A Game With The Billionaire

Chapter 13:

Tristan:

The room is bustling with lights, people staggering with red plastic cups of alcohol, the dance floor is blurring around in my eyes and I realize how drunk I am.

“Dude, we have to get laid tonight.” My friend, Marcus, the host of this party says, his words slurring. f**k, he’s quite wasted. Marcus throws the best parties in his mansion once every two weeks, only top influencers, celebrities and mega billionaires get invited to his parties. I get a free pass since I am his best-friend.

“Laid?” I take a swig of the whiskey, and it burns down my throat. I stare around at the pretty ladies walking around. Truth to be told, I haven’t been laid in a while, perhaps no women have sparked my interest for a very long time.

“I freaking need to get laid.” Marcus stumbles out of the stool and starts shakily weaving through the throng of people. I watch with amusement in my eyes as he stands on the table, clutching the bottle of Dom Perignon tightly across his chest. “Who here wants to get laid with me tonight?” He roars, his voice drunk and alive at the same time.

A few women scream in delight. Someone laughs and champagne is sprayed in the air.

“Christ.” I mutter, running a hand through my hair. “The bastard has gone feral again.”

“I can see that.” A woman slides effortlessly next to me, sitting on the stool. I turn to look at her and I immediately almost fall down the stool, her caramel blonde hair falls like strands on her face and those eyes, gosh. Gray-blue eyes that seem to dig deep into any soul. She is beautiful in a rare type of way.

“Wild party,” she continues, her voice slurring slightly.

“That depends.” I say, gesturing to Marcus who’s now talking to his bottle of champagne.

She laughs. God, it’s a soft, throaty sound that smacks me right in the chest. “I’ve never been to one of his parties before. My sister dragged me here,” she says, spinning her glass slowly. I study her nails, it’s painted a shade of crimson that sparkles under the light.

“Do you like it here?” I ask, finding myself leaning closer, I want to wrap myself in her scent, she smells warmly of vanilla and champagne.

“One thing for sure, I am never coming to any of his parties again.” She says, eyeing me up. “However, I don’t regret tonight.”

I take this as an opportunity to introduce myself. “I am Tr-”

She places a hand on my lip to shush me up. “Let’s not exchange first names, let’s go with nicknames? I can be muse and you can be storm.”

I blink my eyes at the absurdity of this woman’s words. “Storm? What makes you think I fit a storm?”

She laughs, leaning closer. “Shut up, Storm and kiss me.” She captures her mouth with mine and I wrap my hand around her waist, opening up for her. Her fingers slide into my hair, and I thought ‘Finally, something real in all this goddamn chaos.’

She numbs on my lower lips making me suppress a moan. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“I thought you would never ask.” I stand and pull her up from the stool; she clings to me desperately, laughing under her breath. Marcus watches me with amusement, pumping his fists into the air but I ignore him and take muse upstairs to one of the bedrooms I usually crash in whenever I visit Marcus.

The moment I lock the door, we continue kissing aggressively. I pin her to the wall and just when my hands find the zipper of her dress, her phone pings from the nightstand. We pull apart as she hurriedly checks the screen, the playfulness in her face replaced with guilt.

“Oh s**t, I am so sorry, Storm, but I have to go. I had fun, I am sure you did too, right?” she kisses me on the cheeks before leaving the room and hurrying along the corridor, leaving me there breathing heavily.

What in the hell just happened?

--

I don’t like being woken up in the morning, especially by my mother’s right hand dude, Victor. The bastard is already in front of my bed by seven in the morning. He has this straight expression that you would wish to slap right off his face. One would wonder if he has smiled or laughed in his entire life.

“You have to get up now, Mr. Hart.” I catch a hint of amusement in his voice and it almost wants to make me scream in the pillow. I have a mild hangover from last night’s drinking but I don’t dare let Victor catch a hint of it because he will report it to my mother, and she will give me a lecture I am not ready to hear.

So I do exactly as he says, I get up, even though my bones are aching and take a hot shower, I get dressed and go join the family for breakfast. I have plans of moving out of the Hart Mansion, I can’t stay with the old people for so long.

“Morning, everyone.” I slide into the chair in the dining room, taking my spot. My uncle, Old Master Hart, is drinking a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper while my mother, or as everyone likes to call her, Aunt Vivi is looking at me with scrutiny. Damn it, I just hope no one smells whiskey on my body.

“Tristan.” Old Master Hart acknowledges me with a nod while cutting through the eggs Benedict.

“Rough night?” My mother asks as I cut through the steak. “You look tired.”

And hung-over as hell.

I nod numbly, staring at the steam that curls around my cup of coffee.

