Mine: A Dark Billionaire Romance

by Brook Wilder

  "Excuse me, Ian?" I asked. With a weary sigh, he looked up from the exams he was grading.

  "Yes, Ms. Albertson?" he replied. Ian was the only T.A. who refused to call us by our first names. I hadn't minded it too much at first, but now this pretentious habit was really starting to grate on my nerves.

  "Is it possible for me to get a new lab partner?" I asked nervously.

  "No," he said. His attention returned to grading exams, but I wasn't ready to call this conversation over.

  "Why not?" I asked.

  "Because," he said, his voice sounding like he was talking to a toddler, "It explicitly states in the syllabus that once you pair up, there's no switching for the remainder of the semester."

  "Yes, it does," I said testily, "but it also states that exceptions can be made. I could even do the lab by myself, I just can't work with Victor today."

  "Am I to understand that this is an exceptional circumstance?" Ian asked. "Please, do explain why you and Mr. Nassar cannot possibly work together."

  I stood there unable to form the words to explain the situation. I'd thought of several different arguments on the way to class this morning, but they now all seemed petty and insignificant.

  "I just don't feel comfortable," I said quickly. It was the truth, but it still sounded like a lame excuse. Ian snorted in response and turned his attention once more to the exams on his desk.

  "I'm not going to disrupt your or anyone else's work just because you feel uncomfortable," Ian said. "And we don't have enough supplies for you to effectively complete the lab by yourself.

  "But…"

  "Case closed. Suck it up, Miss Albertson. I'm sure you two can put aside whatever lover's spat you two are going through for two hours," Ian said firmly.

  I spun on my heel and walked to my seat, my face burning with embarrassment. I was suddenly aware of how quiet the room had gotten, and I could have sworn that all of my classmate's gazes were on me. I glanced over to a pair of girls I was usually on good terms with, only to see them hastily look away and whisper to each other. There was a general buzz that flittered around the room, but every time I thought I'd found the source of the chatter, the people I was looking out would quickly shut their mouths. Surely I was imagining things, but it seemed like everyone was talking about me. How much did they know, and, more importantly, who had told them?

  When I got to my assigned lab table, the space beside me was still blessedly empty. I prayed that today would be the one day that Victor decided to skip class, that maybe he felt just as awkward as I did and wanted to forgo the confrontation. My luck ran out, though, when he strode through the door a minute before the class started. He had a happy look on his face which fell the instant his eyes met mine. The whispering around me increased and it felt like I was surrounded by buzzing crickets. Victor strode over coolly and threw his bag onto the table in front of him. He kept his stare focused away from me, and his whole body was rigid like he was straining to hold something back.

  "Morning, Laina," he said.

  His voice was flat, but his intense gaze told me that he was still angry about yesterday's encounter. I wanted to shake him. Why was this a big deal? I'd been walking in the park with a man I'd met at the auction Victor himself had invited me to. If he didn't want me seeing anyone, why couldn't we just talk over this like adults?

  "Victor," I said with a nod. He barely seemed to acknowledge my existence, which might be tolerable. If I could only get through the next few hours…

  "Okay!" Ian said as he stood from his desk. "Today we'll be doing everyone's favorite, dissecting a frog! I have your samples up here, along with the sheet you'll need to fill out, so if one person from every group could come up and grab one, we'll get started."

  Without a word, Victor stood and went to grab our frog. I gulped as I watch him stride away from me, and I saw more than a couple of glances flit in his direction.

  "Now remember," Ian continued, "I need you all to correctly identify the frog's main organs, as well as a couple of other structures outlined in the packet. If you think your frog is missing something, raise your hand and I'll do my best to help..."

  I let Ian's words wash over me as I pulled out the tools we would need to cut open the frog from the drawer in our desk. Victor returned with the specimen, and unceremoniously pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.

  "You want to do the first cut?" I asked with forced cheer. Victor ignored me and picked up the scalpel. He started slicing at the frog, his jaw tense. His movements were brutal, and I suddenly didn't feel comfortable with him holding a sharp object.

  "How was your date?" Victor asked.

  "It was great after the auction Garrett took me to…"

  "I wasn't talking about that one," Victor interrupted.

  "I don't know what you mean."

  "Laina," he said, punctuating my name with a sharp jab of the scalpel, "I saw you two walking hand in hand yesterday. You also have a neck covered in bruises. Again, how was your date?"

  "It was good," I replied, my eyes narrowing. "Not that it's any of your business."

  "How is it not my business? I thought I was your friend!" he said a little too loudly. Two girls at the table next to ours looked at us, then turned quickly away and snickered into their hands.

  "I thought so too, Victor," I replied coolly as I started to take notes on the frog's lungs and heart. "You definitely haven't been acting very friendly lately."

