Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Michael
A few weeks ago, when Kir told me my sister was in town, I’d known my time left in the US was limited.
Responsibilities to my lands, title, and family were growing as I neared thirty, and I still hadn’t returned home since the age of eighteen.
I’d focused on ensuring I had the money to fix whatever they did without actually financing their uncontrolled spending.
The time had come to let everyone know that I was alive and well and that when the titles were fully mine, I would be able to pay for things on my own.
At the same time, what had kept me staying where I was for weeks was Britney.
Sneaking over to her house at all times and hours was exciting and a secret that kept me aching for more.
I’d never been used for sex. Until Britney, I’d probably used others, but once she was done with me, she generally kicked me out with a promise to text when we could see each other again.
Lately though, just being with her hadn’t felt like enough. I’d fantasized about telling her who I really was for weeks.
I’d concocted plans to show her I was everything she wanted, but every time I opened my mouth to speak, she’d kissed me again and again.
Her lips were magnets.
Being with Britney felt forbidden as she was my opposite in many ways. I’d been at her beck and call since we met.
Now, I held the door for her, into the dining room where her five friends and two of my best friends were all seated and waiting for us.
Kir stood first and said, “So you told her.”
The eyes of Avril, his fiancée, widened, and she tugged on his arm. “You knew, Kir?”
Kir sat and said, “It wasn’t my place or secret to share.”
The Norouzis were great friends, and staying with them kept me unreachable for years as their own security system was tighter than my family's.
As I held Britney’s seat, Hope asked, “Did you know, Charlie?”
Since my cover was blown, my room was probably gone too.
Charlie said, “Yeah. We’ve all been friends for years now.”
Miley, her friend who watched everyone and everything like a hawk, then asked, “So, Michael, why are you pretending to be poor?”
Time to fess up. Until Charlie brought Hope home, which introduced me to Britney, no one had ever questioned anything about my life.
I stared at Britney and wondered what she thought about me.
“I’m not. I was hiding out from my parents though, now that my sister is in town and searching high and low for me, my days are numbered. ”
Britney gazed at me like I was speaking another language. “Your sister?”
Unlike me, my sister was perfect. She truly was fit to be queen, if anyone asked her, as she had never made a mistake in her life.
I sat straighter and said, “The other heir now though I’m still older.”
Britney crossed her arms like she was examining me or seeing me for the first time. “Why are you avoiding her?”
All the others sipped their drinks and watched us. Since Britney told me she was pregnant, I’d been thinking of nothing else. My parents would hate her if they met her and would let me live in New York until they passed fifty years in the future. My plan seemed better with every second.
“Because she wants to say she found her lost brother and saved him from his reckless, wasteful life,” I said.
Unlike Britney and her friends, who all chose their lives, I’d had expectation upon expectation piled onto me until I just left and never returned. I figured money was my shield, but Britney was probably a better option for me.
“And that’s bad because…?” she asked.
I needed her on board. We fit well together, and eventually, I needed to shoulder my responsibility and duties.
“My parents… my title… I’m expected to be perfect all the time.
It’s suffocating. Living in New York for all these years, where no one knew who I was or what I was, meant I had no one breathing down my neck. ”
Kelly asked, “Do you want to be the heir and inherit?”
Britney's friend was way too sweet and naive. She would be eaten alive and transformed if she ever stepped foot in my world. So would all her friends. Unlike them, though, Britney was audacious enough to pull anything off.
“Not really," I said, "but I don’t have a choice.”
Miley said, “We all have choices."
Even the smart, quiet one would be molded to fit a type. Britney was the star amongst them and every other woman I’d ever met.
“My title is inherited," I said. "Our child will be next in line the day he or she is born.”
Britney laughed and shook her head. “I mean, I’m no expert in this, but don’t we need to be married or something to make it legitimate?”
I pivoted and stared at her. “We can take care of that.”
She blushed. “You expect me to marry you?”
I had everything she’d said she’d wanted in life. I’d heard her and her friends talking on the phone though she’d never known I was listening from the bedroom. I took her hand and asked, “Is that hard to believe?”
She gazed around the table and said, “We’ll discuss that in private… later.”
Fair enough. I hated my life as it was, planned out to the smallest detail every second of every day.
Hope giggled and asked, “Does Britney get a title if she says yes?”
I nodded. “She’d be marchioness and a future duchess.”
She then smiled and said, “Britney, remember when you said we don’t say no to trillionaires?”
Britney lifted her head like she was the head of the table. “I was talking about you, Hope. I liked Michael as I knew him, and I’m unsure what I think now.”
Her friend Avril said, “You told me that we marry trillionaires who ask.”
Britney took a deep breath then smiled as she gazed at everyone. “Your teasing is making me… Wait… is this some elaborate joke y’all cooked up, and someone’s going to pop out and yell, ‘Surprise’?”
