The Billionaire's Wife: The Complete Collection (A BDSM Erotic Romance Novel)

by Cassidy, Chloe

  “It’s just funny. Everyone else in the rat race is struggling to get ahead. They’re struggling to achieve exactly what you have and here you are struggling to get away from it.” His eyes look tired and he manages half a smile as if to let me know that the irony of it hadn’t slipped by him.

  “Anyway…” Gideon sits up and scoots himself to the end of the bed. He reaches down and begins to dress himself in silence.

  “Then why not be Ricky? I mean you have the means to do it, right? Why not get yourself a place somewhere, get a regular job and live a regular life if that’s what you want? I could even come with you… if you wanted me to, I mean.” I give him a full beaming smile. “We could live in a whole new town, a whole new state…a whole new country. You go to work at the office every day, me in a small café. I’m pretty experienced in living the simple life, you know, I could probably teach you a thing or two.” He turns to me and chuckles.

  “Is that so?” he kisses my ankle, trailing kisses up to my thigh, over my belly, over my chest and up to my lips. “If only it were that simple.” With one last kiss on my lips he stands and buttons his pants. “I hate to run but I need to go in to the office and sort out a few things.” Disappointment falls heavily in the pit of my stomach and I sit up, reaching for my pajamas off the end of the bed.

  “Back to real life, huh?” He looks hurt but I feel hurt and I want to make sure that he knows it.

  “I’ll call you, okay?” He goes to the bedroom door, pulling his cell phone out of his pants pocket. “I can see myself out.”

  I hear the front door close and pull the blankets over me, wrapping myself up like a burrito. I wonder if he realizes just how much he is treating me like an escort. He shows up when he feels like it for a quick fuck and despite the fact that he swears there is more to it than that, he almost always finds an excuse to walk out of the door once we’ve finished. I pull the blanket up to my face and wonder if life with Gideon Lambert would always be this way. Perhaps that’s why his wife left in the first place; perhaps he treated her like a hooker too. I hate myself for even thinking this last thought and as I try to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why he treated me like one I begin to nod off.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Anything new this morning?” Allison sets my coffee mug down in front of me as I scour through the job ads.

  “Nothing I haven’t already applied for.” Since Gideon walked out for the last time last week I took it upon myself to get my shit straightened out. I started applying for every job under the sun, qualified or not. I need a change and unlike Gideon I’m not afraid to go and get what I want because of what other people might think. “I do have that stewardess interview this afternoon though so fingers crossed!” I cross my fingers and smile when Allison does the same. “I’m not hopeful but it could be a pretty awesome job at least for a little while until I find something better.”

  “How cool would that be? Oh! Could you take me on free vacations? Could we go to Hawaii?!”

  “Well, you’re getting a bit ahead of me here, Allie. Let’s get me the job first, and then we’ll talk about taking advantages of the benefits.” I know I owe her a vacation though; I owe her something for listening to me crying over Gideon for the past week.

  “You will totally get it, I know you will. I have a good feeling about this one, Missy.”

  “You think?” I shut the lid of my laptop and take a sip of my coffee. “It would be nice to have something go right for a change. I feel like I’ve been stuck in this rut and no matter what I do I can’t get out, but this… well this might be my chance. Hell, it has to be better than working as a barista forever right? Although, I will miss those pumpkin scones.” Allison laughs.

  “I will buy you a damn pumpkin scone; just make sure you get this job because we need a vacation bad!”

  “I’ll try, but it’s not exactly like I have experience in being an air stewardess…”

  “Well, did they say you needed experience?” I shake my head and take another sip of my coffee.

  “No, it was really weird actually, I always figured you needed some kind of training but it said ‘no training necessary’ so I guess they do on the job training? At least, I hope they do because hell if I know what I’m doing.”

  “I can see it now, ‘in the event of emergency use the breathy mask thing and if we crash get the hell out of the plane if you can.”

  Over the past week I think I have become closer to Allison than I have ever been. Sure, we’ve been through the usual college drama, breakups, failing classes etc. but this thing with Gideon takes the cake. I was so sure that he had come back when he showed up last week, that now that he’d let me in he would pick me as his “one” and we would live happily ever after. I’d even dared to believe that he could live as Ricky, that we could be happy together… but then he hadn’t called. By day three of him not calling I was a mess and it was up to Allison to pull me back together. ‘Fuck him,’ she’d said, it was ‘his loss’ although it didn’t feel like it, it still doesn’t feel like it. I don’t know that I’ll ever ‘get over’ Gideon or the idea of Ricky and I living happily ever after, but I do know that I need to go somewhere, I need to do something and if this new job pans out it could be just what I need to start again.

  “What time’s your interview this afternoon? You need me to drop you off?” I shake my head, no.

  “I’ve got it covered, thanks. I could use a little help with getting ready though. I want to really stun them, you know, look professional but also gorgeous, just in case the guy interviewing me is hot.” Allison smirks.

