The Billionaire From Atlanta

by Susan Westwood

  “How dare you talk to me like that! You don’t know what’s right for me!” Celeste shot back angrily.

  “You don’t know what’s right for yourself!” Keisha fired back. “You could have had Wendell but you threw away a damn good man, and now I’m gonna get him and he’s going to be mine, and then you’ll be sorry about it but that’s your own loss.”

  “Keisha, I keep trying to tell you, Wendell is a bad, bad man. You don’t need to be with someone like him. He’s dangerous!” Celeste felt compelled to try to talk some sense into her friend.

  “Oh, he is not either, you just don’t know how to handle a real man! That’s all there is to it! Maybe it’s true… maybe all you good to be is some white man’s late-night ho.” Keisha shook her head in disgust and then turned and walked out of the room, leaving Celeste to walk out after her.

  Celeste was furious, but she didn’t want to talk about it any longer. It wouldn’t be much more time that she had to be there, and then everything she was going through would be a distant memory and she would be focusing on her new life. She would be working at the office with no need for a second job, and she would be able to move away from the dark side of the tracks. Everything would be different. Everything would be good. All she had to do was reach the end of her two weeks.

  A little while later her phone buzzed and she looked down at it, seeing that it was Kevin. A grin spread instantly over her face and she felt her body warm and her heart skip a beat as she touched the message to open it and read it.

  ‘I can’t stop thinking about you. Can I pick you up later?’

  It amazed her how those few simple words could make her feel so hot, so hungry for him; for his embrace, for his body, for the overwhelming happiness and pleasure that he gave to her and she realized as she was answering his message, that she was falling for him. She stopped midway through her sentence and stared at her phone, thinking about it carefully.

  The truth filled her and wrapped itself around her. It was real and there were no two ways about it. She was falling for him. She knew as she stood there that there was nothing that she could do about it, and there was nothing that she wanted to do about it. She was loving every bit of it, and she decided that she wasn’t going to fight it, she was going to let it happen and enjoy every second, whether he was falling for her or not.

  She was almost ready to send her message to him when she stopped again and looked surreptitiously around her at Tonia and Keisha who were both talking with customers in their lines.

  She knew that they would have a fit if he came back into the store. She almost told him no, but then she thought about how she was going to be gone soon, and she thought about how happy he made her and how much she wanted to see him.

  ‘Yes, I’d love that. Thank you,’ she replied and sent it off to him.

  ‘Wonderful! I have something special for you.’ He teased her and sent a little winking emoji at the end of his statement. It made her heart beat a little faster and her cheeks warm. She wondered what it might be and decided not to ask.

  ‘I look forward to finding out what it is and to seeing you!’ She sent him one last message and then tried to turn her attention back to her work at the register.

  When he came in later that night to pick her up, he walked in as he had before, wearing a good suit and looking like a gentleman from a magazine. Tonia and Keisha both gave him crusty death glares, and though he ignored them inside of the store, when he and Celeste went outside and got into the car, he broached the subject.

  “What was that all about?” he asked with a note of consternation in his voice. “Neither one of your coworkers seems to like me. Did I do something?”

  Celeste sighed. “No.” She shook her head and tried to make it sound better than it really was. “It’s nothing. Just work drama. It doesn’t matter at all.”

  He looked as if he didn’t quite believe her, but he didn’t want to push it further. “If it’s nothing then we’ll just forget all about it and focus on our night ahead. This is going to be a great night.” He grinned and winked at her.

  Celeste was intrigued. “What are we doing? Where are we going?”

  Kevin shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you. It’s a surprise.”

  He drove her in his BMW into the heart of town, exactly the same way that he had driven her earlier that week. When they neared the Atlanta Grill she looked at him with a funny smile. “Are we going back to the restaurant?” she asked curiously.

  Kevin shook his head. “Not unless you’re hungry. Are you hungry?” He looked over at her seriously.

  “Not for food.” She gave him a coy look and a sexy grin formed over his face as he chuckled softly.

  “That’s such good news.” He pulled his car up to the building that the restaurant was in; the Ritz-Carlton. A valet came out and held the doors open for them, assisting them as they got out of the vehicle. He hopped in then and drove the car away.

  “What are we doing?” Celeste asked, looking from Kevin toward the big hotel behind her.

  He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her. “We’re finishing up the other half of our date from the other night. Remember that I told you if we had the whole night, we would go upstairs?”

  Her eyes lit up. “We’re getting a room here?”

  Kevin laughed softly and kissed her. “Not just a room.” He took her by the hand and walked her into the fanciest room that she had ever seen. It was the penthouse, and it was enormous and looked as if it might be the focal point of a fashion magazine.

