Blind Girl: A Dark Billionaire Romance (16 page)

“Didn’t you?”

“Oh, come on, Alice…” He steps back.

“No,” I argue. “This is
you
. This is classic, manipulative
you
, Charles. I don’t care what you do to me, but leave her out of it.”

“Do you really think I’ve been sitting around for five years, thinking about you? Dreaming about you?” His eyes go wide. “
Stalking
you?”

I hesitate to answer. When spoken out loud, it seems ridiculous. “Yes.”

“Your hubris, Alice, is
godlike
.”

“So you deny it then?”

“Of course, I do.” Charles turns away for a moment but then spins back in my direction. “And what is this accusation?
Manipulative?
” My eyes drop to the ground. “Was I that cruel to you, Alice?” he asks. “I believe you and I have very different memories of our time together.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to block my senses from his talent for words. “Don’t do that—”

“I remember it
fondly
,” he interrupts. “Like a good vacation. But you… No, I treated you with respect, Alice.”

“You didn’t
respect
me,” I spit out. “You wanted to possess me.”

“I offered you
everything
.” He bites his lip and fights to keep his eyes focused on me. “I never stood in your way, even when your decisions did not personally benefit me. I never harmed you outside the realms of your consent and when you said you didn’t want to see me anymore, I let you go. I asked you
twice
if you were sure, then I let you go. I respected your decision. And now, suddenly, after all these years, you tell me that I was cruel to you. That I was possessive and manipulative. Tell me, was there
ever
any moment, in the entirety of our time together, when you felt
unsafe
?”

“Well, I—”

“Yes or no, Alice? Yes or no?”

“No,” I concede.

“Well, then, I think you need to reevaluate the facts of your situation. You were more to me than just a fling to me, Alice. I thought I made that clear, but I guess that was my mistake.”

Weakness clouds me. “It wasn’t just a fling to me either.”

“That’s nice to hear from you,” he says, “but it’s too late to do anything about it now. Despite your assumptions, I’m rather fond of your mother and I don’t want to do anything that will bring her harm.”

I believe him. I hate myself for it, but I believe him. “I don’t either,” I say.

“Then I think we can both agree that we can keep this little spat to ourselves.”

I nod and close my eyes. I feel like a punished child standing in front of the entire class as the teacher scolds her.

“Alice…” he says softly. I look up at him and he shows me his smile. “It really is nice to see you again.”

I take a slow breath. “It’s nice to see you, too, Charles,” I say.

“Happy birthday.”

A smile strikes my lips and I nod at him again before turning back towards the house. When I get back inside, I see the lights of the kitchen have gone dim and the flickering of candlelight lingers on the walls. I breathe a heavy sigh and step into the room. “Okay, let’s get this over with,” I say.

Percy closes in on my back and hugs me from behind. “Everything all right?” he says into my ear.

“Yep,” I say. I plant a quick kiss on his lips.

My mother sits at the table next to a large cake with candles shaped like the number 23. “Happy birthday, kiddo,” she says.

I come in closer and nod with approval at the cake’s design. “A typewriter,” I note, looking at the black and gray frosting. “A little archaic, but still accurate.”

My mother shrugs. “Well, I guess I could have asked them to draw a Kindle on it or something,” she says.

“No, it looks great, Mom. Thank you.” I lean over and hug her. It feels strange now. An odd rift has formed between us, but I’m the only one aware of it. I wish I could forget that we’ve both loved the same man, but it’s permanently etched deep inside me now. I hear the front door open and close as Charles reenters the house.

“There he is!” my mother announces. I watch her eyes as he steps over to her and lays a hand on her shoulder. “Everything okay?” she asks.

“Nothing to worry about tonight,” he says with a secret glance at me. “It’s a party.”

“Make a wish, Alice,” Percy tells me.

I stand over the cake and lick my lips as I wonder what to wish for. When I was a child, this was the easy part. I’d wish for whatever I wanted at the time, be it a bike or a pet dog. The odds of getting it were always small — we didn’t have very many resources — but that was never the point. It was about knowing that in that moment, there was magic somewhere in the universe and it was there to bring me whatever my heart desired.

