Her Big Greek Billionaire: A BWWM Billionaire Romance (International Alphas Book 5) Read online

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  Tessa had spent the last 45 minutes meeting people and she’d probably never remember their names. There were so many “managers of” that she couldn’t remember who was who. She didn’t care, however, as Oscar had introduced her as his girlfriend, time and time again. She pictured what it might be like if he called her his fiancée, wife, or mother of his child. Girlfriend would do for now, however. Just when she thought she was going to fall over, she decided to take a breather in the bathroom. It wasn’t easy for Tessa to meet so many new people at once.

  She walked into the bathroom, only to see that it wasn’t empty. Lydia was already inside, powdering her face in the mirror.

  “Oh. Well hello there,” she said from her perfectly glossed lips. “I’m Lydia, as I’m sure you probably already know.” She reached out her perfectly polished hand and Tessa grabbed it, shaking lightly. Her hand was incredibly cold.

  “Tessa. Nice to meet you.” She could feel her throat tightening.

  “Sorry to meet in this bathroom.” She laughed. “But I’m glad we are meeting. I really wanted to tell you in person how very sorry I am for sending that text. It was wrong of me to interfere. But you’re with Oscar now, and I’ve accepted that.” She collected herself and looked in the mirror. She sounded like she was reciting a monologue.

  “Thanks. For apologizing,” Tessa responded.

  Lydia didn’t seem to notice and continued, “I’m sure you know by now how amazing Oscar is. I couldn’t help but lose it a little bit when I found out he was seeing someone else. I’m sure you can understand going a bit crazy if you thought you’d never get him back.”

  “I understand,” Tessa replied, still standing there awkwardly.

  “Anyway, look at me standing here like a crazy person talking to you in the bathroom! I just feel so terrible for how I acted! Go, go on, you probably have to pee or something!”

  Tessa had gone into the bathroom to originally be alone but instead she walked into a new nightmare. As a pregnant woman, however, she pretty much always had to pee, so Lydia wasn’t wrong.

  “Oh, wait honey, there’s no hooks in there, you can leave your purse out here with me! You know how many germs they can get sitting on the floor of a bathroom stall,” Lydia said suspiciously.

  “Oh, thanks,” Tessa responded. She thought it was a strange offer, but she didn’t really know what Lydia would want with her purse anyway.

  Tessa set her purse down on the counter and walked into one of the stalls. Lydia was right, there weren’t any hooks anywhere to put a purse. She cleared her throat to break the silence so Lydia couldn’t hear her peeing. Could the situation get any more awkward?

  “You know, you two do make a very stunning couple. You can imagine that’s hard for me to see but I don’t like to be known as a liar!” Lydia said to break the silence. When she was sure that the coast was clear, and Tessa was mid-stream, she started frantically digging through her purse, looking for any juice she could use on Tessa. “And that dress you’re wearing! It’s incredible.”

  Lydia had spotted it. Tessa had an ultrasound picture tucked away in a pocket. Lydia pulled out her phone and quickly snapped a picture of it and put it right back in place just as Tessa opened the stall door. She turned around, holding the purse and handed it back to Tessa.

  “Have a good night,” she said and ran out the bathroom door. Tessa was confused, but thankful that she had her first quiet moment that night. She washed her hands, looked in the mirror, and took a deep breath before heading back into the party.

  She spotted Oscar talking to an older couple across the room. She headed over and tried to join in their conversation right away, despite still feeling weird from her and Lydia’s interaction. They were talking about Oscar as a little boy.

  “Tessa sweetie, this is Elena and Rafael Petros. They knew my father when he was alive and actually helped me find a good location for the store here in Athens,” Oscar explained.

  “We knew Oscar as a little baby boy! His father would always bring him to Greece as a child, but he never visits as an adult!” Rafael teased Oscar. They all chuckled.

  “So nice to meet you both,” Tessa replied.

  “Such a nice party! But we have to go now! It’s so late past our bedtimes!” Elena replied laughing. They walked away, and Oscar turned towards Tessa.

