ROMANCE: Billion Dollar Question (BWWM Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (African American Alpha Mail Order Bride New Adult)

by Aisha Brooks

  Shelly nodded, feeling completely numb right this minute. Getting dressed after wiping the gel off her belly, she barely registered the nurse having her sign paperwork for more blood tests and giving her a slip to go to the lab.

  Getting her blood drawn was the least of her worries right now; she wondered what Vlad was going to say.

  She drove back to his house and pulled into the large driveway and just sat in her car for a few minutes and contemplated their relationship.

  He was attentive, and passionate, considerate and kind, he could have a temper, but he always tried to walk away and never take it out on her. She could see the kind of man he tried to be, and admired it. He was older than she was by twelve years, and yet she never really noticed the age gap.

  Vlad always made time for her, and listened to her. He'd indulge her desire to watch silly movies sometimes.

  She was worried what people would say about his money, that she was a gold digger and got pregnant on purpose to trap him. She knew that wasn't true, she wasn't even trying to get pregnant, but she put a hand over her belly and knew she'd do anything for these babies.

  Loving them already, she finally understood why women who lost a pregnancy would be so devastated; these little people in her already mattered to her so much.

  Her problem was how to handle Vlad, and what he would want out of all of this. She was pretty sure he'd continue to insist on getting married. He was an honorable kind of man with old-fashioned notions. He believed children deserved two parents. She knew logically she agreed with him, but she was so emotional right now, it was hard to think rationally.

  She slowly climbed out of her car, and went to find him. She passed Boris in the hallway and stopped him.

  “Where is Vlad?” she asked.

  “He's in his bedroom. He has a business trip coming up and was packing for it. He leaves in the morning,” Boris informed her.

  “I didn't know about this,” Shelly said startled.

  Boris shook his head. “Neither did he. One of his distilleries in Russia blew up, and he needs to go survey the damage. He should only be gone a few days.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Shelly told him, making her way through the twenty thousand square foot house to the Master bedroom to go find Vlad.

  She walked in and saw him packing, without saying a word, she walked over and handed him the pictures of the babies, Vlad stopped what he was doing and took them from her.

  “Wait, are these all the same baby?” Vlad asked looking confused.

  “Twins,” Shelly said and sat down on the end of his bed looking amazed.

  “Shelly, I have to go for a few days, but I'll be back, I'll text you while I'm gone, I swear to you, that I won't think of anyone else but you the entire time I'm gone. You just take good care of yourself and don't hesitate to ask Boris for anything if you need something. Or want something,” Vlad told her, leaning down to kiss her, and then surprised her when he dropped to his knees in front of her and kissed her belly gently.

  “Okay. Thank you Vlad,” Shelly said.

  Vlad looked at her for a moment and then grabbed her hand and brought her knuckles up to his mouth to kiss them.

  “I love you Shelly, I would love you no matter what, but please have an answer for me by the time I get back about marriage. I want to spend my life with you, and I promise I will stick up for you if anyone ever thinks we got married for the wrong reasons. I never knew what I was missing until I found you. I need you in my life, and I want to be a good husband to you, and a good father to our children,” he told her and then stood up and grabbed his bag. “Think about it.”

  Shelly nodded and watched him leave, realizing she was going to miss him.

  Chapter 7: Marriage To Shelly

  Shelly called her brothers to talk to them. They were all happy for her, but surprised at her resistance to marriage.

  She knew they didn't fully understand her fears. Vlad was extremely wealthy, and that could mean a lack of privacy that she preferred to have, as his assistant, she was always in the background and no one noticed her.

  As his wife, she'd be talked about, and constantly noticed. It brought back anxiety she hadn't felt in years and she sat in Vlad's room sitting on his bed waiting for him. She had her own room, Vlad had wanted her to feel like she had her own space, but had given her free access to his room anytime she wanted.

  She'd been sleeping in it while he was gone, hugging his pillow. It had made her realize that she needed him around. He made her smile and he was attentive and took the time to notice her. He'd even stop working sometimes just to press a kiss to her lips and tell her she was beautiful.

  Knowing how rare such a good man was, she knew that she shouldn't let her knee-jerk fears stop her, but it was hard not to.

  Vlad arrived later than she thought, and she must have fallen asleep on the bed. She was woken up by him pressing gentle kisses to her forehead, down her cheeks until he reached her mouth.

  His hands gently fondled her breasts through her shirt as he slowly woke her up and she cracked one eye open and smiled at him.

  “They are bigger,” he said sounding surprised.

  Shelly laughed softly. “They do that when you are pregnant.”

