Boxed Set: Dominated by a Billionaire - Part 10-12: Irresistible Billionaire by Emma M. Green Page B

A.]
    Sent!
    Lunch ends in almost total silence; Niels’ jokes don’t cheer us up, Vadim’s affectionate whispers leave me like stone. Judging from their gloomy faces, Basile and Lily are also taking the news badly. Like me, they’ve just realized that Edward Lancaster is not who he claims to be. And that from now on, we have to stop counting on him.
    My mother gives me something like twenty kisses on the cheek, before letting me leave. Basile drives Lily home and I jump in the car as Vadim gets behind the wheel. Go home. No more forced smiles. Bury my head under a pillow and scream. That’s my plan for the rest of the day.
    King puts his hand on my leg and strokes it gently, driving in silence. I feel him looking at me on the sly. My speechlessness probably worries him but I can’t even manage a word or two. Turned towards the car window, I watch the pavement whiz by and try to drown out how upset I am. Total failure. The valves open up again and my tears let loose. Vadim pulls over to the shoulder, turns on the emergency lights and I suddenly feel his hands around my face, forcing me to face him.
    “Who cares if he understands or not. Who cares if he’s there or not. Alma, we know. We’ve known for twelve years. We’ll never betray each other,” he whispers, breaking my heart.
    I lean against his chest and let my sobs loose. Everything is confused in my head: my father’s indifference – my father who didn’t even bother to call me back, my mother’s suffering – my mother who no longer recognizes the man she once loved so much, Vadim’s strange behavior over the past few days. And the anger resurfaces in me. I can’t control it.
    “Who cares if my father is there? Who cares?” I blurt out, straightening up in my seat, glaring at my lover. “Can you hear yourself, Vadim?”
    “I just want you to keep things in perspective,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “To put that aside for–”
    “The truth is you don’t give a damn about this wedding,” I shout coldly, staring at the windshield.
    “What? Is this what we do now – fight in the car?! Alma, what game are you playing?”
    “I’m not playing any game, that’s just the point! You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about!” I mutter, opening my car door.
    “Don’t do that!” he says, grabbing me by the arm. “Don’t get out of this car, Alma. Don’t run away!”
    I struggle pathetically and manage to get away from him. I slip out of the car and stride away with no idea of where I’m going. Behind me, I hear Vadim’s voice shouting my name, again and again. Until I take a narrow street and am out of reach. His reach. Everyone’s reach.
    “You’re soaked – did you run here, or what? It’s 90° out there, you must be crazy!” Lily says, bringing me a glass of iced tea.
    “I needed to clear my head,” I tell her, before gulping down the tea.
    “Have you told your man you’re spending the night here?”
    “No. I’m a grownup, I don’t need his permission.”
    “You know exactly what I mean,” she sighs, rolling her eyes. “He’s going to worry, Alma.”
    “Serves him right, that’ll teach your billionaire playboy,” Pippa says, barging in, in her short shorts and midriff tank top. “Lily, I have to teach you everything… If you want a guy to be addicted, you have to be a total pain in the ass. Alma needs to make her King work hard!”
    “Thanks for the tip, Pip’s, even if I don’t necessarily agree,” I say, dragging myself to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”
    “Sorry, no hot water left… And I kind of flooded the floor,” my cousin fesses up, all smiles. “What? I didn’t make you come, you’re the one who wanted to trade your Buckingham Palace for this teeny-weeny apartment!”
    “It’s just for tonight,” my sister corrects her. “Take a cold shower, Alma. It’s so friggin hot out anyway!”
    A cold shower… It’ll just be my third one that day…
    I pretended to