Wait. She wasn’t believing my intentions. I wasn’t sure how to handle that. My heart pounded. I wasn’t sure how to handle that.
Miley squashed her question. “You’re the one that surprised us with being pregnant. And, Britney, what happened to giving up the corner office if something better came along?”
“Well, I came,” I said quickly.
Britney’s eyes widened, and she pushed her chair back and said, “Michael and I are leaving now.”
I followed her lead and stood. My shoulders were tight, and I decided the time had come to clear the air.
Isabel took her hand and said, “Wait. No matter what you decide, Brit, we’re all in your corner.” Then she stood and hugged her.
Britney held her close and said, “I know that. Thank you.”
Her friend Isabel acted like she was in my class though she wasn’t British. She’d been raised wealthy. Beyond the clothes, that was in her mannerisms, which I recognized from a boarding school education where no one bothered to pick me up except chauffeurs.
Once Britney let her go, she took my arm and tugged it.
We reached the sidewalk of the bar, and she asked, “Did you mean?—“
My eyes widened. My sister wasn’t going to handle my future child with Britney well. I held her close and said, “Wait.”
Then I kissed her, forgetting everything else.
Her taste lingered. It was better than chocolate, brandy, or a biscuit. She was… delicious.
As the kiss ended, she started to ask, “What was?—”
I held her waist, then my short brunette sister was standing in front of us.
“Bernadette,” I said.
My sister stared right at me and said, “Finally, Michael, a tip I had paid off on where you were.”
Britney squared her shoulders and said, “Tip? Who the fuck is this?”
I froze. The faux pas was on me as I hadn't launched into an introduction.
I massaged her back and said, “Britney, this is my sister I spoke to you about.”
She backed into me, her face ashen, and her curves set me off as she said, “My lady.”
Bernadette blinked and stared at her then at me. “Hmm, I see your taste in women hasn’t changed much, brother.”
Britney crossed her arms. “Pardon me. I’m having a bad day. I don’t need some pretentious bitch in my face right now.”
My sister winced. Britney’s fighting spirit was what had drawn me to her. She shone like a beacon of light in full color which was the opposite of everyone I knew that blurred into faceless beings with never ending, polite banter. Britney’s backbone was absolutely needed in my cutthroat world.
I gazed down and said, “Bernadette, let’s meet for breakfast tomorrow at nine at Café Sabarsky.”
“Very well.” She nodded then gave Britney a pinched glare without another word.
Britney waved Bernadette off with a hand gesture. We then scurried off to Britney’s building and waved at the doorman, who knew me.
Once we were alone in the elevator, she said, “So that was your family you’re hiding out from.”
As we rode up together, I nodded. “You made quite a first impression.”
She let out a laugh. “It would have been better if you told me right off instead of holding back, but I’m still reeling from today. And I hate that you think I want you for your money.”
As we made it to her door, I said, “I accept that.”
She unlocked it then held the door open. “It’s never that easy. Are you coming in?”
Being inside her place was the closest thing to being in heaven. We made no sense except that when I was with her, I was myself.
I nodded and said, “Yes.”
She closed and locked the door behind me. Then she took off her shoes and said, “I don’t want your money. I’ll sign whatever we need to ensure what’s yours is yours.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“It is. I’m not a gold digger. I shouldn’t have cared what the partners thought of you when you were a butler. Denying myself… getting to know you because I was so focused on a stupid job is pretty low.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
Britney seemed tense. She turned and pointed me to her dress zipper. As I opened it, she said, “So I asked the doctor if sex was off the table now, and he said I’d be fine.”
Maybe it was better this way. I reached for the buttons of my shirt as I asked, “So take off my clothes?”
She tugged off her maxi dress and let it fall to the floor as she walked into her bedroom. “Talking is absolutely the last thing we need to do right now.”
I was hard and ready for her.
We needed to talk, but I left my clothes in a trail just as she had, so when we neared her bed, we were naked.
I met her gaze. “Britney…”
She waved me closer. “What?”
My heart pounded. I ached for her. “You’ve fascinated me since the day we met.”
“I’ve only had eyes for you too, Michael,” When I neared her, she kissed me.
My hands ran up and down her body. She was wild, uncontrolled, and mine, and she wasn't just in it for my money and title.
Her ass squeezed, and I lowered myself to kiss her neck and chest. I suckled on her nipples as she ran a hand through my hair. She lay back on the bed, and I kissed her belly, which would soon be round with child.
She sighed, and when I slipped a finger inside, she was clearly ready. She held me more tightly and said, “Forget the condom.”
For a second, I didn’t move, but then I realized that was one more step toward having her always. So I pressed myself in where we were both full.
She closed her eyes and moaned as I entered.
Being with her was like being in a world everything was happy. I continued to take her, over and over, until I joined her in heaven.