Daddy In Charge_A Billionaire Romance

by Natasha Spencer

  “You should get yourself something,” Aaron broke the silence, “This will probably be the last time I ever take you out like this.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Now tell me – and be honest, please – why are you being this way?” he inquired carefully, “Sending people to attack Mina? What good will that do?”

  “You know how I feel about you, Aaron,” she started firmly, “and if I can’t have you, then no one else can.”

  “And what will that do for any of us?” he tried reasoning with her, “I’ll be unhappy, you’ll be without me, your brother will probably end up in jail-”

  “What does she have that I don’t?” Greta cut through viciously.

  “She’s an amazing person, Greta.”

  “Is there really something between you and Mina?”

  He pursed his lips and shrugged, “We make a great team when it comes to Xbox. We’re both good cooks, artists, and love to read. I could go on. We have a lot of things common between us.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “And does it matter either way?” he shot, “You and I are over. I can be with whoever I want.”

  “You broke up with me for no good reason.”

  “I broke up with you because you didn’t trust me, Greta,” he stated with a drop in his voice, “I left you because you didn’t respect me in the slightest, nor do you have any for others. I dumped you because I couldn’t see a future with you. I never could, since the beginning.”

  Greta sat still, silent. Aaron knew she was hurting, her eyes were turning red as tears pooled in them. Her knuckles were white from her grip on her glass, and he was surprised it hadn’t crushed in her hold yet.

  “I’m so sorry I gave you any hope when there was none to begin with,” he spoke softly, reaching out to her. But she moved away and downed her drink.

  “We really are over, huh?” she muttered audibly under her breath. Aaron sighed. A crying Greta was not something he had the energy to deal with.

  “I’m leaving,” she announced, but security moved in to cage her from walking away.

  “Sit down,” Aaron ordered as he leaned back in his chair, “we’re not done yet.”

  “What else do you want from me?” her voice trembled, “You’ve taken enough, more than you should have.”

  “I have taken nothing I came here for,” he stated coolly, indifferent to her emotions, “Take a seat.”

  Greta huffed indignantly and plopped onto the chair. Aaron placed his ankle over his knee and started to interrogate her.

  “I thought you hated your brother.”

  “Not enough to not ask for help.”

  “What did you tell him about us all?”

  “I only sent him pictures and said I wanted Mina gone.”

  “Who is he working with at the moment?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Then you’ll never leave,” he mentioned pointedly, and Greta gritted her teeth.

  “The Cannes.”

  “And?”

  “Rodriguez”

  “Go on.”

  “That’s all. They’re both second largest in the underworld.”

  “And what is Tyler’s plan for us? I know Mina isn’t the only one he’s after.”

  Silence.

  His hidden ear piece clicked awake, “Rodriguez often sends their people to break into banks. He’s after your money.”

  He’s taking his revenge, it dawned upon Aaron. Revenge for what? Probably for him not stopping Tyler from falling into his inconveniences. But he had tried. He’d talked to him all he could. And when he tried to pull Aaron into it and almost endanger his life and future, he had no option but to walk away alone.

  He remembers the night well, when they sneaked off the campus and away in a truck for the weekend. Tyler had told him they’d be camping. It took a while to get there. They got to a site and started to hike uphill, and for a very long time. Aaron kept asking for breaks, finding good spots to set up camp.

  “We can’t see the stars from here, Ronnie boy,” Tyler’s chuckle came out sinister. It had really thrown Aaron off the edge and his gut instincts screamed at him to turn back. Leave him there. Run away.

  But he’d never listened to himself anyway, and so followed Tyler to the top. And it felt like forever. It wasn’t until they came across a strange cabin did they stop to rest, and Aaron had been grateful but something screamed danger all across the area. Something in the air didn’t smell right. Burning, but not of wood. He remembered it all too well. It resembled the scent of weed Tyler had given him a week ago. And suddenly he really didn’t want to be here.

  “Come on in, Aaron,” Tyler called from the door, “The party hasn’t even started yet.”

  He wasn’t sure if it was really a party, but he could tell something of the sort was definitely happening in there through the windows and cracks in the wood spilling out lights that changed colors. He ran after Tyler and made sure he didn’t lose him. Aaron wasn’t the most social person and hardly knew anybody personally.

  “Aye, Colby!” Tyler called out to someone on the far end, and a mop of red hair on a pale skeleton of a person bounded towards them. Aaron was concerned his head would fall off. Tyler chatted away, so he took to observing his surroundings. Dusty, spider webs, animal rugs and mounted animal heads and skulls. A few girls he recognized from his university were present there, dressed scantily in leather and fur, paired with too high heels and colorful make up, some smoking joints on the laps of seemingly older men who were doing the same. Those men were either in suits, leather jackets, or topless.

  And it wasn’t long until more and more people arrived, and music started to pulse through the air and into the floor, travelling up into chests and making hearts thump to the beat. But Aaron didn’t like this beat. It was slow and uncomfortable. He could see people starting to rub against each other and a weird sense of claustrophobia he never had before acted up. And he decided he had had it and turned to leave, until a familiar hand dragged him by the elbow and into the crowd. Soon he was thrown into a room relatively quieter than the party outside.

