The billionaire's reluctant mistress

Chapter 5: A change in behavior

Slowly waking upon a soft mattress, Rachel dreamily opened her eyes. Was she home? When did she fall asleep?

The more she tried to think the more her head hurt.

“Lisa...” Rachel called out for Lisa.

Someone helped her sit up, a cold glass brought to her lips. Rachel took a big gulp. The cold water washed away the bitter taste in her mouth and awakened her vague consciousness. Rachel was about to say "thank you" when suddenly she realized Dalziel’s face was really close to hers.

His breathing was heavy and erratic...

Taking a quick glance at the unfamiliar room, Rachel abruptly became aware of her surroundings. The main color was the same simple, but elegant, white which covered their office. She figured out exactly where she was. She hurriedly got of bed, "I have to go home."

But he grabbed her waist, pressing  her back down onto the bed.

"Stop! Don't…” Rachel struggled but she couldn't escape his pincer-like arms. He used so much strength that her wrists felt like they were about to snap.

Rachel sobered up in an instant. She was aware of what was going to happen. Rachel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"Mr. Albanese..." She decided to say something. Unfortunately as soon as she opened her mouth, the words were silenced by his lips. The fierce, sensual kiss made her heart almost shoot out of her chest, her whole body frozen

Her eyes opened widely. What was going on? She remembered Katy used to talk about how her boss lived like a monk. She said that no female member of staff had successfully got into his bed Such a bullshit myth. She clearly saw lust in his eyes and felt the strong erection between his leg...

The kiss made her tremble. Instinctively, she resisted. Rachel tried to turn her head to the side, shouting: "Stop. Don't... don't be like that... You said you wouldn't mess with your employees, right?"

His body stiffened for a second, suddenly he raised his hand and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, revealing a contemptuous smile. In that gaze, she saw indignation, hatred, and a burning desire: “You’ll get what you want. I’m just a man. How can any men say no to what was offered by such a beautiful woman like you?”

Memories slowly came back to Rachel. She suddenly remembered what had happened. Goodness, what had she done?! She had gotten drunk. She had thought that he was Flynn. She remembered leaning toward him in the car, wrapping herself around his arms, seeking, aching for warmth. She couldn’t really be surprised that he had read her intentions wrongly. He thought that she was seducing him. She had gotten herself into this mess!

"Mr. Albanese, you misunderstood ... I didn't mean it, I was just a bit drunk, I thought you were someone else…."

But it was too late. Her words fell on deaf ears as his body was on fire. His hands slid down her back to press her hard against his taut frame. She was terrified. The musky male scent of him stirred her senses, reminding her of an excitement she hadn’t felt for years. Nervously, she ran the tip of her tongue over opened lips. “Mr. Albanese…”

Somehow he interpreted it into an invitation. His dark head lowered and he brought his mouth down, forcing her lips apart. She tried to resist the shattering sensual impact, but when his other hand slid from her back to cup one full breast under the thin fabric of her dress, her whole body tremble. He kept kissing her while tearing her dress apart. His fingers had found the pert pink tip of her breast and plucked gently, evoking an aching desire in her loins.

She had to tell him to stop before it went any further. She raised her face to his, and the merciless expression in his dark eyes seemed to burn into her soul. He mesmerizingly examined her naked body , from her prominent  collarbones, down to her  slightly-protruding  belly button, and finally to every promised thing hidden further below.

His lips fell on her hungrily. Thoughts faded out of her mind This time, she parted her lips willingly, welcomingly. Sensing her submission, his kiss deepened.

Suddenly, her phone rang. The ringtone shattered the thick, silence of the night, taking Rachel back to reality. Dalziel’s hand stopped exploring. Rachel opened her eyes to look at his dark face. The clock above the head of the bed ticked. He gazed stonily at her. Rachel avoided him, hurrying out of bed, towards the ringing sound of her phone.

It was Lisa.

“Hey…” She turned her back to him, picking up the phone call with a soft voice.

“Rachel, are you ok?”

“Yes, I am. I was just… uhm, working. Don’t worry.”

“Ok. Just calling to check on you. I thought you would be back way earlier.”

“Yeah, the work took a lot longer than I expected. I’ll be back soon though.”

Hanging up the phone, Rachel realized Dalziel had left the room. She tiptoed to the living room and found her boss smoking on the couch.

A string of smoke lingered on his gloomy, blank gaze. He looked almost sad. Rachel couldn’t imagine what was capable of evoking his sorrow. He seemed to have everything any man could ever want; a successful career, money, women.

