Shades of Submission: Fifty by Fifty #1: Billionaire Romance Boxed Set

by Hunter, Adriana

  Finally, I got up, had a shower, got the last few things ready and said goodbye to Anna.

  “I’m going to miss you,” she told me as she hugged me goodbye.

  “I know. I’m going to miss you too. But don’t worry, we’ll see each other soon. I have to come back to testify at Tom’s trial, after all.”

  “Yeah, but it was still nice when you were just down the road. Have fun, Jules. My little sister, all grown up.”

  She waved as I drove down the street. I rolled down my window and waved back. I was leaving my old life behind.

  The further I got from Columbus, the more excited I got. With every mile marker I passed I was getting closer and closer to Blake. The drive took me just under seven hours, as I luckily didn’t get caught in any traffic. After a couple of hours I passed into Pennsylvania, and I knew that was it. I had left my home state of Ohio.

  I arrived in New York just after six. By the time I got to Blake’s apartment, I had a newfound respect for Mike. The last hour and a half or so of the drive were in so much traffic, and everyone was completely crazy, I was sure I was going to get into an accident; luckily the cars were all moving so slowly I knew that when I did eventually crash into someone or was crashed into, I wouldn’t be that hurt. You see the typical New York City traffic on TV and think “wow that sucks”, but that doesn’t even come close to how hard it is to do in person. I clutched my steering wheel with both hands, my eyes were on the constant lookout for the people who would regularly jump out into the street or the cabs who would run red lights if they could get away with it.

  Finally, however, I made it into Blake’s building, and using the key card he had mailed me a few days earlier, went back up to his penthouse apartment. Blake had told me he wouldn’t be back until later that night, that I was welcome to make myself at home.

  I scanned my key card over the scanner, then smiled to myself as I felt the elevator come to life and charge upwards. This was my home now.

  When the elevator binged lightly and the doors flew open, the smile on my face dropped into an ‘O’ of surprise. The entire apartment had been decorated with helium filled balloons, flowers, and a giant “WELCOME HOME” sign hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. And standing under it, right there in the middle, was Blake himself, holding a bouquet of a dozen red roses.

  “Hi Julia, I’m so glad you made it here safely,” he told me, coming over and wrapping me in his arms. I leaned up to meet his lips and we kissed, and I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision.

  “Me too. Oh Blake, me too. Thank you,” I whispered back when we finally broke apart. I took the roses and immediately put them in a pitcher of water after Blake realized he didn’t own a vase. No problem, I would go and buy one the next day. “They’re gorgeous, Blake. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to go to this trouble, I didn’t think you were going to be here.”

  “I told you that as a ruse to surprise you. Actually I wasn’t going to be able to be here, I really did have a few things I needed to do, but then I realized that your girlfriend only moves to be with you once, if you’re doing the relationship right, and I didn’t want to miss this for the world.”

  “Well thank you, I appreciate it.”

  “Now, would you like some Indian food? I only ordered it about ten minutes ago, so it’s still warm, and then there’s cake.”

  “You have no idea how much I would love some good food right now. I was so excited to get here all I had was a gas station muffin and some coffee,” I replied gratefully, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation, as though to scold me for ignoring its needs all day.

  “Great!” Blake replied, grabbing some plates and taking out a big, nondescript brown delivery bag with a menu stapled to the top. We never actually got to dinner, though, as before he got a chance to spoon it out I moved over and kissed him again, and before we knew it we had moved in to the bedroom to enjoy our first moments of living together. After all, it has to have its advantages.

  * * *

  The next day Blake had to go back to work, and I had to get started on the multitude of things that it turns out one has to take care of when they move interstate.

  I went to fill out some paperwork at the college I was hoping to attend the following semester, then spent three hours waiting in line at the DMV to get my license changed over to a New York one. Then, on my way home I wandered around the streets in Blake’s neighbourhood – or our neighbourhood, as I happily realized I should refer to it in the future – to find a grocery store or market of some kind to buy groceries. There was no way I was living the rest of my life living only take away food.

  All in all, by the time I got back to the apartment, with some fresh veggies, pasta, tomato sauce and garlic bread to make Blake some homemade spaghetti, he texted me he would be home in twenty minutes.

  We sat down to our first meal as live-in partners together in front of the TV, enjoying a new episode of The Blacklist while discussing what Blake and I did all day.

  * * *

  Over the next few weeks, Blake and I settled into our new lives pretty much straight away. Sure, there was the odd disagreement here and there, but not much, really.

  I immediately had a new friend in Karen, the girl who worked at the cupcake shop, and we’d often go out for coffee on her days off as I told her about life in Columbus and she taught me about how to be a real New Yorker.

  The first bit of bad news came three weeks after I’d moved. The entire time, I knew that I was going to have to testify against Tom at his trial. The police told me about it, the prosecutor spoke to me about it, and I was ready to do it. I wasn’t going to back down. After all, Tom deserved to be punished for what he did to Blake and I.

  The call came from my phone in the middle of the day. I recognized the Columbus area code, but not the number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, is this Julia Marley?”

  “Yes, speaking.”