  He said nothing in reply and I watched as a muscle in his jaw bounced. We continued our lab assignment intense silence. I was determined to get through this class without making a scene, but it was taking all of my energy to focus on the task at hand. We ended up finishing the dissection first, and I breathed a slight sigh of relief. While Victor turned in our work, I started to pack my bag. I was walking toward the classroom door when Ian stopped me.

  "Where are you going?" he asked. There was a glint in his eye that I didn't like, and my heart plunged into my stomach.

  "We finished the assignment," I said.

  "There's still a half hour left in the class," he replied. "You can use the time to study for the midterm. You too, Victor."

  A small grin spread on Ian's face and I wanted to punch his smug face in. While it wasn't a hard and fast rule, it was generally a given that if you finished the assigned work early, you had the option of leaving the classroom. Both Victor and I stood in front of Ian's desk for a minute, and it seemed like we were both thinking about arguing our case. I turned and headed back to my seat, though. Ian was set on torturing us for whatever reason, and it would be a waste of energy to argue with him. A couple of minutes later, it looked like Victor came to the same conclusion and started to return to his seat as well.

  I felt a phone buzz in my bag, and I took a peek to see which one it was. Garrett's, of course. I pulled it out without thinking and read the message.

  Thinking of you – G, was all it said.

  I grinned slightly and sent a smiley face back in reply. After I snapped the phone shut and stowed it back in my bag, I looked up to see Victor staring at me with a new look of fury in his eyes.

  "That's not your phone," he said evenly.

  "Uh, no, you're right," I replied, my mind reeling. "Garrett gave it to me, as a gift."

  "I see," Victor replied. "You know who else I talked to the other day?" When I didn't respond he continued, "Jenna Fisher. You remember her don't you?"

  "I think I met her once. She has brown hair and a sleeve tattoo, right?" I said. What was Victor up to?

  "You should catch up with her sometime," he replied. "You two actually have a bit in common now, at least. She did the charity auction last year and ended up with Garrett too."

  "Okay, great," I said. "I'll look her up."

  "I called her the day after the auction," he continued, ignoring my comment. "She told me all about her evening. How Garrett was this controlling douche the whole time and how he tried to get her into his car afterward. He even gave her a flip phone t
hat looked a lot like the one in your bag. He even offered to pay her for her…"

  "What's your point, Victor," I spat.

  "According to her, Garrett's into some really kinky stuff. Nasty things, like bondage and sadism. You wouldn't know anything about that, right?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about," I said as I stood. Ian could go screw himself, I wasn't staying in this classroom a second longer.

  "Those marks on your wrists say differently," Victor said coldly. "What was it, hemp or cotton rope? If I lifted up your pants, would I see the same marks on your ankles?"

  I stopped and looked him dead in the eye.

  "What I do in my spare time is none of your business," I hissed. "What the hell has gotten into you? If you were really my friend, you'd be happy for me and Garrett, regardless of what happens behind closed doors."

  "You weren't supposed to end up with him," Victor replied. I glanced quickly around the room and realized that we were now the center of attention. I tried to back away and maybe end our conversation before we caused a scene, but it was too late. Victor continued, his voice rising as he spoke, "I invited you to that auction because I figured there was no way in hell anyone there would bet on you."

  "And then what? You'd come in all white knight and save the day?"

  "Yeah! I had reservations and everything planned out," he said. "I was finally going to confess my feelings, you'd tell me you felt the same way, and we'd head back to my place after. That night was supposed to be our night and you ruined it by choosing that corrupt asshole!"

  I was fuming now and wasn't about to listen to another word from Victor. I pushed past him and stormed toward the door. Ian didn't stop me, but I did see him stifle a giggle as I passed. I had half a mind to tell him off, but I knew he'd only report me to the dean. I had enough on my plate now, and I needed to pick my battles. Maybe after all of this settled down, I'd submit a formal complaint.

  I opened the door and stomped out with Victor close at my heels. Instead of stopping to confront him, I kept walking, hoping that he'd eventually get the hint and leave me alone. My plan didn't quite work, though. He was trotting to keep up with me with a determined look on his face.

  "We could have had something special, you know. I would have treated you like a princess. I may not be a billionaire, but my family's wealthy enough."

  "It's not about the money!" I replied, keeping my eyes forward as we exited the building side by side.

  "Of course it is, or are you too naive to see that? I'm sure it's not hurting, though. Does your dad know where his rent money is coming from?"

  "Shut up, Victor," I snapped.

  "Just so you know, I wanted to offer you help with your dad way before you met Garrett. I didn't only because I figured you were too proud to accept it. Guess I was wrong! Tell me, do you have any standards left?"

  Victor was yelling loud enough for the whole of New York to hear, and I looked around to see a crowd of strangers staring at us. I quickly ducked across the street into Washington Square Park. I was sick of him airing my dirty laundry in front of total strangers, so I hoped to end this conversation in the relative privacy of the park.

