Page 58 of The Billionaire Babe

I am not used to sharing my life. Not just my history and troubles but also my day-to-day hours. But everything has panned out this week. I have been to the gym to do my daily workouts. I work on Fortress with the boys, train Levi and check in on him, but my days start and end with her. It is new, and I like it.

Now as I clean up the gym from our workout today, I look at Levi who has his head straight into his laptop.

“What are you doing?” I bark, wondering what he is up to.

“Trying to hack into the pentagon,” he says like the smart-ass he is.

“Stop being an idiot.” I throw a boxing glove at his head.

“I am, see.” Showing me his screen, I see a whole bunch of numbers and code that mean absolutely nothing to me.

“I’ve got no idea, but if that is what you are really doing, you better stop, because you will get put away for life.” I walk across to him and slam his laptop shut. He is a smart kid, but he needs to channel it for good, not evil.

“You're no fun.” He bites and puts the computer away in his bag. “How’s Val?” he asks, and I look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Valerie is none of your business,” I tell him.

“What do you mean? She is my lawyer. I’ve never had a lawyer before, AJ. I’m feeling very loved,” he jokes, placing his hand on his chest like he is in love with her himself. My heart stumbles in my chest a little at the thought of possibly loving Val.

“Stop being a smart-ass.” I throw the other glove and hit him in the face, and he laughs, then his expression grows serious.

“Can I stay with you tonight?” he asks. He has stayed at my apartment a few times over the past year. But I know he sleeps on the sofas of friends a lot whenever things at home get bad.

“Where's your mom?” I ask. Zipping up my bag and standing, I wait for him to gather his so we can leave.

“She had a bad hit. She’s in the hospital. Dad hasn’t been home for a few days.” Which means he has been on his own, probably with no food in the house, and random people knocking at his door asking for money. My shoulders tighten, the familiar feeling of anxiety and fear swirling inside of me, remembering those days when I was a kid. They were the shittiest days I ever lived.

“Why didn't you tell me? You can stay. Let me just call Val and tell her that I’ll be at my own place tonight.” I see a smirk on his face as we walk outside to my bike.

“Oh shit, you are sleeping fancy now, hey?” he comments, and I punch him lightly in his arm.

“Watch your…” I am about to scold him and stop short as I get to my bike. “Who the hell are you?” I ask the two men who stand near my bike in tailored suits and sunglasses, like they fell out of a James Bond movie.

They remain quiet and still as the back door of a black town car parked nearby opens and a man in a full, tailored, gray three-piece suit gets out. He is thin and short, angry-looking, and something about his eyes is familiar.

“AJ Steele,” he says, walking up to me. I don’t acknowledge him. Something about this feels off.

“John Van Cleef,” he says, stepping right up to me. Well, shit. I straighten my spine. I want to punch him for the way he treats his daughter, but also get his approval. It's a weird feeling.

“You need to stay away from my daughter,” he threatens.

“Why would that be?” I ask, my tone level, watching him and his men like a hawk. I don’t trust any of them.

“Because you are no good for her,” he states like I am wasting his time.

“True. But why should I? She seems to like my company.”

“You’re bad for her. Bad for the Van Cleef name. I know you are from a broken home; you have no money in your bank account. This bike is the only thing of value you own.” Another guy walks around from the car with a baseball bat, and I grit my teeth.

“I think you need to leave,” I grit out as I push Levi behind me. He takes a few steps away and lowers his bag against a tree. He rolls up his sleeves; the stupid kid thinks he is going to back me up.

“I heard that you have a record.” He huffs. “Only my daughter would fall in love with a felon. She is so stupid, she probably doesn’t even know.” I do have a record for some minor crimes. I was in jail for less than a few weeks when I was eighteen. Not that dissimilar to Levi, although I never had a fancy lawyer to help me out back in the day. Hard times like that make a person think about their life, and that was rock bottom for me. I should be thinking he is right, that Val shouldn't want to be with a felon, but I get stuck on the words he used. Love. Val loves me?

“She is getting married to another man, so you need to stay away.”

I almost snort. This guy is delusional if he thinks a woman like Val could be told who she was going to marry. I know he is feeling threatened because Val is making moves to be CEO. And like a snake, he is starting to hiss.

“And if I don’t?” I ask, tilting my head. He has thrown a lot of words around, but I don’t yet know what he is wanting. He looks at the guy who holds the baseball bat and nods. I swallow roughly, understanding what he is about to do. The guy walks forward quickly and hits my bike.

---