“Why do you think she’d do that? Throw an entire fit in front of everyone, claiming that she’d want to kill you in a public restaurant, and why would she accuse you of killing her husband?” I unlocked my phone to text Anabella to tell her that I was coming home and that I didn’t have my key.
“Simply because I am a billionaire, Lola. People will do anything to get their hands on my money, even if that means accusing me of false crimes. I don’t even have the time to kill some random man.” He scoffed.
“I guess you’re right,” I agreed and looked out of the window the entire ride back. When we pulled up to my dorm, I called Anabella, but there was no reply.
“Let me walk you to your door,” Arsen offered with a smile.
“No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.” I laughed slightly and proceeded to step out of the car, until I felt him pulling me back by my hand.
“What? Do you think I'm going to murder you or something?” He smirked, staring me directly in the eyes, and I felt my body go entirely numb. His voice sounded so chilling—more serious than playful.
“N-no, you can walk me there,” I said quickly, pulling my hand away and getting out of the car fully. I was in such a blank state of mind that I forgot to thank the driver.
“Here’s your wine,” Arsen said walking around the car and handing me the bag. I nodded with a slight smile, then led him into the building and up to my door. I knocked a few times, but there was no answer. I tried calling a few times too, but there was still no answer.
“I mean, you’re always welcomed to stay with me for the night,” Arsen offered.
There was a solid ten seconds of silence before I even replied. I had to seriously think, do I really want to stay with this man after he made several romantic advantages or do I want to sleep outside in the hall until Anabella realizes that I’m here. I turned to him slowly and laughed. “You promise you won’t kill me?”
“I’ll try not to.” He threw his head back and let out a loud chuckle that made me jump. His arm slid around my lower back and he walked me back outside to his car. The car ride back to his place was long and silent. The only sounds were the wind and soft music playing in the background. I felt like something was going to happen tonight, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
We pulled into the driveway of his house and it was luxurious. I had never seen anything like it before. There were plants everywhere and I could see the view of the pool upon entering. The driver got out and opened our doors, wishing us a good night, and Arsen led me into his home.
“This place is so beautiful.” I looked around at the fiery red furniture and black decor.
“Almost as beautiful as you, Lola. Follow me.” He led me to the clear doors of his elevator. “Let’s get you into something more comfortable.”
“What did you have in mind?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing too serious. My daughter is a little younger than you. She comes to visit time from time, so I always have new clothes here for her to sleep in,” he laughed. “She’s a little smaller than you, but I don’t think there’s anything that you can’t sleep in”
When we made it upstairs, it was just as huge as the downstairs. There was a long marble-floored hallway that led to what I suspected was his bedroom, because it was the biggest. Upon entering, I saw the biggest bed I’d ever seen in my life with black silk sheets.
“Wait here while I go get you something to put on.” He winked and then left the room.
I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. I was just happy to take these shoes off. I sat on the edge of his bed and kicked off my heels. I found a small hair tie in my clutch and pulled my hair into a high ponytail. I looked around the room and it was very minimalistic, but still very opulent.
“I found this for you.” Arsen spoke and my head snapped in his direction. He closed the door behind him and walked over to me. He handed me a champagne-colored silk nightgown. He began unbuttoning his shirt and walking into the bathroom attached to his room.
“Where can I change?” I asked him.
“Right there.” He peaked his head out of the bathroom. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t look”
I heard him laugh as I tried to quickly get out of my dress and get into the new one. When I took off my bra, I turned to see him walking out of the bathroom in only his boxers. Let me tell you, for an older man, he had a great body. I erased the dirty thoughts from my mind and just stared at him.
He looked at the shocked expression on my face and down at my body and smirked. I looked down and noticed that I was only in my underwear. The air in the room became thick and I quickly grabbed the gown to cover myself. I didn’t have a bad body, but for some reason, I felt really embarrassed and uncomfortable. I mean I’d only known the guy for a couple of days. It wasn’t really the right time to be naked around him, especially when I wanted to wait for this moment if things even got that far with Arsen and I.
“Lola, you don’t have to hide from me. We’re both old enough to be naked around each other and comfortable with it” He walked by me and picked up my clothing from the floor. He placed them on a chair next to his desk and looked over at me again.
“Where will I be sleeping?” I tried changing the subject to take away from the awkwardness.
“With me, hopefully,” he responded. “I respect whatever boundaries you have. I just haven’t slept next to a beautiful woman in a long time.”
I nodded slowly, not wanting to put up a fight, and climbed into bed. He turned off the light and got into bed next to me. Directly across the room was a huge floor-to-ceiling window and the curtains were pulled back completely. There was a beautiful view of not only the moon and stars, but of the city as well. I could see almost every building that was well-lit and that alone made me feel safe. The light from outside made it easier to see around the room and to see that Arsen was staring at me staring at the view.
I looked over at him and smiled. “The view is beautiful. Thanks for letting me experience this”
“Anytime you want to see it, let me know” He ran his hand over my thigh and it drove me crazy. “You know, Lola, I’ve wanted you ever since I’ve laid eyes on you”
“I’m well aware, Arsen,” I replied bluntly, trying not to say too much.
