Her Big Greek Billionaire: A BWWM Billionaire Romance (International Alphas Book 5) Page 6

  “Please do!” Tessa knew she should probably start getting ready.

  *****

  Tessa sat in front of her vanity mirror. She was feeling confident when she had first woken up, but as the day had dragged on, she felt more and more anxious about her appearance and what Oscar might really be thinking about her. Was he just interested in her body? She’d given herself away so easily the first night that she was afraid he looked at her like a quick score. She knew that was just the paranoia talking. She just wished there was a switch that could turn off all her self-doubt.

  Tessa had a pretty large chest, so it was always attracting unwanted attention. Even in shirts that covered skin, her figure couldn’t help but shine through, always making her womanly shape attract anyone interested in the female body. As she got older, she became more comfortable with herself, but it was still hard for her to feel beautiful every day.

  Most girls would kill to look like Tessa, with her plump heart-shaped mouth and moon-sized chestnut eyes. She had been blessed with naturally clear skin, though she still loved to wear a full face of makeup. Jade walked in holding a brush and some other tools. She started to pull Tessa’s hair back into a sleek bun on top of her head.

  “We have to show that stunning necklace off, so I think all up and slicked back is the way to go,” Jade said.

  “I don’t know, you don’t think that’s a little much? I usually like to hide my face.” Tessa hated wearing her hair up. It made her feel exposed, like everyone could see her. It did make her eyes really pop when she had it all pulled back, and she had a neck that looked like it was carved in marble. She had nothing to hide but she couldn’t help but feel paralyzed with thoughts of what other people might think of her.

  “Sis, how many times do I got to say it. If you got it FLAUNT IT!” Jade certainly had some issues with jealousy when it came to her and her sister’s relationship, but the last thing she would want to do is make Tessa feel bad for any reason. She felt like it was her job to gas her sister up and make her feel like the beautiful woman she actually was. “So, tell me, what’s he like? Like, really like? You know what I mean?”

  Tessa knew what she meant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Come on, sis! Give me the juicy deets!” Jade was of course talking about sex.

  “Well I’m going on another date, aren’t I?” The girls both laughed. “Okay, now you answer my question.”

  “That was hardly an answer. But fine, what do you want to ask?” Jade loved talking about herself, so she was always down for a quick interview.

  “How’s Mom doing? Like really doing?” Tessa couldn’t help but worry about her mother.

  “Oh, you know how she is. Barely ever talks about anything at all besides work and her grandson.” Jade didn’t actually have much to report on. She and her mother had a great relationship but didn’t talk much about their personal feelings or day-to-day emotions. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Duh sis, who do you think I am?” Tessa could keep a secret better than anyone Jade knew. That’s what sisters were for.

  “I was going through stuff in the basement looking for old clothes for Mavi and I found Mom’s ring,” Jade said. “And I kept it.”

  “What!” Tessa screamed. She figured her mother had pawned her wedding ring or at least thrown it away.

  “I mean, it was just sitting in a box. It’s a beautiful ring. And lord knows I’ll probably never get another one for myself.” Though Jade and Dominic were married, he had failed to get her a wedding ring that she actually wanted. They could hear their mother’s footsteps coming down the hallway. “Say anything and you’re dead!”

  Tessa mimicked zipping her mouth and throwing away the key.

  JoAnn walked into the room holding a charcuterie she had just whipped up in the kitchen. “Who wants some meats and cheeses!”

  “Bring me that plate, quick!” Tessa loved to nervous eat.

  “Who can resist cheese when we’re drinking like this!” Jade finished pulling up Tessa’s hair, turned around, and threw a piece of cheese into her mouth. She turned back around towards Tessa and grabbed her face. “Now what on Earth are we going to do with this face?” she said jokingly, squeezing Tessa’s cheeks as if she were a little baby. All three of the girls laughed.