  “This is Murray Merzetti from the DA’s office in Columbus. It’s about the trial involving your ex-boyfriend, Tom Stone.”

  “Oh, ok, yes?” My heart beat faster in my chest at Tom’s name. Was this it? Was there a trial date set?

  “Unfortunately, Mr. Stone’s lawyer filed a motion to have the charges squashed based on insufficient evidence, and the fact that they didn’t think you would come to testify, and the judge approved it.”

  I wasn’t sure I heard right, or understood what the prosecutor said.

  “What?” was the only thing that came out of his mouth.

  “Tom Stone is free to go, he’s being released from jail right now. We drew a judge who is unfortunately, a men’s rights activist, and he decided that there wasn’t enough evidence, that it was a he-said, she said situation, and that he thought it was unlikely you would come to Columbus to testify?”

  “What? That’s not true at all, of course I would have come to testify.”

  “I know you would have. Unfortunately, the judge disagreed. I wish there was something else I could do, but Tom is now a free man. I just thought you should know.”

  “So what do I do now?”

  “You can get a restraining order placed against him. He’ll have to obey it, even if he doesn’t want to. That is what I would recommend.”

  “Alright, thanks.”

  I hung up the phone, feeling numb. Subconsciously, my hand grazed my broken cheekbone, a permanent reminder of the pain Tom had inflicted in me that I was never going to get justice for anymore.

  A tear leaked from my eye and rolled down my cheek. I had wanted to testify. I had wanted everyone to know exactly what Tom did to me. He spent years trying to break me down, hurting me, trying to destroy me. I never got the chance to go after him then. I didn’t want to, I had just wanted to get away. Now, I was older. I was wiser. I was stronger. I wanted him to pay for what he did to me. And I was never going to get that chance.

  I called Blake, but he didn’t pick up his phone. I called his a
ssistant, and was told he was in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed. I was sad, but I understood. I would call back in two hours when his meeting was over, I told her.

  Despondent, I grabbed my coat and went to see the only person I knew in New York apart from Blake. Thankfully, Karen was working that day.

  “Heyyyyy, how’s my favourite New Yorker?” Karen announced happily when I wandered into the store. I was the only customer, which was a good thing, because as soon as I heard her voice I started to cry.

  “Oh my God, honey, what’s wrong?” Karen asked, immediately coming over and wrapping me in a big hug.

  I told her everything. I had never told anyone, except for Blake and Anna. But none of my friends knew. I had never told a friend what had happened until this moment. I started with Tom and I dating, finished with me leaving him, running away in the middle of the night and going to a motel on the outskirts of town for a few days, hoping he wouldn’t find me. With the note I had left behind saying I was moving on. Then with finding him at my apartment that day, and ending with the phone call I’d just had.

  “Holy shit. I had no idea, Julia. I know I make fun of you for being a small town girl, but girl, I am so impressed with you right now.”

  “I don’t feel impressed with myself. I should have just stayed in Columbus, maybe then I would have been able to testify. I didn’t need to move straight away.”

  “Not a chance. You made the right call. It sounds like the judge was going to be a dickhead anyway, and besides, you’ve already wasted enough of your life because of Tom, you had to make the right decision for you, and that was to come to New York.”

  I smiled at my new friend. “Thanks. When you put it that way, I guess it makes sense.”

  “So now you need to get your ass to a lawyer’s office and get that restraining order done.”

  “I will. Definitely. I’m just waiting for Blake to get out of a meeting so I can talk to him, I’m sure he knows someone who can file the paperwork for me.”

  “Good. Don’t let yourself get down over this, ok? He got away with it before, and it didn’t ruin your life completely. Sure, he’s gotten away with it again, but you moved past it the first time. You’ve moved on, and you’re stronger for it. You’ll do it again.”

  “Thanks. I know deep down you’re right. But I was looking forward to my day in court, as dumb as that sounds.”

  “No, I get it. But if cop shows have taught me anything, it’s that getting your day in court isn’t nearly as awesome as it’s made out to be.”

  “You’re a good friend.”

  “An even better friend would accidentally stick her finger in this red velvet icing so we’d have to share the cupcake,” Karen replied, and I laughed as she took out a plate and plastic forks for us to eat with.

  When Blake’s meeting was scheduled to be over I said goodbye to Karen, promised her we’d go out for drinks after her shift on Friday, then went home to talk to Blake.

  As soon as I told him what had happened, he promised he would come home as soon as he could, that he wanted to be there for me in person. I appreciated it, and spent the rest of the afternoon not doing the chores I’d planned, but instead sitting on the couch, watching reruns of Law and Order and thinking about how awful it was that I was never going to get justice for the beating Tom had given me outside my apartment.

  Eventually I heard the soft ping of the elevator arriving at our floor, and I immediately rushed into Blake’s open, welcoming, warm and comforting arms. There was nothing more in the world I wanted to do than to sob into them, and that’s what he let me do.

  Blake held me while I drowned my sorrows. When I had finally run out of tears, I explained to him everything that had happened. I told him all about the phone call, how I should get a restraining order, how I really wanted to get justice for what had been done to me.

