SEDUCING THE BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 15

"Hey, can we talk?" Duke walked into her room, they had had dinner and she was just from saying goodnight to Lindsey. She was about to take a shower before she could go to sleep when he walked in.

"Is everything okay?" she hoped it wasn't about the custody issue. The social worker had never returned, and they were yet to hear any news from that end.

"Yeah..." he walked over and sat by the couch, Audrey sat on the other end "I just wanted to let you know that I have had an NDA prepared and I will be approaching Connie with it, I want to start...dating her." Well, he couldn't say he wanted to start screwing her now, could he?

"Oh" Audrey didn't know what to say, she felt like someone had spilled cold water on her in June. They were yet to even clock a year in their five-year marriage contract, and he was already pursuing someone else?

"Are you terminating our contract?" she asked, trying to swallow the big lump which was forming in her throat. She had had such a nice day, getting title deeds to the house, finalizing a contract with the interior designer, a lovely lunch with Jerome... it was supposed to end on such a high note but nope, he had to come and ruin it.

"Of course not, the NDA is so that Connie won't tell anyone about my relationship with her," he explained, and Audrey couldn't help shaking her head in disbelief, why was he making everything so tangled up when it could be as easy as 1 + 1?

She wanted to air this out, to point out that even if Connie doesn't tell anyone, someone was bound to see them together out there and everything would come crumbling down, but she held her breath, she was so tired of being the voice of reason, the logical one thinking about the consequences of his actions.

"If that's what you want then go ahead," she simply said and Duke eyed her suspiciously. He had expected her to argue and lecture him, to say it was a bad idea.

"Just like that?" he asked "I thought you would be against it"

"Why? I am just an employee, hired to play the part of your life. This is your movie, you're the director and you can bring whoever you want to join in" she said and got up from the couch "am sure you know what you're doing," she added before walking into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

Duke remained sitting there for a bit, a part of him questioning if this was a good idea.

'You don't owe her any loyalty; you're just paying her to pretend to be your wife and you deserve to get back out there and start living your life' the other part whispered.

.

Even though he had talked to Audrey and the NDA was ready to be signed by Connie who was still sending flirty messages, Duke was still hesitating to present it to her. He knew these things had a way of coming out and the last thing he needed was to lose custody of his sister.

He asked Jerome to look into the matter and ask when they were likely to hear from social services again and not wanting her dirty laundry aired out, her career and reputation put on the line. The social worker who had visiting them gave a glowing report mentioning that the home was warm and conducive, that Audrey was a good role model and mother figure to Lindsey. She recommended that Lindsey should stay put because removing her from that home would only disturb her.

Duke applied again, this time around the visitation report by the social welfare was attached to the application as it went from district to provincial offices, Jerome tracking it until a court date for the final hearing was given.

Duke could practically see the finish line, if Aunt Brenda tried to cause commotion, he would make sure the social worker testified that she tried to brine her in order to jeopardize the adoption.

He was so excited that he finally even approached Connie with the NDA.

.

"Just buy diet pills or those juices people sale for weight loss," Rhoda was advising Audrey after she hinted at Duke perhaps not being okay with her body.

"I will not start taking pills for him," she refused.

"you're married to a billionaire Audrey, if he wants you to become a size one, you work hard and become a size one" she spoke heatedly "if he wants you to take skin brightening pills or get plastic surgery then you do it."

The last thing her sisters wanted was for her to lose the marriage before she even got to the one-year mark. Sure, Rhoda was now properly married and so was Diane but that didn't mean they would be okay with their elder sister coming back from her marriage so soon.

Even though it was not in the marriage contract, Duke was also sending $500 to her mum and her dad then $200 to each sister. To him it was nothing but to them it meant a lot, Inonge had even invested it in a business so that she could raise money for her wedding as she did not want to start forming committees and making people pay.

Rhoda was saving the money so that she could buy the car of her dreams and Diane had been using it to renovate her new matrimonial home slowly because she did not like her new hubby's home.

Their parents had saved up then used the money to buy the farm they had been renting for years, they were now developing it to turn it into a modern farm so that they could move out there for retirement.

Audrey refused to take pills just so Duke would find her attractive and perhaps love her, what if she got cancer or something?

One late afternoon she went out for a drive just to clear her head and drove past a gym

'Don't do it' a voice whispered 'don't you dare do it. A man who doesn't want you as a large doesn't deserve you as a size small' she tried to tell herself but ended up parking and walking to the front door. She stood there by the side just watching people go in and out, pondering whether she should go and ask about their membership packages or she should just turn back and go home. As she stood there going back and forth in her head, the door opened, and Jerome came out.

"Audrey? What are you doing here?" he asked as he stepped away from the entrance

"Wondering whether I should join a gym or not," she responded with a heavy sigh.

"Why do you want to join the gym?" he asked, reading the conflicted and sad expression on her face.

"I seriously don't know." she let out a pained laugh.

Jerome ushered her further aside, away from the people going in and out.

"Let me give you some unsolicited advice, only start the gym because you want to or because a doctor recommended it for heath purposes." He knew this had to do with Duke's preferences and he hated it, no one deserved to feel ugly or unworthy just because one person they like claimed that their body type isn't attractive to him.

"So, you don't think I need to lose weight?" she asked.

"No, absolutely not. You're perfect just like this." He smiled at her, looking her up and down and she tried not to shy away even if she was blushing "if you start becoming overweight, I will bring you here myself," he teased, and she responded with a chuckle.

"You're not overweight so why are you here if the gym isn't that important?" she asked him

"I come here after a stressful day, working out helps me clear my head."

"What is stressing you today?" she genuinely wanted to know, he had been so kind and helpful to her, she wanted to return the favor if she could.

"It's a long story," he tried to brush it away.

"And I have more than enough time."

Jerome mauled over it for a minute then nodded.

"Okay, can we talk over a drink?" he requested

"Can we go somewhere quiet and private?"

Even though Duke was out there with Connie, she did not want to be seen with Jerome in a bar because she knew fake stories would start spreading and that was the last thing she needed, especially with the adoption hearing coming up.