Devotion - Billionaire Contemporary Romance Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

glanced back at him.
    “Yes.”
    “From whom?” There was almost a hint of envy in his voice.
    “Just an old friend,” she slowly said, feigning disinterest. 
    “I see…” 
    It was a lie, and Phillip’s searing eyes told her that he knew it.  A blunt chill of distrust cooled the warmth between them. 
    “I shall pick you up tonight at eight o’clock sharp.”
    “Yes, of course, Phillip.  I will be ready.”

Chapter Two
     
    Isabel stood in front of her dressing mirror within her bedroom, struggling to decide what to wear for the gala.
    Without knocking, her mother pushed in through the doorway. “ Estás preparada ?”  Mrs. Alvarez asked it with her sharp Castilian accent, as if she expected Isabel to stop dressing and come downstairs immediately. “Aidan is finished with his bath, and now, he is asking for you.” 
    Isabel looked down at herself in her dressing mirror.  She was only wearing her beige slip and pantyhose.  “Mother, I still need a few more minutes.”
    Mrs. Alvarez leaned into the doorway. “Are you certain you really have to go out again tonight?  You went out last night for work.  I think it is time that you tell this wealthy boss of yours that your son needs you more than he does.”
    Isabel glanced up at her mother’s displeased expression in the mirror’s reflection.  It was the same glare that her mother gave her whenever she wanted Catholic guilt to weight on Isabel’s soul.  Isabel lowered her gaze and picked through her makeup bag, a preoccupation to avoid her mother’s black judgmental eyes.
    “Mother, please don’t do this.  You know how demanding my job is—”
    “I believe it is time that you start telling him how demanding your job as a mother is. ”
    Isabel sighed and lowered her mascara wand onto her dressing table.  It was the same conversation they always had, but every year it grew more and more frequent. The more trust and responsibility Phillip gave her as his executive assistant, the more dinner meetings, fundraisers, and opening night galas she was expected to attend with him.  And every year, her son, Aidan, grew more interested in spending time with her rather than just her mother.  The pressure of juggling both her personal duties as a mother and her professional responsibilities as Phillip’s assistant was starting to weigh on her—weigh on all of them—and Isabel knew the only choice she had was to promise her mother that things would be better tomorrow in a desperate attempt to skate by another day before having to make good on her promise.
    “It’s only one more night.  One night, Mother.  And after tonight, I’ll be home by six o’clock for the rest of the week.”
    “It is not me who you need to promise.  It is your son. He knows that his mother should be here, and instead, she is choosing not to be here.”
    “I’m not choosing anything.  I’m doing my job—a job that pays for us to live in this amazing house and in this affluent neighborhood, and send my son to a prestigious preschool, and allow his grandmother the chance to enjoy her retirement, spending her free time with him.  Without this job, you and I would still be cleaning houses.  Except we’d probably be dragging Aidan along with us because we wouldn’t be able to afford childcare . That’s what this job means to me—to us.”
    A dose of her daughter’s quick temper silenced Veronica Alvarez.  Through the mirror’s reflection, Isabel watched her mother absorb the sobering realization that she was right—painfully right. She knew her mother’s inability to read and write English was a handicap that had kept her a house maid for the past thirty-five years.  And she knew her mother expected everything to be different for Isabel until a foolish college romance with an Italian foreign exchange student and an unexpected pregnancy changed that. 
    Mrs. Alvarez eyed Isabel’s silk slip. “I hope you plan to wear something warm tonight.  The wind