I pace up and down my office, thinking about ways to murder Beau. It felt so surreal seeing him after all this time. The nerve of him to show up today as an investor. Did he expect me to smile and welcome him? He must be on something to think I would forget what he did to me. Seven years have passed, but it doesn't mean I would open my arms wide and welcome him as if nothing had happened. It’s going to take longer than that for me to forgive him.
"Lilah, you need to calm down. You look like you’re about to kill someone," Camila says, sounding worried as she watches me.
"That's because I want to, or rather I need to." I say, fuming with anger.
"I’m very sorry I invited him. I swear if I knew it was the same Beau who broke your heart years ago. I would’ve never picked him to be our investor. I’m so sorry." Beau and I started dating when I was sixteen and broke up before I went to college, so Camila never met him. But she’d heard the stories.
"I know. You don't have to apologize. I’m sure Beau found out I was a partner here and did anything he could to become our investor."
"Yeah, I’m starting to think so, too. I wonder why?"
"I wish I knew, because I can bet it's not for a good reason. He is the devil, and the fact that he wants to be an investor in our company can only be because he has something bad up his sleeve."
"Oh my God, what are we going to do?" Camila asks, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.
"I know it was hard to find an investor, but we must search again. There is no way Beau will be our investor on this earth. I'll never allow it."
"I won't either, but it was so hard to find someone, and now we are back to square one," Camila sighs, visibly overwhelmed with the whole situation.
"I know, but we have to find someone else. We don't have a choice."
"I'll try my best and start looking immediately."
"Thank you so much for understanding."
"You are my best friend, of course I understand." She softly smiles.
"You’re the best." Some of the tension I’ve been feeling leaves me at Camila’s words. We can fix this.
I walk over to my chair as she gets up from her seat and comments on the shift in my mood. "I’m happy you are no longer angry."
"Me too, and hopefully, I can forget I even saw him."
***
It's only been a few hours since Camila left my office, and I feel like removing my brain from my head. I’m so frustrated because my mind keeps returning to Beau. Everything seems to remind me of him. I completely lose focus on the work in front of me. My mind is consumed with thoughts of him. I hate that even after so many years, he still has such an effect on me.
"Fuck." My laptop bangs shut, and I pass my hands through my hair. "I hate you, Beau!" I scream at the walls of my office. God! Why did he show up today? Anyone could’ve been the investor. Why did it have to be him, God? Why? I pull at my hair in frustration.
Try as I might to clear my mind of him, it’s impossible. Eventually, I decide to take the rest of the day off. It’s understandable that I can’t focus. I haven’t seen the man in seven years, and the one time I do, he’s clearly trying to find a way to ruin my life.
As I arrange my things to leave the office, I consider whether it's a better idea to go home or go somewhere else. Dad would be surprised to see me already home when he returns from work today. He will try to pester me into telling him why, which wouldn’t be a good idea. If Dad knows Beau is in town, he will have his head. And I love my dad too much to have him go to prison. Maybe I could visit Tamara. If I’m lucky, she might not be too busy to talk with me right now. On my way out, I pass Camila's office and let her know I’m taking the day off.
I walk outside the parking lot and get into my pearl white Tesla. One call from my dad and I could have a new one in front of me in mere minutes. Perks of having a parent who sits on the board.
After what feels like forever, I finally make it to the restaurant where Tamara works as a manager and find a parking space. It's always like this around lunch time. I should’ve known better than to come now, but I didn't have a choice. Camila is still busy at the office, and Tamara is the only other person I can talk to. The car beeps behind me as I lock it before walking into the restaurant.
"Lilah, what are you doing here by this time of the day?" One of the servers asks as she walks past me with a tray filled with plates.
I smile in reply. "I missed your boss, so I decided to stop by and see her. Where is she?"
"In her office, I think."
"Alright, thank you."
I knock on the door of Tamara's office once I reach it. A voice inside tells me to come in.
"Hey, bestie," I say, stepping through the doorway.
"Lilah, what are you doing here?" Tamara asks, surprised to see me. We don't differ much in appearance. Dark-skinned, dark brown eyes, and natural dark hair, but Tamara’s locks are highlighted with burgundy because of the braids she has in right now.
"You won't believe what happened today." I sit opposite her on one of the chairs facing her desk.
"What happened? Is Uncle Fred fine?"
