The Billionaire Secret 2 (Billionaire, BWWM, Interracial, Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

it. I shouldn’t have asked like this. Can we just forget I asked?”
    When he looked up, Aiyana could see the raw pain etched across his face and saw it down in his soul. She’d created a fissure she was afraid she couldn’t repair with this refusal. If only she’d been more tactful. If only she’d told him she knew sooner. The conversation she’d had with Briana flashed back into her mind and she grimaced.
    Blake took it the wrong way and she saw him emotionally withdrawing from her. There was an invisible wall in between them all of a sudden, and she didn’t know what to do to break it down. “I love you,” she told him quietly as she tried to reach him again.
    “I love you,” he told her and then closed the ring box and slipped it into his pocket. She watched him stand and begin to loosen his tie. He stepped away from her and into the bathroom in order to continue getting undressed, and she could feel that fissure growing by the second.
    By the time he came back to bed she was already under the covers. He smiled at her as he always did and wished her goodnight, but there was something missing from his eyes. Aiyana swallowed hard when the light flashed off and rolled over onto her side, her back facing him. She lay awake until four or five in the morning, and then sleep finally gave her two hours of rest before she was awakened by sunlight hitting her face.
    The terrible event from just a few hours beforehand seemed like a terrible dream, but she knew it was true when she padded out to the kitchen and saw that Blake had left her a note.
    Went to the office. ~ Blake
    No, I love you, I’ll see you later, nothing at the end of it to tell her that he wanted her to be there when he got back. Aiyana felt her chest cave in and sat down hard on one of the breakfast bar stools. Her bare feet felt the cool tile beneath them and she pulled them up onto the stool with her to keep them warm. But the ice cold feeling wasn’t coming from the outside; she felt it creeping through her veins. She’d done something stupid, and she wasn’t sure she could make it better.
    Minutes that felt like hours passed before she could put her feet on the floor and grab a cup of coffee. She took it in good stride that he’d made enough for her. Maybe he was hurt over her refusal, but perhaps there was a chance she could fix it. She went to the room she shared with him and picked up her phone.
    Briana answered on the second ring. “It’s seven in the morning,” she said groggily on the other end of the line. “Who’s dead?”
    “No one, not yet.”
    “You mean someone is going to be dead?” Briana quipped.
    “No, no. It’s just, I screwed up, Bree. I just-” she felt the tears clogging her throat again and tried to swallow away the lump.
    “You’re at his place?” Briana asked, and Aiyana nodded. Then she realized her friend couldn’t see her.
    “Yes, I’m here.” She said before the line went dead. She sat down on the edge of the bed and sipped her coffee like a zombie. Repeatedly, she told herself it would be okay and that he just needed some time to think.
    But he was supposed to take the day off. They were going to spend it eating at the Chinese restaurant she’d taken him to first, and then they were going go ice skating before they went out for a romantic dinner. He’d told her so, and he’d chosen to go to work that day instead. She felt a flash of jealousy as she wondered if his business partner would be there.
    Would he seek comfort with her? Before she could call him to see if it was all over and she should be packing, the doorbell rang and she knew Briana had come to rescue her. When she opened up the door to let her friend in, she caught a whiff of bagels and eggs.
    “Breakfast is here,” Briana said before she swept into the apartment and her mouth dropped. “Holy-”
     

Chapter Five
     
    “Oh good, you’re here. You must have gotten my text.” Julia pursed her lips as she settled into the chair