  “Boys, say hello to Aaron,” Tyler introduced him to a bunch of men. They were the same older men smoking and being entertained by his university’s girls. They sat at a long table, and the others were filled with two of his own university fellows. There were three more seats left, and Tyler dragged Aaron to one and plopped right beside him.

  “We’re all here, now let’s get to business.”

  Tyler and the other two boys pulled out cases and slid it over. Aaron didn’t understand what was going on but it was clearly a negotiation of sorts. They talked with authority, respect, and wisdom. But they knew they were still committing a crime. Names of drugs thrown about, prices, amount, deals made, dealers paid. And finally came the nightmare of a lifetime.

  “Aaron here wants to work with us,” Tyler said. Aaron went pale. Absolutely still. Silence, as he looked around. They all looked back at him waiting for an answer, “don’t you, Ronnie boy?” Tyler nudged him in the ribs.

  Aaron didn’t know what he was thinking or how he managed to even move, but he was on his feet and running. Pushing past bodies and jumping over them, flying out the door and just running downhill, not once looking back. His legs burned, his chest burned crying for air, and all he could hear was blood rushing in his ears as the adrenaline poured into his system. He did not stop. He couldn’t.

  He reached the truck, grateful that Tyler always handed him the keys for the way back, knowing he would come out drunk or stoned, incapable of driving. Aaron always took care of him after, but not this time. This time, he was done with Tyler for good.

  He’d driven back to university and demanded for a helicopter to fly back home. Packed his bags with all that was important and rushed to the rooftop. No one questioned him because they knew he never used his privilege or resources unless it was an emergency. And this was the most dire one he’d ever been in.

  U
pon reaching home, his dad was the first one he rushed to. It wasn’t long before Tyler’s parents were contacted and he was dragged back home by Dave McCarthy’s security. And it was all a mess after, but he’d still managed to escape with the help of the syndicate’s branch in New York.

  Ever since then, Aaron’s life was surviving one accident after the other. It took a lot of work to get it to stop.

  He knew the war had started again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rolling around on the carpet was doing her no good, but she didn’t feel like doing anything else. A horror movie played on the large TV screen embedded into the wall, but it wasn’t as funny as she’d have liked it to be. Just plain boring. There was no one screaming, no jump scares, no element of surprise. Nothing to laugh at.

  She ended up against the base of the couch, upside down and legs thrown over the seat.

  She was bored.

  Actually, she was just waiting for Aaron. There was plenty she could do and have fun but she didn’t want anything but Aaron at the moment. She missed him. It was an empty tug at her heartstrings pulling her body to him so far away.

  Sighing, she ended up on her side, daydreaming. About cute dates, the memories, replaying the day she first met him, the cuddles from last night. A smile crept onto her face.

  Then invaded the feel of his mouth and fingers against her body and she abruptly opened her eyes, making it all go poof into thin air.

  Not now, she thought. She would start dripping wet just at the thought of Aaron’s magical lips and hands on her body. Sometimes she wondered if he ever expected her to do anything for him, but the image of the possibilities made her uncomfortable. She didn’t know if she was ready to give him that yet and it made her feel that it was unfair for Aaron to be doing this to her if she couldn’t return it.

  She groaned and started rolling around again, remembering that she didn’t even want to go any further with him until she got answers to the things Greta had said about him. The curiosity was driving her insane, and pair that with her hormones begging to be quenched of their thirst, it did not bode well when it came to balancing her mind and body to work together.

  The door creaked open and she immediately rolled onto her knees and stood up. Aaron walked in with paper bags of take-away. He looked absolutely exhausted. Mina felt bad for him, but that feeling aside she had the urge to walk up and take care of him. And so she did, holding his jacket as he shrugged it off and turning him around to loosen his tie.

  “Thank you, Mina,” he breathed, genuinely grateful. But he looked tired and disheveled, and she wondered just what exactly had happened when he was out with Greta. An awful feeling of doubt settled onto her chest, fearing that he’d given in to her enticing form and he had been claimed.

  “You won’t believe how crazy Greta can get,” he sighed in exasperation as a knife fell on Mina’s heart, “Like, I was driving and she was pissed off because I made it clear I dumped her ass for good, and she literally put me in a choke hold and pulled her hair off!”

  “W-what?!”

  “Yeah! See?” and he lifted his sleeves to show fresh red scratches running down his forearms, moving his face closer to show a few marks at his jaw. Mina had never been more appalled, and so…angry. She was angry beyond words and knew she would explode, destroying all in her path to get to Greta and let her have her signature body flip and forehead jab that had knocked every one of her opponents out cold.

  Her hands trembled, but she realized Aaron needed someone to tend to him.

  “God, she’s insane,” she breathed out the redness in her cheeks and dragged him into the kitchen where he guided her to where the first aid kit was. She grabbed it from within a cabinet under the sink and hopped onto the stool next to his, popping the lid open and getting to work.

  “How’d you get her off of you?”