Tamara and I aren't blood-related, but our families have known each other for so long that we might as well be. We went to boarding school together in Nigeria, even though she was born in the States. Her questions are not surprising since I’m a workaholic. The only reason I would leave work before closing time is if something terrible happened—which something terrible technically did. The devil himself appeared before my eyes today.
"Nothing is wrong with Dad,” I reassure her. “But I did see him today."
"Him who?"
"Him." I don't want to say his name out loud. It will only make me angry again.
Tamara puts it together quickly. "Beau…" Her eyes widen as she says his name. Beau is the only possible person I could be referring to. I won't say his name when talking about him, and Tamara knows this.
"Yes, him. And you won't believe how."
"Tell me."
"He was the investor who came to the meeting today."
"No, you’re joking." Tamara covers her mouth with her hand as her eyes continue to widen as I tell her the day’s events.
"No, I'm not. Beau is the one supposedly interested in making my dreams come true. Beau, the devil." My brows pull together, etching a deep frown onto my face as I realize he just wants to crush my dreams instead of seeing them come to life. There is no other explanation for why he wants to invest. He knows I would never agree to work with him. I am sure he is just trying to ruin my life—again. Apparently, he feels he didn’t do enough damage when he broke my heart.
"I can't believe this; he really came to your office today for an investment meeting?" Tamara sounds like she still finds the words coming out of my mouth unbelievable.
"Yes, he did."
"He must be mad then, because him thinking he could be an investor in your company after the way he broke your heart defies all logic."
"I agree. And I can't believe he’s in Austin! Dad purposefully moved us here from Dallas, so I wouldn't have to deal with running into him. Now I think it’s unavoidable."
"This is a big city; you might not have to worry about running into him, especially if you keep him from investing."
"I hope I don't, because if I do I might just claw those gray eyes out of his stupid head."
One of the things I had loved most about Beau was his eyes. They’re so beautiful that when we were together, I would get lost in them constantly. But after what he did, I can’t stand the sight of gray eyes.
“Let’s hope for everyone’s sake, neither of you sees each other again anytime soon.” Tamara says wryly.
TWO WEEKS LATER“Morning, Lilah,” Camila says when I enter her office, her gaze staying focused on the papers in front of her.“How did you know it was me without taking your eyes off the papers in front of you?” I sit on one of the chairs in front of her desk.“You are the only person in this building who would enter my office before I say, ‘come in’.”“Oh.” I knocked but didn’t wait for her to let me in.“I know why you’re here, but unfortunately, I don’t have good news.” She finally tears her eyes away from the pile of papers in front of her, taking off her glasses. The look in her eyes only increases my worry tenfold.“Why is it suddenly so hard to find an investor?” I ask, exasperated. Camila has been trying for the past two weeks to find someone other than Beau to invest in our company, but so far, she has had no luck. I know it was hard to find Beau originally, but I don’t understand why it seems more challenging to find someone else this time around.“I don’t know, but I have
I ask the waiter to refill my glass again while waiting for Beau to arrive at the restaurant. It's been 30 minutes since I got here and no trace of Beau yet. I'm starting to think he's not coming, but I also don't think he would pass up the opportunity to have dinner with me. I'm confident that my threat will work, and Beau will back off because of where I'm from. I was born and spent some of my youth in Nigeria. His mother always hated me because of the color of my skin and didn't try to hide it. She looks down on Africans. If the bitch had her way, Africans would still be her slaves.I watch as the clock in the restaurant strikes nine o'clock, which means an hour has passed and still no sign of Beau. I can't believe he’s standing me up."Ma'am, would you like to order now?" The waiter asks for—if I’m not wrong—the tenth time tonight."No, but I would like a bottle of whatever you have been filling my glass with.""Alright, ma'am."The anger I’m feeling is all consuming, the best thi
DELILAHI move closer to the intoxicating scent around me. It smells so familiar, but I can't place where I’ve smelled it before. It smells so good that I don't even want to open my eyes to check where it’s coming from. It calms my heart and makes me want to spend the whole day wrapped around it. I let out a sigh and feel my breath bounce back against my face. That's odd; why did that happen? I slowly open my eyes to find out what's wrong. My eyes widen as I come face to face with a rock-hard chest. I quickly check my body to ensure I didn't do what I think I might have done. I know I drank a lot last night, but I am not one to have a drunken one-night stand. A breath of relief escapes me once I see I am fully clothed. Thank God, I didn't have a one-night stand.I tear my eyes away from my body and look up to see the owner of the magnificent chest in front of me. Every finger is itching to rub my hands all over this beautiful man's chest, but I stop myself because I need to know who i
