I rolled over when I saw the sun shining through the curtains. I had not had much sleep. Last night seeing Maximo with another woman after we had a civil date really bothered me. I decided to get up and take a shower. I had dark bags under my eyes and my eyes were bloodshot. Great. I stood under the water for what felt like hours, letting the water wash away my irritation. Damn, the water never gets cold, I smirked.
Once I got tired of being in the shower, I got dressed. I decided against makeup and brushed my hair straight back. It may be 8am, but I could really use a drink. I walked to the kitchen and decided to make myself a mimosa. The orange juice was freshly squeezed. The Hernandez’s maids really went all out. I poured a glass mostly full of champagne before splashing orange juice on top. I smiled to myself. My joy was quickly interrupted when I saw Jesus walk into the kitchen.
“Good morning, bello.” He smiled. I turned away from him and opened the fridge. “How was your and Maximo’s date last night?”
“It was fine until I found him fucking a whore.” I retorted. He almost seemed to relax and let out a brief chuckle.
“You will learn to overlook these things, sweet girl.”
“Overlook these things? Like infidelity? STDs? Yeah, sure.” I took a long drink of my mimosa.
“This is power, honey, this is the price of business.” I hated to remember that this was all about business and not love. I never saw myself marrying for business. I always thought I would meet a man who took my breath away and treated me like a queen, never hurting me. Little girl dreams now that I look at it. Hopeless, unachievable, little girl dreams.
“Business, that’s right. This is a business deal.” I smirked, annoyed.
“Yes, my dear.” I was getting tired of his pet names. “It will work out, you will see.” He smiled optimistically and walked out of the kitchen. I’m glad I wore my bathing suit because I decided to finish the bottle of champagne on the beach.
The guard let me out of the gate to the beach. It may have been early, but it was already warm outside. I walked to the water’s edge and sat down. This could not be my future, living and working with this family. I made a list of conditions I was going to make with Maximo. Number 1 being to leave James alone, no harm could come to him. My phone rang. “Hello, Ms. Martin?” A nervous young woman mumbled.
“Yes, this is she?”
“My name is Ari. We have a problem with the plumbing in The Velvet Room: New Orleans. I wouldn’t have called you, but I cannot get ahold of Nadia. Water is spewing everywhere!” I jumped up.
“Turn off the main water valve, it is in the closet next to the bathrooms!”
“Okay.” She answered dumbly. “Got it!”
“Ari, call a plumber and have them bill the club. I am out of town but will try to be there within the next week to check on the damages.” And hung-up. God, can nothing ever go right? Not only do I have to worry about the damages, but Nadia, the manager, is dropping the ball. I hate timid people and her incompetence made for a timid employee to call me, directly! I finished off the bottle of champagne and walked back towards the house, noticing I was a little drunk.
“Are you drunk?” Asked a deep, sexy voice.
“It’s none of your business.” And I turned around to see him standing there. He looked gorgeous this morning. I realized that I probably should not have gotten drunk before seeing him. We had business to discuss. He chuckled dryly, annoyed by my drunkenness.
“We have business to discuss, eat something and sober up. Meet me in the office in 30 minutes.” My drunk ass saluted him like I was in the army. He curled his lip up at me, appalled by my behavior.
I ate some toast and bacon but couldn’t stomach anything more. I drank some juice hoping that might help and walked into the office. I could see him sitting there, looking down at some papers on the desk, completely engulfed in whatever they contained. “Sit.” He motioned for the chair as I was standing in the doorway waiting for him to look up. I must have been standing there for awhile. I sat down and crossed my legs, leaning back into the chair. “Did you eat?”
“Yes.” I responded, bored.
“You said you have business to discuss before we continue on with this relationship?”
“Yes, I do.” I uncrossed my legs and sat forward. “For this relationship, or lack thereof, to continue, I need to set some boundaries in place.” I interlaced my fingers and placed them on my knee. “James is to not be harmed, ever. He is my security detail and I need him in his strongest.” He looked up at me for the first time since I entered the room. He leaned back in his chair. “Also, I still have my own businesses in the states, I need to be able to visit the states at anytime to manage my affairs.” He nodded.
“Fair enough, anything else?”
“I know this is just for business, but I would like if you would stop screwing other women. To make this transition easier for me, I would prefer you try to get to know me and be with me only.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
“As I told you before, if you want me to only have eyes for you, Fallon, you will need to catch my attention.”
“Well, you said that I would have to start fucking you, actually.” I blurted out. He raised his eyebrow at me. God, how sexy. I felt my groin tingle.
“I do not only want sex, Fallon. I do hope you have more to offer me than just your body. I would hope you can hold a conversation.” He snickered.
I rolled my eyes and leaned back, crossing my legs again. “So, you want an actual relationship then? No friends with benefits type thing?” I smirked. He clenched his jaw. I guess he was not in a playful mood. “Whatever, fine. We can go on dates and spend time together, get to know each other better.” This made him relax. “Oh, I have to go to my club in New Orleans, I’m having issues with the manager.” He glanced at his watch. “Would you like to go?”
“You can leave after we are married.” Then he stood up and walked out. My jaw dropped. What just happened. Hopefully that wasn’t his idea of a proposal. I jumped up and ran after him.
“What did you just say?” He turned around.
“You heard me. You are not leaving until we are married. Now, get ready, we have to check out one of the factories before going to my club tonight.” The edges of his mouth turned up into an evil smile. “Wear something sexy.”