My Billionaire Fling by Maci Dillon
GABE
After my last call for the evening ended, I notice several missed calls from Sophia. Glancing at the time, she shouldn’t be finished with work yet. We’re supposed to be meeting for dinner in fifteen minutes.
Fuck.
Being late is for people with no drive and nothing to lose. Tonight, isn’t the night to show up late. I call Viktor to have him swing around front to pick me up. As I race to meet the car, I return Sophia’s call and curse when she doesn’t answer.
Running through the notifications and messages on my phone, I stop when I see Sophia’s name. I open the alert as I step off the elevator, and hurricane Sophia rushes me. Wild, disheveled, and ready to stake me in the heart with her acrylic fingernails, I step back with my hands in the air.
She knows.
My heart sinks momentarily. This isn’t how I wanted her to find out.
“You outrageously pompous, arrogant fucktard! You moved me out of my apartment?”
Hesitantly, I remind her, “We spoke about this.”
“No, you spoke about it. I recommended a very public breakup and told you how much I loved my apartment.” She stabs me in the chest and clutches her hand in pain.
“Motherfucker.”
Amused, I watch as she dances on the spot, her rage replaced with the pain of jarring her nail on my abs. I’d say I’m sorry, but I can’t risk laughing.
“If it makes you feel any better, I handled your shoe collection myself?”
“Ugh. How could you?”
“Fuck me, Sophia. Why do you keep challenging me?”
She glares at me, her narrowed eyes full of contempt.
“Why do you keep pushing for us to do this?”
“Because I fucking love you, okay? Fuck.” The truth spills from my lips without consideration for the tone of delivery. And I instantly regret it.
Since my mother, I haven’t said those words to any woman, and the emotion almost cripples me.
“You… you love me?” she whispers, tears gathering in her eyes.
I pull her into a hug, and wrap my arms tightly around her, wishing I could take back the words. Tell her when the timing is better, like when we weren’t in a heated argument, and she didn’t want to stab me.
“You weren’t supposed to find out this way. About the apartment or the way I feel about you.”
She clutches my back, clinging to me as if she never wants to let me go.
I can only hope one day this will be true.
Because as much as she sees this as minimizing a media scandal, I see this as our opportunity at a life of love, filled with happiness and shared success neither of us has been privy to before.
“Viktor is waiting outside for us. Can we still make our reservation and discuss the details?”
Sophia steps back and lifts her eyes to mine.
“What choice do I have? You moved my life into a suite I don’t have access to.” Halfheartedly, she chuckles, and I pull an access card from my pocket and hand it to her.
“Now you do.”
As we walk to meet Viktor patiently waiting for us, she adds, “I had to stop by the office after visiting my empty apartment to fetch a spare pair of heels after snapping a heel on my favorites. You better have my shoes perfectly displayed when I get home.”
A grin the size of the Grand Canyon covers my face at her mention of home.
“If they’re not to your standards, you can take it out on me in bed.”
Laughing, she agrees. “Deal.”
Dinner tonight is more about the conversation than wining and dining a woman into bed. With the knowledge I’ll be waking up beside Sophia each morning for the foreseeable future makes me a privileged and happy man.
“What am I going to tell my brothers? Jesus, I haven’t even discussed any of this with anyone besides Kelli.”
“Why do you seek their approval?”
“It’s not about their approval. They’re my people, and their support means the world to me.”
“And if they don’t support you?”
“They will because they love me. It doesn’t mean they’ll agree with my choices, but they’ll have my back whatever I decide to do. That’s what family does.”
The mention of family disarms me, and I bow my head to hide my emotion.
“Gabe.” She reaches across the table and clutches my hand. “You’ve met all my family now, and you know about my parents. Now we’re going to be living together, don’t you think it’s time to share with me?”
I know she’s right. And she deserves all the details, but some I’ll never be able to fully disclose.
“What do you want to know?”
She pulls back from me with a quizzical expression. Granted, each time she’s asked a personal question in the past year, I’ve clamped up like a soggy book—the pages glued together, afraid to open in the presence of someone who may see straight through their damaged center.
“You’ve shared briefly about your mother but never mentioned your father.”
I reach for my whiskey to disguise my discomfort.
Ask about anything but my father, I want to tell her.
“I never knew him.”
Mentally, I clout myself around the head. I have no idea why I lied. There’s a difference between a straight-out lie and not disclosing the full truth, although both are shitty options.
“I’m so sorry.”
“No. Stop.” I push away from the table and bury my hands in my head. When I glance back at Sophia, her glare is a mix of emotions. I rake my fingers through my hair and start again.
“I don’t know why I said that. My father died in my teens, he turned into a drunk after my mother died, and I prefer not thinking about him.” I choke back the words I’ll never be able to share with her.
“Siblings?”
Grateful for her moving on so quickly, I still can’t offer any happier news.
“Only child.” I smile. “I always wanted a sibling. It was lonely at times, especially after my mom passed.”
“You said you grew up in Connecticut, so how did you end up in New York?”
“After both my parents…” I pause, “… after they died, and I was old enough to get the hell out of the area, I did and pursued my dreams at Columbia.”
“Did you go into the foster care system after your father passed?”
I shook my head. “No, a group home for boys. Nobody wanted to foster a broken teenager.”
Sophia considers my answer for a moment before giving up on the inquisition and taking a sip of her wine.
“Enough about family for one evening. Let’s talk about our plan moving forward.”
“Okay, tell me what you’ve done with my apartment.” The tone of my words could tear a boulder to threads.
“I moved your belongings, Sophia, nothing more. Though I do have an idea for the apartment I think you’ll love. But first, we should set a date for the wedding and make a public announcement.”
“You know I’m not actually going to marry you, right? If I get married, I want it to be once only, not some ruse for the satisfaction of the media grubs.”
She might think this way now, but I’ll be fucked if I let her get away without making her mine forever. This woman has destroyed me for any other. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Rising from the table, I take a small velvet box from inside my jacket. I’ve been carrying it with me since I arrived back in London, waiting for the right time.
Tonight, we’ll go home to our place, and I can’t think of a better time to make this official.
Rounding the table, I kneel on one knee at Sophia’s side and take her hand.
She gasps and glances around the restaurant. Silence falls over the diners, and I feel their eyes are on us. Mine never leave hers.
“You’ve already said yes, but I wanted to do this properly with a ring this time.”
It had to be said in case anyone was filming. The last thing we need is the media assuming my talk of marriage was an after-thought to the publication mess.
“Sophia, I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re charismatic, bossy, you keep me on my toes, challenge me constantly, and you’re beautiful, inside and out. Please make me the happiest man on earth and commit to me forever.”
Her free hand flies over her mouth, and tears fill her eyes.
“Sophia, will you marry me?”
With the ring between my fingers, I begin to slip it over the end of her wedding ring finger. Waiting on bated breath for her answer before I set it in place. Come on, baby, say yes.
Please.
“Of course, Gabe. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I glide the ring down her finger and it’s a perfect fit. She admires the two-carat diamond encased in smaller ones before pulling me to my feet and launching herself into my arms.
The crowded restaurant erupts, clapping and shouting their congratulations, but I only have eyes for Sophia. With my hands on either side of her face, I crash my lips to hers and kiss her in a way I never have before.
With complete ownership.
She’s mine.
And I vow to show her exactly what she’ll be missing if she decides to leave.
