Love, Lies and Billionaires

A thick, disturbing silence hung in the air as the car rode smoothly on the tarred busy road.

Maren had her head resting on the window at the back seat where she sat as she watched the road move swiftly below them, surprisingly not making her nauseous, like it normally would do to an average human being.

But Maren wasn’t just an average human being because her mind wasn’t actually on the road but at different places and accommodated lots of thoughts at once.

“So what? You’re going to ignore me despite being in the same space with me?” Alexander asked, lifting his head from his phone, which he had been staring at with his brows arched a little.

Maren didn’t reply. She hadn’t even been listening to what he’d been saying after they’d gotten into the car and shut the doors.

“I did suggest we take different cars, didn’t I?” she finally spoke, keeping her eyes where they were.

“And where’s the fun in that?”

She turned to him and raised a brow.

“Oh, come on, you really still can’t be that mad at me for that, are you?”

“You think trying to apologise to me and then turn the tables is a good enough explanation for keeping your brother’s identity from me?” she asked with a frown and turned back to the window.

Alexander looked at her for a while in thought. “But is it such a big deal, though?” He asked and paused and before she could say another thing, he interrupted. “Are you more than what I think to him?”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Maren’s heart skipped a beat, and she forced her eyes from widening in shock. The last thing she wanted was to complicate things further. So she just kept quiet and ignored him.

“I mean, I know you two are so close, but did you have feelings for him? Or rather, did you guys fuck?”

“Way to wild guess Alexander,” Maren shot quickly, her heart slightly pounding in her chest.

“I still want an answer, Maren. Answer me!” he ordered, pulling her with force to face him.

Maren could see anger-or was it pain in his eyes as they bore into hers, searching for answers?

“Do you have feelings for Kendrick?” His voice was grave and serious and Maren reminded herself to thread with caution as he would go scot-free if he killed her here and now.

“You want honesty?”

“Yes, please”

Her heart raced as she searched for the answer she knew she didn’t have suddenly remembered the revelation with Kendrick that day at her office.

Alexander was not the father of her child and she knew it and Kendrick wasn’t willing to rush her just to allow Alexander to wallow in delusion for a while.

Now looking at Alexander, she could see sincerity in his actions, and it made her heart sting a little.

She swallowed, her throat suddenly turning dry. She tried opening her mouth to speak, but words hadn’t formed in her head yet.

“Your brother is a good man honestly, but I really am not certain if I have any feelings towards him,” she finally blurted and paused, waiting for his reaction.

But none came. He just returned her gaze. The air in the car suddenly became thick and sickly for Maren till, suddenly, he let go of her hand, which she’d just noticed he had been caressing, then took out his phone and began scrolling again.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said stubbornly, and Maren heaved a silent sigh of relief.

She really didn’t know why she felt so scared finding out, but whatever initiated the feeling, she let it do its thing. She really didn’t want any drama.

She just turned back to her part of the car, hoping you just enjoy the rest of the ride to the destination she wasn’t certain about.

*****

The sun was already out and shone brightly even through the window when they arrived at the empty place covered with just sand and no structure or landmark insight.

“We’re here, sir,” the driver announced, putting off the engine.

Maren brought down the glass to her eye level and looked out. “You sure we’re at the right place?”

“Is this the right place?” Alexander asked the driver, also noticing how deserted the place looked.

“This is the exact location of the coordinates in the text, sir,” he replied with his head straight, looking ahead as if he didn’t dare look at his boss in the rearview mirror.

“Do we have to-” she couldn’t complete it as Alexander had already gotten out of his car and was now heading to her side.

He opened the door and held it for her to alight. “If he says it’s the coordinates, then it’s the coordinates.” He stated, reading Maren’s questioning look.

She finally got out of the car, but not after putting on her dark shades to block out the effect of the sun on her eyes.

“So where is he now?” Maren asked grudgingly as she put one leg in front of the other, carefully regretting the heels she’d worn which sank into the sand, making her movement challenging.

Alexander, in turn, held her hand to support her as they walked away from the car like they could see their host.

“You really shouldn’t have worn-

“Of course I see that now, Alexander” she interrupted in a frustrated voice, tucking the loose strands of hair which the wind blew into her mouth behind her ear.

Just as they were about to take another step, the sound of an automobile caught their sight and they both stopped to watch the black Mercedes Benz, s class pull up beside them.

It took a short time before the engine was turned off and the door finally opened.

“To be honest, I didn’t think either of you would answer my text” Micheal said as the car closed shut.

“You think? After ghosting us and leaving us in the dark about the two cases in your hands,” Maren said, folding her arms.

“Well, I apologise for that, but it seemed like the wisest thing to do at that time and if you look around, you’d notice that we’re in a deserted location. I think it should click that things aren’t as they were with me”

“Well, I see you ride a better car” Alexander pointed out and Micheal shrugged in agreement.

“I really want to hear the explanation, if you don’t mind,” Maren stressed.

Micheal looked at her and sighed. “The thing is, I got back into the FBI but before that I’d been receiving threats from surprisingly untrackable people to drop Mr Sinclair’s case which I ignored at that time but now that with my gang, I sort of needed a new gig that’s why I listened to the threats.”

Maren looked at him with a disgusted expression. “And Irene’s case?” She asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s a job for the local police,” he replied.

Alexander sighed and rubbed his temples. “So what you’re saying is you’re useless to us and you brought us all the way out there to make that clear?”

Maren’s phone buzzed in her hand and she turned it on to take a look at it. She stared at the screen for a while before raising her head to Micheal.

“Is this some kind of joke?”