“Poorer, Brianna. The last thing you need to be saying if you live in a 3 million dollar apartment is that you’re poor. Anyway, that’s the money your mom has given you. Your father will no doubt have an apartment he can subsidize for you. That’s how I rent this. As staff I qualified for a subsidized rental. As his daughter he’ll probably just tell you to pick one.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want anything from Elias. I’d ask Roger to adopt me, but he doesn’t want me either. What was your surname? I might choose that and pretend you’re my real mom.” She giggled.
“I’m like five years older than you.” I swatted her arm.
We chatted almost until six am. Brianna told me about her upbringing and I shared mine. Our lives were worlds apart and yet we shared the common ground of her father. I realized that vast wealth was normal to Brianna and that it was unrealistic to expect her suddenly to change overnight. She didn’t understand what it was like to watch every dollar. It didn’t mean I couldn’t begin to show her though.
I’d decided that for now I would live off some of my savings and take a break. At this time I couldn’t return to work for Eli with things as they were. I’d have to call him tomorrow.
The wine made me an unhappy drunk and as I left Brianna who’d fallen asleep on the couch and crawled under my comforter, I missed Eli. We’d only been together for fifteen days and yet sleeping without him just didn’t seem right. My bed was extra cold because of the lack of heating and as I tried to sleep, I wished for those strong warm arms enveloping me. But I knew, as much as I missed him and as much as we needed to talk our own issues through, until he’d sorted out his relationship with his daughter, we had no future. Had he really meant what he’d said about children? If so, my marriage was over before it had fully begun.
Eli
What the hell had happened in the space of a few hours? One moment I was about to announce the happiest news of my recent life and then my wife had left me. I poured myself a scotch, sat back in my leather chair at my desk and I powered up my laptop, retrieving the disks from my drawer. I placed one inside and pressed the screen, flipping through the photos. Brianna when she was first born, as a toddler, her first day at school, her ninth birthday taken just before her mom and my marriage ended. Reflecting, I knew that our marriage had never been a particularly happy one, but I’d not realized how I’d placed some of my anger and frustration on my daughter’s shoulders. Looking back at the early photos I saw the adoration in my eyes, remembered it. That utter pride at meeting my daughter, my flesh and blood. But she’d been a mommy’s girl, and I’d let that be an excuse to go to work more.
It was like someone had removed the blindfold from my face as I saw things from my daughter’s point of view. A father who couldn’t put up with her attention seeking behavior and tried to get rid of her as soon as possible, by sending her back to her mother with more money in her account. But she’d not wanted money. She’d wanted a dad.
She was right. I was a complete failure as a parent. In fact, as the truth dawned on me, hurtling at me like a tsunami, I found myself rushing to the bathroom where I emptied out the contents of my stomach.
I needed to take stock. Alex had shown me my true self, and I realized that she was right. At the moment I couldn’t be a husband to Alex because I needed to work out how to be a father to Brianna.
Was my marriage over as simply as that?
I found the invitation for Katrina’s wedding, picked up the phone and called her. We’d barely spoken in fourteen years and maybe that was part of the problem.
Katrina didn’t answer her phone. She was probably too busy celebrating the New Year. I took myself up to bed and stared for a few minutes at the lack of an Alex being in it. Then I stripped off, discarding my clothes on the floor and climbed beneath the covers. Alex’s scent, a smell of berries rose from the sheets and I inhaled deeply and then I cried like a baby for everything I’d fucked up.
Midday, the following day I finally managed to get hold of Katrina and told her everything that had happened and what Alex had made me realize.
“This Alex sounds like quite somebody.”
“She is.”
“Well, I’m pleased for you. Roger is my somebody.”
“Then I hope you’ll be very happy together.”
“I’m sure we will be. Right, he’s organizing the helicopter. I’m coming to get my daughter. It seems we have a lot to discuss.”
I called Alex’s cell, but it was Brianna who answered.
“Elias.”
I let it go. I understood she was acting out and trying to hurt me. Maybe I only deserved to be Elias and didn’t deserve the title of Dad.
“Your mom and Roger are on their way over via the helicopter. I’m sending a driver over for you to bring you back here if you’d be willing to come. Brianna, I need to apologize to you. You are correct. I have been the worst father. I have failed you, and I want to make it right. But we can’t solve this overnight. We need therapy as a family. All I can say is I’m willing to try it if you will.”
Brianna
I didn’t know what to do anymore.
My mom was coming to get me, but that was a temporary measure. She still wanted me to leave, and I was beginning to understand. I was twenty-four. Alex had left her own home at eighteen and paid her own bills and bought her own clothes. The things she told me she had to do made my jaw drop and my stories seem to have the same effect on her. Yet I’d say we were getting along. For a stepmonster she was okay. My dad needed to make sure he held onto her because he’d chosen well.
I dressed and knocked on Alex’s bedroom door before pushing the door ajar. Alex stirred and rubbed her short hair out of her eyes as she half-opened one of them.
