The Billionaires (#1)

23 || Coalition

It was 12 a.m. London time and Jorge had just arrived at Billings Corporation. He was not surprised to find someone else standing behind Meryl's desk but he asked anyway, and the girl told him that both Anita and Meryl were unavailable. He sighed and walked to the elevator, ignoring all the stares he was getting from his employees, but it was to be expected since he had decided to dress up like a secret agent; a black suit and dark shades.

He was glad the moment the elevator doors because the stares he was getting were intensifying his headache. Cameron was to blame for all of this; Jorge could not even remember what they were talking about because of the alcohol Cameron kept feeding him. The only thing he remembered was the time when he was telling Cameron about proposing to Sonya. Jorge did not understand how Meryl ended up at his place; he did not remember ordering roses or having them sent to Meryl. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding, or there was a mastermind behind this little issue.

He was grateful when he arrived at the top floor. For once, he had to applaud MJ for banning her employees from the top floor; securing it for herself and Jorge. Jorge let the silence comfort him as he strolled into the office, unaware of his companion. He did not realize that MJ's chair was turned away from him. He walked straight to the stand, where his alcohol was placed, and then he poured himself a drink. What a way to charm your clients? He thought as he gulped down his drink.

“Drinking during work hours?” A voice asked.

Jorge spat out his drink and turned around abruptly to be met with a face he was not expecting. “Parker, what are you doing here?” He asked in shock and lowered his shades.

Logan stood up from the chair and fixed his jacket. "Came to find out who exactly gave you the right to bail out my brother," Logan said icily, and Jorge flinched at his tone. He had been dreading this day, and it came too soon and at the wrong time.

“I can explain.” He sighed and took off his shades, and placed them in the front pocket of his suit jacket.

“Good. Because that’s exactly what I’m looking for. It’s not every day Sasha-Lee Van der Merwe pays you a visit and tells you that your two most trusted friends betrayed you.

Jorge and Logan settled down on the couch, and Jorge poured them drinks despite the fact that they were both suffering from a massive hangover. Logan was as pissed as hell, and Jorge was trying his best not to bolt out the door. Logan and Jorge had been friends since childhood, although Jorge was a few years his senior. They met through their fathers who were both rich executives. He knew Logan had a bad temper as compared to his playful nature. He often wondered how Logan put up with him, probably by counting to ten in his head all his life. Whatever the cause, Jorge was grateful to have had him by his side all these years.

Logan was forced to grow up at a very young age and people always expected the best from him. His father always encouraged him to be his best in everything. It almost never occurred to him why until his siblings started getting out of control. His sister spent more than twenty thousand rands on a daily basis at the age of sixteen and partied all day and night, and his brother got mixed up with the wrong crowds, and since then, they had been uncontrollable. He had not seen his sister in three years but saw his brother once after a while. "Montana and Cameron are my responsibility, you know?" Logan said quietly while playing with his glass.

"I know," Jorge said, and Logan scoffed.

“No, you don’t. If you did, you would never have gone behind my back and bailed Cameron out of prison.” Logan deadpanned.

“I’m sorry, okay? But I couldn’t leave him to rot in prison, besides, it was David who came to me.” Jorge gritted.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass who came to who!” Logan jumped out of the couch and threw the glass against the wall. “Cameron is my brother, my brother! I decide what to do with him. You think I left him in that f*****g prison ’cause I don’t care?” He asked, and Jorge just watched him in silence. Logan could shout all he wanted, as long as he kept his hands to himself, there would be no problem. “He’s my brother, dammit! I want what is best for him. I left him in that prison so that he could learn a goddamn lesson. What is a week in jail? Cameron is a big boy; he can fend for himself if he damn well pleases.” He shouted and ran a hand through his dark curls, and then he sighed. “I love him, okay?” He laughed darkly. “Despite everything, I love him, and I would never give up on him. You have to trust me on that.” He took in a deep breath and finally slumped down on the couch.

Jorge had to fight the smirk that was threatening to draw at the corner of his mouth. "Satisfied?" Jorge asked, humour in his voice.

Logan glared at him, but he just winked at him. “You will never ever in your life take me seriously, will you?” He asked in a jaded tone.