"Lilah, what are you doing here so early?" Tamara asks once she opens the front door."Where do I start?" I walk past her into the house."Maybe you can start by explaining why you are wearing a dinner dress so early in the morning.""I spent the night out." I sink into one of the couches in her living room."You spent the night out! Oh my God, it's been so long. I have to ask, with whom?" Tamara asks, getting more excited by the minute. I didn't date much after Beau, so it is no surprise that Tamara is eager to hear about a date."Beau.""You had sex with Beau?" Tamara asks, wide-eyed."Of course not; I just spent the night over at his place.""How did that happen?""I don't know, but I guess he was called to the restaurant after I passed out.""You passed out at a restaurant?""Yeah," I say, staring at Tamara's TV screen."Why are you looking at the TV? It's switched off. Is something on your mind?""Beau kissed me.""He did what?""He kissed me." My hands automatically touch my lip
Once Camila walks back into her office after seeing Beau off, she says something that makes even me consider accepting his offer."If Beau is really planning on becoming an investor so he can ruin the company, remember he is the one who will lose a lot of money, so there is no way that is why he’s doing it."After she says this, I take a minute to digest her words."You're right. If anyone suffers a huge loss, it would be Beau, not us.""Exactly, so let's not dwell on the past. Instead, let’s focus on making good use of his money. We don't really have a choice if we want our dream to come true. Beau has left us no other options.""Is he truly the only choice?""Unfortunately, yes.""Give me the day to think about it.""No problem. Let me know what you decide before tomorrow," Camila agrees."I will." I leave her office and spend the rest of the day wishing a very slow, painful death on Beau Williams.***The following day, Beau and his lawyers arrive early for the contract signing. I
I glare at Beau as we walk into the boardroom. Unfortunately, there’s only two side-by-side seats left. Taking my seat beside Camila, I nod at my assistant to start. As the meeting begins, something presses against my thigh. I try to move it away, but my hand gets caught in something—or by someone. Turning to my left towards Beau, I shoot him a questioning look. One I hope no one else will notice.Beau gets the message but ignores it. He smirks that devilish smirk of his and continues to hold my hand, interlacing our fingers as he leans over to whisper in my ear. "Don't they look perfect together?" he asks huskily, his hot breath fanning across my neck.Swallowing the lump in my throat, I try to ignore the warmth seeping into my hand and attempt gently tugging my hand out of his without drawing attention to what’s going on, but Beau’s hold only tightens. He smiles, showing off his beautiful dimples. I give up and try to concentrate on what's being said in the meeting, and Beau instan
Saturday comes as quickly as I had hoped. I’ve spent all day getting ready, so now I just need to add a few finishing touches to my face. Luckily, I’m very skilled with makeup, so I was able to do my own, and Tamara had helped me to style my hair in a sexy updo a few hours ago. Once I am done applying my red lipstick, I close the tube and admire how the color accents my skin. Now all that’s left is to put on the dress. Camila had helped me lay it out on my bed earlier. She and Tamara are also coming to the party, so they’ll have a front row seat for what I have in store for Beau. I smile as I look at the dress. Beau is absolutely going to hate it. It’s a sleeveless, nude tulle gown with black flowers, sequins, applique, and a deep V-neck. The back is also open in the same style as the front, with a slit on the side exposing my leg. A thrill of anticipation runs through me as I put it on. I slip on my black heels and then walk to the full-length mirror to take a look at the full ense
After a few minutes of driving, the car arrives at the venue. I grab Beau’s outstretched hand and step out. The thought to refuse his help occurred to me but I changed my mind. Beau puts his hand on my exposed back and walks us to the hotel entrance.“Your skin feels so smooth, my love,” he whispers.I roll my eyes at him. “Your hand is supposed to be on my waist, not my upper back.”“I know, but I want to feel your skin under my fingertips.” He caresses my spine. A shiver passes through my body as my gaze locks with his. Those gray eyes light up, and I try my best to ignore the feeling of his hand on my skin. I roll my eyes at him once again in an attempt to show him he doesn’t affect me.Once inside, Beau and I walk around and thank people for coming. A few minutes later, I excuse myself and find Camila so I can do the same with her. Camila is my partner after all, so it’s only proper we thank people for coming together. Also, I’d never met the people Beau and I spoke with. I want t