Page 44 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
But, leaving the spa and stepping out onto the sidewalk proved to be a daunting task.
“Mr. Gainsley! When are you and Maggie moving in together?”
“Is she moving in with you?”
“Are you moving in with her?”
“Is it true that she works at this spa?”
“Is she available for comment?”
“Rumors are circulating that your wedding is a hoax, Mr. Gainsley. Any comments?”
I drew in a deep breath and ignored the flashing of their cameras. “Actually, I do have a few words.”
For once, the crowd fell silent as all microphones pointed toward my face.
“I’m going to keep this short and sweet because I’m tired of this, and if I’m tired, then that means that Mags is most certainly tired, and that simply makes me angry. So, here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to stop poaching her for pictures and comments. You’re going to stop hanging out at her place of work and where she currently lives. You’re going to get your cameras out of her face, you’re going to stop snapping pictures of her, and you’re most certainly not going to be asking her for any comments. Because if you do? If you cross that line again and frighten her the way you’ve been frightening her? I’ll sue every single one of you out of a job.”
Everyone’s jaws gawked open as I straightened my back.
“I will wage legal war on every single one of your syndicates if you don’t stop. You can come at me all you want; I can take it. I know how to deal with the pressure. I know how to deal with the likes of people like you. But she doesn’t. My Maggie doesn’t understand this world yet. And I’m not going to let you idiots ruin my marriage with the woman I love because you’d rather make a couple extra hundred on a picture with your boss.
“My marriage is worth more to me than all of your careers combined mean to you guys, and I will take every single one of you down if it means salvaging what I’ve got with Maggie. Do I make myself clear? This woman is grieving. My wife is grieving the loss of her father. The loss of the only shred of family she had left on this planet, other than myself at this point. She’s working a full-time job, doing what she loves, she’s attempting to salvage her father’s businesses, and she’s doing all of this while trying to get away from your abusive tactics to capture a picture of her.
“She’s got enough on her plate, so don’t make me pile on more because you won’t heed my warning. Because as God is my witness and whoever might be watching this broadcast, I will burn this world to the ground to protect Maggie from people like you.”
I pushed through the shocked crowd and stared down as many of them as I could.
“Back off or get served. Those are your options, people.”
My driver eased up to my side, and I slid into the back of the car before the crowd started to get restless. And while I knew the interview would surely be posted everywhere, I didn’t understand exactly how much coverage it would get until Langley sent me a link to aBBC Newsheadline.
Michael Gainsley Lays Down The Law With Reporters; Garners Favor With Women Across The World.
I didn’t bother reading it. In fact, I didn’t even bother responding. I had said what I had said, and I didn’t want my PR team muddling it for me when, for once, I had finally gotten this right. People text messaged me left and right, sending me quotes and pictures and videos from Twitter that innocent bystanders had taken in the heat of the moment.
I ignored all of them, though.
The second I got home, I stormed into my home office. I slammed the door behind me and relegated myself to an afternoon of working alone when a text message came through from Maggie. I had several unanswered ones, but the second I saw her name, I picked up my phone and opened it up.
And the words staring back at me made my heart stop in my chest.
Maggie: Thank you for what you said. It means more than you’ll ever know. <3
That little heart emoji stayed at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the time I worked. Every time I got on a roll, a little voice in my head asked me if I had figured out what the heart meant yet. I knew what I wanted it to mean. I wanted it to mean that Maggie was falling for me. That maybe, just maybe, she saw how perfect we were together and that we could conquer the world if we gave this a fair shot. But none of my curiosity gave me the strength to text her and ask.
The more the sun set in the sky, the darker and lonelier it became on my estate. And the longer I sat at my desk with the silence of the acreage surrounding me, I found myself missing her. No, more than missing her. I found myself resenting this place without her.
It seemed that nothing mattered any longer unless she shared it with me. Unless Maggie was here, at my side, filling this place with her light and her scent and her voice. None of this mattered if I couldn’t share it with her. The jacuzzi tubs meant nothing if she didn’t want to take a bath with me. The sunrise over the tops of the trees of the forest I owned didn’t mean jack-shit if she weren’t there to enjoy her coffee and watch it at my side.
So, I stood from my desk, picked up my phone, and finally found the balls to text her back.
Me: Come over tonight. I think we could both use the company, and I miss you.
I saw that she read it, but she never responded. And I knew what that meant. I dragged myself upstairs and relegated myself to the hottest shower I could stand to try to scrub her off my skin. I stayed in there until the water ran cold, until I shivered so much that my fingertips started turning blue. But, just as I got out of the shower, the most amazing voice sounded from my bedroom.
A voice that held my entire world within its depths.
