A Sunday Snippet: At the Billionaire's Promise

A nice juicy snippet from At the Billionaire's Promise, for you all to sink your teeth into. Enjoy, and don't forget to let me know what you think.

I stood in the kitchen sipping a cup of hot black coffee when David finally reappeared with the two security men. I watched them stand in the hall, their voices low as they talked. David’s face had the concerned expression I’d come to know him for. The one he spent quite a bit of time trying to hide from me.

They finally seemed satisfied and both left. David’s hand remained on the door handle for a few seconds longer than normal. When he finally turned back to me his face was expressionless and I realised he’d been using the few seconds to hide his true emotions.

“Well?” My voice was far more impatient than I’d intended, but it was done.

“Well, what?”

I sighed, “What did they say? Did they find out how some weirdo got in here and took the pictures?”

A flicker of emotion crossed David’s features as I used the word weirdo, but it was gone in a flash. Almost as though it had never been there in the first place. It was something that amazed me. How could a man who was so passionate, who felt so deeply, could so easily hide what his true thoughts were.

I’d asked him one night as we lay in bed together. His arms were still wrapped tightly around me, and our bodies were still half caught in the heated after-glow of our love making. He’d lifted my hand to his lips when I asked the question, his face taking on a solemn look for a split second before it was gone, swallowed by the smile he gave me.

“It’s just something I’ve learned over years of business dealings. He with the best poker face wins, or at least he won’t leave with his reputation in ruins.”

“But, why do you still do it with me? Can’t you trust me?”

“Of course I can. It’s merely a habit. One that will probably take as many years to break as it took to develop. And it’s not really something I can let go… I need it…”

I crawled up next to him and ran my hand down his cheek, he kissed my palm before rolling me back underneath him once more. I was pinned beneath his broad strong chest, and still I wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to hide from me. Didn’t need to protect me from his true thoughts.

“I won’t betray you, I promise…”

“Carrie, I know you won’t. You don’t need to promise me anything but your love…”

“Same goes for you mister.” I lifted my hand to playfully swat at him, but his strong fingers wrapped around my wrist holding it above my head.

“I’ll do more than promise you just my love, I promise you my heart. For always. It’s my promise to you.”

“Carrie, can you hear me?” David’s voice pulled me from my memory, I’d become completely lost in my own thoughts. Enough that I hadn’t heard a word of what he’d said to me.

“I’m sorry, my mind was elsewhere…”

He sighed and frustrated ran his hands through his hair. “This is serious. What I’m telling you is not something that you can just afford to dismiss.”

“Fine, I’m listening, I swear.”

“They think whoever broke in here… Whoever, took the pictures, is the same person that broke into the office last night… Or at the very least it’s the same group of people.”

“How can that be? Why would they do that? None of it makes any sense?”

David shook his own head. “I have no idea, but we’re going to have to be even more careful from now on. We can’t take any risks…”

I nodded. The sound of the buzzer made us both jump. My eyes darted to David’s but he wasn’t even looking at me. Instead his gaze was trained completely on the door.

“I said for no one to be allowed in…” His words trailed off as whoever was at the door began to hammer on it.

“David. I know you’re in there. It’s me… Aaron?”

David moved for the door, his stride once more calm and assured. When he pulled the door open Aaron burst inside, a brown envelope in his hands. An envelope that looked oddly familiar.

“What the hell is this? Do you know about it?” Aaron’s voice was filled with anger as he waved the envelope around. “No one threatens Heather. Not anymore. I’ve finally gotten things back on track… The last thing she needs is more crap. She’s pregnant for Christ’s sake.”

“Well until you tell me what you’re waving around, how am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

Aaron thrust the envelope into his brother’s hands and then caught sight of me leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Shit, Carrie, I’m so sorry… I didn’t realise you were here… I thought maybe you’d be at the office.”

No, Aaron, I’m right here…” 

He looked sheepish as David pulled the envelope open and tugged a scrap of paper from its depths. I watched as David’s expression went white as he scanned the note. Leaving the cup on the counter I went to him. My hand on his shoulder made him jump. Whatever was happening he was visibly shaken. I tried to catch sight of the whatever was on the paper but he hid it from me, folding it and pushing it back inside the envelope.

“When did you get this?” His voice was once more filled with authority as he turned on his brother.

“It was on the doorstep this morning. You don’t seem all that surprised?”

“I’m not.” When David didn’t offer any more of an explanation the tension in the room shot up. Aaron’s fists were clenched as he moved towards his brother.

“Either you tell me little brother, or you and I are going to have a big problem.”

“Do you believe it?” David’s voice was low, menacing.

“Believe what?”

“What the note says?”

Aaron’s eyes darted in my direction for a second before returning to his brother’s face. He let out a long sigh and it seemed to deflate him completely. His shoulders dropped and the dark circles beneath his eyes suddenly stood out in stark relief against the paleness of his face.

“You know I don’t.”

David nodded as though suddenly satisfied and started for his office. Aaron followed him, leaving me standing in the centre of the living room as though I had no part in any of what was going on. Anger bubbled within me. It was one thing for David to keep secrets that I didn’t know about. It was another thing entirely for him to keep secrets in front of my face. Secrets that obviously involved me. It was me in the pictures. David wasn’t in them. And whoever had broken in had done so when I was alone…

“David!” The tone of my voice when I called his name was enough to stop him in his tracks.

He turned and looked at me as though curious over what I was calling him back for. It just made me angrier.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?”

“Me? This involves me… In fact this has more to do with me, than it does with anyone else in this room…”

“Aaron and I will work out what’s best much faster if we can talk freely…”

I cut him off with a wave of my hand. I stalked towards him and my hand cracked across his face faster than he had a chance to react to.

“How dare you.” Tears burned in the back of my throat. “How dare you treat me like I’m just your secretary. Easily dismissed when the big boss decides it’s time to have a grown up conversation.”

“But you are my secretary?”

His words infuriated me. But worse still, they wounded me. His words stabbed through my chest and ripped my heart into pieces. I felt physically sick, as though he had pulled my heart clean out and then stomped all over it. I was just his secretary. All his talk of love and marriage. All of it meant nothing. It meant nothing because when he wanted to, David would simply dismiss me.

I took a step back from him, my entire body shaking. Whatever David saw reflected in my eyes made him move towards me, but I waved him away.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you ever touch me…”

“Carrie, I didn’t mean it like that… You’re misunderstanding…”

“No, David, I’m not. I’m really not. For the first time since we got together, I think I’m finally understanding exactly what you mean.”

His face crumbled, before he replaced his expression with one of cold indifference. I turned and marched for the door, grabbing my coat from the hangers inside the door.

“You can’t leave, you need someone to go with you…”

“I don’t need anything from you, David, not now… Not ever.” I tugged the door open and stormed out. I didn’t look back, not even when David called after me. Once I would have turned every time he called my name. But not today, not now.