Wicked Paradise: An Alpha Billionaire Romance

by Tia Lewis

  “No, seriously. I am still mad at you. You put me in a really uncomfortable situation, you knew that wasn’t something I would’ve asked for. I had just met them, we barely know each other. Now they are always going to remember me as the girl that watched them have sex in the back of a limo. I’m educated, I’m part of your legal team. I don’t want to be embarrassed like that again,” Bianca said angrily. I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m serious! It’s not funny! I don’t want to be in a situation like that ever again. You have to promise!”

  “I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Even though you are mad, you already admitted that you liked it, so I’m not going to apologize. We are at your hotel so you will have some time to yourself to admit that to yourself. Not everything that is different is bad, Bianca. I think you’d be surprised at what I can introduce you to if you let me. I can show you a whole new world,” I leaned in to kiss her, but she pulled away. I liked how cute she looked when was angry at me. I knew it wouldn’t last for long, after all, I am very hard to resist.

  “Let’s focus on making sure the court doesn’t show you a whole new prison, okay? That’s what I’m really here for,” Bianca said. She gave me a quick kiss then got out of the limo. She leaned back down into the car, “I’ll see you soon Dustin. Try to behave yourself while I am away.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I said with a wink.

  I watched her walk into the building before I signaled for the driver to pull away. Even though Bianca had already allowed me into her personal life, she was still playing hard to get. I couldn’t help but admit it was sexier than I expected. She always had a way of leaving me wanting more. I wanted to do so many things to her, and it only made me want it more when she acted like I wasn’t going to get my way. She really was tantalizing. And knowing I was her first, made me want her even more. I couldn’t help the “caveman” feelings she invoked in me.

  Bianca had brought a whole new dynamic into my life. I was usually serious about business but playful at heart. I like to have fun, I have always been that way. Work hard, play hard has always been my motto. But Bianca liked to work hard as much as possible. It didn’t seem as though she was used to taking a break from work to have some fun. In a way, she was helping me be more serious about something that I had been ignoring for a long time.

  I would never admit it to anyone, but I was actually terrified of going to prison for money laundering. I had built an extremely comfortable life for myself. I had everything I could ever ask for at the tip of my fingers. If I wanted to spend one-week sailing off the coast of The Maldives, I could. If I wanted to spend a day in a hot air balloon, soaring over Switzerland with a French model, I could do that any time I ever thought about it. I was afraid of all of that being taken away from me. The idea of not being able to see Bianca flashed through my mind quickly. The thought felt more painful than I would’ve liked it to. Somehow throughout our time together, I had started to grow attached to her. I wasn’t used to actually liking the women I spent time with, a lot of them were there for the fun times, but they didn’t stick around when it was time to get serious again. Regardless of the fact that it is her job, Bianca cared about me, and she cared about what was going to happen to me. She was willing to be there for the fun and the difficult decisions.

  I sighed and picked up my phone. I started to scroll through my contact list. I looked at all of the women’s numbers I had gotten over the years. I wondered how many of them were still in Brazil. I would usually text at least three of them at once to see who was available, who would respond the quickest, and who seemed most interested in meeting up with me. Usually, I would have my driver pick them up on the way home and show them a night they would never forget. But as I scrolled by their names, I found that I wasn’t interested in contacting any of them. It was the first time I acknowledged to myself that I wasn’t interested in fucking a bunch of women, I could only think about Bianca.

  I scrolled back to the top of my contact list to her name. I clicked Bianca and called her. It rang a few times before she picked up.

  “It has only been five minutes since you drove away,” she said.

  “I couldn’t help myself.”

  “What is it?”

  “Let’s get lunch tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at noon,” I insisted.

  “Dustin, I can’t spend another day relaxing. We really need to focus on the case.”

  “You’re right. In that case, let’s get lunch, and we will talk about the case. Bring your paperwork along with you. See you at noon babe.”

  “Alright, see you then.”

  I put my phone on the seat next to me and smiled. Bianca was unique, I had never met anyone like her before. But I was glad to know her.

  Bianca

  I wake suddenly, every thought in high definition. My eyes take in every ray of light and without a doubt I know I've slept too long. The noises are of a day in full swing, I hear the cars rushing by the hotel. I'm dressed and fed in a fraction of the time it usually takes. I pulled out my computer to type the report I should have sent my boss the day before.

  When I opened up my email account, my inbox had been flooded by my boss.

  How is the case going?

  Where is that report you were going to send me?

  This is a high-profile case, you need to be communicating with me on a regular basis. I can’t have this type of inconsistency when dealing with such an important case.

  He was obviously second guessing his decision to give this case to me, but I knew I could handle it. I finished the write up in two hours, right before I was supposed to be picked up by Dustin. As soon as I sent the email, he texted me that the limo was outside. I quickly threw on a dress, some light makeup, and left within five minutes. When I got to the limo, the driver said Dustin was going to meet me at the restaurant.

