The Billionaire's Club Trilogy: Deluxe Box Set

by C. L. Donley

  “Ouch,” he said, his hand nursing his tender mouth.

  “It doesn’t look like I did a damn thing,” Kim muttered somewhat regrettably.

  “I still look good?” he flirted, like he was in high school. She loved the idea of meeting Bel in high school. She could see him wearing one of those big ass bubble goose Sub Zero jackets the boys used to rock that made her crazy. Cutting class and hiding in the dark gymnasium under some bleachers. Bel trying to get it. And succeeding. She would’ve up and re-lived her mother’s entire life if she met Bel in high school.

  She smiled, as her gaze traveled down to his mouth. His pulse elevated. Dammit, how long was he going to have to wait, he thought. He started to get a familiar tinge of deja vu.

  Surely she wouldn’t try it again?

  Sure enough, her hand flew to his face, this time lazily and carrying a splint. He grabbed her wrist dissolving in laughter that she was intent on hitting him whenever they got close. She laughed back at him and squirmed. They stood in the lounge, playfighting like teenagers. He wouldn’t let her go, and the sight, sounds, and scent of him were starting to melt her. Her nipples became taut, a dull ache between her legs. Just like when she was fourteen and boys were the most potent magic that existed in life.

  The medical cavalry was on their way down the hall of the lobby to retrieve them both, they could see. Bel stopped and let his eyes find hers. He said nothing, just gave her a nod in their direction.

  Kim took a deep breath and her legs began to move. They walked back towards Jabari’s hospital room, hand in hand.

  Forty Four

  Chapter 44

  Later that afternoon they all met at Kim’s apartment less than a mile from the hospital. Kim finally changed out of her jumpsuit from the night before and into a comfortable yet stylish looking pair of cashmere pajama pants and a simple t-shirt, her hair in a bun. She was going to wear something nicer, but it took her twenty minutes just to change into that with one good hand, and there was no way she was letting him help her. Bel had yet to see her so casual, and he was enamored.

  Mya and Amara insisted on getting barbecue from their favorite place, Jack’s Barbecue. They hadn’t been in years, and much to their delight, it was just the same as they remembered. Kim ate there all the time, so she instead played host making drinks and ensuring everyone had their fill. Her heart was full with her best friends and their men making hospitable use of her lavish apartment, but each time she thought of Jabari, which was about every ten seconds, her full heart pumped twice the level of heartache around her body. The guys all sat on one side of her large white sectional while the girls sat at the long dining table that split the open living room and kitchen. Mya and Dale laughingly recalled their afternoon, meeting Mya’s family for the first time.

  “It was…lovingly awkward,” Dale underplayed.

  “Dale asked my dad’s permission to marry me. Which he did not grant,” Mya added matter-of-factly, raising her eyebrows.

  “Oh shit,” Bel laughed.

  “On what grounds?” asked Grayson.

  “On the grounds that he was not a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.”

  “Really????” Kim whined.

  “The joining fee is only like, $350,” Dale said.

  Kim made an elaborate scene of falling on the floor as if unconscious. Mya and Amara fell all over themselves laughing. They were all picturing 36-year-old Dale in red and white with a cane, despite the fact that they really, really didn’t want to. Bel just shook his head.

  “So what happened?”

  “So then I had to talk to my dad in private, Pride and Prejudice-style. And then he agreed,” said Mya.

  “What did you say?” Grayson smiled.

  “I just…explained that we were in love, and that… he’s the best man I’ve ever met.”

  Awwws could be heard around the room as Mya shyly refused to look in the direction of Dale, who was looking right at her from across the couch.

  Getting actual romantic feelings out of Mya was like pulling teeth so when he got anything, especially publicly, he relished it.