“Well, do you feel the same way?” I felt him move a little closer to me.
“Maybe.” I smirked and rolled over on my side. I felt him pull me back so that my body touched his and his hand grazed my leg.
“So why aren’t we doing anything about that?” His hand slipped between my thighs and I began to melt, but I wasn’t going to let him know that he had full control of my body at the moment. I pulled his hand away and laughed lightly.
“Goodnight, Arsen Lockhart.”
“I really felt like the connection was there. I guess not.” He spoke quietly. He moved back away from me and turned over. “Whenever you’re ready, Lola, just let me know”
“Again,” I smiled to myself. “Goodnight, Arsen Lockhart.”
I woke up to a mist of water on my face. “Wake up, angel.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes to see a woman standing over me with a tray of food. “What was that you sprayed on my face? It feels … really refreshing”
“Rosewater, ma'am. Mr. Lockhart ordered that we wake you up beautifully with a nice breakfast”
“Mmm.” I smiled, closing my eyes and inhaling the smell of pancakes. The woman placed the tray of food on my lap and I automatically dug in. It was like nothing I’d ever tasted before, although it was a simple meal—pancakes, eggs, and bacon with a cup of tea and a bowl of fruit on the side.
“Mr. Lockhart had to leave early for work but he says that you are welcomed to stay here until he gets home. He left you an outfit at the end of the bed and if you are ready to leave before he gets home, just let me know and I’ll phone the driver” The woman smiled and left the room without saying anything else.
Who would’ve expected that Arsen would even let me stay a
fter things didn’t go as he planned last night? I guessed he really liked me. I sat the tray of food aside after I was finished eating and slid out of bed, grabbing the clothes that were left for me. I walked to the bathroom and saw the most beautiful shower I had ever laid eyes on. The shower head was the entire ceiling and the doors to the shower were clear with a gold trim. I was in love.
I took off my clothes and hopped inside. I turned on the shower and the water fell down on me like the mist of a rainforest. I looked at the shelf built into the shower and saw all of the beautiful bottles of body wash and shampoo. I helped myself to whatever I needed and got myself cleaned up. I grabbed the two folded towels inside and dried my body and my hair.
After taking the best shower of my life, I put on the dark jeans and fitted shirt that he had left me. These really hugged my body, so I guess he picked them out for a reason. I walked back to his room and shot him a text asking if I could check my email on his computer.
While waiting for his reply, I walked around the upstairs of the house and eventually found his daughter’s bedroom. She looked just like him, gorgeous and model-like. I saw why her clothes were too tight on me. She looked around seventeen or eighteen. I wondered if she knew her dad liked girls a couple years older than her. I saw a picture of a woman who seemed to be her mom. I wondered what the relationship was like between her and Arsen and why they weren’t still together.
I shrugged away the thought and went to explore more of the house, then Arsen finally texted back and told me that I could use the computer. I continued my exploration down the hall and into another room, which was just full of plants and a different computer from the one in his room. For some reason, I felt the urge to use this one.
I sat at the desk and turned it on. To my surprise, there was no password on it. I logged into my email as an extra account because I didn’t know if I should just sign out of Arsen’s or not. I clicked through a few messages and saw that classes were canceled today, so that was good on my part. I was going to skip them anyways. I really felt tempted to just switch over to Arsen’s account and see what an actual novelist’s inbox consisted of.
So I did it. I scrolled through a couple of spam messages and emails for upcoming book events until I saw something interesting. A read message was titled, “I am going to kill you, Arsen Lockhart.” It reminded me of the crazy woman from the night before, so I decided to open it to see what it was about.
“Dear Arsen Lockhart,
I knew about this whole little business you and your rich friends were running and I had nothing to say about it because it didn’t affect me that much, but you have crossed the line. Michael was a kind, loving man and father of three who was just doing what he had to do to provide for his family, and you go off and kill him? He had a life! Whether he had your stupid drug money on time or not, he still had a life and a family and you took all of that away from him. You took him away from us. Now what are we going to do? He was the one who made a living for us. Either you give me 5 million dollars or I am going to kill you, Arsen Lockhart! I will sabotage your entire drug cartel and make your life a living hell!!”
I quickly exited out of the email. My heart was beating extremely fast. I knew Arsen was hiding something by the way he reacted last night, but I didn’t know that it was a drug cartel. I didn’t know that he would actually kill someone! I shut off the computer and stood up. I turned to leave and saw Arsen standing at the doorway.
“Hello, Lola,” He said sternly.
A Billionaire’s Possession
Part Two
Lola
Have you ever felt as if time has stopped around you, but in that specific moment you were unable to move? Unable to think and speak clearly. That’s exactly how I felt after learning that the man that I was developing feelings for was a murderer, then turning to see that him watching me go through all of his private information.
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as I hesitated to respond to Arsen. He raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face.
“I see the clothes fit you well,” he spoke, looking me up and down.