  “I know, but it's really obvious now!” he said grinning at her, and then pressed a gentle kiss to her belly before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. “Did you make a decision?”

  “I did, but I have a couple of stipulations,” Shelly told him not wanting to upset him, but unable to keep it to herself.

  “Okay, I'm listening.”

  “First, no big wedding, I want a private, quiet ceremony. I don't want to announce we are pregnant, it's between us. Second, I want us to spend Holidays with my family in Chicago, unless you want to fly them out here holidays. They deserve to be a part of our life too, and I miss them,” Shelly told him. “It can't just be you and me all the time Vlad, I have a family too, brothers who miss me.”

  “Really? I have a surprise for you then. We can do the rest and I'm fine with that as long as you marry me. I can't promise people won't find out we got married, but I promise to always stick up for you and not let people think bad things about us if I can say a few simple words to make sure it comes from me and not tabloids,” Vlad told her.

  “What's the surprise?” Shelly asked him.

  “I stopped in Chicago and brought your brothers home with me,” he said grinning. “They are downstairs playing in the game room right now waiting for you. I hoped they could convince you to marry me.”

  “You brought my brothers to gang up on me?” Shelly snorted but realized it wasn't a half-bad plan. Her brothers were stubborn and they'd already made it clear they liked Vlad. “When did you get to know my brothers?”

  “After I hired you, they all emailed me, and we started talking. I believe your little brother threatened to remove my gonads if I hurt you. I like them,” Vlad said grinning at her. “I promised them I would take good care of you.”

  “I cannot believe they are really here,” Shelly said jumping out of the bed, she stopped in the doorway and looked back at Vlad. “Thank you.”

  Vlad nodded and let her enjoy her seeing her brother without him interfering. For now. He had the rest of his life to be involved in everything, he could give her a couple of hours alone with her siblings, besides, and he had a wedding to plan.

  He flipped open his phone and called one of his friends who were an ordained minister. He'd already applied for the marriage license because he was confident he could convince Shelly to marry him. Or at least, he'd told himself he would be able to convince her she wanted to marry him.

  His friend would come by tomorrow to marry them in the privacy of their own home, surrounding by Boris, and her brothers. Satisfied, Vlad unpacked his bags and realized that he'd never been happier in his life.

  All the hard work he'd done had gotten him to a place where he could pursue his dreams, but until he'd met Shelly, he hadn't even known what
he was missing.

  He would spend the rest of his life showing her how much she meant to him, giving her babies, and being there for her. He would need to hire someone he could trust to start traveling for him and give him reports.

  Being home with his family would be important. Maybe it was also time to get rid of some of his cars, it's not like he even drove most of them.

  Shelly taught him that just because he had money, he didn't need to spend all his money on trivial things. That sometimes the simple things in life could bring the most pleasure.

  He pulled out the wedding band out of his pocket and smiled at it. It was a simple diamond; large enough to satisfy his need to spoil her, but small enough she wouldn't be afraid to wear it.

  Vlad knew that she would love it. Satisfied, he put it back into his pocket, eager for tomorrow.

  Black & White

  A BWWM Billionaire Romance

  This deliciously dirty story is a part of Aisha Brooks’ super-charged, highly lewd collection of love and lust, written in 2015. Those who attempt to steal any part of this goldmine and take it as their own risk being a fiery, hot death from a hunk bearing copyright notices—and she’s not about to play with you.

  This is a work of fiction—although we wish that people like this really existed, it’s nothing more than a figment of a very, very overactive imagination. Any resemblance to someone you know, a place you love or a thing you hold dear to your heart is nothing more than a craving in your heart that these carnal desires and actions were true!

  It goes without saying that this book oozes with erotic sex appeal, and is filled to the rafters with a smorgasbord of acts that you certainly wouldn’t tell your grandmother about. Bodice-ripping, panty-dropping and glasses-steaming, the scenes contained herein are wickedly naughty!

  Although all the saucy characters are flirting with forbidden desires and sometimes taking the naughty fruit they really shouldn’t be, all are consenting adults over the age of 18 and not blood-related. What they are is passionate and eager to explore their carnal desires all day long.

  In short, this book is going to get you very, very hot!

  © Aisha Brooks

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any many whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination. Please note that this work is intended only for adults age 18 and over. All characters represented are age 18 or over.