  In the past, he always gravitated toward openly affectionate women since it’s what he craved, but he found he preferred a few sincere gestures to a gaggle of insincere ones. Especially one from Mya, who shared her opinions very rarely on any matters, though he knew she was very opinionated. Besides, Mya had made Dale feel like the fucking man pretty much from the beginning, even when she hated him. He already knew he was the man, for the most part, he just wasn’t used to having that feeling foisted upon him. Plus she was gorgeous, and her body was ridiculous. And he was in love with her. He felt lucky and grateful because he would’ve never found a girl like her on his own, because he simply wasn’t looking for a girl like her.

  Kim was feeling a little bit envious and heartsick as she looked on at the two of them, obviously preoccupied with the deep bond that had forged between them in less than a year. She sensed that everyone was picking up on her energy, especially Bel, so she started dramatically singing the song from Dreamgirls that closely matched up Mya’s romantic words, revealing that she, of course, had yet another talent. Amara tried to join in but had to stop to laugh when Kim was outdoing her. Grayson was starting to understand the attraction between Kim and Bel and realized that he approved.

  Kim and Bel had politely kept their distance most of the afternoon, but now the quartet was leaving, and she and Bel would be alone once Amara and company left the apartment for the airport.

  The girls gave each other lengthy hugs, promising to meet up again under less tragic circumstances.

  “Wait for me downstairs,” Amara told the group, alluding to the need to talk to her friend alone.

  “What about Bel?” Grayson motioned to Bel still on the couch.”

  “He stays,” Amara said.

  “Fuck that, I want a front row seat,” Dale said.

  “Me too,” said Mya.

  “Out,” Bel said from his seat. Bel’s brother Fahid sat politely next to him on the couch.

  “Fahid, we need a full recounting, bro.”

  He nodded. Bel smiled as three of them filed out, and Amara and Kim remained.

  Amara had her arms folded, looking down at the carpet. Bel waited for Amara to start.

  “Did you really proceed to shit, and then eat, at my fucking wedding?”

  “Amara, listen—”

  “Were you ever planning on telling me?”

  “I don’t know. And since it was really none of your business, I didn’t have to know.”

  “You’re right; it was none of my business. Which is why I stayed out of it. And now look where the fuck we are.”

  “Where are we?”

  “The two of you are at each other’s throats and there’s a little baby fighting for his life in the hospital.”

  “Jabari being in the hospital has nothing to do with you.”

  “Yes it fucking does, it has everything to do with me,” Amara gasped as she broke down, “because it’s my fault that you met in the first place, and it’s my fault that this shit never got ironed out. Because you both know me, but not each other, and if you would’ve just talked to me about what was going on, instead of tiptoe-ing around like I can’t handle any fuckin’ thing, I would’ve been able to straighten you both out.”

  Amara’s words broke Bel’s heart. Is there anything women weren’t willing to blame themselves for? His mother blamed herself endlessly for his father’s irresponsible indiscretions. Was it all some sick psychological way to get a man to come clean, some Russian roulette that a lesser man was always willing to let them lose?

  “You’re wrong this time, Amara. It’s my fault, not yours. And you don’t know me, I’m afraid.”

  Amara looked puzzled. Her heart accelerated suddenly as she felt the atmosphere shift, like he was about to announce that he was really a woman, an assassin, her father. Whatever the secret was, it was clearly an intense weight on him.

  “My name is Prince
Belkacem al Malwali of Ghassan. King Belkacem, actually.”

  “Long may he reign,” Fahid suddenly said.

  The fuck?

  Amara was silent.

  “Is this where you ask me to help you wire transfer a billion dollars?”

  “Amara—”

  “What the fuck does that have to do you with you ghosting my best friend? At my wedding, Bel? If anything it just makes it worse. What kind of king does some fool shit like that?”

  “I wasn’t the king at the time.”

  “…Okay?? What difference does that make?”

  “A big fuckin’ one, Amara. I got…a hell of a lot on my plate right now, girl. I can’t be your boss anymore, I’m sorry. I’m in Ghassan full time now. No more fuckin’ around.”

  Amara stared at him blankly.

  “Being the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company was just you ‘fuckin’ around?’”

  “Honestly? Yes.”

  Oh shit, Kim thought. Maybe she did get the hot one.