I look up at Charles. The candle’s flame flickers in his eyes and I allow myself to feel his warmth again. I turn away as fate’s cold knife slits my throat.

I blow out the candles without making a wish.

Magic doesn’t exist.

Chapter 11

The Elephant in the Room

I linger in the hallway just outside the kitchen doorway, bouncing up and down on my toes, trying to build up the nerve to face my mother.

I didn’t get very much sleep last night. The shock of seeing Charles again — especially in the loving arms of my mother — was too much for me to handle. Percy, of course, noticed there was something wrong, but I just blamed the cup of coffee I drank after dinner for fueling me with too much caffeine. He slept like a rock while I fought through a near panic attack until four in the morning.

“Alice, is that you?”

I force myself through the doorway and plant myself in a stool at the counter. “Yeah, it’s just me,” I tell her.

“Got something on your mind, sweetie?” she asks before blowing into her mug.

“Is it that obvious?” I ask.

My mother grabs a clean mug from the cabinet above her head and fills it with fresh coffee. “You’ve been lurking around my house for ten minutes,” she says as she pushes it towards me. “Yes, it’s obvious.”

I laugh a little and take a long sip. The brew is far too hot, but I let the pain seethe in my throat. It’s better to feel that instead of everything else inside of me right now. “Mom,” I say, staring into my coffee mug, “how are things going with you and…”

“Charles?” she asks.

“Yeah.” I bite my lip, hating that I couldn’t even say his name.

She smiles as she thinks about it. “It’s nice,” she says. “He’s really cool and fun.”

A wave of nausea rips through me. I force it down. “He didn’t… stay the night, did he?”

My mother laughs. “No, his driver picked him up shortly after you went to bed. Isn’t that cool? He has a
driver
!”

“Yeah…”

“He had an early flight this morning to Paris,” she continues. “Something work related.”

I take another sip of coffee, using the brief pause to gather my thoughts. “So, you two have been seeing each other a month?”

“Yes,” she answers. “Off and on. A few dates. Nothing too serious.”

I nod as I feel the sweat gathering on my brow. “And you two haven’t…”

“Fucked?”

The weight of the word crushes me down. “M-Mom!” I sit back and push the mug away from me before my hands tremor it off the counter. All the while, her laughter echoes over my torment.

“If you
must
know…” she says, laughing at me. “No, we haven’t.”

“Really?” I don’t want to appear too relieved, but the mere thought of Charles seducing my mother is in large part what kept me up all night.

“No. I explained my past to him and how I wanted to take things slow. He was fine with it. He wasn’t looking for anything too crazy either.”

I try to say something in reply, but I’m still too thrilled with the fact that my ex-lover isn’t banging my mother.

“Good morning, ladies.”

I turn around and see Percy walking in. “Hey…” I manage to breathe out as he wraps his arms around my neck and lingers above my shoulders.

“Have I missed anything important?” he asks as he pokes my ribs.

“No, we’re just chatting,” my mother says.

He takes the stool next to me and pulls it a little closer as he sits down. “Oh, I love a little girl talk,” he teases.

“Mom—” The word exhales past my lips, fast and stiff. “We have something to tell you.”

She stops and stares at us, her gaze bouncing back and forth between our faces. “Okay…” she says.

I glance at Percy’s smiling face and he nudges my ribs again. “Percy has asked me to marry him,” I say.

Her eyes go wide.

“
And
…” Percy adds, “she said yes.”

“Yeah, right —” I shake my head, my fingers tapping the counter. “I said yes. We’re getting married and I said yes.”

My mother bursts into laughter. “Well, of course you two are getting married!” she shouts. “I knew you would the moment I met him.”

I laugh with her as Percy grips my hand on the counter. She steps around me throws her arms around Percy’s head.

“It’s like I always told you, sweetie…” she says.
“Marry young, take notes, and get it right during the second marriage.”

“What?” Percy asks.

I shake my head at him. “She’s
never
told me that.”

