Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 91: Chapter 91

JOSEF
I was going to have to kill everyone who stared at her, I realized when I saw Meredith in that dress.
My heart had been beating double-time ever since I’d sent that note home with Mario for the housekeeper to put inside our bedroom.
We had a cleaning service that came daily, and I requested someone to stick around to arrange the clothes I ordered for Meredith in our closet as a surprise.
Not like I would allow Mario or any of my men to put one fucking foot inside the room where my wife slept, ate, showered, dressed, and fucked.
I was the only man who was allowed in that space.
Me. Only me.
And yeah, I did not give two shits if that made me a fucking barbarian.
All damn afternoon I’d been picturing my sexy Little Red in one of those dresses I’d picked out.
Jesus. Christ.
The reality was so much better than my imagination. And I could daydream like a motherfucker.
“We’re not going,” I said, shaking my head.
“What?” she asked, shocked.
“Nope. We’re staying right here,” I said, pressing her back towards the bedroom.
“Josef!”
Meredith raised her hands and her eyebrows at the same time. Like either would stop me from slamming my lips to hers.
Cocoa butter sweetness burst across my tastebuds as I licked into her mouth.
“Fuck, you always taste so good,” I grunted, cupping her face, and angling her head where I wanted her.
“Mmm, Husband,” she moaned softly.
I pressed my forehead gently against hers, trying to calm my thundering heart by just breathing her in.
“Sorry. I’m acting like a beast,” I murmured, suddenly ashamed of myself for coming at her like a beast.
“I’m not sorry. I guess that means you like the dress,” she said.
Meredith’s emerald eyes glittered mischievously as she blinked her long lashes at me.
“Like it? You look delicious, Wife,” I growled.
She looked like a goddess.
She looked like mine.
“Really?” she asked.
I picked up a tiny note of doubt in her voice, and I frowned. I wasn’t having any of that, I cupped her cheeks in my hands.
“Meredith, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she replied, her voice soft and breathy. “It would be a shame to waste it. I mean, you did buy it so I could wear it out tonight to meet your friends, didn’t you?”
“I did,” I relented.
“Good. Shall we go then?”
“Yes. We’ll go. Give me a moment,” I said, and went to change my suit.
It took seven minutes, but it was worth it when I exited the bedroom and found Meredith unable to look away.
“I thought I would wear something new, too,” I said, smirking at the way her gaze traveled up and down my form.
I was a fit man. The perfectly tailored suit only enhanced my physique, and the black color matched her accessories perfectly.
“You’re always in black,” she commented.
The breathy quality of her voice told me it wasn’t a criticism. It was true. I did favor dark colors.
Black, mostly. But that was a force of habit.
You couldn’t really get blood and other bodily fluids out of many others. So black was as much a necessity as it was a fashion statement.
“You’re my color,” I said, pausing to take her hand.
My breath caught at the verity of that statement.
Meredith, with her milky white skin and her flaming red hair, with her emerald fire eyes, and penchant for wearing pink.
She was the color in my world.
Without her, I’d been living in the shadows. A half-life. A broken one. A near dead thing.
But I had her back now. And with her, she brought the sunshine.
She brought life.
I kissed her knuckles, catching the surprised grin on her face, and fuck, but it warmed me.
Silently, I held her hand the whole way down to the garage and the waiting SUV, contemplating the very real possibility that I was head over heels for my wife.
I’m in love with her.
I love my wife. So damn much.
My chest tightened as I opened the SUV door, glaring at Mario when he moved to do it until he stepped back.
No one got to touch my wife’s door when I was present. She was mine in every sense of the word, and I was fiercely protective of what I considered mine.
My man understood that and backed away towards the front, where he would ride with my regular driver.
“How far is the trip?” Meredith asked, seemingly unaware of the tension brewing within me.
“Not far. I would have driven myself, but I thought maybe you’d like to talk with me?” I asked, feeling a little stupid about it, really.
The truth was, I wanted her to talk to me.
I looked forward to that time of day after we both came home from work, between eating dinner and making love, when Meredith would share little stories and tidbits about her day.
Yes, Mario sent me updates. Every hour on the hour.
Possessive prick that I was, I demanded it.
But that was not the same as hearing it from her sweet lips.
