The Billionaire and the Assistant (The Billionaires 3)

“We’re married. We got married in Vegas. On the 18 December. Eli’s my husband, so it’s a little late for Dad to give him the ideal boyfriend check.”

There was another pause and then my Mom’s voice came down the line louder and firmer than ever.

“Are you pregnant?”

“No, Mom. We’re just in love.”

“Well, we’ll be coming over soon as we can get a flight. Definitely in time for your party, and you can bet your sweet ass your Daddy will be having a chat with Mr. King and I’ll be having a chat with you, about not inviting your poor Momma to your wedding.”

“We just couldn’t wait.”

“Yeah, what’s done is done, sweetheart, and it was your wedding day after all. Doesn’t mean I can’t make ya feel guilty about it.”

I laughed.

“Are you happy, honey?” She asked me.

“Very.” I told her.

“Then that’s all that counts. I’d wished you’d told me you were dating him before though, so it didn’t come as such a shock.”

I decided not to add that we’d married within a couple of days of getting together as I felt she’d had enough shocks and surprises for one day.

Eli called me in, this time to really get me to do some work. It was strange acting as his assistant, now I was his wife. Familiar and not at the same time. A

nd then he did something that took me aback. He started talking about our wedding reception/come New Year party, but as if I was his assistant arranging it, which I guess I was, and would have arranged, even if I’d not been his wife.

“So, as you know when I’ve had things at the house before, I use the same companies each time as they’re reliable. Give them a call and pay whatever price they ask as they’ll need to bring in extra staff. My cleaning team can be booked to do an extra clean later that evening. And well, anything else you think of.”

At that point I thought he was actually consulting with me as his wife before he added.

“You’ve done this before, you’ll remember what usually happens.”

And what about if I want different caterers? I wanted to scream at him, but I couldn’t. Because the firm he used was indeed the best around so there’d be no point in me arguing.

Seeing as Brianna had already caused an upset today and no doubt would try her best to do more, I carried on ‘assisting’ until around four in the afternoon, and then I told Eli, I was going back to my apartment to pack a few more things.

“I’ll come help you.” He said. “Brianna’s at ours. We can have more privacy at yours.”

“You won’t.” I told him. “You’re not distracting me from my task and you should go spend some time with your daughter, alone. Take her out for a meal or something. I’ll be back later, with a couple of suitcases.”

“Okay, baby. Ring a driver and get him to take you, then pick you back up. He can help with carrying too. Also, whatever else you need, just charge it like you would if you were my assistant.”

“Yeah, I wonder how that’s going to go down with your other staff? One minute I’m liaising with them as an equal, the next I’m Mrs. King. That’s another adjustment we’ll all need to make. They need to know that I’m still me, still the same.

“But you’re not.” He said to me, scratching his stubble. “You can’t discuss our personal details with them and as employees there are professional boundaries you can’t cross. Also, they’re on good salaries but you’re now my wife, a billionaires wife. They aren’t going to be the same with you. You need to prepare for that.”

I nodded. “It’ll be fine.” I said to him though I felt anything other than fine at that moment. I called the driver and traveled through to my apartment, opening the door to my home. Its familiarity enveloped me and I collapsed onto my own couch letting out an exhale.

It was not a good sign.

Chapter 8

Brianna

When my father returned home from work, he was thankfully alone.

“Where’s Stepmonster?” I asked him.