Psycho Billionaire: A Dark Romance

by Kashmira Kamat

  Now I needed to find Kiara soon. I gritted my teeth hard, and my hand on the wheel tightened until my knuckles were white.

  This was going to be a long night.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kiara

  One Hour Ago

  I couldn’t believe I was going through with this. I’d taken a huge risk; I was riding in one of Lucas’s cars with his assistant, Dale. He was an angry-looking thug with black hair, and black eyes, a jagged scar running from his cheek down to his neck. He seemed like he could handle fighting a dozen men easily, and that made me feel a little less concerned about Jasper coming after me.

  “You need to go faster,“ I urged him.

  “What are you so worried about?” Dale asked.

  “If Jasper finds me, he’s going to ask me to go back with him. He will grovel and beg, and I don’t know how I will refuse him. I’m under his debt, but I’m going to figure out how I can pay him back, but it’s definitely not going to be the way he thinks I should.” I hugged myself, leaning more into the soft leather seat.

  “Is that what your relationship with him was? I don’t understand. I mean, it’s none of my business anyway,” He said.

  “It’s complicated,” I admitted. “I love him, but he also scares me. The things he does and says. He’s just too unpredictable. I can’t stay with him no matter how hard this is going to be for me to deal with.”

  “I’ve known him for the past six years, so I know I’m playing with fire. Once Jasper Lockhart has his eyes on something, he stops at nothing. You need to be strong.”

  I gave a nod. “I have to first stop at my mom’s for a minute. I need to talk to her.”

  It took about an hour to reach my house in Pine Valley. The time was a little after eleven p.m and that meant Mom was probably in bed. I hated to wake her up, but this was urgent. I didn’t plan to stay here because there were chances that Jasper would find me and try to take me back to his mansion.

  I told Dale to wait in the car while I went inside to have a little chat with my mother.

  I rang the doorbell. “Mom, it’s me, Kiara.”

  I waited for a minute, but there was no response.

  I knocked this time and called out to her again. When I knocked the third time, I heard the sound of footsteps, and the door swung open.

  Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a protruding belly staring at me in confusion. A frown was plastered on his tired face. He didn’t seem to appreciate me standing at the door at this hour.

  Who was this man? Had my mom moved on already?

  I wondered if I’d knocked on the wrong house. Had few weeks with Jasper rusted my memory?

  The man leered at me, his eyes scanning me from the bottom until he finally rested his gaze on my face. I could read his thoughts well; he was probably wondering what a well-groomed woman in expensive clothing was doing in this neighborhood.

  “May I help you?” he asked, his tone screaming hostility.

  “I’m looking for my mother, Julie Reeves. Is she here?”

  “Julie Reeves?” The man scratched his head. “Doesn’t live here no more.”

  “Then where is she? Do you know where my mother is?” I was puzzled.

  Had things really changed so much while I was away?

  The man nodded slowly. “I’m not sure. She used to rent this place before me, but I heard the neighbors say that she moved to Sunny Heights.”

  That wasn’t possible. Sunny Heights was the richest part of this town. How could my mother afford to live in Sunny Heights when she couldn’t even afford to pay the rent of this place that I was standing at the moment? I used to work at a restaurant and helped pay the bills.

  “Okay. Thank you,” I said, and started walking towards the car when I halted and walked back to him. “Can I ask you a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “If a man shows up, asking you if I was here, just say I did and tell him that I mentioned leaving for Northern Hills.”

  The man nodded. I thanked him and walked back to the car in a daze. If Jasper showed up here, then he would be misguided to drive two hours into another town looking for me.

  I slid into the car waiting for me. “Where to?” Dale asked.

  “Sunny Heights.”

  ***

  To look for my mother without a proper address was like looking for a grain in the ocean. I called Casey, the owner of our previous home, and asked her if she knew about the new address that my mom had moved to. Fortunately, Casey knew about it because apparently, she had helped mom during the move. I was thankful she didn’t inquire where I’d been for the past few weeks.

