Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
E lisabetta
I wake up rubbing my eyes. I'm surprised to find that I am still on the plane. Liam is reading something on his phone but looks over at me as soon as I twitch in the seat.
"Morning," he says. "We're going to land in about thirty minutes."
"Oh, cool," I say nodding, not really sure what else to say. It had been a weird evening. He fingered me and gave me one of the best orgasms of my life, and then we had a conversation that was quite unsettling. And then I watched a movie and somehow fell asleep.
"Did you get a lot of work done?" I ask him, not really caring but wanting to make conversation.
He nods and rests his phone on the table in front of him. "I did. Thank you for asking."
"No worries," I say politely, feeling quite stilted.
"So, when we land, I'm going to need you to take a lot of notes at our first couple of meetings," he says to me. There's a cold tone to his voice that I've never heard before.
"Okay, and?—"
"Just listen to me, Elisabetta," he says sternly, and I frown.
"Um, I'm listening."
"And don't get an attitude with me in front of the business partners I'm going to meet. I just wanna ensure that you know your place and don't try and usurp me in front of people I respect deeply."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the way you talk to me. You seem to forget that the dynamic here is that I'm your boss and you are my assistant."
"I thought I had a new title," I say, but he just glares at me.
"Just let's get a couple of things straight here, Elisabetta. If I ask you a question, you can respond. If I'm not asking you a question, just say, 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir.'"
My jaw drops as I stare at him. "Are you serious?"
His blue eyes are cold as he looks at me. "I'm very serious. I know we've had a lot of banter back and forth, but I don't want you to think for even a second that you can get away with doing no actual work just because you think I'm attracted to you. In fact, I was quite offended by the fact that you think I hired you just to sleep with you. I'm not that sort of man, and I really don't need to hire someone just to fuck them."
He looks me up and down, and I can feel myself growing red.
"We had some fun, which I know you enjoyed. I didn't really get much out of it, but?—"
"Okay," I say. "So you're telling me that you didn't enjoy it?"
"What, watching you finger yourself and then fingering you? I'm a man, not a little boy. I get my pleasure from fucking a woman and hearing her scream my name as she convulses on top of me. I get my pleasure from sucking on nipples and teasing a woman with my tongue and teeth and fingernails. Oh, and let me not forget my big, hard dick." He grins. "Like I told you, they call me Big Dick Liam."
"Yeah, right. Who calls you that? The fucking people in your head?"
He stares at me for a couple of seconds, and his lips twitch, and I think he's about to laugh. I think we're gonna go back to our gentle banter again, but his expression changes.
"No. Let's just say that these conversations are off the mark for now."
"Excuse me? What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you seem to think that just because I'm attracted to you, that's the only thing on my mind, but it's not. First and foremost, I'm a businessman. Whether or not you respect that is none of my business. I don't care. I don't care if you like me."
He stares me dead in the eyes now. "Yes, you're a beautiful woman, Elisabetta. Yes, I could have many nights of passion with you, but many nights of passion with you are not worth the five billion dollars I could make from this deal if it goes well. Do you understand me?"
"So you're basically saying that five billion dollars is worth more than me?"
He tilts his head to the side, and I start laughing. "Sorry, I mean, that's what you're saying."
"Did you expect me to say something different?" He raises a single eyebrow. "Did you expect me to tell you that the first time I saw you, I fell so in love with you that I wanted to hire you just because of those feelings, and I don’t care about the money or this business venture?"
My heart flutters for a couple of seconds wondering if that's what he's trying to say, but I can tell from the sardonic expression on his face that that is the last thing on his mind.
I sink back and take a deep breath. Liam Gallagher is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and I'm so fucking fed up with meeting men that think they can talk to me however they want to just because they have a little bit of power.
I bite down on my lower lip. I'm not exactly sure how to respond to him. I need to gather my thoughts because not only am I pissed off, I'm really hurt, as well, because a part of me thought we had a connection. That there was something between us, and even though I didn't think he was gonna be the love of my life or my prince charming, I thought that we would come to some sort of working relationship that would be equally and mutually beneficial, that it would be sexually charged and focused on our brains and growing his brand and his business.