Why did he look so tired, melancholic, even helpless?

Seeing her standing there, he smiled wryly and said, "If I was your husband, I wouldn’t believe that an HR staff needed to work overtime all night."

“Ok. Fair enough. But you are not my husband. I really need to go home.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea.”

“What?”

Dalziel stood up, walking toward her. She backed away warily, but he just came closer and closer... He walked around Rachel, opened the enormous wardrobe behind her.

It was filled with women’s clothing of all colors and styles arranged neatly. They must belong to his fiancée. The thought hit Rachel. She felt guilty for kissing another woman’s man.

He randomly pulled out a light blue courteous dress and gave it to her: “You should get changed.”

Rachel instinctively wanted to say no, but she realized her black dress had been torn apart, completely exposing her upper body. She blushed, taking the dress then almost running into the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, Rachel released a long sigh. She couldn’t believe what had happened tonight.

Surprisingly, the dress was brand-new with the label intact and it fit her body perfectly.

Returning to the living room, Rachel said, “Can I go now?”

“I don’t think that is a good idea.” He repeated.

“Excuse me? I can’t stay here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s four in the morning. You and I need to get back to work in a few hours. I’m too tired to drive, and it took too much time driving to your place anyway.”

“I can take an Uber.”

“This private residential area is strictly protected. No taxi or Uber can get in. If you want to get one, you have to walk about 20 mins to the main road.”

Pausing for a second, he continued, “I have a spare room. Just take a rest for a bit. I’ll take you to work later on.”

What he said made sense. She couldn’t win and she was too tired as well.

To not become the topic of gossip, Rachel got out of her boss’s car 10 blocks away and walked to the office. At her desk, she sat upright, finishing the work she left yesterday. She was working on documents about company clients for the last six months.

Around 11, Mrs. Amaral asked her: "Have you prepared the client report?"

"Sorry, there was something unexpected last night so I haven't finished it yet."

"You haven’t done it yet?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Didn't I tell you that the report needs to be ready 4 hours before the shareholders meeting?”

“Yes, you did. I'm working on it."

"Jesus!” She glanced at the list on Rachel’s desk, “What are you doing with these lists? Please focus on the report." She raised her voice in annoyance: "Have you ever worked in HR before? You need to work faster."

Rachel sighed as Mrs. Amaral walked away. She worked through her lunch break to finish the damn report. When she finally stood up from her desk, it was only 15 minutes until the afternoon shift started again. She went to the cafeteria to grab a quick sandwich.

Katy was waiting for her coffee when they saw each other.

“How’s your day?” She smiled.

“Hell.” Rachel cheekily replied.

“Ah hah. What happened?”

Rachel rolled her eyes in a dramatic way: “I didn’t get enough sleep, and Mrs. Amaral broke my little vulnerable heart for not finishing the client report in time.”

Katy laughed: “Hahah, you can sleep later. And don’t worry about Mrs. Amaral, everybody gets their heart broken by her at some point!”

Suddenly Katy's eyes froze upon Rachel’s top. Looking at the dress, her cherry lips widened. "This dress... where did you buy it?"

"What… Why? Something wrong?" Rachel looked down to the beautiful light blue miniskirt, wondering why she was so surprised.

Katy touched the fabric, softly exclaiming: "This is the latest design in the summer collection from Bottega Veneta, how can you afford this? It hasn't even been sold at retail yet!"

“It’s fake." Rachel blurted out. If the dress was so expensive, she should give it back to him. His fiancé wouldn't be happy losing it. “I got it from an online site.”

Katy said nothing more, but her expression clearly showed disbelief.

While munching on cold sandwich for the last 10 minutes of her break, Rachel heard the two girls from the table next to her talking.

The oval-faced woman said, "Hey, is our boss’s apartment in Coco park by the river?"

"Yes, why?" the other girl, who was very pretty, answered.

"It’s weird. Recently, his BMW was parked overnight in my subdivision, could he possibly have another mistress there?"

“Your subdivision? The Time City complex?”

"Yep!"

Time City complex? Rachel was stunned, it seemed to be where she was last night. It must be where he took his mistresses to. If not, why would a person need two apartments?

Oval Face said: “Think about it, his fiancé is in America now. There is no way a handsome, rich man like him would live like a monk? I bet he has other lovers."

This was how rumors started, Rachel couldn't help but sigh for him. They didn’t do anything last night, but it made sense what the girl said.