  “So… who’s gonna run the damn thing?”

  “You want to?”

  “Pssh, no thanks,” Amara widened her eyes.

  He smiled. She would make a great CEO.

  “I scheduled an interview with your husband.”

  “Halle-frickin-lujah,” she said, and he laughed. Grayson needed a job like nobody’s business. She’d probably quit once Grayson became her boss. Again. But not for another week or two, because sex with the boss was definitely happening. Okay, maybe a month. Two months. Okay, maybe she wasn’t going to quit.

  “And don’t worry about Kim and me, we’ll be fine.”

  Amara smiled and looked back at her friend with a glaring suspicion. Kim hadn’t told her that she and Bel patched things up.

  Kim just rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, I see,” Amara nodded slowly. Kim was trying to play hard to get, but even Amara knew she stood no chance. Still, knowing that Bel had initially ghosted her unsettled her.

  “So what the what, Bel? Do you love her or do you hate her? I’m supposed to be kicking your ass right now.”

  “I’m in love with her. And I want her to be my queen.”

  Amara slowly turned her head back to Kim’s direction, wide-eyed and smiling, mouth agape.

  Kim couldn’t help giggling at her reaction.

  Mya was right, Amara did seem to know something about Bel that she didn’t.

  “I have not agreed to that shit,” Kim loudly protested.

  “She will,” Bel said in a sultry way that Amara was unfamiliar with.

  Amara looked back at Bel who was looking at Kim, then back at Kim.

  “Okay, well I think that’s my cue to leave. Bel, can we drop Fahid off at your hotel?”

  “Please,” Bel said, without shifting his gaze.

  Kim gulped.

  Amara the freak, Kim thought. Taking the cue and clearing the room?? Her little girl was all grown up. She still had a hard time picturing Amara with the experience she so clearly had.

  “So I guess…this is goodbye?” Amara said somewhat pitifully.

  Bel felt a little emotional. Was it only two years ago this wide-eyed beauty absconded away with the weirdo Grayson’s heart and completed him? And then had a wedding and completed them all??

  “We can be here for Thanksgiving,” he said.

  “Or we could come there?” Amara asked.

  “Even better.”

  “What you did was fucked up,” Amara said, remembering her mission.

  “I know. I’m going to make it up to her, I promise.”

  “I hope so, Bel. I don’t want to have to pull out the big guns, but I will,” she said, having no clue what the big guns were. Bel smiled.

  Amara turned to Kim on her way out.

  “You remember the advice you gave me, the night I went to that party in Malibu?”

  “Vaguely,” Kim laughed.

  “Well… back atcha, Lisa McDowell,” Amara covertly urged.

  “Girl, bye.”

  “Bye!” Amara said in an exaggerated message only Kim understood.

  Suddenly they were alone as Amara and Fahid made their exit, closing the door behind them.

  The energy crackled between them in the conspicuously silent apartment. Yet there was no tension. Obviously, they were about to fuck like mad. Kim had very little control, looking in disbelief at Bel, here in her Nashville highrise, on her Nashville couch like some vivid hallucination. But Kim was very good at appearing to have control, particularly so when she had none.

  “You haven’t eaten,” he said, staring her down.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Eat. You’re gonna need the energy.”

  A potent rush of blood sent shocks to her middle yet she remained stone-faced. Did he expect her to loudly deny it like some basic bitch? He must’ve forgotten. Should she remind him?

  “I don’t need to eat, because you will be doing all the work, and I won’t be doing a damn thing,” she replied. He slowly licked his lips as he read her steady brown eyes.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  “We will see,” she challenged. He slowly grinned.

  While Kim pretended to be busy in the kitchen, lazily Bel got up from the couch and gave himself a tour of the apartment, looking for a good starting point. The bedroom? Kim had a giant bedroom with very high ceilings, industrial brick walls and a massive window that overlooked the skyline. He studied the ensuite which was impressive, a giant room with a floating vanity and rain shower head in the far corner facing a frosted window. It even had a bench, that would do nicely.

