Pregnant By Her Older Billionaire 3: A BWWM Older Man Younger Woman Romance (Matthew and Cara)

by Katie Dowe

  “Send her in. I was expecting them,” he said.

  “You know you didn’t have to do all this, right?” she asked and he nodded.

  “I know. But I like to think of myself as a gentleman and a gentleman doesn’t let a lady walk out of his house on an empty stomach in the morning.”

  She smiled and took one last bite of her breakfast as a tall light skinned woman walked in carrying what looked like four different outfits.

  “Malia, this is my assistant Sarah and…” his voice trailed off as he looked at the make-up artist.

  “Jamaica,” the man said and Malia raised an eyebrow.

  “Like the country?” she asked and he nodded.

  “Exactly like the country. So, should we get started?” he asked and she nodded.

  “Yeah, I’m done here.” She climbed off the stool and walked to where Sarah was. “I think I will just pick out my outfit first.”

  *****

  Malia could feel people at the office looking at her differently as she made her way towards her office. She stopped when she got to her assistant’s desk.

  “Good morning Tau,” she said in a soft voice and he smiled up at her.

  “Good morning Miss Jones,” he said.

  “I feel like people are looking at me rather strangely today. A little different actually.”

  “Well, you look different…gorgeous actually.” Tau suddenly put his hands on the desk and pursed his lips together. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so upfront or disrespectful.”

  She smiled and shook her head.

  “It’s quite alright. Actually, it is a little flattering if I may say so.”

  Tau nodded.

  “I did my homework on the Nigerian oil tycoon you are meeting later and I happen to know that he is a big Thai food fan.”

  Malia took a long deep breath.

  “Thai? In South Africa?” she asked and Tau nodded.

  “Don’t worry about it. I already got a chef who specializes in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines and the food will be here at exactly midday. I have the board room prepped for the lunch meeting.”

  “You are the world’s very best assistant,” she said before she walked into her office. As soon as she sat down, she found herself thinking about the night she’d had and the morning that followed. She should have been thinking about her meeting but the last conversation she’d had with Vasili was still fresh on her mind. She needed to know what it was that had Vasili thinking she would run for the hills.

  A small voice at the back of her mind was screaming at her to get a private investigator so that she could know what this ‘darkness’ around him was. But at the same time, she wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that there was good in everyone especially someone that she was giving herself a chance with after so many years. She drummed her fingers on the edge of her desk as she stared into space.

  “On the one hand, he is a really great person. Complete 180 from Mark,” she thought as she went on drumming her fingers on her desk. But she was still trying to figure out what to do. It was weird but she wanted to know more about him. If possible everything she could dig up about him. It was only fair. After all, she was an open book. She reached for her phone and dialed Francois.

  “It is not like you to call me this early in the day,” Francois said when he picked up.

  “What can I say? I missed you,” Malia said.

  “Really? Because someone who claims to have missed me would have passed by or at least talked to me in the last couple of days.”

  “Like you said, it’s just been a couple of days and I’ve been a little busy with…other ventures.”

  “Do these other ventures have anything to do with a hunky Russian guy?” he asked and she smiled.

  “That is none of your concern, mister but now that you have mentioned him, there is something I need to ask.” She got up and walked to her door. “You said that Vasili hangs out at your restaurant a lot, right?” she asked as she closed the door.

  “So he is the reason why you have been avoiding me, huh?” he asked and she smiled.

  “Just tell me what you know, Francois.”

  “Yeah, he does hang out here every so often. Very quiet guy…keeps to himself and has a very fine taste when it comes to wine.”

  “Tell me about it,” she thought. “Anything else? Like why he relocated to Africa maybe?”

  “I think this is a topic better discussed with him,” Francois said. “Because like I said, he really does keep to himself.”

  “Guess I just have to make sure he sings like a canary I mean, I do want to know more about him after all.”

  “Sing like a canary? Really?” he asked. “What are you going to do? Employ some CIA black ops tactics?”

  She smiled.

  “You know me. I can be resourceful when I choose to be.”

  She heard Francois laugh.

  “Yeah, I guess you can be.”

  “Listen, I have a business lunch to prepare for. Maybe we can talk later? I could swing by before I go home tonight.”

  “Sounds lovely. See you then,” Francois said before he hung up.

  She looked at her phone and for a moment, she was tempted to call her head of security and order a complete background check. But that would be the ultimate invasion of privacy. She walked back to her desk and sat down. She bit her lip and gently pushed a straight strand of her hair from her face.

  Without even knowing it, she had a smile on her face. She could believe she was actually considering a future with Vasili in her life. A man she barely knew.

  Actually, she hardly knew him at all except for the fact that he was a great lay. There was nothing else she could really say about him. And that was bothering her more than she could ever know. She took a long deep breath and leaned back in her chair. All she wanted to do was take care of the pending business and then maybe she would handle her personal matters later.