***

“Order up, Alice!”

I glance over my shoulder and take note of the new plates stacked on the ledge. “Table three, Rick?” I ask the chef.

“Table three,” he confirms.

“Thanks,” I throw my voice through the open window and grab the plates.

The entrance bell sounds across the room as I stop by table three to deliver their food.

“Alice!”

My smile immediately stretches across my face as I hear Gabby’s high-pitched voice by the door. “Let me know if you guys need anything else,” I tell the table before rushing over and throwing my arms around her.

“Enough with the hugs!” she shouts after a brief second. “Show me the
rock
.” I present my engagement ring to her and she studies it closely, nearly yanking my finger out of the socket in the process. After a silent moment, she glances back up at me. “That’s it?” she asks.

“Hey—” I pull my hand away. “We can’t all marry
billionaires
, Gabby.”

She shrugs and tumbles her thick fur coat down her shoulders. “We can if we try hard enough, Alice,” she says.

“The table in the corner,” I tell her. “I’ll be right there.” She passes by me and wanders over to the corner table while I slink back behind the counter.

“Hey, Rick,” I announce, “I’m taking my break.”

He gives me a grunt of acknowledgment. I unpin my name tag and toss it in my pocket of my uniform as I rush across the diner and sit across from Gabby.

“Okay, tell me how he proposed,” she says, sitting up straight. “
Spare no details
because how a man proposes is a direct reflection of how much he loves you.”

“Okay,” I laugh, “but everything you just said is objectively untrue.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “Seriously.”

“Gabby, stop.” I tell her the whole story, beginning to end. I watch her eyes as I tell it, noting all the highs and lows the emotional roller coaster takes her on in the process.

“An empty box?!” she bursts.

“I’m not finished. Stop interrupting.” She stays silent for the rest of the story, often times biting her lip to keep quiet. Finally, she leans back and licks her lips as her mind spins. “Well?” I ask.

She looks at me through the narrow slits of her eyelids before nodding slowly. “He passed,” she says, “but mostly for the bit about not taking no for an answer. It shows he’s not a pushover and I find male assertiveness and dominance sexually arousing in ways I don’t entirely understand.”

“Of course, you do,” I say, wrinkling my nose.

“Now.” She slaps her palm onto the table. “We need to address the elephant in the room.”

“Which is?”

“Well,
obviously
, there’s only one choice for your maid of honor,” she states. “You were
mine
, so it’s only
fair
that I’m
yours.
Agreed?”

I laugh. “Okay, first of all, I wasn’t your maid of honor. I was your
witness
because you and Ian
eloped
.”

She raises her hands in surrender. “Hey, I will settle for being your witness. It means I get to pick out my own dress.”

“Of course, you can be my maid of honor, Gabby,” I tell her. “Who else is there?”

I feel a presence over my shoulder and Gabby’s eyes grow wide.

“Who else indeed?”

His voice charges down my spine, shaking me back and forth. I grip the table in front of me and slowly look over my shoulder at him. “Charles…” I breathe, my eyes dropping down his body to admire his suit. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood,” he says, flashing his smile at me. He looks across the table. “Gabby, always a pleasure.”

She smiles up at him. “Right back at you, Charles.”

“Would you mind if I borrowed Alice for a moment?” he asks her.

“Go right ahead.”

I twist around to glare at her and try to kick her ankle under the table, but my toe connects with the metal bar beneath the table instead. I grit in sudden pain and she looks at me like the idiot I am.

Charles presents his hand to me. “Alice?” he says.

I push myself out of the booth without his aid. “What are you doing here, Charles?” I ask him again.

“Come with me,” he says. He walks across the diner and lingers next to the entrance until I begrudgingly follow him. He holds the door for me and I step outside onto the sidewalk.

An early autumn breeze chills me and I cross my arms about my chest to block it. Charles steps around me and leads me across the sidewalk towards his car.

“What’s going on, Charles?” I ask him, halting a few feet away from him.

“I would like to speak to you for a moment, in private,” he says as he pulls the backseat door open. “Please.”

“Charles—”