BILLIONAIRE SERIES: HIS AMBER

Chapter 11: Rosebushes and Carnations

Simoun's POV

Sunday evening was reserved in Onel's family as the large, traditional family dinner. All of his relatives, both distant and close, came pouring through the front doors right at five thirty. Amber and I came down promptly at six before being guided to two chairs right in the middle of the brood. And the chairs were a little too close to my liking.

His family was an assemblage of odd ducks, weird people with weird quirks I never found anywhere else except for in those families that came from old money. For instance, Onel's first cousin Minami: she kept mindlessly twirling her finger around the rim of her crystal glass, making it sound off in the middle of the room while everyone yelled to be heard over it. Around and around her finger went, and my eyes followed it with a vengeance. I wanted to pluck her glass away from her and give her a plastic one. Did she not understand how annoying she was becoming?

"It's probably to drown out the snoring of her husband," Amber said.

She nodded her head, and I saw a man whose eyes were already falling shut. He sat right beside Minami, his head sinking to her shoulder before bobbing back up. Amber sifled a giggle, and I buried a smirk. Then, something else caught the corner of my eye.

The first dish was served, a beautiful soup that smelled delightful. And Onel's sister and her husband were at the other end of the table slurping their soup straight from the bowl, like the scene from Beauty and the Beast, where they just pick up their bowls, bring it to their lips, and down it in one go.

I watched them as Amber clung to my thigh, trying not to laugh as their lips drained the bowl of the soup. "Onel, that chef of yours really knows how to make a wonderful soup," his sister said.

"I wonder if she even tasted it," Amber murmured.

I shot her a look before a chuckle fell from my lips. She smoothed her hand over my thigh as we settled into the first course.

And then the second. And then the third. Food continued to pour out of the kitchen at a rate that was astounding even to me. Onel and I watched this entire family down full-sized portions of food without a second thought. Every time a plate was set in front of her, I heard her sigh, like she was gearing up for a marathon she hadn't trained for.

"No wonder they're Japanese. They need exercise after meals like this," she whispered in my ear.

I took my napkin up to my lips and laughed into it to cover the sound.

Having her close to me all night was driving me insane, but her jokes kept the air light. I had no idea how in the world I was going to share a bed with that woman and not f**k her every single night while we were in the countryside. Her playful stare always caught my eye before her jokes had me stifling very rude laughter into my napkin, and yet I couldn't get enough.

And I knew if she came onto me like she did last night, I'd never be able to resist her. Not with those legs, not with that smile, and certainly not with that sense of humor of hers.

Dinner was an arduous affair. Onel's family yelled at one another across the table, and all of them bombarded Amber with questions.

They didn't even attempt to address me anymore. They figured Amber did all the talking for me. Which was probably for the best because she obviously had a knack for spinning stories. But I found myself wanting all of those stories to be true. Like the story of our first date, when I picked her up and whisked her away for an entire weekend in Italy just so I could treat her to the finest dish of homemade pasta. Or the first time she ever got sick, when I went over to her modest apartment and set up shop to take care of her all week. Dipping her into baths and washing her hair and feeding her food until she could feed herself.

I hung on to every word, painting this fake relationship in my mind and wishing it were real.

I shook the thought from my head. It was time to talk business. Dinner had been wonderful, but we were finishing up dessert and not an ounce of shop talk had been addressed.

"Onel, this dinner was amazing. Maybe we could grab a drink and head to the library to talk about those documents," I said.

And then, I felt it.

I felt Amber nudge me underneath the table again.

I shot Amber a look that told her to back down. I thought that maybe dinner the first time wasn't the best scenario to talk shop, but she now needed to know where her expertise stopped and where mine began. Her eyes fluttered over to mine before she scooted over a little bit. I must've been looking at her pretty harshly.

"Something the matter?" Onel asked.

"I'm actually feeling a little fatigued," Amber said.

"It must be that long walk you took in the gardens this afternoon, beautiful. Because I'm not tired at all," I said.

"Is this going to lead to a lovers' quarrel?" Onel asked.

"Nonsense. No need to fight. Simoun knows I sleep better with him at my side," Amber said as her hand slid down to my knee.

"I'm sure you'll take a long bath before we retire, however. It'll give me some time to speak with Onel alone," I said curtly.

Onel's laughter filled the room as she squeezed my knee. And it only served to make me angrier. I'd have to have a talk with this woman. She needed to know her place in all this. We were on a business venture, not a pleasurable one. She didn't control this scenario; I did. But I knew if the two of us retired back to our room, I'd have to start resisting her. And after the two glasses of wine that accompanied dinner, I wasn't sure if I would be able to at that point.

"Well, why don't we all go for a walk in the garden? It seems as if Amber has already gotten a taste of it, but the walk might do us a bit of good. We can talk down some of this food, and the breath of fresh air will revive Amber's spirits while tiring you out, hmm, Simoun?"

"I really do believe we should be-"

"A walk sounds wonderful, Onel. Thank you for the offer," Amber said.

"Plus, the garden is very romantic underneath the moonlight. It's my favorite space to be in the evenings," Onel said.

