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

by Katie Dowe

  A smile played on her lips.

  “Have you ever thought of doing motivational speaking? You would make a killing at it.”

  He smiled and nodded.

  “Yeah, I would, wouldn’t I?”

  “Oh yeah, talk bookings, a few talk shows and maybe even a book deal?” she said and he shook his head.

  “Slow down there missy,” he said in a soft voice. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

  “I’m trying not to,” she said. “See you in a short while, okay?”

  “I’ll be here?”

  “Here? You don’t want to go out into town…maybe walk around, buy a few things…” she started and he shook her head.

  “No…I just want to sleep off the long flight and wait to see you when you come back.” He gently slipped an arm down to her ass and gave it a soft squeeze. “So get out of here before I get you out of that dress.”

  She smiled.

  “Threat received,” she said before she kissed him again before she walked out.

  He looked at her as she walked towards the door. He was literally holding himself back, trying hard not to just walk up to her and just rip her out of that dress.

  He sighed loudly when he saw her walking out. He ran his fingers through his hair and walked around the suite wondering what the next few days were going to be like. He very well couldn’t just avoid any and all invites from Malia when she would ask to go for dinner or even accompany her to meetings. They were all possibilities but he could not risk going out. And he knew he could not keep on coming up with excuses, especially if they were hardly believable. He needed to come clean. And sooner rather than later.

  He sat down and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Ashley as he leaned back in the couch.

  “Hey, Vasili,” she said excitedly when she picked up.

  “Hey, Ashley. How is everything?” he asked.

  “Good…a little weird actually since I have noticed I have extra security as if I was not already popular enough,” Ashley said, a little cynicism in her voice.

  “You go to the same school as royal kids from around the world…not forgetting some of the world’s biggest billionaires too,” he said. “Security is a vital aspect of your day to day life.”

  “Well, most people have two or three men in their security detail. I have five, two of which are women by the way,” she complained.

  “Hey, those women would kick every man’s ass there. They are…”

  “…former Chinese intelligence,” Ashley said, cutting him short. “You’ve told me a million times.”

  “Well, you should see the way those girls handle themselves in a fighting den with men,” he said. “And not just any men. I am talking about men who have lived their lives fighting as a career.”

  “You do realize that you told me all this, right? How you watched them take on three men each at the same time and actually beat them?” he heard Ashley sigh. “Heard it all before.”

  “The extra security is just a temporary thing. I’m only making sure that everything is alright.”

  “Why?” Ashley asked, suddenly sounding panicked. “Did something happen?”

  “No…not really. I’m just being cautious.” He crossed one leg over the other. “I had to take a trip and I just want to make sure that you are in capable hands while I’m away. I trust Biyu and Jinjing with my life. They should take care of things until I get back.”

  “Back from where? Where did you go?” she asked.

  “You don’t need to worry about that. All you have to do is just start the countdown to your shopping trip in Milan,” he said.

  “Why are you being so evasive?” Ashley asked. “Wait, did you go to Europe?”

  “No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t dare,” he lied a little too fast. “I was just checking up on you.”

  “What is going on with you, Vasili? You have been a little weird the past couple of weeks.”

  “How would you know, you are way on the other side of the country in school,” he said.

  “I am a five hour flight away,” Ashley said. “And even in your video calls…something’s different.”

  “You have no idea,” he said.

  “Wait…Vasili, did you meet someone?” she asked. Vasili wanted to deny it but he couldn’t do it fast enough and Ashley, the bright girl that she was made him. “You have a girlfriend, don’t you?” she sounded a little more excited than he thought she would be. He rubbed his temple and sighed. “Oh what I could do for a video call with you right now.”

  “Okay, fine…there is someone. But it’s still pretty early,” he said.

  “So finally, my uptight guardian is finally seeing someone. How awesome is that?” she asked.

  “Some respect, malyshka,” he said. “I am not uptight.”

  “So, when am I meeting this new girlfriend?” she asked.

  “Well, soon. Maybe as soon as I’m back,” he said as he looked at her. “But right now, considering how far I am, would you do me a favor and try to keep out of trouble?”

  “Fine Vasili. I’ll try,” she said.

  “Good girl. Be safe, I love you,” he said in a soft voice.

  “I love you too. See you when you get back,” he said before she hung up.

  He dropped his phone on the couch next to him and sighed.

  “How is it that I am raising a teenager to be honest and here I am lying through my teeth?” he wondered as he threw his head back. He was still resting up when he heard a knock on the door. He turned his attention to the door to see Arthur walking in.

  “Arthur, hi,” he said in an exhausted voice. “What’s going on?”

  “Mr. Zakharov, I’m afraid I have bad news,” he said.

  “Is it about Malia? Or Ashley…wait, I just talked to Ashley. She is fine.” He felt himself panic. “Malia?”

  He shook his head.

  “Malia is fine, Mr. Zakharov,” Arthur started. “But, I have done a threat assessment in this place and the hotel is relatively safe but…” he walked back and closed the door before he made his way towards him once more.