“Today was rough,” she said, and I watched her frown as she chose her words.
I already knew about the woman with the broken arm and small scared son who came to the shelter seeking safe harbor earlier in the day.
Mario had informed me immediately, as he’d been instructed.
Within an hour, I had all the information I needed on Ellie Maxwell-Peters.
She was the Maxwell heiress. Due to inherit billions that stemmed from an old mining fortune.
Her people were from Pennsylvania, originally, but she’d moved to Manhattan with her husband.
Gary Peters was a fucking prick.
The guy worked for his wife’s father, came on strong, got her pregnant, forced a marriage, then lost his shit when he realized the company wouldn’t go to her.
Oh, she inherited money after her father’s demise. But it was spread out.
The big deposit wouldn’t hit until she turned thirty, and that wasn’t for another year.
Maxwell Mining had taken a deep nosedive when Ellie’s father passed on. The whole thing was going on the auction block.
I already sent Andres what I had on the company and asked him to investigate. If he thought it was a good investment, Andres would bring it to Adrik and Marat.
It was kind of what Volkov Industries did. I’d take my piece, of course.
But the real benefit to everyone was that I had plans to sink that fucking asshole for putting his hands on his young wife.
I hated abusers. And Gary Peters was the worst fucking kind.
Hitting a woman because he wasn’t smart enough or good enough to build himself up on his own? Oh, I didn’t fucking think so.
I turned my attention to my wife. My sweet, caring, beautiful wife who worked so hard to make a difference.
“I’m just worried she won’t want to stay in the shelter. So, um, I wanted to tell you, I took that money I had, that Gray Corps had been paying me all those years, and I asked Fr. Augustus, he’s the head counselor for St. Elizabeth’s, to find some properties that might be worth buying as a secondary location for some of our tri-state residents.”
She bit her lip, as if she thought I would object. I narrowed my eyes and dipped my chin.
“God, you’re incredible. Do you know that?”
“What?” she said, shaking her head.
“You are so good, Meredith. St. E’s is lucky to have you. Your idea sounds really good. Will you let me help?” I asked.
“You want to help?” she asked, eyes wide.
“Yeah. Can I have Fr. Augustus’ contact information? My lawyer and personal realtor can definitely help.”
“Really? You would do that. And you’re not mad,” she whispered, and the most authentic smile I’d ever seen broke out across her pretty face.
“Of course not. I’m serious. I’m proud of you, Baby. You know, I can pay for whatever you need⁠—”
“I know. But I want to use this. I hate the idea of Franklin’s money sitting there. It feels wrong. And I, well, I used it before to help people get away,” she confessed.
I squeezed her hand. I knew she did something with that money, I just had no idea how selfless she was.
But I understood what she meant. She didn’t need her stepfather’s dirty money, anyway.
I would work myself to the bone to make sure Meredith had everything she wanted, everything she needed.
My wife would want for nothing. If she wanted to buy other properties for the shelter to use as lodging for its residents, that was more than okay with me.
I leaned forward and captured her lips in a hard, fast kiss. Smiling against her mouth, I breathed deeply. Just sucking in all the flavors of her.
I really loved this woman.
More than anything.
She owned parts of me I didn’t know existed.
Deep, dark, secret parts.
Meredith elicited emotions I didn’t think I was capable of feeling.
Protective instincts. Possessive ones, too.
Hell, I knew I would do terrible things to keep her safe and warm and happy. And most importantly, with me. Because that was where she belonged.
With me.
“We’re here, Boss.”
My gaze darted to the front of the SUV. I almost smirked.
Marco was waiting for me to tell him what to do. I nodded once, dipping my head to the front of the SUV.
He got out of the vehicle and stood there, on guard. But he made not one move towards my wife’s door.
Nice job.
“Wait for me, Little Red.”
“Yes, Josef.”
“That’s right, Good Girl, always wait for me,” I whispered, touching her chin with my forefinger and thumb.
I knew she would.
Meredith was mine. I felt the truth of that down to my marrow as I circled around to her door and held it open.
“You ready?” I asked, and she nodded, assuming I meant to go inside.
But what I was really asking was she ready for this?
Ready for me to take this whole thing to another level?
Because I was so fucking ready.