  “Are you sure you brought me to the right place, Dale?” I asked, looking at the piece of paper and glancing back at the house.

  Dale chuckled. “You sure your mom didn’t find a genie in the past few weeks while you were gone?”

  I’d started to wonder the same. Maybe Mickey Mouse was a real person too.

  My mother’s new house was beautiful and nothing like what I’d imagined it would be-a brown bricked modern two story house with a white picket fence. It had trimmed lawns with a private parking area and a cute little patio stood at the center.

  This shit was posh. Had my mother remarried to some rich bastard?

  Dale parked the car in the shadows as I told him to since I didn’t want to take any risks. I rang the doorbell and waited. I rang once again and saw the curtains rustle. The door opened finally, and my hands flew to my mouth as I suppressed a loud sob that was about to erupt from within.

  My mother stood at the doorway, dressed in a silk maroon robe. Her black hair was dyed blonde, and the tired bags that used to be under her eyes had vanished. She looked so much younger and better, like a posh lady that goes to Sunday brunch with her friends, drove expensive cars, and did charity for fun.

  Her eyes swam with tears as I wrapped her in a hug and cried my eyes out on her shoulder. She then closed the door behind me and led me inside. The living area was impressive with furniture that matched with the drapes. A flat-screen was mounted against the wall. It was a home that I’d always wished we had.

  Mom smiled at me. “Would you like some tea, my dear?”

  I shook my head. “I’m good.” I had to leave soon. Jasper would probably be here looking for me. “Mom, I need to talk to you.”

  We settled on the couch. Mom took my hand in hers. My tears started spilling out. I had questions about her moving to this place. I wanted to ask her where she got the money from, or if she had moved in with a wealthy man, but first, I needed to get everything off my chest and fast. If I’d found mom’s address so easily, I knew Jasper would too, and I didn’t want to think what would happen then.

  “I was living with Jasper Lockhart for the past few weeks as his…as his mistress.”

  Mom appeared to be shocked by my revelation.

  I shrugged. “You were right, Mom. Someone as wealthy as Jasper wasn’t really interested in someone like me.” The next few words came out in a strangled sob. “I was in a helpless situation, and he just used me. I mistook it for love. I thought if he realized how much he meant to me, he’d change. I just ended up feeling so disgusted with myself. I was reduced to being his whore. Nothing else.”

  Mom nodded. Her expression remained impassive. This was all a little too much for her to handle. Maybe she thought I’d gone bonkers and was cooking up stories. “You seem hungry, honey. I made macaroni and cheese. Would you like some?”

  “Yes, of course.” It’d been a while since I had mom’s food. I was craving it.

  She walked into the kitchen and stuffed a plate full of macaroni and cheese into the microwave oven for heating. A few minutes later, I was devouring it.

  “So, how did you move in here?” I finally asked her.

  She shrugged. The thin lines on her forehead creased. “Your grandfather left us a small fortune in his will.”

  “I wouldn’t call this small. Did grandpa win some
kind of a lottery before he died?”

  My grandfather used to live on a farm. To think grandpa would leave tons of money in his will seemed unlikely, considering the fact that he barely made much out of farming and spent most of his time watching television and boozing. Something was not right. My mother was definitely hiding something.

  Before I could say another word, the doorbell rang and there was a brief knock at the door. My heartbeat sped up. “It could be Jasper. If it’s him, please don’t tell him I’m here, okay? I need to hide somewhere.”

  There was another loud pounding.

  Mom instructed me to go into the bedroom and hide in the walk-in closet. I rushed into the master bedroom, slipped into the walk-in closet and hid behind the hanging clothes. A moment later, I heard the sound of retreating footsteps. The closet was dark, but there was a small gap in the corner of the door where I could peep out and see what was going on.

  I heard the bedroom door creak open and a voice that said, “Where is she?”