  *****

  Oscar looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie. He couldn’t help but feel nervous about meeting up with Tessa. He had already changed his tie three times, as if Tessa would ever care what he was wearing. She would be attracted to him if he wore a potato sack. Oscar heard a knock on his bedroom door.

  “Mr. Legros, the flowers I bought you.” Josiah, Oscar’s cousin, walked in the door holding a bouquet of white roses.

  “I told you to stop with the Mr. Legros crap. Just call me Oscar. Or hey, dude. No sir, no mister. Just relax, Josiah!” Josiah was only 19 and Oscar had hired him to be a personal assistant. His aunt had asked him to help Josiah out as he was having some behavioral issues towards the end of high school and didn’t know what he wanted for his future. He had gotten into trouble for skipping some classes and underage drinking, nothing too foolish. This worried Oscar’s aunt, his mother’s sister, and she turned towards her nephew for help.

  Oscar decided to act as a mentor, disguising their relationship with that of a boss-assistant so as to help him feel dignified. He would often just have Josiah run errands for him. Though not everyone knew who Oscar was, he definitely ran into some people he wanted to avoid more often than not, causing him to spend a lot of time inside.

  “How do I look? Please say good because I’m already running extremely late.” Oscar had cut himself shaving and ended up getting blood on one of his white shirts after he had gotten dressed, causing him to have to change again as well.

  “Amazing as always, sir. I mean, um, Oscar. Is there anything else I can get you tonight?” Josiah could be a pretty nervous guy, especially in the presence of a billionaire.

  “No way Josiah, it’s Friday night, go have some fun!” Oscar grabbed the flowers and signaled Josiah to leave. He opened the card that was in the bouquet and scribbled a message on it that said, “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.” It was a simple phrase, but what girl wouldn’t love to get a message that said something like that?

  Oscar looked in the mirror again and gathered himself once more, almost feeling like he might throw up from nerves. He could get whatever he wanted in the world. Girls threw themselves at him when they realized who he was and how much money he had. Tessa was different. When Oscar first laid eyes on her, he knew that she didn’t know who he was.

  She treated him like a person, teasing him and picking on him, something most girls didn’t do. He liked to have a playful relationship, but most women he dated were too subservient, always agreeing with what he said and pretending to like things they didn’t just to impress him.

  Tessa was completely authentic. She wasn’t afraid to be herself and never seemed to be embarrassed about what she said. If only he knew what was going on in her head! Just when he thought he was finally ready to go, another person knocked on his door. He walked towards the elevator, still holding the flowers. Once the doors slid open, Lydia was standing right there. She was wearing an incredibly low-cut and tight dress with heels that made her legs look miles longer than they already were.

  She looked like she did the first time Oscar saw her. She was nice looking, but he viewed her as a good match when they got together rather than someone he was actually attracted to or interested in getting to know. She looked like any other girl who wanted to be a model in New York.

  “How on Earth did you get in here?” She had managed to get in through the elevator and past the front doorman.

  “You know Josiah. He’s so easy! These for me? Oscar you shouldn’t have!” Once she started talking, Oscar could tell she had been drinking. She grabbed the flowers and walked away, him following her out the bedroom door and into the kitchen.

  “No, not
for you. I have a date tonight. You should go. You shouldn’t be here! We settled that the other day.” Oscar grabbed the flowers back. She ignored him and walked to the wine cabinet, grabbing a glass and pouring herself a generous amount.

  “Oh that? Honey, there’s no amount of money you could give me that would make me stop loving you.” She sipped her wine and looked at him devilishly.

  “I’m running late. I don’t have time for this. Where’s my phone?” he asked, mostly talking to himself. He started to panic, walking around the apartment looking for his cell phone. He should have already texted Tessa by now to let her know he was running late, but the thought had slipped his mind in the panic of getting ready.

  Unfortunately, Lydia spotted the phone first, sitting underneath some unopened mail on the counter. She grabbed it, seeing a message from Tessa on the home screen asking where he was. Lydia checked to see where Oscar had gone and made sure the coast was clear.