“Hello, Arsen.” I finally managed to speak and looked straight past him into the hallway. “Yes, the clothes fit very well. Thank you”
Before I could even make it to the door, Arsen stepped in and closed it behind him. “Did you ... find all that you were looking for on the computer?”
I gulped and nodded. “I’ll just be leaving now.”
When I tried to walk past him, he grabbed my wrist and I felt myself being pushed against the wall. I gasped and looked up at Arsen, who was now hovering over me. I could tell by the look on his face that I was caught and this wasn’t going to be easy.
“You know, it’s really not polite to go through people’s emails. You don’t have the right,” he spat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking abo—“ I mumbled and was quickly cut off.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Lola. I was standing in the doorway the entire time,” he scoffed.
“Arsen, I swear—“ I was cut off again.
“I know what you saw on that computer and you don’t know how much trouble you’re in now, Lola. But you don’t seem like the type to be a loud mouth about these type of things, so I’m considering letting you go.” After he said that, I felt so much relief. He smirked down at me and backed away slowly. “Just know that if you run your mouth about anything, you’ll end up like that woman’s husband. Unlike his situation, your family won’t have the fortune of ever finding your body.”
That was oddly a turn on. Not the fact that he would kill me, but the way he was so serious. Not once did he crack a hint of a smile. His face showed zero emotion, almost as if he was heartless. No man has ever talked to me in that tone of voice and it gave me a bit of a rush. Feeling myself shake in fear and pleasure, I bit down on my lip and nodded in agreement. He flashed a look of confusion as his eyebrows knitted together. He was clearly confused about my reaction. For once, I felt …submissive, and I liked it too.
“Come on. I’ll give you a ride home. You can grab your things from the bottom of the stairs.” He turned and left the room, and I followed after him like a lost puppy shortly after. It seemed as if the hallway grew longer with every step I took. The tension was so heavy and the air was so thick that I found myself almost out of breath. I fanned myself to try to calm down.
Once we made it down the stairs, I grabbed the bag with my things in them and slid on my heels. They surprisingly went well with the outfit I was wearing. I said my goodbyes to the house workers and went outside to Arsen’s car. He was already inside, staring forward toward the view of the city.
I realized that this wasn’t some bad boy, good girl fantasy. This was real life and I was actually next to a murderer. I never understood how people could kill one another. It just didn’t make sense. I guess it could come down to that sometimes, but from what I had read, Arsen was completely in the wrong. If that’s how things were in drug cartels, I was glad I had never become a part of one.
I sat in the front seat and as soon as I closed the door, he sped off. I didn’t even have time to put on my seatbelt. He must have still been upset about the situation. Why wouldn’t he be? Some random girl had found out his biggest secret. I’d be pretty upset too. There was an awkward silence between us.
His grip on the steering wheel made it painful for me to watch. I found myself constantly switching my thoughts. One moment I was thinking about how amazing it felt to be put in my place and another moment I was realizing how my life was actually in danger at that point. I wasn’t sure if I actually had an attraction for this side of him or if I was just romanticizing the situation to make myself more comfortable.
I wondered what he was thinking about. Maybe about the ways he would tell his gang that I had found out their secret, or maybe about how I had betrayed him by going through his personal emails. I guessed I would never find out, because I was too afraid that asking him that might just make him sna
p. I decided to just leave that situation alone and focus on the city lights ahead of me. They brought me some type of peace in this terrifying issue.
Arsen was so deep into his thoughts that he didn’t realize that he had passed my building on campus.
“You missed my building.” I spoke a little too loudly. He jumped a little and quickly put the car in reverse, moving back toward my building. I admired his tightened jaw and how straight it looked. His skin was very smooth without any wrinkles. I guessed anything was possible when you were a billionaire. I grabbed my bag and opened the door. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Lockhart.”
He finally looked at me for the first time since we left his house and raised an eyebrow, questioning my statement. I smirked and stood from his car.
“I’ll be at your office to finish my interview with you. Three o’clock, sharp.” I spoke with my back turned to him, and before he could respond, I walked away. When I made it to my floor, my door was wide open and Anabella was moving what looked like a few old things from the place. I greeted her with a simple hello and walked straight in toward my room. I clearly couldn’t talk to her about this new unexplained attraction I had for Arsen without her rude criticism. She didn’t even respond when I spoke to her.
I laid back on my bed, wondering how I could possibly feel this way. This man had just threatened to take my life if I revealed his secret and I could feel nothing but lust for him after that. Was I going insane? In that brief moment of submission, I felt so alive. It was just something about the way he told me what to do and that look he gave me, like I had better listen to him or else. I wasn’t sure why, but I thought I was letting my guard down. I thought I might be able to open up to someone new. Arsen was different from the rest and I thought it was time for me to actually deal with a real man.
I was definitely insane. I was risking my life, all for the sake of finding a lover who I could actually balance out with. I thought he could get over his hatred for me after seeing how trustworthy I would be with his secret. I turned on some music and started to sing along softly until I felt the presence of someone at my door.
His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 52