Captivated by Mr. Billionaire

Chapter 12

"You arrived at the office late today, Mr. Cordova. Did something happen?"

I shook my head as I followed Joseph to the room holding all the mock-up designs. "No, I was just dropping off some sweets to Benedict as an apology. He's been a bit upset with me since last week."

Joseph chuckled lightly as he held a hand up to his lips, trying to hide his amusement. "Ah yes, Mr. Serman can be quite the character sometimes."

He stopped in front of a room just a couple of doors down from my office and held the door open for me. I stepped into the display room, glancing at the mock-up of my new headquarters in the corner of the room and all the notes scattered across the center table.

The mock-up was quite detailed and followed the design plans to the tee. A tall skyscraper rounded at the top with glass walls looking over the city with 80 or so floors. Plus an open garden concept on the roof of the building with open access to any of my employees.

I picked up a few of the papers on the table, immediately recognizing a set of familiar handwriting. "Is Ms. Belcalis already in the office?"

Joseph nodded, "Yes, same time, as usual, 3 hours ago at 7 AM."

I told her she didn't have to worry about work, but she still came anyway. And so early too...

Was she really alright? I didn't want her to get triggered by something in the office that might accidentally remind her of that bastard. Maybe I could check on her on one of my breaks between meetings?

Setting the papers back down, I replied, "Okay, just tell her everything looks good, and she can proceed with the current plans as is. I'll be in my office if you need anything."

He nodded placidly and started gathering the materials into a pile.

Leaving Joseph to his own devices, I made my way into my office to start on this week's notices and updates. I draped my jacket over one of the spare chairs and circled around my desk to my seat.

I sighed when I saw the overflowing mess on my desk. There were several new piles of manila folders on my desk, probably from my VPs turning in their reports after checking on the child companies they were in charge of.

I pushed the folders aside in search of my laptop but paused when I found a coffee cup sitting next to my monitor. It was still warm, meaning someone brought it in for this morning. I turned around pthe cup and found a little note on the side.

"A little thank you since you didn't get to finish your coffee last time. ~Danary"

A small smile crept onto my face as my eyes scanned over the note over and over again. Why did even the littlest of her gestures make my chest flutter?

I sipped on the coffee as I worked on my papers for the rest of the morning, reveling in the warmth that it brought me despite all the stress that came from work. Time flew by, and I easily reduced the stacks in half by the time lunch arrived.

Glancing at my watch, I realized I had about 40 minutes before my first meeting in my string of back-to-back appointments in the afternoon.

Ms. Belcalis should be back from her morning outings by now right?

I stepped out of my office ad made a sharp turn into Ms. Belcalis's office, As I rounded the corner, I frowned when I noticed the lack of a person sitting at the desk inside the glass office, but it quickly went away when I spotted a familiar little boy sitting in the corner of the room.

With a light knock to announce my entrance, I walked into the office and made my way to said boy.

Liam looked up, scowling the moment he saw me before turning his attention back to his tablet as if to ignore me.

I sat down next to him, and asked "Aren't you supposed to be at school right now, Liam?"

"No, I'm homeschooled, and my name's Markliam. Only Ms. Jane can call me Liam," he grumbled as he continued to scribble something onto his tablet.

"Alright, Markliam," Leaning back in my seat, I glanced over at his tablet to see what he was working on and surprisingly found it to be filled with partial derivatives and multi-variables integrals. At first, I thought he had simply copied it from somewhere, but I was quickly proven wrong when he started to revise the proof. I hummed, "That's some pretty difficult stuff for a little kid like yourself. Aren't you only 7 or 8 years old?"

He immediately pulled the tablet against his chest as if to hide his work from me. He scooted away from me and bluntly corrected, "5."

"I can see why you're homeschooled now." Even though my tone was held even, I was quite surprised by his revelation. Not only was he exceeding smart, probably enough to be considered a genius, but he was also so well developed in the height department that I didn't expect him to be that young.

He made a little sound in acknowledgment of my statement but nothing more as he tapped his finger repetitively on his closed tablet, avoiding my gaze.

Trying to make a bit of conversation with the closed-off child, I continued, "Is there a reason why you decided to work in the office today?"

He pursued his lips. "Why must you bother me with so many questions? It should be obvious that it is because I don't trust leaving Ms. Jane alone at work again, not after what happened last Thursday."

I nodded. "I can understand that, but I am trying to make the office as safe as possible. I don't want—"

He cut me off with an icy glare, "I don't care what you do or do not do, but stop trying to talk to me to get to Ms. Jane. I will never let you get close to her."

I knew that he had a reason for acting like this. I knew that something had happened in the past to the two of them, and I was seen as the outsider, but it ached to hear someone tell me to stay away from the one person who brought any inklings of life to my dead heart.

Before I could respond, the door opened with a startled little lady standing in the doorway. Her eyes darted hesitantly glanced between her son and me as she slowly walked over to us.

Ms. Belcalis was dressed in a white long-sleeve blouse paired with a much longer skirt than normal, one that fell down to her ankles instead of just passed her knees. Whether it was due to the new-found chilly winds of fall or due to what happened last week, I would never know.

She nervously gulped, "H-hello, Mr. Cordova. I-I'm sorry for bringing Liam to w-work with me today, but he d-didn't want to stay at home by himself. I know it's probably not allowed, and I hope you can look passed it just this once."

She fidgeted in her shoes, unable to meet my gaze as she stared worriedly at her son, who was practically dwarfed by my large frame while sitting next to me on the sofa.

I reflexively glanced at Liam.

Oddly enough, he stayed quiet and kept his head down, becoming quite obedient when came to listening to his mother's instructions even though he was usually so outspoken without any care when it came to others.