  “Well,” he started as she reached up with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol, “I – ow – got out of the car and dragged her out from her side and carried her over to her porch and dumped her there. Ran back to the car and made a run for it. Never am I dealing with her ever again. She can forget me offering her any form of protection or assistance from now on.”

  “She needs help, Aaron,” Mina said softly, an odd wave of sympathy overtaking her anger, “She needs to see a therapist or something. Serious anger issues.”

  “Her whole family is that way,” he said, “and she’s already tried for therapy. This is still a lot better than before, but it doesn’t seem like she wants to go further beyond it.”

  “I just hope things go right for all of us,” she finished, and dabbed away at his forearm.

  “You seem a little down today,” he noted, “is everything okay?”

  “Hmm?” her head shot up to meet his gaze, “Yeah! All’s good,” she went back to work, “I caught up with her work and set it aside earlier than I thought I would have. Gale showed me the studio you had cleaned up for me at the back and I’ve gotten everything in order there. It’s wonderful, really. You should see the little hammock I made there. I also strung up the place with fairy lights and it’s really relaxing to be there once it’s dark. Also, I-”

  “Mina,” he said softly, lifting her face to meet his chin, “you’re rambling.”

  “Oh, am I? I thought I was usually very talkative so this is kinda new to hear from y-”

  “What happened?” he prodded gently, “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded vigorously enough for him to let go of her face, and she started packing up the kit. She moved to put it away, “I’ll heat up the food for us.”

  “It’s warm enough,” he claimed as his hand shot out to grab her from passing by him. He pulled her back and held her cheek, forcing her to look at him, “Now tell me what’s wrong.”

  She stared into each of his eyes, trying to come up with anything to get away. She didn’t want to put him through this just yet. It had been a tiring day.

  “Tell me,” he ordered. She sighed and settled her cheek into his palm, face contorting in disdain.

  “Greta called me before you did,” she explained, “saying something about how you would never go far enough with anyone, or give into certain things because your biological mom was involved somehow and I kinda freaked out because we’ve already done certain things and I don’t wanna go on knowing that we won’t get anywhere with it-”

  She was silenced by his soft lips molding against hers, his hand reaching out to her waist to pull her close and wrap her up in him. His kiss was slow and gentle, hand running into her hair, fingers lightly massaging her scalp. It was sweet, and very loving.

  He pulled away slowly looking into her eyes, “There is definitely a lot you need to know. And I owe you that because I want to go to lengths even I haven’t gone yet, at whatever pace you decide. And all with you, no one else. You make me feel safe, Mina. I don’t know how to say it, but I know you won’t try to hurt me the way others have. And something tells me you know the pain…”

  “I have to admit, there are a few things about me you should know, too,” she confessed, “Should we do this after eating?”

  “Sure, whatever you feel best doing,” he smiled at her, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. She relaxed into his touch, leaning forward and nuzzling her head in his chest. He held her securely, knowing she felt how he did in her arms. As if nothing in the world could hurt them.

  They took the food to the living room and got comfortable on the couch, slurping away at their noodles. It didn’t take long for them to unconsciously fall into a match of who could slurp the longest. Then the loudest. Then the most noodles in a slurp. Mina was surprised they even had enough noodles for it. It was a rather large portion with one box enough for two and Mina was not a light eater.

  After they were done and satisfied, he opened his arms to her. She crawled into the carefully, and he held her as he leaned back against the arm of the couch, her fitting perfectly and comfortably between his legs. With her stomach full and her body w
rapped up in warmth, she swore she would fall asleep.

  “We could talk tomorrow,” he said with a yawn, “We’re both too sleepy to do anything.”

  “Let’s head to bed right now,” she agreed, “Come on, we gotta wash up, too.”

  Mina was up on her feet, wobbling a little from fatigue. Aaron stumbled and almost fell. They helped each other to the bathroom, brushed their teeth, and headed off to bed. Mina waited as she snuggled in the blankets while Aaron changed in his wardrobe. He came out in nothing but shorts, and turned the AC on as he got into bed with Mina. He knew the bed arranged for Mina in her new studio would go to waste, but he didn’t want Gale getting suspicious, or have anything to tease him of.

  She was quick to note his presence and snuggled right up to his chest. He slithered his arm under her head and placed the other one over her waist, drawing her closer and placing his chin over her head. Aaron had never felt so much peace and comfort in his life, and neither had Mina.

  It didn’t take long for the either of them to fall into a deep slumber. But something told them that it might be the last of peaceful nights they had.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mina woke up to something softly stroking her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open to Aaron gazing down at her. His lips quirked into a smile and he pulled her closer, snuggling her into himself.

  “Morning,” he grunted. His morning voice was deep and it rumbled through his chest. Mina almost melted at the sound of it, “Did you sleep well.”

  “Better than ever, really,” she confessed, moving in impossibly closer and settling her head in the crook of his neck.

  “That tickles,” he chuckled, his body shaking. But Mina felt extremely attracted to the feeling of calmness he was exuding and wanted nothing more than to have her fill bathing in it, “We need to have breakfast. I’ll be late for work.”

  “Don’t go…” she murmured, “Please?”