  *****

  Vasili was standing on his balcony as he overlooked the garden. His conversation with Malia that morning was still fresh on his mind and anyone who knew him would have probably called him crazy. He was considering telling her everything. Every. Single. Thing. But at the back of his mind he knew that coming clean with him would mean disclosing everything including Ashley and how he had met her. He was still thinking about his whole situation, how Malia would play into his situation when his phone rang. He looked at his screen and smiled when he saw Ashley’s name.

  “Shouldn’t you be in class or something?” he asked when he picked up.

  “Who said I am not?” she asked and he smiled.

  “Well, for starters you are using your phone.”

  “I have a free period, Vasili. That’s all.”

  “How are you doing?” he asked as he began making his way into the house. “School alright?”

  “Yeah, it’s ok. But I just wanted to let you know that the summer trip is coming up and I wanted to know what you thought about that.”

  Vasili sighed.

  “Summer trip?” he asked. He could smell trouble. “Where to?”

  “Now, Vasili don’t freak out…” she started and he sighed.

  “When you tell me not to freak out, I believe I have every reason to freak out.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t. It’s a tour of Europe,” she announced and he shook his head as if she could see him.

  “Absolutely not,”

  “Oh come on, Vasili…” she started but he wouldn’t hear of it.

  “A tour of Europe means that you will be spending some time in the UK and we both agreed that it is better to stay away from anyone who may recognize you.”

  “But I would be the only one in my class not going,” Ashley whined.

  “I know. But I would graciously accept you going to Milan for a shopping weekend and maybe spending some time in that Hawaiian hotel but Ashley, we agreed to this. Both of us. Going to the UK is a big risk,” he said in a soft voice.

  “I know but they
would be looking for an Ashley Wigglesworth and I am now Ashley Mann. Plus I am a red head now…and everything,” she said.

  “Yes, and I am Vasili now but that is the situation at hand. We cannot…I cannot risk losing you. To anything,” he whispered. “Especially not the mafia again.”

  There was a long silence from Ashley’s side before Vasili finally spoke.

  “Ashley,” he said in a soft voice. “Please talk to me.”

  “I understand,” she said in a soft voice.

  “Yeah, really? Are you sure you are not upset?” he asked.

  “I am Vasili…but there is nothing I can do about it now, can I?” she asked. “But you were serious about the Milan thing though, right?”

  “Totally,” he said, smiling. “We can even make it an entire week if you want to. I know it will set me back but it is a small price to pay for your safety.”

  “You’re the best,” Ashley said. She was giddy, he could hear it in her voice. But it was allowed. She was after all a teenager.

  “Of course I am,” he said in a soft voice.

  “Alright, talk later,” she said excitedly before she hung up.

  “This girl is going to be the death of me,” he thought as he put his phone back in his pocket. He hated the fact that in saving her, he had developed a bond with her, one that could not be severed. He had assumed a guardian role and unfortunately for him, he was living the most dramatic lives of Ashley’s life in fear of being found by his former associates. He would have done anything to protect her but he was running out of ways to do so. Ashley was proving to be a little too fast for him.

  Chapter 6

  It had been almost an entire week since Malia’s date with Vasili. She would have loved to see him sooner but the most annoying factor about her work was how fast situations spiraled. She had been making and canceling plans with Vasili for that very reason and by this time, she knew that he was getting tired. When she called to cancel their dinner plans the night before, Vasili offered to bring dinner to her since she couldn’t leave the office but Malia wouldn’t have it.

  “That’s sweet, but if you come here then there is no way I will finish this on time,” she’d said, running her fingers through her hair. “And this is really important.”

  “You know the whole reason you are the boss is so that you can hand off these menial tasks to the assistants, right?” Vasili asked and she laughed.

  “Actually, this is one of those things I have to do myself.” She reached for her coffee mug and took a long sip of her now cold coffee. “I really hate having to cancel on you. Again.”

  “Never apologize for doing business,” he said. “But now that I can’t ever seem to get you for a decent meal on a weekday, how about we just go away for a few days?”

  “For the weekend?” she asked.

  “The weekend is too far away. How about we just leave tomorrow?” Vasili asked and she shook her head before leaning back in her chair.

  “Vasili, it’s literally the beginning of the week,” she said.

  “So, what? You need a break. We all do.”

  “So, what do you have planned?” she asked. “Or are you planning to surprise me?”

  “Depends. Are you a room service kind of girl or a countryside person?” he asked.

  She took a long deep breath. She was spoiled for choice. They both sounded amazing but nothing could compare to the peace and tranquility of the countryside. Making love by the fireplace and the green meadows that seemed to stretch out into eternity.

  “They are both equally tempting,” she said in a low voice.

  “You were right, I should just surprise you.”

  She nodded.

  “Maybe you should,” she said.

  “Alright. Pack light. You will need very little clothing on this trip,” he said and she smiled.

  “How about I pack nothing at all?”

  “Are you doing this to punish me? Because I have half a mind to come out there right now and what I have in mind, I promise you will not get a chance to finish whatever it is that made you call off our dinner plans.”

  Malia smiled and felt a sudden wave of wetness in her panties.

  “Fine, my lips are sealed,” she said.

