt with his uncle he had to make things right with Raina. He just had to.

“Where can I find Raina?”

“I don’t know. She just took off. But I have the car, she can’t have left without me.”

“I have to find her, Kelly, I have to explain,” Christian said urgently.

Briefly, Christian outlined for Kelly why he had gone undercover—why he had needed his disguise and deception.

Kelly listened sympathetically.

“Do you think she can forgive me?” Christian recognized how much he had hurt Raina—what she must have gone through when he’d abandoned her and misjudged her so.

“I think—I think she loves you …” Kelly began, hesitantly.

Christian noted that she didn’t really answer his question.

The two of them went to Kelly’s car and waited for Raina to cool down and return.

They waited.

And waited.

And
waited.

The sun was starting to set when they both realized that Raina was not coming back.

Kelly turned to him. “She’ll have gone home, somehow. She wouldn’t leave those kids overnight.”

Christian recognized the truth in that statement and nodded. “I have to go to her. I don’t want to waste another second. I’ve wasted too many already.”

Kelly nodded. “Get in, I’ll drive us.”

Christian shook his head. “Not fast enough.” He pulled out his cell phone. “My plane is here; I’ll have them waiting for us.”

“I can’t leave the car—” Kelly said, slightly disappointed. It would have been exciting to ride in a billionaire’s airplane. “But you go—,” She waved him off. “Go find her.”

Christian turned to hurry off, but Kelly stopped him.

“Wait! She moved houses, here’s her new address,” she said and fished a card from her bag and handed it to him.

He slipped it into his pocket without looking and sprinted off. As he ran he used his cell phone to call the pilot of his private plane. Next he called his driver, Jim to come to the front of the auditorium. When he stepped out, his limo was already waiting and jumped in.

“Let’s go to the airfield,” He handed Jim the card Kelly gave him. “Tell the pilot that’s where we’re going. Step on it, Jim. Get me there in less than an hour and I’ll double your annual bonus.” Christian said and braced himself for the ride.

“Yes, sir!” Jim grinned, excited to put his expert driving skills to the test.

What seemed like mere moments later, Christian was stepping out of his car to the waiting private jet. He got in and signaled to the pilot that he was ready.

As the plane took off, his thoughts returned to Raina.

How could he have been so blinded by his uncle’s treachery? He had known from the start that Roger had a shady past, but Christian believed in second chances and he had offered his uncle one. He had so wanted to believe in his uncle, for the sake of being the only family Christian had left.

He had also made the decision to keep him on even after discovering that the hotels under his management were not doing as well as the rest. He had given him chance after chance.

He had made his decisions based on emotions. Roger was his only living relative and they were tied by blood. But right now, Christian could care less about blood ties. Roger would pay for what he did to Raina and Kelly.

He would be behind bars
, Christian thought grimly.

He thought of the load that Raina carried, caring for Jeremiah and the girls. He wondered how she had fared, and he hung his head in shame. He knew how worried she had been about making ends meet, and after Roger’s treachery she must have been so frightened and alone.

And he hadn’t been there for her.

But,
He thought with determination,
I will be. If she’ll let me, I will be for the rest of her life.

In forty-five minutes, he was at the airfield outside the town on the card Kelly had given him. He stood up before the plane came to a complete halt. Once outside, a cab was waiting and he shoved the card in the driver’s hand.

Twenty minutes and they pulled into the parking lot of a B&B. He looked down at the card and saw that it was indeed Raina’s address. He paid the cab fare, leaving a generous tip and hopped out. He strode to the door and pushed it open. At the reception desk was a young girl with crazy colored hair.

“Hi, where can I find Raina McMillan?” Christian said, flashing her a charming smile.

“Oh, Raina’s away for the day,” she said.

His face fell. Had he miscalculated? Had he come all this way only to find she hadn’t returned home?

His mind began racing. What if she had gotten lost? Or worse, what if she was hurt, or in danger?

Just then a door further on was pushed open and Jeremiah and the girls spilled out followed by a brown haired woman.

“Uncle Chris!” Jeremiah yelled and sprinted to him and threw his little body against him. “I knew you’d come back. I told Aunt Raina. She said not to get my hopes up, but I
knew
you wouldn’t just leave us!”

Christian’s face reddened with shame. How could he ever have left these children who had welcomed him so freely into their lives? How had he let his anger cloud his judgment so completely?
I’ll make things right,
he vowed to himself.

“Uncle Chris, we missed you!” Crystal said hugging him from the side.

Chantal smiled serenely and allowed him to hug her.

“Where were you? Why didn’t you say goodbye?” Crystal demanded, her hands on her waist.

“I had to go on a trip but I won’t be going away anytime soon,” Christian promised, hoping against hope that it was true.

“Hi, my name is Susan, I’m looking after the kids today,” the smiling brown haired woman said. “I take it they know you?”

“I’m Chris—Chris, a friend of the family.” He thought it better not to explain the name issues just yet.

“He lived with us, Susan, for ages and ages,” Jeremiah offered.

“Oh, I see,” Susan said with a knowing smile. “I see no harm then in inviting you upstairs.”

“Thank you,” Christian said and hoisted Jeremiah to his shoulders.

He followed Susan and the girls to the stairs behind the reception area. They tromped up to the third floor and he followed everyone into the living room. As soon as he saw Raina’s furniture, he felt at home. He could smell her scent everywhere and memories washed over him. He longed for her with a painful, growing ache. He
had
to see her. She just had to let him explain.

The kids gave him a tour and he even got a peek into Raina’s bedroom. The bed brought back sweet painful memories, memories he had kept locked away but which now came flooding back. He remembered her soft dark skin, her wild curly hair, and her deep brown eyes that could bring him to his knees in an instant.

He thought of her gentle smile and her loud laughter when something was particularly funny. He had missed her! If she agreed to have him back, he would ensure that she never left his side.

“We have more stuff to bring from downstairs, come on guys, you promised to help,” Susan said walking from the window that overlooked the parking lot. “Besides, I can see your Aunt Raina is back! I imagine she and Chris here have a lot to catch up on,” she said and winked at Christian.

He flashed her a grateful smile. The kids grumbled as they left and he was left alone with his nerves. Ten minutes passed by and then the door to the apartment swung open. Christian stood up as Raina walked in.

The world shrank and all that was left was Raina and himself facing each other.

Her expression was wary and he did not blame her.

“What are you doing here?” There was pain and hurt in her voice, and he hated himself for being the source of it. She didn’t bother to ask how he had beaten her home. The answer was obvious. Billionaires could make miracles happen.

He wanted to take her in his arms there and then but he knew any overtures on his part would be unwelcome. He had so much to say to her.

“Why did you run away today?” he said and regretted the question as soon as it was out of his mouth.