  “What do you mean ‘relatively safe’?” Vasili asked as he looked at Arthur.

  “Can we just for a moment be Kostya and Vlad? Like the old days?” Arthur asked as he sat down next to Vasili.

  “We really shouldn’t be doing this, using those names…we don’t know what the security is like in this hotel,” Vasili said.

  “I already took out the security cameras in the room. We are perfectly safe to have a secure conversation.” Arthur looked at him and sighed. “There is a meeting of all the heads of the family at the Grand Central Hotel. In this city.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “All eight mafia heads are in the city for a meeting, a meeting that if you had listened to me, you would have known not to come.”

  “This meeting is important to Malia. I could not let her down, you know that,” he said in a soft voice.

  “I know but for God’s sake, think about what you have built for yourself and Ashley. Being here is putting you both at risk,” Arthur said. “It would be better if we just left now. I can make up some business emergency and…” Vasili shook his head before he could finish saying what he had in mind.

  “I have lived my life in hiding and I am not about to do it anymore, Arthur. I just can’t do this anymore,” he said.

  “What do you mean? What are you talking about?” Arthur asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

  “I am telling Malia the truth. About me, about Kostya.” Arthur shook his head. “It’s about time.”

  “Kostya, don’t rush to do something that you would regret,” he started. “It is easier to just…we have not done all this for nothing.”

  Vasili looked at him and shrugged. This was his decision. This was what he wanted to do for his future. The future he foresaw with Malia. And Ashley too but with everything he’d taught Ashley, he knew that it would not be long before Ashley was capable of handli
ng herself. He had made sure that she knew how important it was to stay anonymous, under the radar. He had even agreed to cosmetic surgery in an attempt to keep her hidden. It was not much but it had worked. And at that moment, nothing else mattered except for simply coming forward to the one person he had cared for in years.

  “Kostya, think about this,” Arthur pressed and Vasili shook his head.

  “I took care of you, didn’t I? You, your family…I made sure everyone was safely out of Moscow and I have never questioned anything you had to say but right now, this is important to me.” Vasili shrugged. “This is the first woman since…” his voice trailed off.

  “I know that after Dominika…everything seemed hopeless. But are you sure Malia is the one person worth coming out of hiding for?” Arthur asked.

  “I am not coming out of hiding. I am simply telling her the truth about who I am,” Vasili said simply. “All I have to do is come clean and avoid all the awkward questions that come with hiding who I am.”

  “But Malia is this white collar American woman…” Arthur started.

  “African American,” Vasili corrected.

  “I don’t care…black or white. She is still an American. She went to Ivy League schools and went on spring break holidays…Kostya, she understands nothing of our world. She is nothing like Dominika.”

  “I am not looking to replace Dominika, Vlad!” Vasili said, suddenly raising his voice. “I am…” he paused and took a long deep breath. “I just want to move on.”

  “But what about the whole idea…moving out of Moscow to Africa of all places,” Arthur said in a soft voice.

  “Well, that was moving on from what I was but the truth is that I have been running away from everything else. This,” he pressed his index finger to his knee. “This is how I move on with my life. Towards better things.”

  Arthur took a long deep breath.

  “Is there anything I can say to change your mind?” he asked and Vasili shook his head.

  “My mind’s made up,” he said.

  Chapter 8

  It had only been two hours since Malia left but Vasili felt like he had been waiting for years. In the two hours that he had been there, he had done almost everything he could have thought of: checked on his businesses and investments and even read up on Malia’s business interests.

  He was actually impressed with her track record. She seemed to know exactly what to do with people’s investments. It was like she was making a stock market gamble that never went wrong. He was actually considering putting a few million dollars in her hands and see what direction it would take. It was not just because he was sleeping with her but also the fact that he trusted her. He trusted her judgment. He was still looking at his computer screen when the suite phone rang loudly interrupting the tranquility of the house.

  “Hello,” he said when he picked up the phone.

  “Well, well,” an eerily familiar voice on the other side of the line said. “I heard that everything about you has changed including the accent but I did not expect it to be that different.”

  Vasili felt his blood freeze. He knew that voice. He could have recognized it anywhere even after so many years. It was the same voice he had taken orders from almost his whole life. Hell, he could have recognized the voice if he was deaf. His heart was racing and suddenly, he felt as if he could not breathe. Like he was having a panic attack. His mouth was open, and he could have sworn that he was talking. He could feel his lips moving but he was not talking.

  “So, are you just going to be silent on me? Is that any way to treat an old business partner?” his boss asked again.

  “Hello, Mr. Ivanovich,” Vasili said when he finally found his voice.

  “Oh, please, how many times have I told you to call me Pyotr?”

  Vasili took a long deep breath.

  “I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to, Mr. Ivanovich.”

  “Still stubborn I see,” Pyotr said laughing.

  “How did you even get this number?” Vasili asked. “How did you know where I was?”

  “Well, well…how many times have I told you that I always know what is going on around me, Kostya? Did you really think I would be in the same city as you and not know it?” he asked and Vasili rolled his eyes. In a perfect world, he would have been standing right in front of Pyotr and just ended it once and for all. He took a long deep breath.

