Billionaire's Bounty Cost Of Love And Revenge novel Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Asher’s POV

I walked into the empty diner. When my mom sent me an invitation for dinner earlier, I knew instantly that something was up. It was uncharacteristic of us to hang out alone together. I had an idea of what she wanted to speak about already.

It wasn’t hard to spot her. Besides the fact that the diner was practically empty, surely on my mother’s orders, she was the only person who showed up at a fancy diner wearing a business suit, her hair tied back and put in a bun, making her look serious.

She was tapping on her phone when I approached her. “Mom,”

She looked up at me with those dull brown eyes. “Asher?” she managed a small smile.

Over the years, I learned quickly that this was the most affection I’d get from my mother. It was hard to come to terms with it because, unlike my father, her stoicism felt forced. Like she was playing a character, I could always see the struggle in her eyes, her holding back, but maybe it was all in my head, and I was overthinking it. Maybe. As a child, it hurt so much.

I loosened my tie. “What are we having?” I looked up at her expectantly.

“I already sent for wine. I spoke to your father,” she added, going straight to the point.

I tried to mask the disappointment on my face. “You know, mother, you can actually pretend like you want to see me.”

“And I do,” she chirped in. The waiter approached our table and poured us a glass of wine. “Your father told me you got married,” she said as soon as the waiter left.

I took a big sip before answering. “Yes.”

Her expression remained unchanged. “Why? I don’t know, you never struck me as the guy who would get contractually married. I mean, of course, your father and I talked about it a couple of times. We just thought it would be so much trouble bringing it to you.”

I shrugged. “It was a spur–of–the–moment thing.”

“Hmmm,” she paused for a moment. “Who is the girl?”

“Ivy Whitfield.”

“Does she treat you well?” she asked again.

Our conversations felt more like interrogations than they ever felt like conversations. I didn’t answer immediately. “I barely know her, Mum. Isn’t that the whole point?”

“I’m sure you will figure it out,” she replied.

That was the last words she spoke until the waiter came to take our orders. We sat in silence. It was uncomfortable. I drank a lot of wine for lack of what to do. The fact that there was so much awkwardness between us after all these years was baffling. She had nothing else to say to me. We often never hung out alone together. At family gatherings, I could safely withdraw into my shell and listen to my brother and father speak passionately about some mundane stuff I didn’t understand.

I knew there would be awkwardness, after all, that was why we kept our meetings to a minimum. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. I always wanted her to ask me about something else, anything other than the reason she called me there. I always waited with bated breath, hoping she would ask about my well–being, about my friends, about my love life. I wanted us to have long, fun conversations like a mother and her child would.

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8:24 pm DDXX.

Chapter 11

I shot up to my feet suddenly. “I have to leave, Mother.”

She looked up at me. “Our dinner is not here yet.”

“Yeah, I have a thing…” I scratched my head. I hadn’t given so much thought to my lie. I think she already knew I was lying,

She got to her feet. “Very well, then.”

When I left later, I wondered if she had dinner by herself or left soon after. I shook my head and tried to take my mind off it A lot of good things had happened today. I told my family about my marriage. I pitched the idea of having my own thing that is part of the family business. I knew that look in his eyes that he was actually considering it, regardless of Marcus’s pained rant.

When I walked into the dining area and saw her sitting with her back to me, I was almost startled. For a moment there, I had forgotten about being married, or at least the part where I’d come home to her. It made me really happy seeing her there. It felt natural, like she belonged here, like we belonged together.

I closed the distance between us and planted a kiss on her head. I liked that she didn’t stiffen or pull away. I loved the fact that she sighed in satisfaction, like we were long lovers and this was our routine. “Hello, wife.”

She turned to look at me, the faint traces of her shyness still evident in her pink cheeks. “It’s going to take a while to get used to that.”

I shrugged. “I don’t think it would take that long. You fit right in.” As I pulled a chair and sat across from her, I noticed her slouched shoulders. She was worried about something. I took her hand in mine and kissed it fervently. “Are you okay?”

She looked flushed and taken aback by the fact that my lips were all over her hands. I couldn’t deny it was always a delight to see her innocent reaction. It was cute. I told myself I’d give her time, time to get used to this, to get used to me, but it was harder than I thought. It was taking every single restraint I had not to lean closer and kiss the sad, shy smile off her lips. To run my tongue across the softness of her…

I swallowed and exhaled. “Did you speak with your parents, and how did it go?”

She shrugged. “Exactly how I expected it to go. What about you?”

I thought about it in that moment. Everybody reacted exactly how I expected them to react. “Same.”

She nodded. “They want to meet with you. Your whole family…” She massaged her temples and let out a huge sigh. “I don’t even know your family.”

I pulled her hand away from her face. “There’s plenty of time. We would figure it out. And also, we could have something for the whole family to meet, just not right now. I can’t afford to deal with them immediately.”

She nodded in understanding. “Me neither.”

I wondered if there was something more, if something happened with her family, but I decided not to push it.

I leaned forward and lightly caressed her cheeks. “Are you worried about something else?”

I saw the calculations in her eyes as she wondered if she should open up to me or not.

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