The Bargain with the Billionaire

Chapter 17- Press Conference

No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dominique's POV

He's wearing his usual garb a dark grey three-piece suit that hugged his masculine body perfectly. He had his hair cut into a slick one, which matched the shape of his face. It was slightly tousled as he has this habit of unconsciously running his hand unto it. He has that blank expression on his face that even Elle's husband natural aura will fail in comparison. His dark gaze never left mine directly looking at me. I'm mesmerized or maybe hypnotized that I can't tear my gaze away from him.

With his 5 o'clock shadow, new haircut, and a blank expression, I'm seeing the other side of him, the billionaire and the businessman Leandro Valderama. I can't really decide which I prefer, the playful one or this strict and dangerous one. Either of the two, he looks perfect, heavenly but sinfully perfect.

"Hey Dom, it's not a crime to blink, you know." Chev teased while nudging me on the elbow. I just wished the man learns to shut his mouth for good.

"Shut up, I'm busy concentrating here." I snapped at him but he just rolled his eyes playfully with a stupid grin on his face.

"Yeah, I can see that, keep concentrating...concentrate on drooling on the man." He laughed throatily amusing himself with that comment. "How can you? You're sitting beside your lovers and you're drooling on another man? You're hurting our feelings." He clutched his chest and made a dramatic sigh.

We're in a wooden gazebo surrounded by lots of trees and flowering plants. It's my favorite place in Demon's farm actually. It feels like haven to me. We're sitting on a huge Narra sofa in front of a plasma TV waiting for my verdict. I don't know why I have to torture myself and have this urge to hear and see it with my own ears and eyes. Leandro Valderama is having a press con about the scandal and definitely going to break our fake engagement – just in front of million or even billions of people watching.

He's making too much effort to break an engagement that's not even true. There's nothing to break in the first place anyway. It's fake. It's already broken just before it started.

He wants to cleanse his hand of this mess of course. He's a respectable business figure after all. So, that explains all the trouble.

Sitting beside me is Chev who doesn't know how to shut his mouth. The two grumpy men, Demon and Carl are sitting comfortably beside each other with their long legs on top of the center table. They're lost in their own thoughts looking blindly on the screen. Elle, from what I hear, was kidnapped by her husband to Africa after that incident in the engagement party. First he's stalking his wife and now he kidnapped her. I thought nothing could top the three freaks beside me but I'm shamefully wrong because Elle's husband is a league of his own. What a freaking freak!

"You should be careful Dom, the grumpy disease is slowly creeping that even the doctor wasn't spared." He glanced at the two grump men beside him and then at me smiling with his eyes.

"Shut up!" The three of us said at the same time. The two were almost growling but I was close to smiling.

"Fine." Chev raised his hands in surrender but the glint of amusement in his eyes is apparent. "I'm sorry. No one told me that it's a grumpy day today." The two looked at him sharply and he made a mouth-zipping gesture turned to me and winked.

I can't help but laugh with his action. I'm really glad Chev is here. His easy-go-lucky streak always put our friendship in balance. Just imagine I'm with the two grumps all those years without the playful Chev? Okay, don't even try. It's unimaginable – in a bad way.