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter 1: Bruised Beginnings

  Chapter 2: The Beginning Of A Future

  Chapter 3: Preparation Before Success

  Chapter 4: A Man With A Mission

  Chapter 5: Building A Career

  Chapter 6: More Than A Meal

  Chapter 7: Foregoing Boundaries

  Conclusion

  Chapter 1: Bruised Beginnings

  To grow up in the inner city of Chicago was a challenge for anyone, let alone for Alicia. Her mother had given birth to her at the age of 16, and then her two brothers, both of which Alicia had basically raised herself from a young age. Her mother, self-proclaimed as a “strong, independent female” had taught Alicia at a tender age that most people would be out to hurt her, cut her down, set her back; that it was up to her to make her own future and success.

  With these words, she would leave their run-down and cramped apartment, barely enough space between the walls to breathe, going to either her waitressing job or, her night-time shift as a dancer.

  When Alicia was little, she thought her mother was a ballerina when her mother had told her that she was a dancer. Many of her friends at school had mothers who worked at the same club as Alicia’s mother, dancing. She had always wondered how her mother could pirouette in the high-heels that she wore and short dresses, but to Alicia, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her skin was the color of sweet caramel, her hair thick and curly, the color of a Chicago’s winter night sky.

  She had been discussing her mother in class one day, stating how proud she was that her mother was a dancer, when a classmate had budged in.

  “Your mama ain’t no ballerina,”the classmate had snickered.

  “She is so. She dances every night.”

  “She dances at The Cougar, right?” Alicia paused.

  “Yeah.”

  “So does my mama. She ain’t no ballerina. She takes her clothes off and gets money.” Alicia had felt the words hit her like a punch in the gut.

  When she had gotten home that day from school, she had fed her brothers a snack and waited patiently for her mom to get off her waitressing job before going to her nighttime shift at the club.

  Yvette, a mix of Latina fury and African American thunder, came in, threw some burgers and fries on the table and turned to look at her three children.

  “Alicia, you make sure your brothers get their homework done. And you too. How was that quiz on the States today?” Her mother could always remember every test, quiz, crush and parent-teacher call; her mind was a steal trap.

  “It went good, mama.”

  “It went well, sweetheart,” Yvette corrected. Her mother, an extremely bright woman who had been given no other choice than to drop out of high school in order to make money to raise and care for Alicia. Her high school dreams of going to college were diminished when the two pink lines became clear on the test, and then vanished when Yvette’s father had claimed she wasn’t his and walked out.

  Her father had been the “most handsome black man I had ever seen”, her mother would tell her, and the start of their high school football team, but a “scoundrel who left us to the streets.”

  “Mama, do you take her clothes off for money?” Alicia blurted out before her brothers came into the kitchen for dinner. Her mother turned, shocked and hurt, her eyes stating all the words she had yet to speak. She turned back to getting the plates for dinner.

  “Alicia…”she began slowly, choosing her words carefully, “what I do is not admirable or fun, but I do it so that we can have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and so that you can have your school supplies. If you ever remember one thing I tell you in this world, my love, remember that your education will lead you outside of this world that we live in now. This is why I push you in school. You must live a life better that this. Remember that always. Promise?” she asked as she sat down and placed her daughter’s face in her hands. Her big browns eyes penetrated her own. Alicia nodded.

  “I promise,” she said softly. She felt proud to have a mother who would take on a job she hated in order to protect and provide for them, but felt disgusted and lied to as well. She didn’t want to think of her beautiful mother, naked on stage, under the watchful eyes of predators.

  So, she had grown up under the hovering protective watch of her mother; eyes never really physically upon her, but woven within her, flowing through her like her blood, with the message that ran through her veins to do well. She joined sports and clubs at school, and excelled in her studies. She had applied to every scholarship there was and worked weekends at Subway, saving every penny for her college career.

  When she had graduated high school with honors, her mother had wept like a young child. She knew she needed to be a role model for her younger brothers, and stayed on them as adamantly as her mother had taught her to.

  At the age of 18, she had attended parent-teacher conferences when her mother couldn’t do so, had signed permission slips and even worked overtime for her brothers to attend field trips. She ruled the house with an iron fist, punishing Leo when he had gotten suspended when he was in ninth grade for sneaking off campus to smoke cigarettes. She had rifled through his room, finding a pack of Marlboro Lights, and, furious, made him finish the back, each cancer stick back to back. Drastic, she realized later, but he had thrown
up so many times after her punishment that she knew it would make him sick to imagine another cigarette for the rest of his life.

  There was a night, right before her high school graduation, that Leo had knocked on her bedroom door as she was reading in bed.

  “Yeah, come in,” she said. Their walls were paper thin and she had heard him attempting to tiptoe down the hall.