Groomed For The Billionaire

Ghost Of The Past

Sophia stretched as she checked her phone. She has a message from a number that wasn't saved to her phone. When she opened it, she smiled.

Scott: I'll be picking you up by 2:00pm, hopefully you gave me the right address. Fingers crossed. smiling emoji.

She checked the time, it was almost 2pm. She couldn't believe she slept all through the morning since she got home. She quickly got out of bed and prepared.

Moments later, she was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair one last time. Her reflection on the mirror looked beautiful. Her long chestnut colored hair, and blue eyes complimented her small face.

Her black off shoulder dress, and her heels, the only pair that she owned that weren't scuffed from work.

“Girl, if I didn't know you, I'd think you're trying so hard to seduce the young man.” Jasmine leaned on the doorway, half dressed in a silk robe, holding a glass of cheap wine from the dollar store.

Sofia chuckled, reaching for her perfume. “Stop it already, I'm shy.”

“Hell no, you can't be shy all dressed up like it's a proposal lunch.” She came closer to Sofia and whispered in her ears. “Make sure you don't give him some of those cookies for free.”

Sofia pushed her away, rolling her eyes. “I would do no such thing.”

Scott texted, he was outside her apartment. She gave Jasmine a kiss on the cheek as she grabbed her purse and walked out of the room.

As she stepped out, Jasmine ran to the window to see who the man who was about to sweep her sweet Sofia off her feet was. And then she saw his ride.She couldn't hide her astonishment. She was blown away. A black Bentley Continental GT.

As Sofia walked outside, she wasn't expecting to see him driving such an expensive car. She was impressed. When he saw her, he opened the door for her, like she was a queen.

“You clean up nice, not Sofia from the club.” He teased her. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you, but no thanks for the first backhanded compliment.”

“Don't be like that, I was only joking.” He planted a soft kiss on her palm.

“Your car is nice, most guys at Club Mirage don't own a damn Bentley.”

“I'm not most guys. I'm your guy.”

She rolled her eyes. “So where are you taking me for lunch?”

“It's a surprise. But I know you'd love it.” He smiled, eyes on the road.

Something in his tone made her glance at him. The confidence in his voice was charming.

The restaurant sat high above the city. It was a rooftop restaurant. Soft blues played in the background and every table had a candle light, giving the restaurant a romantic touch.

“Scott,” she whispered as they were escorted to their private table. “This place looks like it costs more than my rent.”

He chuckled. “You deserve to be spoiled sometimes.”

“I do.”

“I'll make that my responsibility.” He held out her chair for her to sit down. She mouthed a thank you to him.

A waiter came to take their order. “Mr. Millhone, we're pleased to have you here. What would you like to have?”

Mr. Millhone? That name sounded familiar, and she noticed her nice the people around here were to him. Was he some kind of celebrity?

“What will you be having sunshine,” he turned to Sofia smiling. He looked charming.

“I'm indecisive, so I'll go with whatever you're having.” She glanced through the menu, most of the food there, she's never heard of them before now.

“Fine, we'll be having pork meatballs, and local burrata. Get us the most expensive wine on the menu.” The waiter took their order and left.

“Local burrata?” She was curious, she's never heard of that.

“Ow.. that's my personal favorite. It's usually served with herbed bread sticks, aged balsamic and roasted tomatoes.”

“Interesting.”

Dinner flowed easily, laughter, unspoken tension that danced between flirtation and danger. She watched the way his fingers wrapped around the glass. How his eyes flickered to her lips when she smiled.

“I love you Sofia.” Those words just came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“Why me?” Just spending this little time with him, and him saving her from those thugs, awakened a feeling inside of her she didn't know existed. She's never been loved unconditionally all her life, not even from her mum.

“There’s something about you that makes me want to be a better man. I've been watching you closely when you work, the way you carry yourself, you're special. I know it's too early but I want you to be my lady.”

Sofia looked at him, her expression was fixed. “I'm not ready for that yet, but let's see how it goes.”

He reached out for her hand on the table. “Take your time, I'm not going nowhere.” Then his phone vibrated on the table, but he ended the call. “I'm working on a new project with the Italians, it's a business call.”

“You should take that.”

“No, I want to focus on us now.”

She smiled. He had a way of making her feel beautiful. The food was nice, like she guessed lunch cost and arm.

After lunch, he reached into his pocket and placed a small velvet box on the table.

“What's that?”

“Open it.”

She hesitated, then flipped the lid. Inside were a pair of diamond earrings and a matching necklace. It was so perfect.

“I can't accept this,” she pushed the box back to him.

“You can. I owe you, you saved me by saying yes to having lunch with me. Please don't return it.”

“I don't take gifts from men.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I'm your friend. Please.”

Her breath hitched. She stared at the box for a long moment before giving in. “Fine.”

For a fleeting seconds, she let herself enjoy it. The attention, the warmth and the feeling of being seen. Maybe, just maybe she could start again.

……….

Back at the apartment that evening, Jasmine couldn't stop gushing about how hot Scott was. “You mean a man with a Bentley asked you to be his girlfriend and you fvcking said no?”

“I'm not ready to be in a relationship with anyone.”

She looked at Sofia in disbelief. “You have a whole diamond around your neck in the first date, what happens if you say yes to him? We would be twerking out ass on a yatch somewhere in Spain.” Then she paused. “What's his surname? Let's look him up.”

“Mi… Millhone.”

“That's a weird last name. He's got money so it's fine.” She laughed.

Sofia stood behind Jasmine as she typed his name into the search engine, and in no time, Scotts boyish face was all over the screen.

Jasmine turned the screen to her, as she read the headline of an article.

Scott Millhone, owner of Club Mirage and other five star hotels around the city, sets to partner with the Dante Casagrande on the Italian-American resort in New York City.

It hit her like a rock.

“He owns the club!” Jasmine couldn't believe it.

Her pulse hammered in her ears. The name Dante Casagrande pulled her straight back into the fire she'd barely escaped. But this time, she wasn't the girl who ran. Dante won't see her coming.