The Billionaire’s Games (The Billionaire’s Obsession 2)

***

I was sitting at the bar beside Evan while sipping a white wine. He was telling me about his evil plan to make Nick jealous so he’d admit to himself he liked Emily. I was laughing loudly, enjoying every second of his story. It sounded like fun when Emily and Nick started dating. Lots of drama and jealous women, also interference of besties who never admitted to themselves they were in love with their friend. I was glad things worked out for them. I couldn’t imagine Nick without Emily. They were the kind of people who were meant to be together. They complemented each other. I wondered if it was the same for Evan and I. If we helped each other grow.

“Zoey?”

I looked up meeting his confused gaze, “Hm?”

“Your phone is ringing.” Evan told me, reaching for the device which was laid out in front of me, “You should answer it. It’s your mother.”

Completely in shock, I just stared at the ringing device. Not sure why my mother would call now. We were about to leave. I think I was taking too long to decide whether I should answer it or not so Evan answered it for me.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Hello Emma, how are you?”

I stared at Evan, shocked he answered the phone for me. He held my gaze as he talked to my mother.

“We’re at the airport, we’re leaving in an hour.” He then trailed his eyes to his glass and reached for it, taking a sip while he obviously listened to my mother talk, “Thank you, Emma, that’s really nice of you, I appreciate it.” He then held the phone to me, “Your mother wants to talk to you.”

His eyes told me that it was okay, that this phone call wouldn’t upset me. So I took it without hesitation then.

“Mom?”

“Zoey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner.”

“It’s okay, you needed time to think about things.”

I wasn’t actually okay with it, but it wasn’t the time to pick a fight with my mother. She reached out to me so I needed to be grown up about it and let things go.

“Evan seems like a really nice guy. He has been very patient and understanding.” She told me, “I’m glad you met someone like that.”

I glanced at Evan, “I agree, I’m glad I met him.”

“Noah told us he ran into you. He said a few kind words about Evan to your father, but unfortunately, Bradley isn’t ready to let go yet.”

“Noah already made plans, mom. Does dad know? Noah is going to quit his job at the company and travel the world. I’m also sure he has someone special in his life.”

“We know about that now. Noah told us.”

“So why is dad still upset then?”

“Things aren’t going the way he had planned, he needs time.” She told me quietly, “I understand though and I didn’t want you to leave without knowing that. I’m sorry it took me a while, honey. You made the first move. I promise you we’ll visit you soon, make things right between us.”

“That’s all I want.”

“Me too.” My mother told me, “Have a safe flight, honey, we’ll talk soon.”

“Bye, mom.”

Ending the call I placed the phone back down and reached for my glass, knocking the remaining content of my drink down.

“Told you things were going to work out.”

I glared at Evan, “Now is not the time to give yourself a pat on the back.”

He chuckled, “It seems like the perfect time. You met your friend who seems to be doing okay, you made things right with your mother and I’m sure soon you’ll have the opportunity to make things right with your father as well.” His eyes gleamed as he leaned closer to me and pressed his lips against my jaw, “And I have a feeling when we board the plane I’m going to get lucky again.”

Arrogant. That man was so full of himself.

“You’re forgetting about Priscilla, Evan.”

He nuzzled my neck, placing a soft kiss against my pulse and then sat straight again, “I didn’t forget. Since you seem like a weight has lifted from your shoulders and you look even more content than before, I’m thinking it’s not so bad to face your fears.”

That surprised me.

“You’re ready to tell your sister the truth?”

He nodded, “I’m ready to talk to Priscilla.”

Smiling I reached for him wrapping my hands around his bicep and leaning close to him, “The future seems bright for us, Evan. Before you know it we’re the new Emily and Nick.”

He laughed at me, pressing a kiss to my head, “And it feels damn good, doesn’t it?”

I nodded, “Yeah, it does.”

He knocked down his drink, placing the empty glass before him, “I’m also glad I’ve met you, Zoey.”

A few hours ago I felt like this day couldn’t get any worse, now it felt like a really good day. We didn’t make huge progress, but I felt like things weren’t so dark anymore. We were going to be okay. I was sure that if Priscilla wasn’t okay with Evan asking her to stay, he’d still be okay. He had me and Emily and Nick who were never going to leave his side. With us, beside him, Evan would be okay.