  “How you feeling? Want to get out of here?” Oscar asked.

  “You can do that? No one will notice?” she asked back.

  “Eh, I’ve said hi to everyone, I’m a busy man, they’ll understand,” he replied.

  “There’s nothing more than I want right now than to get out of this dress and into bed,” she responded, laughing.

  “You read my mind.” Oscar leaned in and kissed her for the first time that night. When she pulled back, several people were smiling at them. He grabbed her hand and led her out the door. This night marked the first time in their relationship that Tessa had zero doubts about their relationship.

  Of course, from the beginning, she knew that Oscar was someone she wanted to end up with. Like most relationships, however, she struggled with some self-doubt, as there were parts of him she still hadn’t seen. She loved him but wasn’t willing to throw herself all the way in. She didn’t want to see herself hurt if she discovered something she wasn’t too excited about.

  This night was different. She felt like she saw all of Oscar. She saw how his employees adored and respected him. They looked up to Oscar as someone they wanted to grow to be, not with resentment or hatred, like many employees do to their bosses. She met old friends that told embarrassing childhood stories. She saw how other people loved him, making her fall deeper in love with him than ever before. She couldn’t wait to start her life with him. How could things get any more perfect?

  Just as Oscar opened the door to head back to the car, they were blasted with three times as many cameramen as they had been when they arrived. They were blocking the door now as well, instead of making a nice pathway for them from the entrance to the car. Security was struggling to hold them all back. Tessa was completely blinded by the flashing lights but was still able to make out some of the questions they were asking.

  “Tessa! Tessa! Is it true you’re pregnant!” one man shouted.

  “Tessa honey look over here! Tessa are you carrying Oscar’s love child?” another one screamed.

  “Tessa! Look at the camera baby! Did you really tell his ex-wife that the baby’s just to get his money?” The questions were getting worse and worse.

  “Oscar! Is it true you offered her three million to get an abortion?” a man screamed. One of the security officers pushed himself into Oscar, almost knocking him over. Oscar collected himself and wrapped his arms around Tessa, almost lifting her to the car, pushing men out of the way better than the security was doing.

  “Tessa are you really pregnant!” another man screamed just as Oscar slammed the door in his face.

  “Oh my god are you okay?” Oscar said as he took his jacket and wrapped it around Tessa. She had made it out physically fine, but emotionally, she thought she was about to break.

  Chapter10

  As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Tessa ran out and threw her purse on the ground.

  “What was that? What just happened?” she screamed. They were bombarded with paparazzi when they left the store and had been followed all the way to Oscar’s apartment. Tessa was mortified.

  “I’m so sorry Tessa. I had no idea that would happen,” Oscar said. He ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She pushed him away.

  “No, do not try to sweet talk me right now. What happened? Did you tell someone about the baby?” Tessa pushed him away, assuming he had been at fault for telling the paparazzi.

  “Tessa, I promise you, I would never do that,” Oscar said. Tessa had calmed down and let Oscar touch her again.

  “Oh my god. Lydia. When I went to the bathroom she probably went through my phone or saw my stomach or something. Oh my go
d. I’m going to kill her. Oscar! I’m going to kill her!” Tessa started crying.

  “I knew it. I knew she was up to something. She’s not going to get away with this. I promise you that, Tessa. I’ll make sure she’s never around you again.” Oscar held Tessa while she wept in his arms.

  Was Tessa going to have to deal with this the rest of her life? Now that they knew that she was pregnant, she knew they’d be following her even if she wasn’t with Oscar. Their night had been so perfect, why did it have to all get destroyed so fast?

  “I don’t understand. I was only in the bathroom for a few minutes.” Tessa cried.

  “Lydia has so many connections on speed dial that she can get a mob anywhere within minutes,” Oscar replied. “I’m so sorry Tessa. I never want you to have to go through something like that again.”

  “It’s okay, I’ll be fine as long as I never leave again. I’ll just give birth to our baby in the bathroom. How does that sound?” she said sarcastically.