  "Look," I said once I'd stopped. "Whatever your deal is, can you please just drop it? Garrett and I may not have the most conventional relationship, but I'm happy with it. I understand that you had feelings for me, but it's too late now. You should have mentioned that a long, long time ago."

  "Would you have said yes?" he asked quietly.

  "What?"

  "If I'd asked you out at any point before the auction, would you have said yes?"

  I stood there staring. It was a question I'd definitely thought over many times, and I knew what my answer was immediately. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him the truth, though. Would it be better to protect his feelings and lie, or tell the truth and risk seeing what he was capable of?

  "No, Victor. I wouldn't have," I said truthfully.

  His face went through an alarming array of expressions; first despair, then outright rage, and finally grim determination.

  "You're going to regret saying that," he said. "Have fun being a gold digging whore!"

  I watched him storm out of the park and onto the street, his hands clenched at his sides. Once he was out of sight, I sat down heavily on a park bench and let my head fall into my hands. For all the wonder Garrett had brought into my life, he was also slowly destroying it as well.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  All I could think about during the walk back to my apartment was Victor's smug face. I'd always thought he was a real friend, one I could count on, but now he was just another jealous boy with ulterior motives. I remembered the night at the bar where he'd first invited me to participate in the auction. He'd listened so patiently while I told him about my dad and my money issues. I could have sworn the look on his face then was actual concern. I also thought back to the countless times he'd offered to bring me lunch or help me out with a tough assignment. I'd always sort of known he'd had feelings for me, but I didn't count on the fact that those feelings were the only reason he'd shown me kindness.

  As my thoughts washed over me, I felt sick to think that the only reason he'd been nice to me during the years I'd known him was to get in my pants. Tears were starting to well into my eyes when, suddenly, I felt my shoulder hit something hard. I lost my balance and fell face forward, scraping my palms as I hit the sidewalk. My purse fell away from me, and I heard a sharp clatter.

  "Watch where you're going!" a man shouted.

  None of the other people nearby made a motion to help me up, and I grumbled to myself as I brushed the dirt off of my shirt. I grabbed my purse, noticing that half of its contents were now strewn out on the sidewalk. I hurriedly threw them back in, noticing that Garrett's phone now had a large crack down the center of the front display. Just my luck. I briefly wondered how I would explain this to him the next time we met. Surely I'd get punished for being so careless with his phone, and I dreaded the thought.

  I hustled home as quickly as I could, barely able to keep myself together. I made sure to pay attention to my surroundings this time, and managed to finish the journey without bumping into anyone else. I gave my roommates a terse hello as I walked through the front door and made a beeline to my bedroom.

  Pretty much as soon as the doorknob latched behind me, hot tears started streaming down my face. I wasn't sure what I was angrier about; the fact that Victor was a complete ass to me or the fact that I now saw that I wasn't as special in Garrett's eyes as I thought. I looked down into my bag at that black flip phone and wondered if it was the same phone he'd tried to give that Jenna girl. Was that all I was to him, a consolation prize? Did he really feel something special with me, or was I just stupid enough to fall for his story?

  I sat down on my bed, my whole body shaking as I sobbed. How could I have been so stupid? Garrett didn't care for me or love me, it was all just another game, another grab at power. He'd lured me in, made me think I was going to get a real relationship, and would probably kick me to the curb once I started to bore him. I curled onto my side, clutching my pillow for comfort. I knew I was probably overreacting, but I couldn't help but feel at least a little distraught.

  I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard my phone buzz. I looked into my bag with dread but found that it was my own phone going off this time. I breathed a sigh of relief. As much as I knew I needed to talk to Garrett, it was the last thing I wanted to do right now. Kelsey had not only sent me a text, but it looked like she had tried to call me several times and had left a voicemail each time. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I opted to call her instead of listening to the voice messages, and she picked up on the first ring.

  "Girl," she said, her voice serious, "What the hell is going on?"

  "What do you mean?" I said.

  "Have you checked your social media lately?" She replied. "It's an absolute shit-storm!"

  "No, I haven't. I was in class, and more
than a little distracted on my way home."

  "Do yourself a favor, and check it out. I think someone's spreading rumors about you, really awful ones."

  "Hold on, I'm opening my computer. Thanks for letting me know, by the way."

  "Of course, anytime," she replied. "Hell, I should hope you would do the same for me. Are you okay, by the way? You just sound a little off."

  "I'm really not doing too well. Victor was a total ass during our bio lab today, and we started a shouting match with all of our classmates watching. He's apparently super jealous that I'm still seeing Garrett."

  As soon as Facebook loaded, I saw why Kelsey had called me. I had about fifty notifications and about as many messages, mostly from people I had never spoken to in my life. I opened one message after another and was shocked by the hurtful, nasty things people were saying to me. I was getting called things like 'gold digger', 'slut', and 'whore', and those were the kindest messages.