Page 39 of Forbidden Billionaire Next Door

I slam the phone down. How dare he say that.

I sit in my home office staring at the phone. How dare he say that to me. But the anger begins to subside and with a heavy heart, I begin to process his words. For Taylor. For my little boy. Every choice I have made in my life since he was born has been for him. Now, with Gianna, I am making choices for myself as well and they are affecting my son. It is not fair of me and guilt weighs heavily on my shoulders. My parents have not spoken to me since the day my mother hosted her own press conference. My son is unhappy as I have kept him out of his daycare. My life is falling apart.

Am I being fair to anyone, even Gianna, by continuing this relationship?

My life is public. It is just the nature of the game. I have the family name, the money, and the status. I have no choice on that matter. No matter how irrelevant I want this to play out, it will always be in the public view. Maybe I need to just accept that and my responsibility as a public figure, as a father, and as a businessman --- maybe I just have to let Gianna go. I don't get the happy-ever-after, I just get to be alone.

Relationships only make things worse. I have proven that to myself when I married my ex and now in a different way, I am proving it to myself again. Gianna is beautiful, kind, and smart. She does not deserve what she is going through right now and it is all because of me. I am hurting her.

Reluctantly I realize that I will need to talk to her and let her know. I am not able to do this anymore. I cannot expect her to do this anymore; she can't wait forever for my life to be in order. It might never be, and then what? She has hung on for nothing. She will be better without me, and my son will be better without this drama, even though he loves her almost as much as I do. This is definitely not a conversation to be had over the phone though. I cannot be that cruel. I will need to wait until I can see her in person.

* * *

It's my day in court --- finally.

I feel nauseous and my clothing is too tight. I have a headache from nerves, and I am wound tighter than a spring. But looking at me no one will know any of this. I straighten the collar of my shirt and run my fingers over the cuff of my suit. On the outside, I am the perfect example of a man who has it all together.

I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror of the courthouse.

I have still not spoken to Gianna. I hate myself for it because honestly, I have been avoiding her at all costs as I just could not face the conversation I need to have with her. But today was not the day to be thinking about that. I am here now. I am here at this courthouse and I need to be entirely, solely, completely focused on one thing. My son.

Leaving the bathroom, I turn down the corridor towards the public area of the court building. Crowds are standing outside the glass doors. Cameras pointing in my direction, I ignore them, knowing that only court-appointed media are allowed in the building so any photos they manage to snap would just be of me walking in this corridor.

As I walk towards the designated courtroom, all of the breath in my lungs is punched out in shock. Gianna is standing about three meters away from me, in the doorway, waiting for me. She smiles. I glance at her and then back towards the glass doors of the building where hundreds of paparazzi are snapping photographs.

What is she doing here? What is she thinking? My brother walks out of the courtroom and stands next to her. He reaches out and touches her arm as the camera flashes fire over and over again. She pulls away with anger on her face and I see her mouthing the words don't you dare touch me. Daniel is smiling. He steps back and then laughs a little then turns to walk in the opposite direction.

I walk over to her, but we are in such public view that I cannot say anything to her. I am furious! Why have we spent so much time being so careful about not appearing together publicly only for her to arrive here today, on the most important day of all.

I brush past her without saying a word and enter the courtroom.

When I take my seat, I glance back towards the door. She is still standing in the doorway, looking confused and lost. I shake my head at her. NO! She turns and walks away from the courtroom and out of my sight.

CHAPTER17

GIANNA

Tears stream down my cheeks as I walk out of the courthouse. I have to push and shove my way through the pack of wolves that call themselves reporters. They are screaming questions in my face, but I can't even make out what they are saying. I try and hide my face behind my hand wondering how in the world that had gone so badly.

As I duck into my car, I realize that I have been played. I have been played and it had worked and now I have no idea what the consequences are going to be.

Late last night I had heard a knock on my front door and one of Hudson's assistants, wearing an official Drake Tobacco Empire uniform, had handed me a sealed envelope.

Inside the envelope was a note from Hudson.

Gianna,

The court date is confirmed for tomorrow morning. My lawyer has asked me to have you come in as a character witness for me as a father to my son. He believes that because you are close to me you will be able to provide the judge with insight that may be valuable to the final decision.

Please come.

8:30am. Courtroom 17.

With love,

Hudson

In hindsight, as it always is with hindsight, I realize that the message has obviously been fake. And who else would have access to Drake Tobacco Empire stationery and uniforms. Only his brother --- fucking Daniel again.

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