  “I know how it seems, but they’ll die down. Eventually, everyone will have reported on the pregnancy. We’ll just confirm the story right away and let them know the truth. I’ll have Josiah release a statement. I’ll hire a security guard too. One for you and one for the baby. You’ll never have to worry about that happening again Tessa, I promise,” Oscar explained.

  “But I don’t want to have to have a security guard with me or one to protect my baby.” Tessa fell to the ground and cried. She was really breaking down.

  “I know. I know you didn’t ask for this. I’m so sorry. I didn’t either though. I was born into this life and I’ve had the paparazzi around as long as I can remember. The only thing I can tell you is that you’ll get used to it. They just want a story and they’ll go away. If I could I’d take out a restraining order against everyone with a camera in the world. But I can’t. I will always do whatever I can to protect you Tessa.” He put his arms around her as she cried on the ground. She couldn’t be mad at Oscar. It wasn’t his fault. She wanted to be angry and fight with him, but she knew that wouldn’t make things any better.

  This was just one of those situations that she had to deal with. There were some problems in her life that would go away, or she could avoid if she just ignored it. She got a huge reality check that night after realizing that dating Oscar meant dating the public.

  She couldn’t help but admit to herself that she liked some of the attention she got as Oscar’s girlfriend, but it seemed like for every up, there was some sort of impending down. She felt defeated at this thought. She wanted to just be able to tell them all to go away, but she knew that it would never work. Tessa was pretty good at accepting the things that she could not change, but she was sick of always having to adapt.

  The two held each other on the ground, both still wearing their formal outfits from the night. Tessa had tears streaming down her face. Her hair was a little disheveled, but regardless of the struggle she had endured that night, she was still an outstanding beauty.

  Oscar looked just as good. She went to stand up, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the floor. He grabbed her and kissed her hard, making her body numb. She kissed him back, pulling his hair so he would fall into her harder. She started to take his jacket off and he unzipped the back of her dress.

  At this point, she was straddling him, slowly unbuttoning his shirt while he took off his tie. She slipped her dress over her shoulders exposing her bra. Just as he went to unstrap that, his phone started to ring. He looked at who was calling and sighed. “I don’t need to answer that.”

  He set his phone down and pulled Tessa close to his face. They kissed for a few seconds more and his phone started to ring again. He tried to ignore it, but it kept going off. Eventually they had to cool it, as the mood was dying anyway.

  “Just answer it.” Tessa groaned.

  “I’m so sorry. Don’t go anywhere,” he said as he answered.

  “Yeah, great, I’ll just sit here on the floor,” Tessa teased.

  “Hello? What?” Oscar said, concerned. “You have to be kidding me. No, that isn’t okay.”

  Oscar held up a finger to Tessa and walked out to the balcony. He closed the door, cutting the sound off so Tessa couldn’t hear. She sighed and got up. She figured Oscar would be on the phone for a bit, so she used that as her opportunity to change into her pajamas.

  She slipped out of her dress, slid into some sweats, and crawled under the covers. Oscar was still on the phone, and she figured it was pretty serious. She pulled out her own cell phone and started to browse the trending stories on her news app. She was horrified when she saw the third top story of the night. It was a shot of her and Oscar leaving the Legros opening. The title just said, “Oscar Legros Love Child Sparks Rumors.”

  When she clicked on the article, it listed all of the rumors that the paparazzi had been shouting at Tessa and Oscar when they had left the store. The article stated that a source told the website that Tessa had told Oscar’s ex-wife that she was only having the baby to get money. Oscar had offered to give Tessa 10 million dollars to have an abortion. Another source said that he had been dating Tessa throughout his entire marriage.

  Tessa decided to see what other websites were saying about her and Oscar. One article said that Tessa had started as Oscar’s maid. Another source said that Oscar wanted the abortion, so he didn’t have a baby that was half-black. Tessa’s stomach dropped.