  He heard Kim’s phone ring from the kitchen. Kim answered, tentatively.

  “Is he okay?” he suddenly heard. There was a clamor in his guts as he tried not to move, but his legs carried him back to the living room of their own volition.

  Kim was frozen at the kitchen island, looking at the cast iron sink, deep in concentration at the muffled warbling coming through her cell phone. Her splint-covered hand was trying to filter out the sound of the running faucet through her other ear. She could’ve just shut it off. She was flustered.

  She suddenly met eyes with Bel. Wide eyed, a solitary tear flowed down her cheek.

  Why didn’t he feel anything? No deep dread? Was his baby gone to heaven already? He went to the kitchen island and shut the faucet off himself.

  “So what does that mean?” she answered. A quick, buoyant sounding response came from the muffled warbly voice.

  “Holy shit!” she said, almost laughing, but clearly crying. He heard a laughing reply.

  She ended the call with “thank you!” and hung up.

  “He’s gonna be okay!” she said.

  “How? What happened?”

  “His liver! It just… started working!

  “What? How?”

  “They don’t know! They said he must’ve metabolized the drug out of his system!!”

  “Holy shit…” Bel repeated. Even he couldn’t believe his luck. Everything really was going to be okay.

  Which meant Kim was going to be his queen.

  “Thank you, Jesus!” Kim suddenly exclaimed, then she broke down, right there at the kitchen counter. Just like she had on the jet when it seemed like she would finally be able to consummate a relationship. And it broke his heart the same way, to see his strong, level-headed queen so broken down by life, so broken down by him. His plans shifted again in his mind. That Jabari was getting better on his own was a bullet he’d dodged. He owed Jabari a solid for the rest of his life for this one. He smiled, thinking of the rest of his son’s life. He indeed felt a weight lifting as well. Felt the energy to face whatever he needed to face next.

  “I can still sue the shit out of that daycare and I’m going to,” she sobbed, “pain and mutherfuckin’ suffering— and they can suck the hospital bill too!” she suddenly spat out, blotchy and swollen-faced.

  Kim suddenly, bizarrely, reached for her phone again.

  “Kim, our son’s gon
na live. Let it go,” Bel said.

  “Oh fuck you, let it go! I still hate you so you can shut the fuck up!” she raised her voice as she paced. “I was gonna let you pity-fuck me but that shit’s not happenin’ now!” Kim returned her attention to her phone.

  Bel just looked at her and smirked. She was really hot and bothered now.

  There was nothing left that needed her undivided attention, no war left to focus on but the one going on inside. All that fire tamped down by grief and fear now was spouting like a geyser. And soon he would be too. Fuuuck, he thought as a shiver went through him. He had to keep it together.

  “We had a deal,” he said.

  “Fuck a deal, you said if everything went according to plan! Well, nothing did, and you didn’t do anything! Jabari did that!”

  Her mind shot back to earlier that morning like a rock in a sling, as if to correct her. Bel holding Jabari in his arms, Bel singing to him. Kim’s heart pounded fiercely, and she shook. Bel the healer, opening vaginas and reversing liver damage. If she didn’t know him better, she’d think he was an angel.

  “The deal was, if everything turned out fine, that you would come with me.”

  “Bel, you’re fuckin’ delusional,” she scoffed, “I have a life, a career, a family…” she looked down, perusing her phone again. She was sort of in denial it seemed, a bit hysterical. He was going to be here for at least another month. Did she really conceive of spending the next several weeks, the next several hours, spurning his advances? He was almost beginning to take her rejection personally.

  Bel slowly walked to where she was in the kitchen, took the phone out of her hand and put it down on the island.

  They hadn’t been this close again yet.

  She looked at him with those eyes. This time he didn’t flinch. He let them burn him.

  “You wanna get clocked on the other side, Bel?”

  “Enough.”

  “I will fuckin’ break both my hands on your fuckin’ face Bel, back the fuck up!”

  “You’re really angry with me,” he simply said.