  “Sorry, you must think I’m a blubbering idiot,” I finally told him when I was finished. I grabbed a couple tissues and moved over to the couch.

  “Of course not. I understand you want justice. Believe me, I want justice for you too. Unfortunately, the universe doesn’t always work that way. It sucks, but that’s the way it is. And sometimes it’s better that way, too.”

  “No, it’s not better that way. Absolutely not. This way they’re just letting him back on the streets, leaving him to do the same thing to someone else.”

  “True. But I only said sometimes, not always. You never know, though. When I was a kid, at school, I got bullied like crazy.”

  “Seriously?” Blake was so confident, so strong, so powerful a man, I couldn’t believe anyone had ever picked on him.

  “Yup. Well, I was a geek, after all. A nerd. The perfect person for all the jocks to pick on, even in grade two.”

  “You’re kidding. I never would have guessed.”

  “I’m not kidding at all. And you know, if it hadn’t been for those bullies, I wouldn’t be how I am today. I told my mom, when I was ten. She went to my teacher, and the principal, and it only made things worse. They couldn’t stop what was happening. It got so bad that I would pretend to be sick just to avoid going to school. My mom couldn’t afford to move somewhere else, so I was stuck there. There wasn’t a single day that went past that I didn’t dream of getting justice. I wished a bigger kid would come and beat them all up. I wished the school roof would collapse and crush them. I dreamed every violent end a kid can possibly dream for my bullies.”

  “That’s horrible, that you had to go through that.”

  “It was. But you know what? As I got older, that became my motivation. I knew that one day I would be richer than them. I knew I would be more powerful than them. I knew I could crush them.”

  “And you did, of course.”

  “I did. Well, I got richer anyway. At that point, I realized that I didn’t need to crush them, that my success was enough. I got more out of being bullied by them than I ever realized at the time. Obviously that doesn’t apply to everyone, and I still absolutely hate bullies more than anything on the planet, but for me, it actually worked out pretty well.”

  “But that’s the thing, you got your revenge. You’re rich, you’re powerful, you’re better looking than Brad Pitt. I’m not going to get any of that.”

  “I didn’t get my justice overnight, though. It took years. The teasing started when I was eight, and I made my first million when I was 22. That’s a long time, but I got there, and I was a better person for it.”

  “Yeah. Still, I would have loved for him to be in jail now. I’m not very good at that whole patience thing.”

  “I know. I wish he was in jail too. I wish you could have gotten your day in court. Unfortunately, sometimes the universe just kicks you in the gut.”

  “It really does. You’re right though. I know I’ll get past this. I got through it once, I can do it again. At least with a restraining order he won’t be able to come near me. I would think it was pointless, but then again, I also never imagined he would come after me when he found out I was in a new relationship. After all, we broke up years ago. I thought he had moved on.”

  That night, with Blake’s arms wrapped around me, I felt safe again. But I still couldn’t sleep. I had dreamed about getting my day in court, at pointing at the man who assaulted me when the lawyer asked me, like they do in all those TV shows, at getting to hear a jury pronounce him guilty. Now, I wasn’t going to get any of that.

  I fell asleep thinking about moving on, thinking about continuing my life with the man I loved, and leaving all the bad memories from Columbus behind.

  The next day I went with Blake to his office, which I realized I had never seen before. Instead of going up to the 32nd floor, where his office was, we went to the 28th, where apparently the legal department for his company all worked.

  I didn’t know what I was expecting. After all, the only thing I knew about big tech companies was they were known for having play areas, cool spots to hang out, couches to have naps on, that sort of thing. These
were legal offices, however, and they had none of that. There was just a long hallway that went past a bunch of medium sized offices, each with one person inside that had paperwork piled all over their desks. I had briefly considered becoming a lawyer, until I realized my grades were nowhere near good enough for it, and was glad as I saw just how much work they were all doing.

  “Wow, you have quite a few lawyers working for you.”

  “Well, some of them are accountants, too. This is the boring people floor,” Blake joked. I noticed that most people were respectful of Blake, they simply nodded at him, no waves, no jokes, nothing.

  “This place doesn’t seem to have the same tech startup vibe I read about on the internet.”

  Blake laughed. “No, it definitely doesn’t. I’m not the kind of boss that will sit around and shoot the shit with my employees. To be honest, I’m pretty sure most of them are scared of me. I like to think I’m firm but fair. I’ve never fired anyone for something stupid like pouring coffee on their computer by accident or anything like that, but I do expect good work.”

  I wasn’t surprised at all by Blake’s remark. It fit with his personality perfectly, and there was no doubt in my mind that “firm but fair” perfectly described how he interacted with his employees. He was a powerful man, but he wasn’t the mad with power type.

  Eventually we arrived at one of the offices at the end of the hall. Blake knocked on the door, and a man answered “come in”. Blake opened it, and when the man, who looked to be around Blake’s age, with slightly messy blonde hair and a nice suit looked up, he burst into a grin.

  “Heyyyy, Blake. Been a while since you’ve stooped so low as to come visit us low-level employees in person,” he told him, getting up from the desk, coming over and giving Blake a huge bear hug, which my boyfriend returned. When they separated, Blake turned to me.