Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 79: Chapter 79

MEREDITH
Waking up to find my sexy new husband’s head between my thighs had been quite thrilling. Sitting in the seat beside him on his private aircraft while he studiously ignored me?
Not so much.
I wasn’t being fair.
He had work to do. And if that wasn’t a reminder for me to notify my bosses I was leaving, hopefully transferring to one of their locations in the city, I wasn’t sure what was.
I went to my email app and sent a quick letter to my boss, explaining my sudden marriage and move to NYC.
Josef had explained he worked out of his Manhattan apartment, and that was where we would both be living.
He was rich, yeah, but I enjoyed my work. He hadn’t mentioned me quitting, so I was not about to bring it up.
My job as an intake counselor was meaningful and brought me solace. It gave me a purpose beyond myself, and I’d met so many wonderful people. People who really cared about people and tried to make a difference.
God knew, I tried.
I’d worked to help women get out of dangerous situations. But I didn’t think I’d be able to continue at the Jersey City location. The commute was just too much, and there were three volunteers waiting in the wings for a position to open up, so I wasn’t leaving them short-handed or anything.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, places like St. Elizabeth’s Shelter for Women and Children had more than one location. I had no doubts my services could be of use elsewhere. Somewhere closer to my new home.
Chills ran up my spine, and I tried not to imagine what living with Josef was going to be like. I mean, last night was, well, it was amazing.
The ceremony was succinct, and dinner was bizarre, but our wedding night was everything I’d ever dreamed of.
He’d loved me so exquisitely—no, not loved, just fucked.
My heart seized, and tears pricked my eyes. But I had to remember the distinction.
We weren’t in love. We were married. But love was not part of our deal.
And it never will be.
Sadness came on so suddenly, I almost didn’t catch myself in time.
I bit back my sob, concentrating on my email.
It was difficult, trying to separate teenage me from adult me. My hopes, dreams, and heartache all centered on him.
On Josef Aziz.
He was back in my life in a role I once upon a time could only dream about. But it had a different meaning now. I’d saved Gray Corps, but I might have damned myself in the process.
No, I couldn’t allow myself to think he cared for me. I mean, sure, he was careful with me, with my body. And last night he’d shown me more than we’d managed to discover the first time we’d been together.
Intimacy was not an easy thing for me.
Not liking the turn my thoughts had taken, I grabbed my ancient, beat up earbuds from my bag and stuck them in my ears. I found my book app and opened it, looking for my most recent acquisition.
Thank you, Z. Wolff!
Listening to an audiobook from my favorite author sounded like a plan. The narrator was just so good, and I’d been waiting for this installation of this series for weeks.
I found the conversational style storytelling of the author combined with the narrator’s voice just so easy to slide into.
No matter where I stopped, I could always get right back into it.
Laying my chair back, I closed my eyes and listened.
I must have nodded off at some point because the next thing I knew, Josef was gently, taking my earbuds from my ears. His handsome face was so close, I couldn’t help it, I rubbed my hand along his beard, noting the surprise in his gaze as he looked at me.
“Are we there yet?” I asked, stifling a yawn.
“Almost. You need a new phone. Any color?”
“What? I don't need—” I stopped arguing, knowing it would get me nowhere.
Josef straightened in his seat and turned his own top of the line smart phone, showing me what was available.
It was a long time ago when I used to have the best of everything. I bit my lip, guilt warring with excitement.
“I am getting you a new phone, Little Red. So pick it out or don’t and I’ll just order you black everything.”
“No! I don’t want black,” I said, biting my lip. “Okay, the phone can be white, but can I choose a case?”
“Yeah, here,” he replied, handing me his phone, which already had a selection of case options on the screen.
I chose a dark pink one with gold trim and grinned. Pink really was my favorite color. It was hard to find the right shade for my complexion, but when I did, I was all over that.
There was an old cliché about pink not looking good on redheads. But society could fuck itself, far as I was concerned.
Besides, according to one of the nannies I had in my preteen days, I was fairly certain Molly Ringwald changed the entire world’s mind about that in the cult classic 80s film Pretty In Pink.
I was born after that movie’s heyday, but it was still one of my favorites.
Anyway, the point was I loved pink. So when Josef showed me the available cases, I didn’t hesitate.
“Finished?” he asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” I replied.
“It will be waiting for you when we get home. Oh, and I need to know what you want to do with your father’s house.”