She stuck out her tongue and pulled a face. “Oh my God, I hate the next morning so much.”
“It’s the next afternoon, Alex. It’s like 2:00 pm.”
“Say, what? Oh my God.” She yelled and then she collapsed back against her headboard. “Oh, it’s New Year’s Day. I don’t have to be anywhere.”
“Yeah about that. My dad called and gave me a whole spiel about how sorry he was about being a pathetic parent. My mom’s coming over and he wants to send a driver for me.”
“Oh, okay.” Alex said. “It’s good that he’s starting to realize. You all need to work on things. As a family.”
“Will you come with me, Alex?” I asked her. “You’re part of my family too.”
Her eyes swam with tears. “I really don’t think I am, Brianna, but I’ll come along if you want me to.”
The meeting at my father’s house was tense. No one knew what to say to anyone. It was agreed that my mom would organize some therapy for us as a family immediately. My dad agreed to fly out to Los Angeles and rent somewhere nearby so that he could attend sessions. Roger offered to postpone the wedding but my mom wouldn’t hear of it. I guess I couldn’t expect overnight miracles. Alex and my father kept staring at each other and looking away when the other one noticed. As Roger, Mom and I were leaving, I pulled Alex to one side.
“You can come with him you know? To LA.”
She smiled. “I know.”
“But you aren’t going to, are you?”
“No, I’m not, Brianna.”
“Please don’t leave my dad.” I begged her. “Look how much better he is with you around.”
Her mouth smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“You’ve a long journey ahead of you with the therapy. It’s going to be tough, but I have a feeling you’ll be okay.”
“Are you?”
“I’ve not given up hope on me and your father yet. We just rushed into things and it’s not the right time for us right now.” She said.
Then Roger shouted that we had to leave, so I followed my mom out of the door.
Eli
Her eyes looked glassy as if at any moment she was going to break down on me. I swallowed, feeling like I had something stuck in my throat, my mou
th running dry.
“You’re not coming to LA with me, are you?” I stated.
“No. I was going to spend some time on my own, using my savings, but while you’re gone, I’ll take care of business.”
“You’re my wife.” I told her. “If you want to run our business, then do so. If you want a vacation go on vacation. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“I want the annulment.” She said, my heart breaking into a thousand pieces.
Chapter 11
Brianna
This is real life, not a fairytale, so if you were expecting me to say we sorted out our problems and became one big happy family then you couldn’t be more wrong. There’d been two weeks of slanging matches between my parents, guided by our therapist, where they blamed each other for how I’d turned out. I think our individual sessions were what worked best. Not looking at the past anymore, but trying to work on a future. I realized I definitely needed to move out though I was going to do my damnedest to get a budget larger than three million bucks. Hopefully, they’d be feeling so fucking guilty right now I could get a zero added onto it. I kept in touch with Alex and to be honest she was better than any therapist, with just a simple, “You can’t do that Brianna, it’s not okay,” when I’d suggest playing one of my parents off against the other. All in all, I had changed a little, but you couldn’t expect miracles after years of them fucking me up. That was the other thing Alex kept saying. That I couldn’t use my parents as an excuse for every single thing. She could be a total buzz kill that woman.
Anyway, today was the day of Mom and Roger’s wedding. I had had my final fitting and was now looking pretty in my pink bridesmaid dress. Mom looked beautiful in her Givenchy gown and I walked behind her as we made our way to the altar. They were getting married in the grounds of the country club and as Roger’s face settled on my mom’s a look of sheer love passed between them. Go figure. Multi-billionaire or not my mom really did love this one.
I turned to look at my dad who was sitting in one of the pews at the side. She’d told him he didn’t have to attend, after they’d discovered I’d sent him his invite behind my mom’s back, but he’d said in the interests of building relationships he wanted to be there. My dad looked tired and as if he was ill. He was, I realized. He was lovesick. I hoped he and Alex figured things out. Then my mind realized it needed to focus on the ceremony and I faced straight ahead and watched my mum become Mrs Degeneres.
Dad stayed in LA for a few months and one morning I visited to find him staring out of the window, a pile of papers on the table in front of him.
“What is it?” I asked him.
“It’s the papers for the annulment.” He said. “I sign that and my marriage to Alex never happened.”
“Look, I think we’ve done enough therapy for now.” I told him. “I appreciated that you put me first this time. But go get her now, Dad.” I told him. It was the first time I’d called him dad to his face since the argument at New Year.
He visibly brightened, “It means a lot, you calling me that. I promise things will be better.”
“Yeah, I know.” I told him. “We’ll get there. But part of that is you being with Alex. She’s an amazing woman, so stop being a dick and get on a plane.”
“We need to work on your manners still,” he quipped. Then he sighed. “She thinks we rushed things. What if she doesn’t want me back?”
“What if you start listening and give her a compromise?” I told him, then I made a suggestion.
“That could work.” He told me.
“I know, that’s why I suggested it,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Well, let me know if you need my help. I have lots of experience with parties.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.” He tilted his head and looked at me. “You could do that you know?”