  “What if it’s a woman interviewing you?” I press my lips together.

  “Well, in that case I will look so gorgeous that she hires me just so she can get makeup tips from me.”

  “We are hopeful today aren’t we?” Allison sets her mug down on the table. “Sure, I can help you get ready, just let me know when you want me.”

  “I was thinking my white blouse and navy skirt, hair up and your incredible makeup skills?” Allison smiles at my acknowledgement of her skills.

  “Good plan, you’ll look fantastic.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  It takes a grand total of three hours and fifteen minutes to get me ready for the interview, but finally I look the part. My hair is slicked back in to a high ponytail, a barrette placed neatly on top of the band holding it. My navy pencil skirt hits just at my knees and my white blouse is tucked neatly in to the top of it. Allison reassures me that I look equal parts professional and sexy, and I feel confident until I get to the car. Once the keys are in the ignition the butterflies start. I hate interviews; I always get so nervous that I turn in to a stuttering wreck whose every other word is ‘umm.’ Add in to the equation that I am almost certain that this is my big chance at change and the lingering ache that Gideon left behind and I feel like I’m about to march myself in front of a firing squad.

  The whole drive to the airport I can feel the butterflies fluttering in my stomach and by the time I pull up in the private parking lot I am almost certain that I’m going to throw up. I hope to God that I don’t throw up on anyone as I head in to the building. It’s a small annex next to the main two terminals of the airport and behind it I can see a number of smaller private jets and planes sitting on the tarmac behind the wired fence.

  “Good afternoon, can I help you?” The lady behind the reception desk gives me a brief smile, the kind of smile that’s expected and not given freely.

  “Oh, yes, I have an interview at 3:30 with El Airlines.” She flips through a large appointment book on her desk and then starts to click the mouse of her computer.

  “What did you say your name was?” I hadn’t given her my name and she knew full well that I hadn’t.

  “Gainsborough, Melissa Gainsborough.” The woman turns back to her computer screen and clicks furiously at her mouse for a few more minutes.

  “And you’re sure it’s with El Airlines?” I nod. “I didn’t even
know they were hiring.” I smile and shrug. “Hmm, I don’t see anything in here, I’ll have to go and ask Mr. Lambert about it, fortunately he’s in the office this afternoon, he’s hardly ever here.” My heart stops still as she says his name. Surely there had to be more than one Lambert in this city. The receptionist gets up from her desk with a tired sigh. “Help yourself to something to drink from the mini fridge over there, I’ll just go and check with him for you and see what’s going on.” I want to ask her then and there, find out ‘Mr. Lambert’s’ first name, surely it wasn’t Gideon. I couldn’t possibly be that unlucky. My mouth goes dry and I take a look inside the small mini fridge that sits by the window overlooking the tarmac. Sprite or ginger ale is all there is to offer so I grab a Sprite and crack it open while watching a small plane circling on the tarmac. I wonder if these are the types of planes that I will be working on, they’re a far cry from the big airliners I’d expected. I’d been so excited about the possibility of a new job that I hadn’t researched the company at all and now come to find out it’s a small plane company AND the owner of the company could well be the very man I’m trying to run away from to start over.

  “Miss. Gainsborough?” the receptionist stands in a door off to the side.

  “Yes?”

  “Mr. Lambert would like to see you in his office. I’m sorry for the mix up.” Shit, each time she says his name I feel my stomach turn over but as I walk towards her I still hold on to the smallest hope that Mr. Lambert is actually Mr. Lampert or possibly Mr. Herbert Lambert or… anything but Gideon. The secretary holds open the door for me and once I step inside the small office she shuts the door behind me and I’m left in the small room face to face with Gideon Lambert.

  “Well what a pleasant surprise Miss. Gainsborough.” I can tell from the look on his face that he’d been expecting me. He, unlike me, had known exactly who was walking in the door and I hated him for not giving me any chance to prepare like he had had the opportunity to do. “Please sit” he gestures to a chair in front of his desk but I don’t sit down, I can’t sit down. I can’t even begin to formulate the words that my mouth wants me to throw at him. “Please?”

  “No, thank you. I think I should go.” I turn and head for the door again but his voice stops me in my tracks.

  “Melissa.” I want so badly to walk away, to close this chapter and move on, that’s what I’d been trying to do with this damn interview but here he was again, trampling through my life like an elephant in a patch of daisies.

  “What, Gideon? What? What do you want from me? You tell me that I’m more than just a fuck to you, you open up to me and then I don’t hear from you for a week. You can’t have it both ways, you can’t be the handsome billionaire who fucks the pretty girls and then walks away, no strings attached while telling me that I’m more than just a fuck.” I can feel the tears welling in my eyes and all I can think of is the hours of time that Allison put in to my makeup. I wipe at my eye liner in a fruitless effort to stop it from streaming down my face when the tears spill over.

  “Melissa…” I interrupt him, my tired tirade not quite complete.

