In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

****Aaron's POV****
I stood outside Caroline's house, waiting for her to come outside. She had messaged me the place that VanAssche had selected for us to meet in the morning. It was one of the most luxurious hotels in the countryside. The place was owned by a rival firm and I knew VanAssche had selected that particular hotel only to irk me.
If only that man wasn't my Caroline's cousin, I would've shown him his real place.
Yesterday, when he had called me to threaten me to stay away from Caroline, claiming to be her boyfriend, I had lost my mind. The rage I had experienced in the moments leading to the claim was something I could not put into words. Though I was sure he was lying. Caroline would never do that to me. She was far too sweet to even think of playing games with people. But that VanAssche guy had surely dug his grave with that sentence.
If only I had decided to not call Caroline and get confirmation from her, I would have been accused of murder by now.
I looked at my wristwatch and sighed. It's been three whole minutes since I have been standing outside her house and she still hadn't shown up. I mentally patted myself for having such patience.
There was just something about her that compelled me to do things that I never thought about doing in my life.
Waiting for someone when all my life people had been adjusting their schedules to meet mine, was the first.
Agreeing to meet VanAssche at a rival hotel, was another.
I sighed as I slipped my hand into my coat pocket to pull out my phone. Though I had convinced Caroline that I was going to pick her up from her place instead of meeting her at the venue, I didn't want to step inside that house.
No meeting all assholes in a single day.
I was about to tap her name on the screen to call her when I saw someone walking towards me: Lahaina Marshall. I sighed.
"Mr Woodwords," she exclaimed, pretending to be surprised. She waved at me as she walked with hurried steps.
"Where's Caroline?" I asked, looking behind her at the entrance that gave no indication of Caroline being close.
Lahaina's smile dropped when she heard Caroline's name. What else did she expect? Why else would I be at this Goddamn place if it wasn't for my fiance?
"I still don't understand what you see in her," Lahaina said. "She's plain, boring, uninteresting, gullible, stupid, looks like a frog. I can go on but you already know that. Then there is me. I can't believe I'm comparing myself to her but seriously give me a chance, Aaron. I'll show you I'm much better. I'll show you-"
"Don't." I snapped when she forwarded her hand to touch me. She was startled by my voice. Her eyes widened and she looked at me as if I had lost my mind—which I would if she didn't leave from here quicker.
"Come on Lahaina, don't tell me you're short of men coming after you. This world is full of idiots, isn't there any rich man who is offering you his wealth? No one? What's happening to the world? How come everyone has brains all of a sudden?" I said with a fake laugh in the end.
The words had no effect on her. I wasn't surprised.
"I have. A lot of them. But they are not the ones I want. It's you who I want," she cooed, batting her eyelashes and taking a step closer.
"I'm flattered," I rolled my eyes.
"Think about it, Aaron. I'm giving you a second chance. You'll regret choosing her over me," Lahaina claimed.
She really doesn't know how to take hints, does she?
"Talking of regret, Lahaina. I'll make sure you'll regret every decision you've made in your life till now and even the ones you'll be making in the future if you don't leave from here."
Just then I saw Caroline walking out through the door and I took a deep breath.
"You're insulting me!" Lahaina stomped her foot on the ground.
So she realized it! Finally!
"I'm not insulting you Lahaina, I was just describing you," I smiled as Caroline walked closer to where I was standing.
Lahaina was glaring daggers into my skull, but I ignored and moved past her to take Caroline in my arms. She smiled as I wrapped my hands around her and kissed her with affection.
When Caroline noticed Lahaina standing there, her smile vanished. Noticing it, I guided her towards my car. Lahaina's eyes followed every move.
Every person has some self-respect. Right? Well, I have a living example to oppose that fact.
After a moment, she finally turned around and left.
"You're late," I said as Caroline ducked inside the car. "You better make it up for it."
"I'm sorry for making you wait," said Caroline. "Dad wanted to talk to me."
The spark in her eye was missing. The smile felt forced and she averted her gaze from me. Though being the shy little thing she was, Caroline was always avoiding eye contact, but this was different. She was trying to hide the emotions that I would see in them.
"What did he say to you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from showing how furious it made me to see her like that. How dare he!
"Nothing of significance," she smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
I nodded my head, closed her door, and walked to the driver's seat. There was definitely something about James that she was scared of. I didn't want to pressure her to share it with me. She could take all the time she wanted and come to me whenever she was ready to pour her heart out to me. That could wait. But James needed to be taken care of.
Reaching the venue, I tossed the keys to the valet and guided Caroline inside.
