Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 95: Chapter 95

MEREDITH
After chatting for a little while with the Volkov brothers, who were intimidating as fuck, Josef found us a small corner to sit down in one of the rooms off the main parlor.
Destiny got her way, I mused.
There was plenty of open space for the majority of the party dwellers to mingle, and though Marat did not want people just walking around willy-nilly, Josef had managed to convince him the two smaller parlors off the main room were perfectly secure.
It made Destiny happy, so Marat relented. And I, for one, was glad, too. Growing up with money, I’d attended plenty of parties, but that was so long ago.
I didn’t really fit in with that crowd, despite appearances. And I relished the privacy of the small parlor, and sitting with Josef as he handed me a small demitasse cup with a shot of perfectly brewed espresso inside.
“Thank you,” I said, smiling appreciatively.
“It’s decaf,” he warned, and I hummed my approval.
I didn’t want to have the jitters all night. It was only ten o’clock, but still. I was tired after my long work week, and Josef looked about ready to leave, too.
Our earlier encounter not forgotten, I hoped we’d make it home before sleep won out.
There were things I needed to say, and do, to my husband.
“Adrik is signaling me over. Do you mind if I go talk to him for a moment?”
“Of course not,” I said easily.
“Promise not to move?” he asked, and I grinned.
“Promise. I will be right here,” I told him and meant it.
Josef nodded, taking my hand, and pressing his lips to my knuckles before turning on his heel.
I hated to see him go, but I sure didn’t mind watching him leave.
I was so distracted by the view of my husband’s firm backside, it hardly registered when someone took the seat across from me.
“I never expected you would cavort with the enemy so publicly, Meredith,” a sharp voice said.
I turned my head towards the sound, startling when I saw Richard Hamilton sitting there. His expression spoke volumes.
I was stunned. I’d only met the man via Skype call with the attorneys after Franklin’s death.
There was no reason on earth he should address me so informally. We weren’t friends.
What was he doing there? I didn’t think Volkov Industries had any connections to Gray Corps.
Other than them owning it, I reminded myself.
A bad feeling settled in my stomach. He crossed his legs, relaxing back into the chair as if he had the right, and the overall wrongness of it was like a slap to the face.
Richard swirled whatever he was drinking in the crystal tumbler—scotch, maybe—and flicked his gaze back to mine.
“Looking for your thug husband?” he spat.
Leaning forward, Richard grabbed my wrist with his clammy hand.
“Excuse me?” I said, shocked and more than a little uncomfortable.
I tugged my arm back, but he tightened his hold. Not wanting to make a scene, I froze and steeled my spine.
“You know, your father never got over your betrayal and your running away. I thought when you returned, maybe we could perhaps make a merger ourselves. What a waste, Meredith,” he seethed.
“Let go of me,” I hissed, but he ignored my request and leaned closer.
“To think you’re now in bed with the man who destroyed him, who killed him, I suppose you could say, is the best portrayal of your corrupt character as any.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, shocked and sick to my stomach.
“I’m talking about you and your loose morals. You think I wouldn’t find out how you had an affair with your bodyguard when you were just a teenager? Just like your mother. Franklin told me all about her. I guess the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree.”
My heart thudded inside my chest and my palms grew sweaty.
Where was Josef? I needed him.
Panic threatened to send me to my knees. But I held on. Barely.
Wait? Did he say my mother? Franklin spoke about my mother to this cretin?
“Your poor father tried to save you, and you were so ungrateful. Now you’ve gone and delivered his company right into the hands of the man who defiled you, and he is nothing more than a gangster!”
I glanced around, noticing we’d gathered a bit of an audience. Emotions slapped at me, but I tried to keep still, not wanting to embarrass Josef or his friends.
Anger. Shame. Humiliation.
As if he knew exactly how I felt, Franklin laughed. It was a vile sound, and finally, he released his hold on my wrist.
I rubbed at my skin, wanting to erase his touch. I tried to swallow down my embarrassment, my rage, and disgust, but they swirled around deep in my gut.
Each emotion threatened to topple the other, and none were good. But if I had to feel anything, anger was probably the best bet.
If Richard Hamilton expected me to run off tearful and sobbing, he was grossly mistaken.