  “This was supposed to be something big for me, Gideon. This was supposed to be a change, something to help me forget what an asshole you’ve been and then… poof! Here you are again! I’m sick of you trampling all over my life, Gideon. I just can’t do this anymore.” With these final words I leave his office, breeze past the receptionist and head out to my car.

  “For fuck’s sake, Melissa! Would you just listen to me?” Gideon comes storming out of the building as I fumble for my keys.

  “What, Gideon? Do you want to tell me how things will be different this time? How I’m not just another fuck?” I turn around, glaring at him and realizing that we’ve caught the attention of a couple of middle aged men who are heading in to the annex. I share my glare with them and they hurry inside the building.

  “I do want things to be different, Melissa.” He lowers his voice as he comes closer. “I have been thinking about what you said last week, about Ricky, about the café, about moving and starting over.” I don’t want to hear him say what I know he’s going to say next. I can’t keep giving myself to him only to be left waiting and pining like a lovesick teenager. “I want to start over with you.” He puts his hands on my bare arm and I feel the sticky warmth of his sweaty palms.

  “Gideon that was a stupid fantasy. People don’t just do things like that; it’s just not how the world works. You’ve already made it very clear to me what you want and I just can’t give it anymore. I give up. Just go back to your empire and let me get back to my stupid little life.” I get in the car, I can see the hurt on his face and I know that he wants so badly to say something to stop me but I don’t want to hear it. I want to go home; I want to drink enough to forget what has just happened and most of all I want to forget Gideon Lambert.

  I reverse out of my space but as I go to pull forward Gideon stands in front of the car. I flash a blank stare at him, daring him to test me.

  “Melissa, just stop!” He doesn’t move knowing full well that I’m not going to run him over no matter how much I might like to. I put the car in park and sit sullenly staring at him. “Please, give me a chance. I’m sorry I was an asshole. I’m sorry I fucked up.” His eyes turn from desperate to pleading. “Please? I was scared. I didn’t want you to leave me too.” He had a funny way of showing how much he wanted me to stay that was for sure. “Please…” The desperation in his voice was strangling him. I reverse the car in to a parking space and get out again. Gideon meets me at the car door.

  “Gideon, I want to help, I really do want to help, but being scared is not a good enough reason to treat me the way you have. I need more; I deserve more than a booty call once in a while and not so much as a phone call for a week after. I mean, I know I’m not great prize to be won but I sure as hell deserve better than that.” This time I’m the one whose eyes are doing the pleading, “don’t I?”

  “Melissa, I’m sorry. I can’t say enough about how sorry I am. I just… nothing makes sense. I just don’t know how to cut and run. For as long as I can remember, I have been the great Gideon Lambert, billionaire extraordinaire. You asking me to give that up just… I don’t know.”

  “Don’t pin that on me, Gideon. You’re the one who plays the role of Ricky; you’re the one who told me you wished you could live a simpler life. I just gave you a solution and it’s hardly my fault if that solution isn’t easy enough for you. Either you want it or you don’t, it really is as simple as that but I’m not going to keep hanging around like a lost puppy while you figure it out.”

  “Will you still come with me? Can we still start again?” My heart is begging me to say yes but I can’t. I can’t just run away with a once billionaire and start life over again… can I? I mean, what about Allison? What about my life… What about…

  “I don’t know Gideon. This isn’t exactly the whirlwind romance it was supposed to be.”

  “But it can still have a happy ending?” He holds out his hand for mine and without thinking I give it to him. His fingers wrap around mine and he gives me a gentle smile before lifting my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “Just give me a chance, one more chance, Melissa.” He starts to tug me back towards the annex. I follow him without putting up a fight, assuming he’s looking to take our more than public disagreement inside to prevent any more onlookers. “I want to show you something.” We breeze in the front door, past the two gentlemen who had watched us briefly and who were now sitting in the waiting room. Past the receptionist who had a look of pure intrigue on her face as she watched us head back in to Gideon’s office. I bet she’s never seen an interview quite like this before and I’m fairly certain that the two men from the parking lot have filled her in on the gossip.

  Gideon closes the door to his office and I begin to wonder if he’s not just interested in another quick release and willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

  “Come on” he waves as I p
ause at the chair in front of his desk, almost sitting down again. Gideon pulls me towards the glass door in the corner of the office; it leads out to the tarmac. The whirring of propellers assaults my ears as we step out on to the tarmac and Gideon leads me past an array of perfectly painted small planes. At the end of the row is a larger, more luxurious plane, that I soon find out is a private jet. Gideon tugs my hand and pulls me up the steps of the plane. He nods at the stewardess and takes me back to a pair of thick white leather recliners. “Sit, please.” He asks and tells me to sit at the same time before reaching down and snapping together my seatbelt. “I’ll be right back.” Gideon walks straight past the stewardess and in to the cockpit where I could only just see the top of two white hats. Gideon leans down between the two hats and his voice is too low for me to actually hear what he is saying.