Bringing my attention back to Ms. Belcalis, I reassured her with a soft smile, "It's quite alright. I don't have any rule against bringing your child to work. I just prefer not having screaming children on my floor, but I'm sure that Liam is more than capable enough to take care of himself."

She nodded meekly, still keeping her eyes diverted.

"I should probably get going then. I have a line of meetings starting soon." I stood up from my seat, momentarily glancing up and down her tiny figure. "I just wanted to check on you, Ms. Belcalis. Please remember to have good lunch and try not to overwork yourself, alright?"

Fumbling adorably with her fingers behind her back, she nodded again and softly replied, "I will...Thank you for caring, Mr. Cordova."

I nodded in acknowledgment and started to make my way out of the office. Before I turned the corner, I glanced back and found Ms. Belcalis kneeling down in front of her son, frantically checking over him before releasing a sigh of relief and pressing a loving kiss to his cheek. Even though he was so cold whenever I was around, Liam had a soft smile on his lips as he hugged his little arms around his mother.

As beautifully tender as the sight was, it only reminded me of Liam's words from before.

I was an unwelcome outsider, one that had no right to intrude in their little family.

I sighed and walked back into my office. Finding Joseph waiting in my office, I immediately reset back to my emotionless facade, making sure not to allow any unnecessary emotions to hinder my work.

In an attempt to distract myself, I buried myself back into my work and followed Joseph to and fro all my different meetings, trying not to let my thoughts wander off to a particular lady.

Hours flew by as I met up with each VP, getting a detailed update about each of my child companies. It was mind-numbingly boring, listening same thing over and over again with only the slightest of variations.

I wanted to leave, to do something besides work, but I didn't really have any other hobbies. I had always been and still was a workaholic.

Soon enough, the sun had already started setting, and I was still sitting at my desk with a pair of reading glasses on and a stack of paper that was slowly turning completely red from all my revisions.

I was so deep in my work that I barely even noticed that little knock on my door. The only reason why I even paused at all was due to a little voice suddenly exclaiming, "I don't see why you must bring him dinner, Ms. Jane! It's not your job to take care of him."

Standing up from my seat, I strode over to my door and opened it, revealing a startled little lady with a paper bag in one hand and her son in the other. Tearing my gaze away from the little boy who wouldn't stop glaring at me, I turned my attention back to Ms. Belcalis with a raised eyebrow.

Her cheeks were slowly growing pinker with each passing second as she stared at me with wide eyes, unconsciously mumbling under her breath, "I didn't know he would look so good in glasses..."

I chuckled and gingerly took them off. "I use them when I have to read a lot of papers."

She immediately flushed when she realized she had spoken aloud and embarrassedly stuck the paper bag out in front. "I-I was just d-dropping off some food for you b-before I h-headed home."

Graciously accepting the bag, I thanked, "I really do appreciate it, Ms. Belcalis, but you don't need to keep doing this for me if it's a burden for you."

Almost simultaneously, both Ms. Belcalis and Liam responded.

"I really don't mind."

"You are burdening her."

Her eyes widened as she immediately started fretting over his words. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Cordova. H-he didn't—"

I gave her a small smile and reassured her, "It's alright. I understand that Markliam doesn't quite like me, and I don't hold it against him." Glancing down at the said child, I leaned a bit closer to her and lowered my voice before continuing, "But, if you don't mind, could you wait here for a second? I have something I would like to give to him."

She nodded silently, adorably tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the side in confusion.

I quickly stepped back into my office, setting down the paper bag to the side before walking over to the overflowing bookshelves lining my wall. Remembering the cartoon wallpaper of a rocketship on Liam's tablet, I pulled out an aerospace engineering textbook, one that was signed by a famous mathematician I met at NASA during one of my business-related visits. It wasn't something that I was particularly fond of, but the peculiar mathematician insisted on giving it to me as a present for some odd reason. Maybe he was just super proud of it and wanted everyone to own a copy, but it was something that I thought Liam would like.

Walking back to the pair, I opened the door a bit wider and kneeled down to Liam's height. He eyed me skeptically as I held the book out to him.

"You like space, right?" I opened the front cover, revealing the curly letters of the signature spelling out Katherine G. Johnson. "I got it as a gift, but I think you would like it more than I would. Plus, I'm sure that you're more than smart enough to understand the derivations on here."

His eyes sparkled for a moment when he spotted the signature, but he quickly covered it back up with a blank mask again. His grip tightened around his mother's hand as he reached out with his free hand, taking the heavy book from me. He reluctantly mumbled a small "thank you" as he hugged the book to his chest and grumbled, "But don't think you can bribe me like this."

I nodded amusingly. "Of course not. I just thought you would like it."

He retreated back to his mother's side, thumbing through the pages with clear excitement. Even though he usually acted like a grumpy old man, he still had an innocent, childlike quality deep inside of him.

When I stood back up, I was met with a pair of similarly bright violet eyes.

She leaned in close and whispered, "T-thank you for being patient with Liam. I know h-he can be a bit d-difficult at times, but he really is a good child w-when he opens up his heart."

She was so close to me that I could feel her breath brushing against my skin. I wasn't sure if she even noticed how close she had ended up leaning into me, but I didn't mind it at all.

I didn't mind how it felt to have loose strands of her hair brushing against me. I didn't mind how her scent filled all my senses, drawing me into her with every passing second. I didn't mind how I was practically being drawn into a trance by this little lady even though I barely even knew anything about her.

I wanted her.

It was the only thought on my mind as I watched her interact with her son. I didn't care if she had a child already. I didn't care if she was still pining for some ex-boyfriend or ex-husband that abandoned her and her child.

I wanted all of her, even if I had to put in years of work until she could finally think of only me and no other man.