  “This is amazing!” She breathed in wonder as she walked around it and looked at it all, especially the view of the city stretched out all around her in every direction.

  He watched her, taking in her wonder and delight, taking in the shape of her form, and looking ravenous for her. Walking up behind her, he closed his arms around her and began to kiss her neck.

  Flames shot up inside of her and she closed her eyes and sighed. She felt his body hardening against the curves of her bottom and she grew wet for him. His voice sounded in her ear, husky and low.

  “I can’t wait. I need you now. Right now,” he murmured against her skin as he both kissed her and breathed her in.

  Moments later he was sliding her dress up until it was over her hips and her panties had been pushed to the floor. She bent over slightly and set her palms against the window that looked over the city.

  Before she could take another breath, he thrust himself inside of her, crying out loudly as pleasure overwhelmed them both. His hands were tight on her hips as he moved in her, and after long minutes of him filling her, he brought his hands to her breasts, cupping them over the material of her dress.

  Urgency drove them both to a breathless and swift ecstasy, and it wasn’t long at all before they both shuddered with their tremendous releases. He held her tight against him as they began to regain their breath, and a little while later, he finally let her go, turning her to face him.

  “Now I’m going to take my time with you, and then I promise I’ll take you home.” He closed his hand over hers and walked with her from the great room where they had started to the massive bedroom where he took his time peeling her clothes off of her, kissing her body everywhere that he could as she did the same back for him, until they were nude together, warm and sweet and on fire once again.

  “You didn’t have to get such an expensive room. We could have gone to the same hotel where we go,” she told him after they’d lost themselves in one another again.

  He shook his head and looked at her almost in disbelief, and she thought she saw a flash of humor in his eyes. “It’s nothing at all, Celeste. You’re so worth it. You are worth every single second of it.”

  He closed his mouth over hers and held her in his arms once again. When the morning hours were brand new, he finally let her get dressed and he drove her back to the store so she could pick up her car.

  By the time they reached the supermarket parking lot, the wide smile on
his face was gone. “I don’t like you living here. I want you living somewhere nice.” He looked around at her neighborhood with extreme disapproval.

  She sighed and shook her head. “Well I can’t afford it yet, but I will, and when I do, I’ll get out of here for good. I’m working on it. It’ll happen soon.” She gave him a smile and he nodded his acquiescence.

  “What if I get you a condo downtown, close to the office? I could do that. I want to do that for you. It would give me so much more peace of mind if I knew that you were in a better place.” He meant it, that much was perfectly clear in his eyes.

  She blinked in surprise and it took her a minute to clear her mind. “We can’t… I can’t do that. I don’t want to be bought like that. I’m going to earn my own way.”

  He sighed in frustration and shook his head. “It really wouldn’t be like that. I’m not buying you. It’s not like that at all.”

  Celeste shook her head and pushed the door open, getting out of his car. “No, thank you. I appreciate it, but I can’t. Good night.”

  She left him and got into her old junker of a car and drove herself home.

  Chapter8

  A clicking sound filled the silence as his finger rolled over the top of the lighter, and a flame flickered into life. It illuminated his dark face and eyes, as they stared straight ahead at the two cars in the parking lot of the grocery store. Shadows danced throughout the interior of his car, created by the glowing orange light, somehow making the contrast between the light and darkness even sharper.

  He watched from his clandestine sanctuary as she emerged from the BMW which was parked beside her old trap of a car. He continued to watch as the white man stepped from the car and went to her, holding her close and kissing her for a long while before putting her into her car and closing the door.

  Both men watched as she drove away, and when her taillights had become small in the distance, the man standing in the parking lot got back into his car and drove away in the same direction that he had come in.

  Wendell reached for the ignition and turned the keys in it, starting the engine of his squad car. He shifted it into gear and rolled down the street heading after the taillights that had almost disappeared by then.

  Celeste had just gone into her apartment and locked the door behind her when there was a knock on it. She smiled, thinking that it must be Kevin, as he had just been saying a few minutes before that he didn’t want to let her go, that he wished he could stay the night with her, and she had told him that she had wished the same thing.

  With a grin on her face she turned and walked back to the door, flipping the lock and turning the handle. When she opened it, every bit of joy and happiness that had been bubbling up in her dissipated immediately, and she drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening as they took in the man standing in the doorway.

  “Wendell!” she gasped his name and panic flooded her as her pulse began to race.

  He didn’t say a word, but flattened his hand against the door and shoved it open, making Celeste stumble backward until she fell into the wall just behind the door. He took one step inside and slammed the door behind him.

  “What are you—” she began, but then he cut her off.

  Leaning far forward, he used his frame to block her so that she was pinned against the wall. His eyes were filled with anger, and his jaw was tense and twitching.

