Alpha Billionaire Series

ALICIA

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Christopher stood, filling the door frame.

Hannah turned and looked at me with a concerned and confused look on her face.

“Close the door, Hannah."

She pushed the door closed, but Christopher stuck his foot in the way, so it closed on him.

“Alicia,” he said. I didn’t want to hear his voice.

“There is nothing you can say to me right now that I want to hear.”

“I was wrong”This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

Hannah looked at him and back at me with her eyes wide. Yeah, I had to admit, that was something he could say that I migh want to hear, but I was angry.

“Yes, you were. You've said it. Go away."

Hannah mouthed my name and nodded over her shoulder. “Who is he?’

“My boss, I mouthed back.

she mouthed, “talk to him. She continued to make faces at me.

“No, Hannah, I'm not going to talk to him." Mouthing words at each other was stupid, if he didn't like what we said in front o him, he could leave.

“Alicia?” Christopher pleaded.

Ceejay wrapped himself around my leg. I gazed down at him. He looked worried. I lifted him up. Christopher's eyes were locked onto my boy.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I wasn't dressed. I was still in my sleep shorts and a sweatshirt. I couldn't just step outside, not that I wanted to be out in the cold talking to Christopher. I kissed Ceejay on the head and left my face pressed against his hair.

“I can take Ceejay to the park if you need some time?” Hannah's voice was quiet.

I hated that I felt tears sting my eyes when I opened them and looked up at Christopher. He had gone pale; his jaw was slack “You want to go to the swings, buddy?” I asked.

Itwas a rhetorical question. Ceejay always wanted to play on the swings.

“Come on, you and me.” Hannah pulled him from my arms.

I'stepped back and Christopher stepped into the apartment. There was a little dance that looked like messy choreography a everyone moved around each other at the door. Hannah pulled on her coat, helped Ceejay into his, and wrestled the knit beanie onto his head. It would have been simpler if he held still, but my toddler was a wiggly little guy.

“Text me, okay?” Hannah said with a nod as they left. “Take the time you need.”

I'stood in the middle of the living room, ignoring Christopher, watching Hannah and my son get ready to leave.

The door closed behind them, and I was alone with the man who broke me. I didn't only have a broken heart, but my confidence in my work skills had also taken a real beating. Something I hadn't fully unpacked until after I had panic attacks about applying for jobs at the mall.

“Aren't you, no, never mind."

“What? Am I, what?”

Christopher shook his head. “I barged in here, why would you offer me a drink or ask me to sit down?”

“Congratulations, you figured out I don’t need to be hospitable to you right now. Okay, you got what you wanted, you're in m apartment. Now what?”

He pointed behind him. “Who is his father?”

I cocked my head to the side and crossed my arms. “Really? You think you can just come in here and start asking personal questions?”

My stomach clenched. Yes, he was here and he wanted to know. This was a scenario I had imagined going in many different directions. None of them had me feeling like I was in control.

“Tell me." He didn’t move, but he growled.

“I'm not going to talk to you if you continue to act like this. 'm not your secretary with whom you can be bossy anymore. Thi is my home; you will speak to me with respect, or you can leave”

He ran his hand over his face. He pursed his lips and then let out a big breath. He started pacing back and forth in front of the couch. It wasn't a large living room, so he was effectively running himself in circles. When he started talking again, he wa quiet. “I need to know, when you were with me, you weren't hiding another relationship.”

I laughed. “Oh, you mean, like being married? What kind of person do you take me for? Damn it, Christopher, is that what's crawled up your ass? You've been a complete bastard to me for over a month. What's wrong with you? No seriously. You've been bullying me ever since I couldn't go to Offset. I thought you were just mad because I ruined a sexy weekend, but you've been acting like a cranky toddler ever since. Trust me I know about cranky toddlers.”

“I saw him, you didn’t want me to come in.” Christopher moved his hands about in faltering gestures.

“The place was a mess, and I didn’t want you to get sick. I spent the afternoon puking. I was trying to protect you from whatever it was." I threw my hands up and stomped around a bit. It was my turn to throw a fit.

“sit down and listen." I shoved my finger in the direction of the couch. “My son's name is Ceejay. Who do you think his father is?”

A smirk started to spread across his face. “Why didn't you tell me?"

“Why didn't you just ask? Instead, you made up some villain arch about me in your imagination. I didn't tell you because I... I.." Oh God, the sadness slammed into me. I didn't see it coming. I gasped and clutched at my stomach before sinking to the floor.

I gulped in tears as Christopher was suddenly by my side, gathering me in his arms. He lifted me and put me on the couch. I could hear him banging around the kitchen, then the water tap in the fridge. He placed a glass in my hands.

“Drink.”

I00k a sip of water and handed the glass back. Pulling the sweatshirt sleeve over my wrist, I rubbed at my tears.

He stayed there and knelt in front of me. I wanted him to stop being concerned. This would be so much easier if he was still being a jerk.

Itook a shaky breath. This hurt. My entire life I pushed these feelings away, and Christopher brought them out and had then parading around like my pain was a f+ party.

“I never knew my dad.”

He started to make coddling, soothing sounds.

Ishook my head, stopping him.

“I wasn't even allowed to know who he was, so I didn't try to track him down. My mother was, is, she still is, incredibly beautiful. And she was in the right place for probably the wrong reasons when she met my father. I still have no idea who he was, but he was important. You know, money, power. Now I don't know if that meant political, business, or celebrity, upper echelon. You know?”

Christopher settled himself, balancing on his feet and knees. His eyes were so full of concern. I wanted to reach out and cress his face. I played with the cuff of my sweatshirt instead.

“So, my beautiful mother married a handsome, rich, much older man. And as soon as she started to show her pregnancy wit me, he left her. And his lawyers made sure she got left with absolutely nothing." I gulped. I sounded so detached from the story I heard so many times.

“We don't need men, sweet pea. We are strong, independent women. There's nothing a man can do that we can't do better! She never dated when I was younger. She was done with men, at least until she moved to Miami when I was eighteen.

I never fully grasped the absolute pain. Had I ever really processed it? My father never wanted me.

“I never want my son to know the pain of not being wanted. He deserves better than that. So, no I didn't introduce you to him. I wasn't certain yet. I had no idea who you were. Your name was CJ, that's all I knew. That's all I had to tell my boy about his father when he’s ready to ask. I didn't know you were you until after I started working for you.”

“I remember,” his voice was so low, it was practically a whisper.

“I certainly wasn't about to blurt out, “oh, by the way, you owe me three years of child support” Ceejay doesn't know about you. And I didn't tell you about him because I was protecting my baby. The stupid thing is, I was ready to tell you. Once we got to Dallas, I mean. I was going to run the whole falling in love thing with you, and depending on how you reacted, I was going to tell you about Ceejay. I'm really glad I didn't”

I wiped at more tears and stared right into his eyes. They glistened with unshed tears. I didn't care. He showed me his reaction.

“You got your answers, okay? You should go."