"Actually, that sounds fantastic. I'm always up for a bit of romance. Aren't you, honey?" Amber asked.

Fucking great. I couldn't get one second alone with Onel because of this woman.

All of us stood, and Onel bid most of his family farewell. Amber stuck by my side, but I didn't want to be anywhere near her. The mixture of anger at the situation coursing through my veins and my c**k constantly at half-mast with want for her was distracting my mind. I was two steps away from sealing this deal with him, and she'd be hanging off my damn arm squeezing the life out of it to get me to shut up.

Amber threaded her arm within mine, and the two of us started out onto the terrace. I looked back at Onel as he talked with his sister and her husband, and he tossed me a playful wave. f**k. That man had no intentions of coming out into this garden with us. What in the hell was wrong with everyone? Did no one understand that this was a damn business trip?

I walked alongside Amber and away from the only person I needed to be addressed so we could flounce around in the moonlight like two lovesick individuals who couldn't keep their hands off each other.

We stepped into the gardens, and the atmosphere was heady. The starry sky of Tokyo twinkled above us, and Amber's hands were warm against my body. I looked down at her and watched the moonlight bathe her in its glow. She looked phenomenal in it.

Nighttime suited her well. The two of us continued our journey toward the hedges, a place where I'd found her earlier. I'd gone back up to the room to change out of my clothes and into something else and found her scouring the damn place by herself.

But being there with her underneath the stars was something else altogether, and I felt my anger at dinner quickly falling into the background.

"I love all of the edelweiss that lines the pathways of the garden," Amber said.

"It's nice."

"And the rosebushes are phenomenal. I rarely ever see them paired with carnations, but the two are actually meant to be together."

"How so?" I asked.

"They give support to one another. The head of a carnation flower is heavy, so it leans against the rose and it provides support. And also protection, because of a rose's thorny stem."

"What does the carnation provide the rose?"

"Shelter. Carnations grow out, not up. Roses are the opposite. Carnations fill in all the empty spaces of a rosebush and provide a strong foundation for the roses to grow as tall as they can. It's a beautiful metaphor. My favorite in the flower world."

"How do you know so much about flowers?" I asked.

The two of us paused by a fountain as she drew in a deep breath.

"The school I went to when I was younger had a very large garden. As students, we were expected to help tend to it and educate ourselves on the different flowers and cultivation tactics and their relationship with other foliage around them."

"Sounds like an interesting school."

"I have a lot of fond memories from it," she said.

"Did your school have a mascot of some sort?"

"No."

"What school doesn't have a mascot? All schools have a mascot."

"Sports weren't important at my school," she said.

"Did you play any sports?"

"I preferred gardening. Oh! Look over there. I didn't see those earlier. It's hard to cultivate rhododendrons that well. What mastery of the green arts."

She slid her arm away from mine and crossed the path, making her way behind the fountain. If she thought she was being veiled, she couldn't have been further from the truth. That was a blatant deflection from talking about her past. I watched her bend to take in the smell of some random flower, and I watched her for a little while. I watched the way her long, graceful body moved and the way her eyes sparkled with the stars overhead. She turned her face up to the sky and closed her eyes, as if she was getting lost in her memories.

I wondered why she didn't want to talk about her past.

Was it her job? Did she think I wouldn't care about it? As far as I was concerned, she was a temporary employee. I enjoyed finding out things about my employees. I worked hard, sure. But I took care of those in my company. I worked hard for them because they worked hard for me. I tried to learn about them when I could, about the families my company took care of and the babies being expected by men in my business. There was no reason for me to not wonder about her life as well. For me to know about it and know her better so we could keep up our ruse.

I watched her eyes open, and I could've sworn she had tears in them. But just as quickly as I thought they had appeared, they disappeared.

I looked back at the house, wondering if Onel was ever going to join us. The longer we were out there, however, the more I felt as if he wasn't going to join us. Which made me wonder why the hell he had suggested a garden walk in the first damn place. I felt something warm and soft slide against my arm, and I whipped my head around, taking in the glorious woman standing next to me.

A woman so full of knowledge yet working such a salacious job. Did she not have a family that cared? A man to take care of her? A father that guided her down the right path? If I ever had a daughter, I sure as hell wouldn't want her working as a damn call girl.

Especially for men like me, who carved the body standing next to mine.

I wondered how many men had feasted on her. I couldn't help it. Her profession made her open to it. Made that one of her requirements. I wondered how many men had pawed at her body, had done nothing but stick their d***s in her to get it over with. I wondered how many men had neglected her for the sake of seeing her as nothing but paid property. The idea of another man treating her as less than she was made my blood boil.

"Simoun? Are you all right?"

My eyes focused on her face, and I forced my entire body to relax.

"I'm fine. Enjoying the flowers?" I asked.

"Very much so."

"Are you ready to retire for the night? It seems as if Onel won't be joining us."

"Good. That means we can take a little longer with our walk," she said.

And before I could protest, she started heading forward. So, to keep up our ruse, I stayed at her side. Like a good, faithful, loving fiancé would.