For a few moments, I actually thought that he respected my opinion so much that was why he wanted me here, but I can tell now that he is just a jackass that likes treating his employees like shit. And I’m not going to allow him to do that to me. I’m not gonna allow him to make me feel like I’m some little bitch that he can speak to however he wants.
But I also don't want him to know that he hurt me. I don't want him to know that I thought we were coming to an understanding, that I thought he liked me as more than just some nobody he just met, but obviously, I was wrong. I’m always wrong in matters of the heart, no matter how much I wish I were different.
I take a deep breath and shrug. All I know to do in the moment is pretend that I don't care, to ignore him, because ultimately, it doesn't matter. I’m gonna end up engaged to someone else. My father is taking care of that. I am alone like I've always been.
My heart breaks as I think about the life that I'm about to head into. I don't even know if I'll see Skye or Juniper or Lila or even Marie or any of my friends or their partners. I don't even really care what is going on with Liam, because who was he at the end of the day? In five years, would I even remember him?
I wanna laugh out loud then because my heart knows I'll never forget Liam. This man has imprinted himself on my brain forever, even though I wish it weren't true.
"Are you not going to say anything, Miss Franco?" he says, clearing his throat. And I blink as I realize I haven't heard a word he said.
"Whatever," I say, shrugging, not wanting him to know that I was daydreaming.
"Whatever?" He frowns. "You need to buckle up. That's what I just said." He nods to my seat belt, and I feel like an absolute idiot.
"I was about to," I say quickly, blushing, realizing that I was very quickly showing that I hadn't been paying attention.
He takes a deep breath. "Don't make me regret having brought you on this trip and trusting you with?—"
"Just give it a break, okay?" I interrupt him as I put on my seat belt. "Just fucking give it a break."
"Are you really talking to me like that?" he says, and I turn to look at him.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you like that because you're talking to me like a fucking little bitch. And let’s get this straight, Liam Gallagher. I don't care how many millions you have; you're not gonna talk to me like that. I may work for you, but that doesn't mean that you get to speak to me in a such a denigrating and degrading fashion.
"Just because I'm not the CEO and I don't have a bunch of qualifications that make me ready to be a partner in a business like yours, that doesn't mean anything. I'm still a human being, and I really think and feel that you should treat me with respect. In fact, you should treat everyone who works for you with respect. I think you owe an apology to Skye, Juniper, and Lila because you shouldn’t be a fucking dick just because you have money."
His lips thin. "Are you finished?"
"No, I'm not finished," I say, "but…" I press my lips together. I take a couple of deep breaths. "You know what? You're not worth it."
"You want me so badly, don't you?" He chuckles, and I just stare at him.
"Just fucking five minutes ago, you said you weren’t even gonna bring that shit up, so why are you saying that now?"
He nods slowly. "Touché."
"Touché, indeed. You're just pissed off because I haven't given it up to you. What, is this the longest you've had to wait for sex?"
He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "We both know?—"
"We both know what?" I say interrupting him. "What? You think you could've had me if you wanted me?"
He smirks. "We both know that if I really?—"
"Liam, no, you couldn't," I say. "I'm not the sort of woman who would give it up to a jackass like you."
"Okay." He nods. "So you're saying that you don’t wanna meet Big Dick Liam."
"Are you fucking for real? You were just saying that you weren't even gonna speak like this to me."
He nods. "You're right, of course. I already went back on what I said."
"Exactly. So maybe you're the one with the issue here and not me. Maybe you're the one who is mad at yourself because when you look at me, all you can think about is me sucking your cock. And honey, I can honestly say that that is the last thing on my mind when I look at you."
"And what's the first thing on your mind?" he asks.
My brain immediately says, "You being inside of me," but there's no way in hell I'm gonna tell him that. I'm not gonna tell him that, when I stare at his lips, I just wanna kiss him. That when I look into his blue eyes, I just want to melt and swim and be touched by him.
There's something about him that drives me crazy, and I don't even know why. He's the sort of man I could fuck and slap at the same time. He's the sort of man who could turn me on so badly that I would let him do whatever he wanted to me even while I hated him. And the last thing I ever want to do is let him know.
