The Billionaire’s Wife (Part Two)(10)
Author: Ava Claire

Ask the right questions.

“I’m a fixer,” I said, staring at the slashes on the canvas. Letting them cut away the animosity. “It’s one of the reasons I went into this field. When I see a disaster, I don’t run from it. I run toward it. I like it messy and complicated because I want to be the one that untangles it. But I’m learning that I’m not superwoman. There are some things I can’t fix. Sometimes, I have to step back and give other people the agency and responsibility.” I faced her, needing her to look into my eyes and see that I was coming from some place real. “I can’t do this for you. I can lead the way, show you the path but you’re the one that has to walk it, Jessica. None of this will work unless you’re ready to take the reins.” The most important question, the only question that mattered rang in my head. “Do you want to take over your father’s company?”

“Yes,” she said, not missing a beat. “But-”

“The but doesn’t matter,” I interrupted, pulling out my cell phone. “The artwork downstairs, is that yours as well?”

She nodded, finally at a loss for words.

“Good. We’re going to set up an art show for next week. We need to show the world that there’s more to you than jet-setting and body shots. Which means no more parties unless they’re benefit galas or charity events.” I glanced up to see if this was all sinking in.

Her face was blank, but she nodded, biting her lip then releasing it. “Essie has my calendar.”

“I’ll go find her so we can nail down some dates.” I stopped at the door. “And for the record, you’re not kind of good. Or merely okay. You’re great. Don’t forget that.”

I could have been imagining it, or hoping that I somehow got through, but I could have sworn I heard her whisper ‘thanks’.

TWELVE

****

I was back.

The Whitmore estate looked even more foreboding than before because this time, I knew exactly what to expect: Alicia’s haughty little grins, her nameless servants, surrounded by her expansive, cold, empty wealth.

I reached over and gripped Jacob’s knee. “You know, it’s not too late to turn around.” I scrambled for some excuse. “I feel a tickle in my throat. Or maybe you have a headache.”

“Or a stomach bug. Some gnarly affliction that just came on. Interestingly enough, it occurred after the security guard already alerted her to our arrival.” He rounded the circular driveway, killing the engine before he looked at me. I knew he wanted to be here even less than I did, but it didn’t make any of this easier. “Trust me, I don’t want to do this either. But the only way to beat my mother at her game is to look her in the face and let her see that she didn’t win. I’m not going to hide or avoid her. I need to look her in the face when I tell her to go to hell.”

“And I can smile gleefully as she gnashes her teeth and threatens to reveal whatever skeletons she has left?”

Jacob interlocked our fingers, his eyes going dark with anger. “Unless she has another son or daughter in her back pocket, there’s no way she can hurt me more than she already has.”

I lifted our hands to my lips and kissed his skin. “I know it took a lot to come here. I’m proud of you.”

He released me with a bitter chuckle. “The night’s still young. My mother has the impressive talent of bringing out the worst in me.”

Like he knew I was about to make a last ditch effort to get the hell out of dodge, Jacob eased out of the car, walking briskly to my side and pulling the door open. There was no escape now.

I reluctantly accepted his hand. “We can do this?”

“We can do this.” He looked like a man ready to go into battle. His suit was his armor, his dark hair slicked back so the enemy could see just how fearless he was. When he pushed me back against the car and gave me a kiss that made the world spin, I realized I was wrong. I was his armor.

He ended the kiss too soon, taking my bottom lip between his teeth and tugging until the throb between my thighs was a consuming ache that could only be sated if he took me. Right there. Right now.

He wet his lips and I swore I could feel his tongue on me. Licking. Flicking. Swirling. Tasting.

His hands skimmed my side, the unspoken language of our bodies taking over. He wasn’t really going to—but he had already hiked up my skirt. My panties were already to the side. His fingers dove inside me and I threw my head back, letting loose a moan that was devoured by the darkness. His mouth was on mine, his cock so hard that-

“Ahem.”

Crap.

For the briefest moment, everything ceased to exist but his fingers and lips…and I forgot that we were standing in front of Alicia’s house.

Jacob slowly ejected his fingers and my jaw dropped when he didn’t acknowledge his mother’s existence at all. He looked deep into my eyes and brought his fingers to his lips, suckling each one. Making me quiver for more.

“Honestly, Jacob,” she hissed. “You couldn’t contain yourself long enough to get through dinner?”

He ignored her, holding out his arm to me. Blushing all kinds of red I fixed my skirt and accepted it, deflecting the daggers Alicia was throwing my way with a smile.

“Let’s get this over with,” he spat, leading me toward the house.

When I stepped inside I expected to see Miles, but there was an older woman standing beside the door instead. She was dressed in a plain charcoal colored dress, both hands locked at her side, a plastic smile fitting for a mannequin on her face. With the Shirley Temple curls that framed her face and the fact that she literally moved no muscles, it was downright eerie.

I heard Alicia behind us, silent and cussing us out at the same time. I focused on the woman instead, holding out my hand. “Hi! I’m Leila. And you are?”

“The help,” Alicia answered for her, closing the door crisply behind her. My mother-in-law was dressed in a pantsuit that matched the color of her heart—black. She waved the woman away. “Please make sure everything is ready for our guests.”

The woman practically curtsied. “Right away, ma’am.”

Jacob sensed my discomfort as I watched the woman hustle away like her life depended on it. “It’s just the three of us, mother. Surely we can manage dinner on your own.”

Alicia flicked her bangs to the side like she was discarding that notion. “I know you’re playing poor for your wife’s benefit, but things have been done a certain way in this home and will be continued to be done as such.” She strutted past me like I was invisible. “I already had to let someone go because he forgot his place.”