“Stepfather. And I don’t know yet. Is that okay?”
“I could have movers pack it up if you want?”
“Well, maybe the kitchen and neutral areas, and his bedroom. But I should probably do some of it myself. See if he kept any of my mother’s things,” I mumbled, not really wanting to think about it.
“Okay. I will keep the staff on for now, give them instructions to pack the kitchen and common rooms, and Franklin’s bedroom. You can just let me know when you’re ready and we will discuss when to go together,” he said.
“You’d go with me?”
“Of course,” he said, like I was being dumb.
“Oh,” I said and hummed my approval.
Grateful for his efforts, I watched my husband as he sent off a couple more texts.
He was just so different from what I remembered. This part of him, at any rate. The business owner billionaire part.
“What is it?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
I blinked and smiled tightly. I hadn’t meant to get caught staring, but I couldn’t help it.
“Is it strange? Having all that money now?” I asked, curious.
“At first, it was,” he agreed, perfectly in tune with my question. “I grew up with nothing. No family. The military was not my choice. It was either enlist or die in the street. I refused to be another victim or worse, a perpetrator in some pointless war between rival gangs.”
“I never thought about that. I never thought about much, I suppose. Like how you ended up in the military. I only know why you got discharged because you told me,” I whispered.
“I remember. It was one of the first times we really talked, wasn’t it?”
Josef’s eyes darkened, and I thought maybe both of us were trapped back in the past.
F
ifteen years ago.
School was done for the day. The library was closed. But I hated studying at home, so I made Josef drive me to the park.
It was chilly, and stupid me, I had nothing but my uniform sweater and my short plaid skirt, paired with knee high cable knit socks and penny loafers.
Luckily, he had a clean towel in the trunk and a jacket he let me borrow.
“How did you get into bodyguarding?”
“It was an easy transition after I left the military,” he explained.
“Why did you leave?”
“I was encouraged,” he said, a sneer marring his handsome face.
God, I loved looking at him. He was so handsome. The darkness I saw sometimes behind his eyes was so vast, so big, but it called to me.
It scared me, but I trusted Josef. I knew he wouldn’t let me get lost.
“Encouraged? By whom?” I asked.
“By my superiors. I was dishonorably discharged for beating my sergeant.”
“Why did you do that?” I whispered, staring at him with nothing less than hero worship shining in my eyes.
“It’s too dark a story for you, Little Red,” he murmured, but I wasn’t letting him get away with that.
“Tell me. Please,” I begged.
“Sergeant Diggs started off innocently enough, teasing one of my fellow soldiers. But he went too far. He forced himself on her and she, well, she just couldn’t live with it,” he paused, but by then I was standing and gripping his forearm.
“After her death was ruled a suicide, the higher ups refused to take action. All charges were dismissed. So, I did a bad thing, Little Red.”
“Was she your girlfriend?” I asked, needing to know.
“No. She was just a friend.”
“Was he a friend too?” I asked, biting my lower lip.
“I thought so. But it turned out I didn’t really like Diggs. I sure as fuck didn’t cater to his misogynistic attitude.”
“What did you do?”
“I followed him. And I killed him,” he said, letting that sit between us.
“I’m not a good man. I see the way you look at me, and you have to stop, Meredith. You’re too young. Too innocent. And you should know what kind of man I am. I’m a killer. I’m not for you,” he said.
But he was wrong. He was the only one for me. I felt the truth down to my marrow.
I belonged to Josef Aziz, and he belonged to me.
“I know what kind of man you are, Josef. And believe me, you’re good.”
“I tell you I murdered someone, and you call me good?” he scoffed.
“No. You told me a story of a woman who’d been killed. And you avenged her.”
“She killed herself.”
“No, that’s just what other people say. My mother committed suicide, but it was my father’s callous treatment that drove her to it. I don’t know why he acted that way, but he was cruel and terrible to her,” I told him.
“That sergeant killed your friend when he raped her. And I know it doesn’t have to end that way for everyone, but it was the end for that soldier. Just like it was for my mother. You avenged her. You’re a hero. So don’t tell me you aren’t a good man.”
“I’m sorry about your mother,” he whispered.
“Me too,” I said, and then I stepped over the invisible line he’d drawn between us.
I hugged him.
Right there, in the middle of the Morristown Green, I wrapped my arms around him, and I held on tight.
From that moment on, my heart belonged to Josef Aziz.