  “Who is he!” he demanded in an accusatory growl.

  Celeste shook her head and tried to stand up taller, getting nowhere. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Now get out! I don’t want you here!”

  Wendell gave his head one snap of a shake. “Don’t you lie to me! I saw you with him! Who is he! The white guy in the fancy car!” He gave her a warning glare. “If you lie to me, I’m going to know it, so you better tell me the truth right now!”

  “It’s no one!” she insisted, her body beginning to tremble. “He’s no one.” The last thing she wanted was a fight between Wendell and Kevin.

  “He ain’t no one. I saw you kiss him in the parking lot at the grocery store! I saw you! I was right there! I want to know who you’re with behind my back!” Wendell was furious.

  Celeste felt an anger rise in her that she hadn’t felt in a long time, not since she had been dating Wendell more than a year before. “I’m not doing anything behind your back! We aren’t together anymore and we haven’t been for ages! I am a single woman, Wendell. Who I spend my time with and what I do with them is none of your damn business!”

  In a single movement, both of his hands were on her shoulders and he held her locked against the wall with them. “You were mine, and you’re going to be mine again soon! Because of that, everything that you do is my business! You don’t hide things from me or I’m going to tell everyone your little secret!”

  Fear rocketed through her and she shook her head vehemently. “No! No… Wendell! You can’t do that! You said you wouldn’t! You can’t tell anyone!”

  He just laughed at her; low and cold, as he stared into her eyes. “You want me to keep quiet about your little secret? Then it’s going to cost you.” She barely blinked before his mouth was on hers and he was kissing her hard and cruelly.

  Panic burned every inch of her and she planted her hands on his chest and shoved him, managing to get out from his hold and back away a few paces, until she was a safe distance from him.

  “Get away from me! Don’t you touch me! Wendell, you get the hell out of here right now before I call the police!” she demanded, even angrier than he was.

  He laughed at her, cold and shallow. “You’re gonna call the police?” He took a sudden step toward her. “I AM the police!” He grew serious and bitter, snapping at her.

  Neither of them moved for a long minute and then he spoke again, low and menacing. “Very soon you’re going to have to make a choice, and you’re going to choose me. I guarantee it.”

  Celeste shook her head and jammed her finger toward the door. “Get out!” she hollered. “I am never, never, never going to choose you for anything! I broke up with you because I don’t want you in my life in any capacity now get out!”

  Wendell didn’t move for a minute, but something flashed in his eyes when he heard her talking about why she broke up with him. It was something hurt and angry, yet controlling and monstrous.

  “I’ll leave for tonight, but I’ll be back, and you’re going to be mine.” He gave her a serious nod and opened the door, standing in the doorway and looking back at her. “Oh yeah. You gonna be mine forever, real soon. I’ll be back.”

  With that he walked out and closed the door, and she rushed to it and locked it, cursing herself for not checking to see through the peephole who it was before she opened the door. Once it was locked, she almost wilted in relief that she was alone.

  Gathering herself as much as she could, she made her way to her bedroom to get ready for bed, and try to calm down. Her heart was only beginning to slow and the adrenaline that had shot through her was easing up.

  She did her best to turn her thoughts toward going to bed and to work the next day, leaving behind her school work for the evening, and when she was in her pajamas she did a walk around in the apartment just to make sure that everything was alright before she went to bed, though she did leave the living room lights on, and she locked her bedroom door. She also kept her phone beside her and her sharpest kitchen knife right on the bedside table just in case.

  There was no other disturbance that night, and finally she did get some rest before she had to be up to go to work at the office. Her dreams had been troubled and the feeling of dread that had come with them, and that had lingered from her unwanted visitor the night before, stayed with her through the first part of the morning.

  Most of the night’s drama was temporarily forgotten when Celeste saw that she had gotten her first paycheck at the office. Opening it up with anticipation and excitement, she was suddenly floored when she saw the amount on her check. It was five times the amount that she had be
en expecting, and it was nowhere near what she should be earning in a two-week period.

  With absolute confusion about what was going on, she walked into Hector’s office and he looked up from his monitor and gave her a light smile.

  “Good morning Celeste,” he began, speaking with an expectant tone.

  She went to his desk and sat down uncertainly. “Good morning. My paycheck was just delivered to my desk and I had a question about it. It seems higher than I expected it to be.” She cleared her throat and laid her check down on his desk before him. “Much higher.”

  He glanced at it and then looked back at her, not seeming at all surprised. “You’ll need to talk to accounting about it.”

  “Accounting. Okay. I’ll go see them now if that’s alright.” She stood up and picked up her check and he gave her a smile and turned back to his monitor.