  I was expecting Dustin to take me to a five-star restaurant since that is what he is used to after all. I was surprised when the driver kept driving through the downtown area and continued into an area outside of the city. The buildings were more spread out and looked a little more run down. I wondered where he was going to take me. The driver finally pulled up to a restaurant that looked like a small hole in the wall type of place. When I walked inside, I noticed there were only a handful of tables. I saw Dustin sitting in the back corner speaking to the server. I sat down across from him after placing a soft kiss on his lips.

  Dustin began to tell me the story behind the restaurant we were at. It was his favorite restaurant as a child. It wasn’t the fanciest place, but he said the food had a real “homemade” feel and told me about some of his favorite memories of eating there. He had even spent his fifth birthday at the restaurant. I couldn’t believe it had been open for so long. Dustin explained how it was owned by a family. He had grown up with the owner’s children that now run the restaurant.

  We spent a few more minutes talking about how Dustin grew up nearby before focusing on business. I started to show him the paperwork I had worked on and the leading factors that contributed toward him being guilty. I admitted that it all didn’t add up. I said if he was able to find an alibi for the day that the money was transferred, it could help clear his name. For the first time, Dustin admitted that he was worried about the outcome of the hearing. He had spent so much time dodging conversations about the court date that it made him look guiltier than he probably realized. I had never considered that he is simply afraid of going to prison, especially in Brazil. I couldn’t blame him.

  As soon as we got the food, it was hard to focus on the case much longer. I was eating the most amazing Vatapa I had ever had in my life. Dustin was right, the food was incredible.

  “I’ve never taken anyone here before, not even my ex-wife,” Dustin admitted.

  “Why did you want to take me here?”

  “I wanted to show you who I am, the way you have shown me who you are,” he smiled, his eyes were full of kindness.

  “Thanks, that means a lot to me. I’ve
been worrying that I haven’t given you the best impression of who I am. I know I seem really uptight sometimes, but it’s only because I have a lot riding on this case. I really am a lot more relaxed and fun than I seem sometimes. I like that you want to show me who you are, maybe I can work on showing you my true colors, as well.”

  “That’d be nice, I really do care about you, Bianca. It’s hard for me to express myself sometimes. I haven’t actually spent much time with a woman since my divorce.”

  “What?” I laughed, “You can’t be serious. I don’t believe you. I’m sure you’ve spent a lot of time around a lot of women, more than I would like to know about.”

  “No, not really to be honest. Beautiful women come and go, but I usually don’t keep them around that long. No one has caught my attention the way you have in a long time,” Dustin took my hand in his, looking into my eyes as he placed a kiss on top. “I appreciate all of your help with the case. I appreciate you coming here with me.”

  “I appreciate you inviting me. It’s nice to see where you came from and get to know more about you. This might sound crazy, but I didn’t realize you actually liked me more than just a business connection you were attracted to. It feels good to know you appreciate and respect me more than I thought,” I squeezed his hand tightly.

  “Of course, I wanted you to know.”

  The waitress placed a plate of warm rolls onto the table. We let go of each other’s hands to take one.

  “Wow, you were right. This food is fantastic, I would’ve never thought to walk in here if I drove by...” I looked up to see Dustin looking at a table behind me. A man had just walked in the door and sat two tables behind us. Dustin’s eyes were staying fixed on the man. “Are you okay?”

  “What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. What were you saying?”

  “I was saying the food is really good, I didn’t realize you could make food this flavorful... Dustin, what are you looking at?”

  “That man,” Dustin whispered.

  I turned around to look at the man again. There was something quite odd about him, the way he was holding a newspaper in front of his face, the way he was wearing a jet-black suit when it was probably over eighty degrees outside. Was he someone Dustin knew? Had Dustin known him growing up?

  “Are you okay?” I asked again.

  Dustin waved at the server, “Yeah, can we get the bill, please? Thanks.” Dustin pulled out his wallet. “On second thought, let’s just go.”

  Dustin placed $200 on the table and stood up, reaching out for my hand, his eyes fixed on the man. As we walked by the man’s table on the way out of the door, he peered over the newspaper, making eye contact with Dustin. As soon as their eyes met, Dustin started walking even faster. He didn’t even wait for the driver to get out of the limo to open the door. He quickly opened the door, pulling me inside before climbing in after.

  “Drive,” he demanded, looking out the window to see the man had just stepped out of the door. “I think it’d be a good idea for you to stay at my place tonight.”

  “What? Why? I have to email my boss, my computer is there anyway,” I argued. I wasn’t sure why he had gotten so upset so quickly. There seemed to be something going on that I wasn’t aware of. It was making me uneasy, I could tell he was hiding something. “Who was that man?”

  “I’m not sure but I know I have seen him before. I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t think it’s safe for you to be at that hotel by yourself. I would feel a lot better if you would stay with me tonight,” Dustin stated.

  “But I have to email—”

  “We can stop by the hotel so that you have time to gather your belongings then we can go back to my vacation home. You’re staying with me, this isn’t up for discussion. You can stay in the guest room if you would feel better staying in there.”