“That’s right, just sit there speechless, like the little whore you are. It was worth the five thousand dollars I paid my neighbor to give me his invitation just to be able to say this to your face,” he spat.
I flinched at the insult. Then I narrowed my eyes.
“Listen to me because I will say this once and one time only. Franklin Gray was my stepfather. Not my father. I left his house when I was eighteen and made a life for myself away from his ill-gotten wealth. I had absolutely nothing to do with his financial affairs or his poor business decisions,” I said anger heating my words.
“As for my husband, your libelous insults and filthy insinuations of his character couldn’t be more wrong. My husband is a hundred times the man you are. He would never corner a woman in the middle of a party and try to embarrass her by spewing misinformation and lies. I don’t know who this neighbor of yours is, but he’s going to have a lot to answer for since this is a private event. Now, I suggest you leave on your own two feet before I have you tossed out on your pompous ass.”
“Too late for that, Little Red.”
My gaze flashed above Richard’s frowning moue, and I had one second to appreciate the menacing beauty of my husband’s suppressed rage before he grabbed Richard Hamilton by the back of the neck and hauled him to his feet.
“Take him outside,” he said, handing the sputtering man to Mario, who looked almost as furious as he did.
“Apologies everyone,” Marat said, smoothing things over with a joke or two, but I couldn’t hear what he said.
Josef was crouched in front of me, one hand cupping my cheek, the other holding the wrist Richard had grabbed. Whiskey fire eyes stared into mine.
“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
“No. He didn’t hurt me. He was trying to get a rise out of me. Maybe out of displaced loyalty to Franklin,” I whispered, exhaling the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“But he did touch you. Don’t lie to me.”
“Never, Josef. I would never lie to you, Husband. He grabbed my wrist. But that was it.”
“Alright. Destiny is going to sit with you while I take care of this. I’ll be right back, then we’re going home.”
“Yes, Husband,” I replied, swaying closer to him.
There was something so hot about my man wanting to defend me. Maybe it was a base human reaction to that kind of display. Whatever it was, I found myself completely turned on.
Josef stood, taking me with him, and I leaned into his embrace, my hands on his wide shoulders. He kissed my temple, and I closed my eyes, seduced by the power I felt simmering beneath my fingertips.
Maybe it was foolish of me, but I didn’t want to pretend I wasn’t affected by him.
By his possessive display.
The way he handled that creep, Richard.
All of it.
All of him.
Everything he did was just so damn seductive.
I couldn’t deny my feelings for my husband. And I wouldn’t.
Not anymore.
“Meredith, are you alright?” Destiny asked, coming to my side with Sofia right behind her.
“Yah, I’m fine,” I reassured my new friends.
Josef gave my hand one more squeeze before walking in the same direction his men had just gone.
I knew he was going to confront Richard.
More than that.
I knew he was going to do bad things to that horrible man. And it should bother me. I mean, that probably wasn’t okay. I shouldn’t just dismiss his proclivity for violence.
I sure as shit shouldn’t get wet thinking about him coming to my defense so readily.
But I was. I was so fucking wet.
Who knew the fact he would champion me, using physical force to bring down any threat to my honor, would be such a total turn on?
Hot, so hot.
“Will he be long?” I wondered aloud, already planning the ways I wanted to thank him.
Marat surprised me by turning towards us, the three women who belonged to the most powerful men in the house. Hell, maybe even the state. His bright smile was wide as he tucked his wife into his side.
“I shouldn’t think he will be long at all. In fact, I believe Josef will have his business handled before I finish this sentence.”
He wasn’t wrong.
My ears had just caught up to his words when I felt a domineering presence behind me. I turned towards my husband, his stony face betraying nothing at all.
But I knew better.
Josef was great at hiding his emotions, but I could feel the fury simmering beneath the facade.
“Husband,” I whispered, and his whiskey gaze flashed to mine. “Ready?”
He nodded. I turned back to our hosts.
“Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
“Our pleasure, I’m sure,” Marat replied.
“I’ll call next week for lunch,” Sof added.
I wanted to tell her I was looking forward to it, but Josef was already dragging me out the door.
I smile as I jogged to keep up with his long strides.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one in a rush to get home.