  “What do you want?”

  “Simple. How about we both just sit down and have a talk,” Pyotr said and Vasili forced out a laugh. A ‘talk’ to Pyotr was not just a talk. It was more like a friendly assassination starting out with a bottle of vodka and ending up with a bullet in between your eyes.

  “I would rather not have a talk with anyone,” Vasili said.

  “Really?” Pyotr asked. “Because I would rather talk to you than to that lovely girlfriend of yours. What’s her name?”

  “Leave her out of this,” Vasili said in a warning tone.

  “Malia Jones, right? How did you even manage to do that? You two are as different as two people could be,” Pyotr went on.

  “Life happened, Mr. Ivanovich. That is how I ended up with Malia but that still doesn’t answer my question,” Vasili said. “What do you want?”

  “I told you that I wanted to have a talk. And for some reason you turned me down,” Pyotr pointed out. “I don’t want to have to hurt that beautiful Malia.”

  Vasili felt himself suddenly get angry. He could not help but wonder how he got there. He was having a mixture of emotions. He was hot and cold at the same time. He made a fist so tight his knuckles were white.

  “Don’t you dare touch her,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “If you don’t want anything to happen to her, then how about you come out to the hotel in little Odessa. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he said before he hung up.

  Vasili shook his head and then stood up. He paced up and down the suite before he walked to the door. He opened it and looked at Arthur.

  “We have a problem,” he said in a soft voice.

  Arthur raised an eyebrow.

  “What kind of a problem?”

  “A Pyotr Ivanovich kind of problem,” Vasili said in a soft voice. “He knows I am here.”

  Arthur looked around and pushed him back into the suite.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  “Actually, we don’t have time. I have to meet Pyotr in the Russian restaurant out in little Odessa in twenty minutes.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t even know there was a little Odessa in Glasgow.”

  “There is a little Odessa everywhere…but, how does he have your number?” he asked.

  “He didn’t call my cell. He called the hotel,” Vasili said burying his face in his hands. “And he knows about Malia.”

  “How?” Arthur asked.

  “That’s what I want to know…I mean, do we have a leak in my security or…” Vasili asked and Arthur shrugged.

  “I don’t think so,” he said.

  “All, I know is that he knows exactly where I am and that I am here with Malia. And if I am not out there with Pyotr in…” he looked at his watch and sighed. “Sixteen minutes, I am almost sure that I will never see Malia again.”

  “Have you tried calling her?” Arthur asked.

  Vasili shook his head. He hadn’t even thought about that. He grabbed his phone and dialed Malia. It only took two rings before she picked up.

  “Hey…I can’t really talk right now,” she said in a whisper and Vasili sighed.

  “It’s alright…it can wait,” he said.

  “Okay. See you soon.” She hung up and Vasili looked at Arthur.

  “She’s fine,” he said in a low voice.

  “Good.” Arthur handed him a firearm and a silencer. “I would suggest you suit up with some Kevlar. But I will not leave your side, not for one second.”

  “He will be expecting me to show up alone,” Vasili said.

  “He might be but I would be more at
ease if I knew that you were safe,” Arthur said. “And you pay me to make sure that you are. So I am coming with you. End of story.”

  Vasili exhaled loudly and nodded. He knew that he was fighting a losing battle, arguing with Arthur.

  “I don’t have any bullet proof vests…it’s not like I was packing for war or anything.”

  “Lucky for you, I am always prepared,” Arthur pointed out. “I’ll meet you downstairs in five.”

  “Call Cole…he needs to know that Malia needs extra security,” Vasili said.

  “I’ll handle it,” Arthur said opening the door. “Downstairs. Five minutes.”

  “Five minutes,” Vasili echoed.

  He looked at the gun in his hand and sighed. The feeling of the cold steel in his hand brought a rush of memories. He could not even count how many times pulling the trigger of his gun had marked the end of a life. But as he stood there, looking down at the twenty two millimeter Smith and Wesson, he could not help but wonder if it still had the same effect on him. He pulled out the magazine and looked at it before he slammed it back.

  “I really thought I was done with this life,” he thought as he walked out of the suite. His heart was racing as he made his way to the elevator. He didn’t know what he was walking into. And that fact was driving him wild, crazy even. But at the back of his mind, he knew one thing for sure. He would kill a whole lot more before he allowed anyone to hurt someone he loved. He pushed the elevator button and a smile played on his lips.

  “I love her,” he thought as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He hated the fact that it had taken a near death experience for him to actually realize something so important. Initially, he thought that Ashley was everything that mattered to him. But now that Malia was in his life, it was all different. He now had two women who meant the world to him. Ashley and Malia. And only one of them knew what he was really like. He would have done anything to shelter Malia from the truth, his truth but at the back of his mind, he knew he had to come clean. Besides, she had been clear that she appreciated honesty. And maybe it was time he became honest with her. That was all he could do if he had any chance of protecting her.