Page 56 of The Billionaire Babe

“I thought Van Cleef was the richest?” I ask teasingly.

“We’re up there.” She smiles against me, burying her face and making me chuckle.

“So what about you?” she asks me.

“What about me?” I banter back.

“You said earlier that you never met your dad?” Her head twists up, resting her chin on my chest and looking up at me. I mentally scold myself for letting that piece of information pass my lips, but in the moment, I felt compelled to open up.

“I don’t really talk about it.” I don’t talk about my feelings. I don’t like to get too deep in them. No point living in the past. If I did, I would probably fucking drown.

“I told you about my skeletons. I promise yours are safe with me,” she says, and I watch her for a beat, swallowing roughly.

“Not much to say, really. Never met my father, don’t even know his name. My mom probably doesn’t either.” I scoff at how ridiculous it all sounds.

“And you said your mom lives out of town?” she asks tentatively, obviously remembering what I had already told her weeks ago.

“Lives in a trailer up in Wilmington now. I don’t see her. She usually only calls when she needs something,” I say, sounding bitter. “She is a user, has been all her life. I don’t think I have ever seen her clean.”

“I’m sorry about that. Seems like we both lost our parents along the way,” she comments sadly.

“Seems like it.” The heaviness of the conversation clouds us both.

“So Brady and Cody, have you known them long?” she asks, and the cloud lifts a little.

“Since we were kids. Their background is similar to mine. We were rough, still are. But we found our way. Now with Fortress, we are trying to get our shit together,” I tell her, feeling proud at how far we have all come.

“I would say that Fortress and you guys are doing well. You were all so great at Chloe's showing. Not to mention, the numerous times you have come to my rescue…” I squeeze her ass cheek in my hand and she holds me tighter.

“Just doing my job.” And I was. As I think about our situation, I find it unfathomable that the two of us even met, let alone are now sharing a bed. But I feel at ease about it. Comfortable. So I do something I have never done before. I touch my lips to the top of her head like I promised myself I wouldn’t, and I bury my face in her hair, take a breath in, smelling her scent and feeling all the stress leave my body. This woman is starting to make me feel like my body is thawing out after a big freeze, and I don’t know what the hell that means, but it feels good.

30

VALERIE

“I thought you were meant to cook me dinner?” I tease AJ from where I am standing in his kitchen, stirring the pot of spaghetti I found in his pantry.

“You look much better doing it than I would have,” he says from where he sits on his sofa, just having gotten off the phone with Brady to check in about Club Vine security tonight. My cheeks heat as his eyes travel up and down my body. We spent all afternoon and early evening in his bed together, and now as I stand in nothing but his t-shirt, my hair pulled back and my makeup all gone, he still looks hungry for me.

I hear my phone beep with a notification. “Can you check that for me?” I ask him since I see my cell on the coffee table next to where he is. My phone has been blowing up all afternoon. I have ignored most things, so who knows what it will be this time. He hesitates, and I wait. I have nothing to hide from him, and I trust him, so I don’t care if he accesses my cell.

“Notification from socials…” he murmurs.

“Oh, it’s probably the girls. Or a new article in Society News,” I say, grabbing the pasta sauce I found in the cupboard and trying to open the jar.

“What the fuck?” He stands up abruptly.

“What?” I look at him, startled, as he strides over to me.

“What the fuck is this?” he asks, thrusting my cell at me. Grabbing it, I look at the screen and see the message.

I am going to enjoy ending you, you stuck-up little bitch.

I swallow. These messages are getting worse and worse. “It’s just keyboard warriors,” I say to him as my fingers move across the cell quickly, and I delete and block Valisdead123 from my social media.

“How often do you get them?” I can feel his anger rolling off him.

“Oh, you know, occasionally.” I try to act like it is no big deal, but my hands shake around my phone, and I hope he can’t see it.

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