“Me? Of course not, why would I do that?” Jorge mocked.

When Logan threw him another glare, he threw his head back and barked in laughter, causing Logan to groan in annoyance. "I thought so," Logan muttered under his breath.

“I have to admit though, for a moment there, I was stunned. I thought you were going to smash my head like that glass.” Jorge said once he was calm and threw the broken glass pieces a wary look.

"It took me everything in me not to," Logan admitted.

"I'm sorry, man," Jorge said seriously.

“It’s okay, man. You know I can’t stay mad at you forever.” Logan smirked, snatched Jorge’s drink away from him and gulped it down. “Though I have to admit, that bastard David is going to pay for this. He should have come to me like a man instead of running to you.” He threw Jorge a pointed look, but Jorge shrugged. “So, where’s my brother?”

Jorge just took out his phone and dialled a number. "Hi, Kathy," He said in a smooth voice, and Logan threw him a suspicious glance. "Yes, it is Jorge. I wanted to ask about my friend." Jorge said. "Yes, Luke Collins," He said cautiously as he watched Logan flinch at the mention of the name. Logan knew about his brother's aliases, but having it thrown in his face was a different story. "Okay, thanks, Blondie," Jorge said and hung up. "Kathy says your brother left the hotel."

“Who is Kathy?” Logan asked.

“The receptionist at the hotel where Cameron spent the night.” Jorge shrugged.

Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “And you have her numbers?”

“What would you expect after spending the night together?” Jorge shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Logan shook his head.

“And she has your numbers?”

"Not for too long," Jorge said and removed his sim card, breaking it in half before he replaced it with his real one.

“You bastard.”

*****

After making sure that Logan Parker left London soil, Jorge went back to the office and was shocked to find Anita there. She was seated at her own desk while working. It was clear that she was still mad at Jorge because she did not acknowledge him when he walked in.

Jorge tried to work but it was difficult with the tension in the room. He could not even ask Anita about the project they were supposed to work on together. As if that was not enough, her phone had been ringing for the past fifteen minutes since he walked in but she did not answer each time it rang. It was disturbing him and he did not know how to tell her. It was ringing for the nth time when he finally decided that it was enough. “Aren’t you going to take that?” He asked out of irritation but careful enough not to trigger her emotions, considering the history they shared.

“Nope.” Anita replied, popping the ‘P.’ Jorge cleared his throat and continued flipping through his file while stealing glances at Anita. “What?” She asked.

He took off his glasses and placed them firmly onto the desk. “Listen, Anita, I’m sorry about the way things turned out between us. I–” he tried to explain, but she cut him off.

"Mr Billings, I'm over it." She said, not taking her eyes off her file.

"Mr Billings?" Jorge asked, taken aback by Anita's formality.

When MJ hired Anita two years back, Jorge made a move on her and she fell for it. He promised her the moon and the stars, and she believed him. Three months into the relationship, Anita gave it to him and he showed her his true colours then. MJ had tried to warn Anita about the reason behind her not having a PA for more than a week, but she did not listen. She was love-struck and MJ was no one to interfere in another person's business.

However, when Anita was the one to suffer from her brother’s heart-breaking spree, MJ got really mad and warned Jorge that she was not going to pay Anita off or fire her. Instead, she bought him a beach house in Cape Town and banned him from the building to prevent tension.

"Come on, we are alone; you don't have to call me Mr Billings, it is Jorge."

"The last time I ‘didn't have to call you Mr Billings,' things got really bad. I don't want to relive that memory again; I am over it and I think you should do the same. It was just good s*x and it's over now." She packed up her files, pushed her chair out, and stood up to leave. Once done packing up, she looked at Jorge and gave him a small smile. "If you want us to have a healthy working relationship, don't ever bring this issue up again." She said just as her phone started to ring again. She hung up and threw it into her bag. "I have to go now, Meryl needs me." She said with a tight smile, and Jorge looked away. He knew Anita wanted to say more, but she held herself back.

“Got it, mam.” He said. She gave him a curt nod and walked out of his office. Jorge sighed in relief the moment she disappeared from sight.