"I think you're thinking too hard about what to say, Miss Franco."
"I actually have nothing to say to you, Mr. Gallagher," I say, shrugging. "I was actually thinking that I'm quite excited to meet my new husband."
"You are?" he says. "Because why?"
"Because hopefully, he won't be a dick like you will live up to the promise."
"What promise?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.
"Of having a big dick. Hopefully." I shrug.
He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "Well, I can't promise that," he says. "I mean, not that I even wanna fucking think about it."
"Oh, now you care that I'm gonna be fucking another man in less than a month?"
"In less than a month?" he says. "How would you know it's less than a month?"
"Because I'm sure my father wants me to get over there soon, and if he owes that much money, he's gonna want me to get married quickly. And I'm sure any man who's paying that much money to marry me is gonna want to put it where the sun doesn’t shine."
"And you speak about that so casually," he says.
He grabs my hand, and I pull away from him. "You don't have to put up a front for me," he says softly. "I know you don't want this."
"You know I don't want what?"
"I know you don’t wanna marry some strange man just to help out your father. And you don't have to," he says. "If you really don't want to, you can tell him no."
"And let him lose his business and his livelihood? Let the rest of my family suffer? It's not like I can provide for them some other way."
I look out the window. "I have to do this. And you're right, I don't want to, and I am putting on a facade. I don't wanna sleep with some man I don't even know. Maybe that's why I thought this trip with you would be like my last hurrah." I stare at him. "But obviously?—"
"But obviously what?" he says softly.
"You just wanna focus on business, so maybe I'll find some local guy who wants to hook up so at least I know my body is my own one last time."
He lets out a long, low sigh. "I would very much like to be the man you have your last hurrah with," he says softly.
"What? You literally were just saying?—"
"I know what I said, and I'm sorry because I was harsh. You probably think I'm bipolar or something for all this back-and-forth, but there's just been a lot on my mind recently, and I've been stressed. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
He gives me a warm smile. "You just do things to me that make me crazy. I don't know how to explain it."
"I don't know what that means," I say sarcastically, but my heart flutters a little bit because he does things to me that make me very crazy, as well. “What are you saying?" I ask him.
He grabs my hands and takes a deep breath. "I'm saying that maybe we do mix business with pleasure. Maybe we have fun and just enjoy the moment, our time together, and then whatever happens, happens."
He stares at me. "It just feels weird to be thinking about you getting engaged and being okay with that, but I'm not okay with it."
"I mean, if you want, you can be my secret lover on the side."
He chuckles slightly and shakes his head. "Do you want me to speak to your father for you? See if I can?—"
"No. Oh, God, no. That would be horrible." I shudder. "I'd hate for you to have anything to do with my father. It would make it so… ugh." I wrinkle my nose in distaste. "Tacky and gross, and I just want to forget about that life, you know? Whoever my father is involved with, whoever would actually stoop that low, that's not anyone I would willingly give myself to, that I would even wanna have a conversation with.
"I like the fact that you have nothing to do with my father," I tell him earnestly. I reach up and touch the side of his face. "And yeah, you're a grumpy asshole."
His eyes darken, and his lips thin.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's fine." He looks away from me.
"I mean, you are a grumpy asshole. I've said that to you before."
He pulls away from me slightly, and I can see he's upset.
"I've called you a grumpy asshole loads of times before. You?—"
"It's nothing. Let's just get ready for the plane to land," he says, looking back at me, his face bleak. "You deserve the best, Elisabetta, and you make this entire situation very hard on me."
"Are you saying Big Dick Liam wants to come out?" I stare at his crotch.
He lets out a deep sigh, and I grin at him. I lean over and rub my fingers along his pants.
He grabs my hand and squeezes. "Not now," he says, shaking his head.
"What? Big Dick Liam doesn’t wanna play?" I smile, trying to get him to react, to take back the words that hurt him. I’m surprised that he is so sensitive about being called grumpy. He’s never reacted like this before. Maybe he is a much more docile man than I'd originally thought.