  My chest tightened with fear. It was undoubtedly Jasper’s voice. I could recognize that deep voice even in my sleep. How did Jasper knew my mother’s new location?

  “She isn’t here.” I heard Mom answer.

  Jasper’s eyes darted around the room. His hair was thick and dark. His blue eyes shined like marbles. He kind of reminded me of a raven trying to spot its prey. He dug his hand into his pocket avoiding direct eye contact with my mother. At that point, I noticed how young he looked. A gorgeous young man in his late twenties, dressed to impress. The burn mark on his neck did not steal away from his beauty.

  “Where is she, Julie?” Jasper asked my mother in a low gravel voice. I had to press my ear to the door to listen to him carefully.

  “I told you. I don’t know,” Mom lied. “She didn’t come here.”

  “Kiara and I were at a friend’s party, and she went missing during that time. Now, if she stopped by here, which I’m hundred and one percent sure she did, I want you to tell me the truth. If you’re lying, you do know what that entails, don’t you?” Jasper asked.

  Mom nodded. Why did it seem like they knew each other?

  “Here’s what I’ll tell you, Julie. My team will try their best to track her down, and in the meantime, I want you to do the same. You’re her mother. She is going to come looking for you, which is assuming you aren’t lying right now and Kiara wasn’t already here.” Jasper looked at mom calmly. It was the calm before the storm. “If you can’t manage to locate her, I will have to take action which means you are going back to that trashy place that you called home, and you will return me the money. All of it. Is that clear?”

  Wait! What?

  I froze on the spot, I was practically brain dead.

  From this short conversation, I drew the conclusion that Mom had taken money from Jasper.

  But why the hell would she do that?

  “Yes, I understand,” she said.

  “Good,” Jasper said as his eyes moved towards the closet, and for a second, I thought he spotted me.

  I watched from the small open gap between the doors as he took long strides towards where I was hidden. All he needed to do was open the closet and he’d find me. I was so heartbroken that I covered my mouth with my hands to stifle a sob. I shifted back deeper into the closet, covering myself with the clothes hanging. He pulled open the closet and moved a few hangers to find nothing. Jasper sighed, finally giving up and backed away. Next, he checked the attached bathroom only to come up empty.

  “I expect you to call me as soon as she contacts you.” Those were the final words I heard from Jasper before he strode out of the room. I waited to step out of the closet until I heard the main door shut.

  A few minutes later, mom walked inside the bedroom and declared. “He is gone. You can come out now.”

  I stepped out of the closet cautiously. I looked to the closet again and searched through the hangers for my old clothes to find none. The clothes that were hanging were all her new ones. Every single one of my belongings were gone; the denim, the casual wear, the handbags.

  “Where are my clothes?” I asked.

  “I got rid of it,” she said simply.

  I nodded. Of course, she would get rid of it which also meant that she didn’t expect me to come home. I tried to appear not hurt by that thought and reached for some of her clothes and dumped it into the bag. She was only a size bigger. I could easily fit into hers.

  “Sweetheart, I can explain…” she started saying.

  I stopped packing midway to turn and glare at my mother. “Explain?” I folded my arms across my chest because I wanted to see what lame excuses would come out of that lying mouth. “Well, why don’t you start with why you took the money from Jasper? I thought you said grandpa left the money in his will. It’s all a lie, isn’t it? Grandpa never left a dime.”

  She had started rambling on about something, but at some point, I tuned out her voice as the sadness tore at my heart. Jasper’s words hadn’t hurt me as much as my mother’s betrayal. I’d known Jasper was different and it wasn’t the first time I heard him threaten someone, but I never thought Mom could stoop as low as this.

  I heard her whisper, “I did it for us.”

  I got hold of her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “What did you do?”

  I was scared to hear the truth. I was scared of what she might have in store. I realized that I needed to be stronger for this.