  “Good. I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening.”

  “Alright. I will see you then,” she said.

  “I can’t wait,” he said before he hung up.

  Malia smiled and put her phone back down on her desk. She was feeling a certain thrill, a rush of excitement and maybe even adrenaline. It was the feeling she had been looking for at the bottom of all those coffees she’d had that day. She skimmed through the rest of the reports rather quickly before she finally uploaded the final copy to the server she shared with Omar. She looked at the time and sighed. It was almost one in the morning, a little late to use the ‘I was in the neighborhood’ excuse. But she just couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to just show up at Vasili’s door. To surrender herself to him and have him take her in every way possible. A smile played on her lips as she packed up her desk. She could hardly wait for the next day.

  *****

  When she woke up the next day, it was almost eleven in the morning. She rolled off her bed and walked over to the bathroom. She had a pretty easy day planned out. All she had to do was go into the office and sign a few papers. Her assistant would have happily brought the documents over but she planned on visiting a lingerie store that morning. She was planning on bringing her A-game to…wherever Vasili intended on taking her.

  After a fruit and yogurt breakfast, she put on a white sleeveless pencil dress and held her hair back in a bun, her curls piled up on her head. She had just put on a pair of silver earrings when her phone rang loudly, piercing the tranquility of her apartment. She turned down the music she had been listening to when she saw Omar’s name on her screen and answered her business partner’s call.

  “Hey, stranger,” she said as she applied some pink gloss on her lips.

  “Hi Malia,” Omar said. She could tell from his voice that he was exhausted for some reason.

  “Everything alright?” she asked.

  “Just a little tired. Listen, I am going to need you to take over the reins for a few weeks,” he said. “From both ends…yours and mine.”

  “You want me to handle the American and European market?” she asked, just to be sure what he was saying.

  “Yeah, if it won’t be too much of a bother,” he said.

  She knew that it would be hard to handle both his end of business and hers but she was ready to do anything for the sake of the business, their business.

  “Of course not. But I have to wonder, is everything alright?” she asked.

  “Actually, yes….well, I think it’s good news,” he said in a low voice. She bit her lip and for a moment, she wished it was a video call so that she could look into his eyes. She could always tell if something was wrong just by looking at him. “My wife is pregnant,” he finally said.

  “Oh my God!! Omar that is great news…congratulations,” Malia said smiling.

  “Thank you.” He let out an exhausted sigh. “I have been gone from home for two months and she never told me that she was having a hard time.”

  “Wait,” Malia said. “She is two months along?” she asked.

  “Yes and according to her doctor, she has not been having the easiest time,” Omar pointed out. “She didn’t want to worry me while I was out in the States and the UK handling business.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything until you can come back on board,” Malia said, walking towards her closet.

  “It’s just for a few weeks…three weeks to be exact. Her OBGYN says once the first trimester is over, she can rest easy.”

  “You do what you have to do. Family comes first remember?” she said, putting her phone on speaker. She took two pairs of shoes and looked at them frowning. “And tell Nadia if you get a girl, she had better name her Malia.”

  Omar laug
hed.

  “Yeah, that is something we have to discuss together,” he said.

  “So, you are the one I have to blame if you don’t do as I ask?” she asked and he laughed again.

  “I refuse to answer on grounds that it may incriminate me.”

  “That’s mighty big of you. Using the fifth amendment while you are cozy out there in the Middle East,” she said.

  “Well, maybe it’s about time I convinced Nadia to come out to the States with me. I mean, she is the reason I keep on coming back here anyway.”

  She held a pair of brown pointy toed shoes against her outfit and then held another pair, nude colored.

  “Yeah, it’s about time,” she said as she put the nude shoes back into the closet.

  “I know but convincing her is going to be the problem,” he said. “She hates having to be far from her sisters. Her family is everything to her.”

  “I know but that will change as soon as she gets her own family,” she said. “Her own little Malia.”

  “You are not giving up on this, are you?” he asked and she shook her head as if he could see her.

  “I will fight it with every fiber of strength I have,” she said. “So, what do you need?”

  “First of all, thanks for getting everything locked down with the new client. I don’t think I would have made that happen and so fast…I mean, forty eight hours? That’s a new record in our business.”

  She laughed.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m supposed to be meeting Pete Roosevelt in Glasgow in a couple of days. He heads the biggest retail chain in the UK and I am talking the whole of UK. But being a self-made man only means that he is going to be that much harder to convince.”

  “Does he already know that you handed over his account management to me? Because that might be the biggest snag of all,” she said as she made her way to her full length mirror.

  “He knows and he is a family man. So he gets it.”

  “So, when you said I should be in Glasgow in a couple of days…when is the meeting exactly?” she asked.

  “You have a dinner meeting on Tuesday at eight, Radisson Blu Hotel.”

  “That means that I have to leave tonight so I can get on with the prepping,” she said, a little sadly. This meant that her plans with Vasili wouldn’t materialize. And she had been looking forward to it. She put the shoes down and sat on the edge of the bed.