  A different article stated that Oscar left Lydia because he was ‘baby crazy’ and forced Tessa to get pregnant. There were countless stories that were already surfacing that she couldn’t stomach reading. Nothing that she had read was true at all. The articles were making up serious lies all probably from the evil mind of Lydia. Oscar finally walked into the room.

  “I’m so sorry honey. That was the project manager. I have some bad news.”

  “Oh great, just what I need. More bad news.” Tessa handed Oscar her phone with a page open to one of the news stories about their relationship. Oscar skimmed some of them for a minute.

  “Honey, no one believes these stories. Anyone who does is not worth your time. They’ll be taken down tomorrow once my lawyers get word and Josiah releases the truth. I’ve already texted them all to give them a heads up. I’m taking care of it I promise. Just stay off the internet for now, promise me that, okay?”

  “I’ll do my best I suppose.” Tessa sighed and crossed her arms. She thought about how upset her mother would be when she saw the news. Her mother was certainly someone who frequented the celebrity scandal articles. “So, what is it? What’s the other bad news?” she asked.

  “There was an accident with one of the trucks carrying some merchandise. We’re going to have to push the opening of the store back two weeks,” Oscar said. He immediately looked down.

  “In two weeks I’ll be in my third trimester. I won’t be allowed to fly anymore! Oscar!” Tessa said, too tired of crying to start again. At this point, she was just annoyed.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” Oscar said, reaching for her hand. She pulled her hand away.

  “That’s just great. You’re sorry so that changes everything. What are we going to do, Oscar?” she asked, growing angrier by the second.

  “Well, you could have the baby here. Or—” Oscar said. Tessa wasn’t going to let him finish.

  “I’m not having my baby without my mom and sister there. Or what?” Tessa said. Oscar was getting a little scared.

  “Or you could go back on the flight we already have planned, and I’ll come back a week later. It’ll just be a week honey, I’ll get on a plane as soon as the store opens,” he responded.

  “Isn’t that just great,” Tessa said, angry that she had to accept so much news in one night.

  “Honey, the apartment will be there waiting for you to decorate however you want. And you’ll have my entire private plane to yourself. It’ll all be the exact same plan as we originally had, you’ll just be alone.” Oscar realized when he said it out loud it didn’t sound an
y better.

  “Lucky me. I get to be 7 months pregnant, all alone. I’d like to be alone right now,” Tessa said, standing up. She walked out of the bedroom and onto the balcony. This time, she didn’t want Oscar to follow her.

  Once Tessa stepped outside, she realized she was hot. Athens stayed warm for the most part, but once night fell, a cold air would sometimes take over. It felt nice against Tessa’s skin. She was filled with rage, but she didn’t know where to send it to. She wanted to be mad at Oscar, but he was only doing the best he could. He needed to be there when the store opened, but she didn’t want to be alone.

  She was pretty scared for the first time in a while, and even more afraid to admit that truth. Throughout everything that she had been through with Oscar, she remained as brave as she could. She was starting to break down now and didn’t know what she needed to do to push through.

  Her life was about to completely change. Less than a year ago, she was traveling around Europe with unlimited freedom. She carried everything she needed in a small bag and could do whatever she wanted anytime throughout the day.

  In just two months and a few days, she was going to have another person to take care of. Did Oscar worry about this as much as she did? Did he fear for the future of his child like he did his store? Tessa was still learning about Oscar, and though she loved him, it was hard to process everything in their fast-paced relationship.

  They were the strongest relationship she had ever experienced. By carrying his child, she’d learned to love him in a way she never thought possible. She felt like he was an extension of her and she was an extension of him. Like they were the same person sharing two different bodies. She couldn’t imagine her life without him anymore.

  Even when she thought of her past, before she ever even knew Oscar existed, she thought of him. There wasn’t anything in the world that didn’t remind her of him. Even if she wanted to stop loving him, she wasn’t sure that it would be possible. Something about that kind of love hurt so bad. The fear of that ending was unimaginable to Tessa. It was a pain so real that it made her afraid of death for the first time in a while.