  In one swift motion, she was able to unlock his phone and go to his messages with Tessa. He hadn’t changed his passcode once since they got married. Josiah hadn’t let her up, she just knew the password to get into the building. Slipping the doorman a hundred-dollar bill always helped as well. She read a few of their flirty exchanges and became overwhelmed with rage. Oscar was still frantically searching the apartment, now elbow deep in the couch cushions hoping that the phone had been lost there.

  She used his distraction as an attempt to sabotage their relationship. She went to Tessa’s contact information and snapped a picture of Tessa’s number with her own phone. She wanted to send a text message that broke things off, but Oscar was walking back towards her now. Instead, she quickly blocked Tessa’s number and deleted all of her information.

  “Lydia can you please call my phone and at least help me out with one thing?” Oscar didn’t want to ask for her help, but he desperately needed to leave. He was almost a half an hour late at this point.

  “Actually, it’s right here. It was under some papers.” Just as she went to hand Oscar his phone, she decided to take a detour and knock over her wine glass on the way, spilling it all over Oscar’s clean clothes—the second outfit he had already put on that day.

  “Are you kidding me, Lydia? You need to go, now.” It was cute when Tessa had first spilled wine on him the night they met at the gallery. When Lydia did it, it made him want to scream. He kept his cool and calmly walked into his bedroom, frantically on the hunt for his third suit that night.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have come. Enjoy your date, Oscar.” He wasn’t paying attention to her at this point. She acted sad but had an evil smile stretched across her stiff face. She was already planning her next move.

  Chapter5

  Tessa looked down at her phone. She hadn’t felt as beautiful in her life as she had at this very moment. She decided to go with a simple black dress. It was sleeveless and hugged her figure perfectly. She had also chosen some strappy velvet shoes to match, and the simple outfit helped accentuate her perfectly carved face and the gorgeous diamond necklace Oscar had gifted her with. She couldn’t wait until she saw him. She was excited to see his expression when he first laid eyes on her flawless ensemble. Despite feeling absolutely glamourous in her getup, she couldn’t keep her stomach from twisting into knots.

  She had texted him thirty minutes ago to ask where he was. He was growing close to 45 minutes late and she started to second guess everything that was going on between them. She already helped herself to a few glasses of wine before she was finished getting ready. It was always nice to lower her nerves before he arrived.

  She was getting anxious about having to schmooze with all of the people at the charity event and wasn’t sure how Oscar might introduce her. Would he refer to her as his girlfriend, friend, or acquaintance? She wondered what it would be like to be introduced as his wife, but then she snapped back to reality when her mother and sister walked into the room.

  “Still no word from him?” her mother asked her nervously.

  “Not yet.” Tessa’s stomach felt like it was inside out at this point.

  “I’m sure something just made him run late sis, don’t worry.” As skeptical as Jade was about their relationship, she hated seeing her sister look so anxious. They had worked all night on making her look like a princess. Having to watch her take it all off with no date would break all of their hearts.

  “I need some more wine.” Tessa left the living room and went back to fill her glass. If she wasn’t going to go out with her date that night, she wanted to numb the pain as much as possible.

  “We’ll go watch for him on the balcony.” JoAnn motioned for Jade to follow her outside. They walked onto the balcony and looked down at the Athens street below them. “I think it’s time we tell her the truth about him.”

  “No freakin’ way! She’s stressed enough right now, Mom, this will only make things so much worse!” Jade did not want to be the bearer of bad news.

  “She’s torn up about him. If she knows what kind of man he really is, she wouldn’t be so hurt when she eventually realizes she got stood up.” JoAnn didn’t really know what kind of man he was. She only knew what she had read about him in the papers.

  The articles had painted him as a young kid who partied too much in college and didn’t take things too seriously. Oscar liked to party, but no more than the average joe. He was only accused of not taking things seriously because he had hoped to pursue his creative writing abilities, not the talents of opening a store.