  We did exactly as he said. We went to the hotel, I packed my bag with some clothes and my computer. The driver took us back to his house. It was one of the nicest houses I have ever seen. Along the driveway were a variety of trees, each producing a different type of fruit. The house was two levels with vines crawling up the side of the brick front. When we got inside, I looked around his open floor plan, noticing the huge garden and pool in the back. It was one of the nicest houses I had ever seen. It was definitely far from what I was used to in New York City. There were hardly any trees there, let alone an entire garden.

  I started to walk toward the large windows to get a better view of the back. Dustin said he needed to make a few calls in the office. He directed me to the guest room I stayed in before. We went our separate ways. I sat on the memory foam bed while I finished up my work for the day. When I was finally done, I laid back on the bed, taking in the vibrant colors of the room I was in.

  I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the smell of steak and potatoes. I walked out into the kitchen to see Dustin wearing an apron. I smiled and leaned against the wall, watching him privately from afar. It was an interesting site—a billionaire in an apron cooking dinner for me. I can’t say I had seen anything like that before. When he finally saw me watching him from the corner, he smiled.

  “See, I knew all along you liked to watch,” Dustin joked.

  “Haha, very funny,” I said sarcastically, walking farther into the room to see what he was cooking. “It smells really good, is that for dinner.”

  “Yes, this is our dinner. I’m sorry about my urgency earlier, I hope I didn’t scare you.”

  “Nothing scares me.”

  “I know, you’re braver than most,” Dustin walked over and kissed my forehead, wrapping his hands around my waist. “Do you want to go to another party with me tonight? There is a rooftop party in town that I have been invited to, are you interested? There should be a lot of people there. Sounds like fun,” he suggested.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We should stay focused on business.”

  “Come on babe, you are not here for much longer. You have to head back to New York City soon so why not enjoy yourself while you can. I apologize for being difficult to deal with. I don’t mean to make your job difficult. I just want you to have a good time, I want you to enjoy yourself. This party will be a good time,” Dustin took off his apron and placed it on the counter. “We can eat and then leave right after.”

  “I thought you said it was safer if I stayed here,” I corrected him. I knew he liked to be in charge, but it was crucial for us to focus on the matters at hand.

  “Yeah, it is safer for you to sleep here, I don’t want you to be alone right now. But the party should be fine, I am good friends with the lounge owners. We won’t have anything to worry about because we will be in the company of friends.”

  “I think we have had enough parties, Dustin. We need to stay focused. No more outings, only business. I mean, are you just going to pretend that some mysterious man didn’t just randomly appear in an empty restaurant on the outskirts of town? You made us leave before we even finished our meal! Was he following us? Was that someone involved in the case? You seemed concerned, so I’m only assuming you have a reason to be. Did he follow us into the restaurant?”

  “I’m not sure,” Dustin ran his hands through his hair.

  “Well tell me what was going through your head! This is really important, Dustin! You can’t keep hiding your thoughts and motives from me! It really is making me think you have more to hide! It is making you look extremely guilty,” I was starting to get angry. We had gone over this so many times, I was tired of feeling dragged around. Dustin was constantly forcing me to be on the outside looking in. I knew he felt uneasy about the man that appeared in the restaurant but I needed to know why. “Who are these people you are always talking to? Who was that man that was following us? Why is it hard for me to believe you are innocent?”

  “I can’t believe you are still questioning my innocence! You are my lawyer, you are supposed to be on my side! Stop trying to flip this case around, you are supposed to be working in my favor! That is why I hired your
firm in the first place. Don’t forget that I am paying you to work this out, I am not paying you to interrogate me!” Dustin started to raise his voice, but I wasn’t going to back down. He may be used to intimidating people in business relations, but I was determined to stand strong against him.

  “I work at the top law firm in New York City, a firm who has a 98% rate of getting our clients out of difficult situations and reaching a verdict in our favor. If you do not start telling the truth, I am going to remove myself from this case. I am going to fly back to New York, and you will have to find another lawyer to come out here and put up with your bullshit! You have made this more impossible than it was in the first place and I am not going to spend another day in Brazil wasting my time. Are you willing to cooperate or not?”

  Dustin surprised me by his reaction. He didn’t yell back, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled. Dustin sat down at the table and put his hands behind his back. “Fine, we won’t go to the party.”

  “Really, that isn’t funny at all. This isn’t a joke. I am so close to getting on the next flight back to New York and forgetting this ever happened,” I told him. My fists were in tight balls at either side of my body. I wasn’t playing around anymore. I was foolish enough to start falling for a man I was working with, but I wasn’t so foolish to let him play with me anymore. He wasn’t being upfront with me in a time we both really needed him to. “I need an answer. Are you willing to cooperate with me or should I start looking at flights right now?”

  “Sit down, you’re not going anywhere. Well, do you want to meet my business partners you have been so curious about or not?”

  He got my attention, he knew it was the perfect move to make. He had no other choice, he needed me as much as I needed him. I suddenly remembered all of the emails I had received from my boss this morning. Maybe going to another party was the best option to gather more information for our case. “Fine.”