“Oh, I am so full.” Old Master Hart stands up from the chair, “thank you Vivi for keeping this old man company for breakfast, every member of the household is now avoiding breakfast with their old man.”

“You know I will always eat breakfast with you, Lucien.” There’s a certain type of warmth my mother uses whenever she is talking to her elder brother, she rarely uses that warmth around me. “Hope you’re taking your meds?”

“Yes, Vivi. You nag too much.” Lucien mutters as he walks away, but I see the smile on his face. The moment he’s gone, my mother’s smile is replaced with an icy glare.

“Where the hell were you last night? You were partying again, weren’t you? Gosh, you stink of alcohol.” My mother says, shaking her head. I stare down at the table filled with food and my chest tightens, I don’t think I can eat any of this. “Anyways, eat faster. Victor is driving you to work today.”

The coffee almost spills from my mouth. “Work?”

“Yes, darling. Work. Everyone knows that you don’t take your life seriously, you want my brother to make you the CEO of Hart Finance, then you have to do what you are meant to do.”

“I have no interest in any of the Hart companies, I have my own money, mother. I don’t need any of this.” Sometimes, I wonder if being born into the Hart family is a blessing or a curse, right now it’s certainly a curse.

“Your uncle wants his grandson, Jeremy to be the CEO of Hart Finance, which is why I came up with the perfect plan.” My mother takes a sip out of the cup of coffee. “You’re going to work as a junior in the finance department of Jeremy’s gaming company, Titan Games.”

“What?” This has to be a dream, yes. This is what this is, maybe I am still drunk.

My mother ignores me and continues. “Victor helped you prepare your resume and he even sat for the online interview. Congratulations, you’ve been hired. You start today.”

What in the f**k is going on? I am going to work as a junior in Jeremy’s company?

“You should be thankful to Victor.”

“Damn Victor.” I say under my breath, my mother acts like he’s her son, Victor this, Victor that, for f**k’s sake, he’s just twenty-three!

“Most men your age will kill for this opportunity.” She says, eyeing me and I want to correct her that most men don’t have their mothers negotiating their future over breakfast.

My mother stands from the chair. “It’s time you put that business degree you got from Oxford to use.” She walks towards me slowly, when she reaches in front of me, she sighs. “If you want to lead Hart Group, then you will do exactly as I say, okay darling?”

I nod, seething internally. Going against my mother is something I don’t like doing.

“Good.” She seems satisfied with my answer. “Also don’t wear your expensive Tom Ford suits; Victor has arranged your clothes. Hurry up, he will drive you to work.”

As expected, Victor got me those tacky suits that look like it costs fifty dollars in the thrift store. Victor drives me to Titan Games and I stare at the gigantic logo in front.

“Take care, sir.” Victor says, but I know he’s mocking me. I flip him a f**k you finger as I come out of the car and sigh, here goes nothing. This is what mother wants.

Inside, an employee leads me to the finance department. My co-workers seem excited to meet me, they give me a brief tour of the company, they even provide me with my own lanyard. They show me my office, a sleek glass room with a view of the city.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here. The finance department is the best department in the whole company,” my team leader winks, a woman in her late forties. “We’re having a team dinner tonight, care to join?” I wonder if they know that I am Jeremy’s cousin.

I happily nod my head; maybe this isn’t so bad, working in Jeremy’s company, what are the chances that we will run into each other? He’s the CEO, I doubt he frequents the finance department.

The door opens and she steps in. Caramel-blonde hair tied in an updo bun, those same gray-blue eyes that captured my attention last night, her heels clink against the marble floor.

“Miss. Hilton.” The team leader pushes past me and hurriedly goes to join her. “You’re looking beautiful as always today.”

Hilton?

The team leader faces me. “Mr. Tristan, this is Charlotte Hilton, she’s our top investor and she’s here part-time to test new games and handle PR integration.”

Charlotte Hilton as in part of the Hilton Triplets? Their family are mega billionaires, yes; Marcus’ parties are for the wealthy, but I can't imagine someone as Charlotte Hilton, top influencer, socialite, charity organizer as the woman who was cracking jokes last night and said her nickname was Muse.

She looks at me, if I haven’t met her before, I would think this is her first time knowing me. Is she pretending to not know me?

“Ah, this is Tristan, he just joined today.” The team leader smiles cheerfully.

“Nice to meet you, Tristan.” She smiles, not warmly, but ice cold. We were kissing last night and now, she’s pretending as though we are strangers?

“Alright then, let’s go, Miss. Hilton.” The team leader starts to guide Charlotte to her office, leaving me standing there with embarrassment flooding through every part of my body.