  “It’s not our place to tell her! If he wants her to know the truth, then he can tell her face to face. Until then, it’s none of our business!” Jade was not going to let her mother tell her sister anything about Oscar.

  “What’s none of my business?” Tessa was standing in the doorway, looking directly at her mother and her sister. She hadn’t heard the entire conversation but managed to catch the last thing that Jade had said to their mother. They didn’t realize that the sliding door leading to the balcony was incredibly quiet. All of their senses had been numbed by eating gourmet cheeses and sipping Greek wine all night.

  “Oh, um. Mom has something to tell you.” Jade realized quickly that she had spilled the beans. She wasn’t about to be the one to do all the spilling, however.

  “Honey, I think you need to sit down,” JoAnn said sympathetically.

  “Just tell me what’s going on!” Tessa said just as she heard her phone go off back in the apartment. “Wait! Don’t! That could be him!” Tessa instantly forgot about what she was going to say as she filled with excitement that Oscar was still going to show up.

  “Great job, Mom,” Jade said as she sipped her wine. The girls followed Tessa back into her apartment. She was standing in the middle of the room, holding her phone and looking horrified. She couldn’t believe what she was reading.

  “Who is it honey?” JoAnn asked.

  “What’s up, sis?” Jade was just as anxious as all three of them now.

  “It’s his wife.” Tessa was in shock at the text message. She handed her phone to her sister, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed the whole bottle of wine instead of filling her glass up. She took a giant swig.

  Jade read the text aloud, “I don’t know who you think you are, but stay away from my husband. Oscar and I are meant for each other and neither of us want you to interfere anymore.”

  “Oh honey.” JoAnn ran towards Tessa.

  “I knew it. I knew it was too good. I knew it.” Tessa fell to the ground and began sobbing. Just as Jade ran over to her to comfort her, the door opened. Maria and Oscar ran in.

  “Tessa! Hello? You home? This guy says he’s your date,” Maria shouted as she walked in with Oscar.

  “Tessa! I’m sorry! My phone must have messed up, I lost your number and didn’t know how to call you!” Oscar ran towards her, but she stood up and pushed him away.

  “You’re married? How could you!” Tessa was furious.

  “Please, Tessa, wait, I can explain everything! Ple
ase, I’m so sorry!” Oscar had a lot of explaining to do, but Tessa wasn’t going to let him speak another word.

  “Get out! Get out! GET OUT!” Tessa was hysterical. She pushed Oscar back and threw the wine bottle across the room, causing it to shatter and spill what little wine had been left in it. She ran to her room.

  “OK, you need to get out. Now.” Jade wasn’t playing games.

  “I’m so sorry. Everyone.” Oscar walked out defeated. The remaining three girls looked at each other, knowing they were about to have some serious comforting to do.

  *****

  Tessa woke up, eyes puffy and head pounding. She only felt this awful when she drank heavily. She then remembered that she had, indeed, drank heavily last night, but no amount was enough to numb the pain that she had felt from finding out the man that she thought she was falling in love with was actually married.

  She looked at her dress laying in a pile on the ground. She didn’t even know where her necklace was. She had ripped it off her neck and threw it in a fit of rage. Tessa was normally a calm person, but when someone crossed her the way that Oscar had, she wasn’t interested in keeping her cool anymore. She tried to sit up, but she felt like she was hit by a bus.

  She looked out the window in her room. The sky was a gorgeous blue, but she wished it was gray. Greece was absolutely beautiful. The weather was almost always perfect, and it felt like summer all the time. That was one of the reasons that Tessa had managed to fall so deeply in love with the city. Today, however, she wished that it would all just go away. She missed the dreariness that New York City would sometimes bring.

  She touched the back of her neck. Her skin was sore where she had ripped the necklace off. Her hair was still pulled up and slicked back. She knew that it would be sore once she took that down too. Tessa was pretty serious about treating her body right, and that included her skin. She wouldn’t be caught dead sleeping in her makeup most of the time, but she certainly did last night.