The manager had come outside to take us to VanAssche. My hand was around Caroline as we walked inside the hotel when I felt her stiffen beside me. I turned to look at her and saw the wariness in her eyes. Following her gaze, I noticed James standing near the entrance, talking to a group of men. My first thought was that he must be stalking both of us. Considering the type of bastard he was, it seemed like a possibility. But the men he was talking to were familiar. They were his business associates. He must be here for some business meeting.
There goes my plan of meeting only one asshole per day.
"Caroline?" I whispered in her ear and tightened my hold around her. She looked at me and shook her head as if expelling whatever thoughts were going inside her head.
James looked back. Noticing us, he gave me a little nod of acknowledgement. If possible, I would prefer to slice his head off as an acknowledgement.
The manager led us to the tennis court and excused himself after a polite greeting. VanAssche came forward to pull Caroline into a hug.
VanAssche was an ass of the highest order and I didn't want him anywhere near Caroline. I had to remind myself that he was her cousin. A cousin that she apparently loved a lot. And by the way that he greeted her, it appeared he adored her too.
As soon as he pulled back from the hug, he dropped his smile and stared at me. I returned the stare with the same intensity until he forwarded his hand for a shake. I took it, neither of our eyes leaving the face. To someone who looked at us from outside, it must have appeared like a normal handshake, but we were squeezing each other's hand, putting all our hatred for one another in that one handshake.
"Why here, Dylan? I thought we were going to sit and talk," Caroline said after some time. She might have sensed the tension between VanAssche and me.
I pulled my hand back and looked at her. She looked better than before. The natural smile back on her face. She looked very excited about this meeting.
"I didn't want to welcome the great Aaron Woodwords at any ordinary place. I heard the hotel owner is your friend," he said, sarcastically.
Not a friend. A rival. But I nodded with a smile. "My standards are higher than yours, of course, you have to make arrangements. I totally get your point," I said. His smile disappeared.
Caroline looked at both of us alternatively, trying to figure out what was going on.
"You play tennis?" He said. It didn't sound like a question. He didn't wait for an answer either. VanAssche moved back, picked up two tennis rackets and threw one towards me. I caught it in mid-air as he went to the other side of the court.
Yes, I do play tennis. Just not in business attire. Thank you for informing me about the game beforehand, asshole.
I sighed as I walked towards the benches. Caroline followed me. I couldn't believe I was going to play tennis wearing a three-piece suit.
Taking off my coat, I gave it to Caroline. There was a frown on her face as she watched me roll up my sleeves.
"You know how to play?" She asked.
"I'd say I'm good at it but it will be a lie. I'm better," I assured her. She laughed at the self-flattery.
"Dylan is extremely good at it. I'm warning you now. I can talk to him and get us out of here," she said, throwing a glance at VanAssche.
Does she really think VanAssche could beat me?
"I got this, Caroline. You'll see I'm better," I assured her.
She suppressed her giggle and patted me on my back. "Good luck then, Mr Woodwords. Try not to disappoint me."
"I certainly will try, my lady," I said. This time when she laughed I couldn't hold back and laughed with her.
Caroline took her place at the bench and I walked towards the court, flipping the racket in the air. She gave me a thumbs-up as I adjusted my stance and a thumbs down to VanAssche. Atta girl!
VanAssche threw the ball in the air and shot it towards me, I shot it back with ease. Caroline was right, he was extremely good at it, but that was for the better. It would have been a disappointment to not have a good competition.
The ball dropped on VanAssche's side of the court as he missed after a short while. Caroline jumped up and clapped with hands above her head, exaggerating it to annoy VanAssche. I winked at her as he laughed with excitement, then turned to VanAssche to show him her tongue.
"That was the first and the last time, Caro. Sit down. It's not good that you've changed sides now," VanAssche said.
"Was never on your side, brother," Caroline shot back at him. I smirked.
It was warming to see her giddy with happiness.
The game started again and VanAssche scored a point. Caroline cheered for him too. I shook my head and laughed.
She is loving this game.
"You wanna say something now, Caroline?" said VanAssche at gaining a point.
"Still not on your side," she teased.
When the game started again, it went for a long time. Both VanAssche and I ran around the court, managing to shoot every shot, not willing to give up.
It was when I saw James walking inside the court that my attention shifted. Though, it was only a little shift because I shot the tennis ball back to VanAssche.
James was looking at Caroline. Her cheers had died down and she sat silently, looking away. I stood at my place watching him. VanAssche was definitely going to shoot at the side and gain a point. He could have the point. I didn't care about the game anymore.
Surprisingly, he shot it directly in my direction with much less force than before. I watched the tennis ball flying towards me.
Well, James is gonna regret coming here.