“Do what?”
“Plan parties. The most decadent parties ever known. Only for the elite. We need to talk soon. It might be a new thing we could launch as part of PlayKing’s.”
I smiled. Get paid to organize parties and hang around with the rich and famous? It was definitely something to consider.
“I’ll give it some thought.”
My dad arranged a flight back to Newark and by that afternoon he was gone.
My mom and Roger had gone on honeymoon leaving me to rattle around the enormous mansion by myself. It was nice to have peace and quiet for the first few days after all the family drama of the last few months, but I was getting bored. So when the text on my cell came through it couldn’t have been better timed.
Unknown number: Brianna ‘Brat’ King. No one has told me to go screw myself in a long time. Everyone likes to say yes to me. In fact, it’s amazing what people will do for a movie star. Except you. I have a feeling you’d make me work for it. You’ve been on my mind since we met. So what do you say, want to play?
TL
Tobias! Well, it looked like Brianna the Brat still had a role after all!
Chapter 12
Eli
I couldn’t afford to fuck this up. I bought the stereotypical but universally accepted gift of a bunch of flowers and unannounced, I walked into the office. Alex jumped as I walked in, her hand flying across her mouth.
“You scared me.” She said, her hand dropping back to the desk. “You didn’t tell me you were coming back.”
Alex looked tired and too thin. Like she needed feeding up and a week’s sleep. I’d not physically seen her for nine weeks and all I wanted to do was minimize the space between us and take her into my arms. But I couldn’t. I needed to do this her way.
“So, I brought you these.” I handed her the flowers and she accepted them, looking at me warily. “And these.” I placed the annulment papers in front of her.
“They’re not signed, Eli.”
“No, not yet.” I cleared my throat. “Alex, I want to take you out tonight.” I held up a hand as she started to protest. “I know you think we rushed things. I agree, we did rush things. So let’s rewind. Let’s start dating. I’ll talk to you about things more this evening and I’ll bring the annulment papers with me. So what do you say to dinner tonight? And because this is a first date, I need to tell you now that I won’t be putting out.”
She laughed and I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing that light up her face. “Okay then, a date it is.”
We made arrangements and then I went into my office and we spent the rest of the afternoon with her catching me up on business and us pretending like we’d never been anything but boss and assistant.
She met me at the same restaurant where we had our first date at nine. My eyes flashed over her and I noted the pant suit she wore, so different to the silver slip dress she’d arrived in for our first date.
We placed our drink and food orders and sat back.
“So, things seem to be going better with Brianna?” She questioned.
“Yes.” I nodded and placed my glass back down on the table. “We’re never going to be a fully functioning parental unit. There’s been too much happen in the past. However the therapists we’ve seen have given us the tools to move forward and that’s what we’ve all agreed to do.” I smoothed down my pant leg before looking back at Alex. “I have to thank you, for giving me my daughter back. I had no idea of the damage I’d caused her growing up. No idea at all.”
“It’s good that you seem to have found a way forward. I trust Katrina and Roger’s wedding went well.”
I nodded. “Yes. Katrina is absolutely in love. So fortunate for her that he’s another billionaire though as I can’t see her changing her lifestyle any time soon.”
“So, you’re getting on better with her though?”
“Yes, we had some counselling sessions together about the breakdown of our marriage. I’ve worked through a lot of shit these past couple months, it’s not been easy.”
She nodded and took a drink of wine.
I took the annulment papers out of my jacket pocket. “So. These papers. I’ve signed them.”
“I agree we got married too early and that we should have it annulled. However,” I took out some more papers. “I took the liberty of booking the Bellagio again on what would have been our second anniversary. Let’s date and if we’re still together then I will propose on the 18 December this year and we’ll get married the year after. I want to show you that although I agree to spend time getting to know you, I’m going nowhere Miss Cross.”
She smiled. “It sounds like a plan.” She licked across her lip and I wanted to bite that lip between my teeth. Not having her in my bed was killing me. “But I have to raise the subject of children. Do you want them, Eli? Because if you do you have to be all in. I won’t have you repeating the mistakes you made with Brianna.”
“How many do you want?” I clarified.
“Ideally two. I was an only child and I don’t want that for my own children. I know they’d have Brianna as a sibling but she’s a lot older. So, I’d like two, maybe a year apart, as soon after our wedding as possible.”
“You sound fairly confident our wedding will go ahead.”
“I am. Aren’t you?”
“Absolutely. But I’m looking forward to getting to know you in the meantime, Alex. I’m going to get to know you real well.”
“So, Eli?” Alex said lightly.
“Yes?”
“I kinda thought we had our first date back in December and then we had that honeymoon so that should count as at least one date and so that would make this our third date.”
“It would, would it?” I grinned.
“And I want to let you know, that I put out on a third date.” she said.
This time, though it killed me, we sat and ate our dinner before leaving the restaurant, but this time we went back to her apartment.
The Billionaire and the Assistant: Eli's story (The Billionaires Book 3) Page 8
