Mr. Handsome A Billionaire Romance(53)

“It’s true. Yeah. I didn’t want to tell you the full story because I didn’t want to hurt you. She came in and just f*cking attacked me, Christina. One second she was outside and then the next her hand was down my pants.”

It all sounded like a horrible, piss poor excuse, but it was the truth. Roxanna wasn’t in her right mind.

“Christina, let me just get her in a cab and then we can talk about this, please. She doesn’t have anyone else to help her at all right now.” I begged Christina to understand.

She glanced at Carl who was idling on the curb. He usually didn’t drive away until we were inside for at least twenty minutes.

“I think I want to go home. You can feel free to handle her Jeffrey, I can’t…I just can’t.” Christina backtracked and she got into the car.

A few seconds later Carl came out and I knew she had asked him to get her suitcase. I hung my head and simply gave him the keys to the front door and told him where everything was.

I screwed up again, this time it was really my f*cking fault. I glanced over at Roxanna’s smug face and wanted to bury her in some mental facility and never see her again. She had managed to hurt me twice. I shook my head and watched helplessly as Carl loaded Christina’s things into the car and drove off with her.

The cab arrived shortly after and I loaded a clingy Roxanna into it. Before I shut the door, I told the cabbie her address. Then I turned my gaze to her and filled it with all the anger and hate I felt towards her in that moment.

“If you so much as come near me or anything remotely having to do with me right now, I will make sure a restraining order is set against you. Then I’ll also make sure you’re padded off to a mental facility where you f*cking belong. I don’t care if you barely remember this tomorrow or not, this is the only warning, Roxanna.

This is done, we are through. I helped you the best I can, it’s up to you to go to the appointment I set up or not.”

Roxanna looked at me like she was about to cry, instead she leaned out of the cab and threw up all over my f*cking pants and shoes. Once she was done, I pushed her ass back into the cab and slammed the door shut. After a short moment, the cab pulled away and I roared my frustration to the dark sky.

* * *

After I stripped down to my boxers right in the middle of the sidewalk, I shoved my clothes into a nearby trash can and then went inside. Carl had left my keys on the side table in the foyer, thankfully. I took deep breaths and paced around the living room while I thought of ways to get Christina back. I needed her almost more than I needed my next breath. I pushed my fingers through my hair as I wracked my brain for an answer. I was too tense and wound up, my heart was full of anxiety and I couldn’t think. I gave in for the moment and went to take a shower.

Once I was clean of the mess that was Roxanna, I called Christina. At first the phone would simply ring and ring, then she started ignoring my calls, the phone would ring once or twice and go straight to voice mail. After I assumed Christina put her phone on silent, because it would simply ring and ring again, I started leaving messages as well as texts.

“Christina, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. I made things worse and I was stupid. Please hear me out…Christina, I need to hear your voice, please just answer the phone…Christina…Christina.” I must have left her at least twelve messages before I decided, f*ck it, I’ll just go and sit outside of her apartment until she opened the door and agreed to hear me out.

It was late and Carl was off duty and had already been picked up for the night, so I drove the car on my own to Christina’s. Thankfully, some drunk dude who looked like he had been living inside for ten years was just leaving the building and I caught the door without having to buzz up. I reached Christina’s floor and then took a deep breath before I knocked on her door.

Five long minutes later the door unlocked and Christina opened it a fraction. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was wearing a thick purple robe. She had the chain still attached to the door so I couldn’t nudge my way in at all. She usually never used the chair to reinforce the lock on her door, so why then?

“What are you doing here?” she asked me, deadpan. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts and I just stood there with my hands on my hips while I stared at the floor. “It’s nearly two in the morning Jeffrey, go home and sleep or something.”

Christina made to close the door but I shoved my foot in the way at the last minute.

“Look, please just let me apologize and explain, Christina, hear me out, at least. Well, you have no choice, I’m not letting you close this door,” I said and then took a deep breath, I didn’t even know what I wanted to say.

“I love you.” Those were the words that came out and I decided that was a good place to start. Christina’s eyes widened and she shook her head as if she didn’t want to hear that. “I love you, Christina, and because of that I’d never do anything to hurt you intentionally.

I was stupid and I f*cked up by lying to you. I just didn’t want to upset you when I was explaining why I stood you up. I didn’t want to upset you any more than I already had. But I should have come clean and I didn’t because I thought I was sparing you and it came back ten times worse and that’s my fault.”

I stared into her eyes and begged her with mine to see how earnest I was, to show her that I was speaking from the heart.