  Mom swallowed. She was teary-eyed and looked guilty for some reason, and that wasn’t a good sign. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I want to know the truth,” I yelled at her. I was losing my patience.

  Mom flinched. “After your father’s death, when I told you to leave, I called Frankie, but he refused to help me and that’s when I got a call from Jasper.”

  “What happened?”

  She couldn’t even meet my eyes as she continued “He offered to help us.”

  I gave out a dry laugh. He had taken advantage of our situation. I knew what was going to follow, but I still decided to ask her. “What kind of help?”

  “He told me he had connections that would help prove in court that it was an accidental death, and I think he did keep his promise.” Her eyes suddenly turned sad. “Jasper provided for everything. He bought this house, Kiara.”

  “I’m sure he asked you something in return.”

  “He helped me cover your tracks. He has good connections, and nothing could ever prove that you did it. He said…he said all your father’s debts would be paid. I’d get a proper roof over my head….clothes and everything that we’ve ever wanted. He promised to keep his end of the bargain if I—”

  “If what?”

  “If I let him keep you,” She finished, and I was stunned beyond words.

  How could she do that to me? I was her flesh and blood!

  “I didn’t see the problem because you seemed to like him, and he promised me to keep you happy. Kiara, we are free of your father’s debts. We earned our freedom. Isn’t that something?”

  I laughed. I laughed so hard that I was back in tears again, hacking loud sobs when the horror of the situation hit me hard. My mother had sold me for money. All this luxury wasn’t because she married Frankie or something we acquired from grandpa’s will. It was all because Jasper Lockhart had paid for it, in exchange for helping my mother and keeping me captive.

  Yes, that’s what it had been.

  A kidnapping in disguise.

  Flashbacks began haunting me from when Jasper came to pick me up at the park.

  “Let me help you, Kiara.”

  Realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. Jasper hadn’t come to just help me back then. He’d come to collect his dues. It was no wonder he pulled my legs apart with such ease as if he had ownership over me.

  Like I was sold to him.

  I cried, this time silently wondering if there was a way I could still get out of this mess. I didn’t want to go back to
Jasper.

  I wiped my tears. “Mom, listen. Whatever money you took from Jasper, we will return it, and we don’t need this house. We are returning that too.”

  “We can’t.” She shook her head vigorously.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we would go bankrupt!” She snapped in a frustrated tone. I’d never heard her use that tone with me. “Your father left us in debt of fifty thousand dollars which Lockhart cleared up for us. If we return everything, we will be homeless. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “Then what do we do?” I asked.

  She took my hands in hers. “You go back to Jasper’s.”

  I pulled my hands away. “Do you understand what you are suggesting?” My hands shook. “He is a possessive man with a controlling streak! Jasper doesn’t even love me, mother. How do you expect me to go back to him?”

  “Listen, baby, please,” Mom pleaded. She was pleading with me not because she cared for me. She was pleading because she didn’t want to be robbed off the luxuries. “I did it for us, I did it for you. We’re poor and the poor don’t always get what they want if they continue to maintain pride and dignity. If we want that lifestyle, we have to get our hands dirty. Jasper’s someone with enough money to buy a country. He made all our money problems vanish. Look at you, honey. You look like those rich women we see in the magazines. Think what would happen if you decide to stay here with me. This is not your home now. Your home is with Jasper Lockhart. If you don’t go to him, he will take everything back.”

  I shook my head. “You’re not ashamed of yourself, are you?” I asked. “You practically sold your daughter to sleep in a king-sized bed. And all this while I thought he’d asked me to live with him because of the goodness of his heart.”

  I wiped the tears with the back of my hand, stormed into the bathroom, sneaked two bottles of shampoo and some soaps from the cabinet, and dumped them inside the travel bag. I opened the window of the bedroom, tossed the bag out of the window, and landed on my feet on the soft grass.

  “You will go back to Jasper, won’t you?” she asked.

  “You don’t leave me a choice,” I said as I climbed out of the window.