Page 19 of The Billionaire's Off Chance

I shake my head. “I had a younger brother, Ash, and he passed away when I was young.” He lets go of my hands and pulls me into his embrace. A sense of peace and calm washes over me.

“What if he’s using you?” he asks out of the blue. My head is on his chest. I can’t see his face.

“Who?” I ask, drawing circles on his abdomen, creasing the material of his shirt.

“Paul. I think he’s using you and because he knows you can’t say no; he’ll keep doing this over and over.” He stops caressing my hair as break from his embrace.

What Lance said is right. I’ve thought about it and know for a fact that it is the case. I sigh. “There’s nothing I can do about that. I have to help my mom regardless of Paul’s motives.”

“You’re strong, Chasmin.” The look in his eyes shows that he believes what he says.

I disentangle myself from him, rising from the couch. “If I am so strong, I would not have been hurt by him.” I shiver, recalling Paul’s hands on me in bed. The revulsion I feel is palpable.

I feel strong hands on my shoulder and I squeak, jumping away from the touch. I spin around to see Lance standing behind me, clearly dumbfounded. My heart is racing in my chest. I suck in a deep breath, placing a hand to my forehead, trying to calm myself down. “What did he do to you?” he asks in a slow, measured voice.

I see the cold look on his face, an indication that his anger is brewing. I open my mouth to tell himnothing,but I see it’s too late. I step forward, holding the lapels of his jacket. Even with my heels, my head barely reaches his shoulder. “I didn’t mean for you to find out this way, and I need you to promise me not to do anything rash.”

“You know me, Chasmin. I’m the epitome of calm,” he says offhandedly; that doesn’t suffice for me. A smile flashes in his eyes, which makes me know that I’m pouting. I school my expression to look more mature.

“Promise me!” I press my body closer to him to get a reaction.

He sighs, his cold expression thawing into a small smile. “Fine. What did he do to you?”

To tell him what Paul did makes me nervous, but I push through. “He touched me. Umm, he sneaked into my room and almost forced himself on me. I was able to protect myself, so as you can see, I’m fine.” I smile, hoping to downplay the situation.

Lance’s expression darkens. He pulls away from him, clenching his hands. “What? And he’s still walking around as a free man? He ought to be rotting in prison right now,” he says, raising his voice, and it fills the room.

“Lance, you promised to be calm.” I move closer to him. He’s a furious man on the verge of exploding. I hug him tight, not letting him go. His chest heaves, and he doesn’t wrap his arms around me, thereby showing me the extent of his anger. I see how angry he is on my behalf. This is the reaction I had expected at home when I told Mom about the incident. “I was once as angry as you and still am, to be honest. But we can’t let our anger get the best of us. Paul will pay for what he has done in time. You don’t need to get your hands dirty.”

“You must want to take revenge. I’ll rain hell down on him, so he’ll regret ever laying a hand on you.”

“Of course, I do but even if we involve the police, I have no evidence for them to do anything substantial in his regard. Can we forget him and move on?” I sigh, seeing the anger grow in his eyes.

“No, I can’t forget what he did to you but…” He sighs, hugging me back. “Chasmin, you’ve been keeping this to yourself all this while. Is this why you were living in a motel?”

I nod. “That’s all in the past. Paul won’t dare such with me ever again.”

“He better not, else he’ll regret ever knowing you in his life. Chasmin, now, you have to promise me to tell me if something happens to you. I’m here for you, and I want to protect you from whatever makes you sad. I need you to trust me on this.”

With his admission, I feel like I’m floating. This is the first time, apart from Mom, that I feel I’m truly protected. I look into his eyes, knowing he’ll do what he says. I don’t want to lose this feeling. “I promise, Lance. I’ll be an open book from now on. This means you also have to be more sharing. Deal?”

He brings his face closer to mine, and I tiptoe to kiss him. It’s an electrifying kiss, sending tingles up my back right up to my head. We break apart for a moment. Gazing into each other’s eyes, our breaths are coming fast. His hands trail down my back to my thighs, hiking up my skirt. He brings my left leg up to hook around his waist. I wrap my arms around his neck to keep my stance.

“Up,” he says in a deep voice that makes me whimper with delight.

I hop up, wrapping my legs around him as commanded. He smiles contently and begins kissing me. He walks to my desk, sets me down, and proceeds to kiss my neck. He leaves a wet trail of kisses to my bosom. My head feels heavy with the dog of pleasure clouding my reasoning.

He stops suddenly, and the need for more makes me open my eyes. I look at him in confusion. “I wish I could take you right now but it seems we’ve forgotten the meeting with the CEO of the distribution company.” He smiles wryly. It all comes back to me.

I get off the desk, arranging my clothes. He kisses me one last time before we leave his office and proceed to the conference room. I remember that I forgot to ask him why he came to my office in the first place.

A day later, I get the loan from Lance. I pay for the mortgage and send some money to Mom for her to take care of the matter herself. I give her a call and she answers quickly. “Chasmin, oh baby, I saw what you sent. That’s a lot. Don’t you need the money to take care of yourself? I’ll send it back now. I can’t accept this.”

“Please, Mom, keep it. I won’t be able to live with myself if you don’t. You deserve it. So, don’t send it back. I’ll be coming around this weekend to check on you. It’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

“Okay, I’ll prepare your favorite meal. Thank you, baby, for everything you’ve done for me and Paul. I love you, Chasmin.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

---