Addicted (A Billionaire Romance Novel) Read online

  “Get out of here Chad. I’m going to be with my son! I know he loves me!” She shouted as she removed the orange cap from the needle.

  “Please, Audrey. I don’t know what else to do,” he dropped on his knees at her feet. “I can’t apologize more than I already have. I love you, Audrey,” he said as he placed his head on her lap. “Don’t do this to me,” he whispered.

  It was like someone had flipped a switch; she rapidly blinked for a moment as the words sunk in. “You love me?” she asked.

  “Yes, Audrey, I love you so much. I know that I fucked up. I know that. But, I also know that you were always the one who got away and we should’ve been together from the start. I’m sorry that we weren’t, and I’m sorry that you suffered so much. All I can do is promise you that you are my world; you mean everything to me.”

  The hand holding the needle went limp as she listened to him. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why hadn’t he told her before? What if it were all lies to stop her from shooting up?

  “I don’t believe you, Chad,” she said, bringing the needle back up to the bend of her elbow. “I think you’re lying to me again,” she accused him as she grabbed the end of the belt with her teeth, tightening its grip on her arm.

  “Audrey, I’m not lying! I love you, and only you. I need you!”

  “You need me?” she snorted. “For what?”

  “To be with you. Audrey, you’re my world, and I’d be lost in it without you. Please, stay with me. Don’t do this. What do you think Alex would say if he could see you right now? What do you think he would say if you met him in heaven?”

  She pricked her skin with the needle and began pulling the plunger back to ensure that she was in her vein. As she concentrated on her vein, Chad snatched the needle from her hand.

  “Give that back! I don’t want to live anymore! I want to die!”

  “Audrey, why are you saying these things?” he asked, holding the syringe above his head, out of her reach.

  “Do you know that today is Alex’s death anniversary? The only thing that stands between me and him is that needle. I don’t have a reason to live anymore.”

  “Audrey, you’re the love of my life. I’m sorry I’ve waited this long to tell you, but please, believe me,” he said as he grabbed her hand.

  Staring deep into her eyes, it was like a light came on. Her facial expression changed from anger and frustration to concern and love. Tears welled up in her eyes and began streaming down her cheeks.

  “Do you mean that?” she whispered.

  “Yes, baby. I love you very much,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

  As they embraced, she broke down. Balling uncontrollably, she nestled her head into his chest as he stroked her hair.

  “Audrey, I want you to meet Kayla,” he said, pulling away from her to face her.

  “Who’s Kayla?” she asked, blinking her tears away.

  “That’s my daughter, but I don’t know how easy it will be for you to meet her,” he sighed as he looked down at the floor.

  “Why?”

  He separated himself from her and rested his elbows on his knee, grabbing the sides of his head.

  “What?” she asked.

  “All right, I’m going to give it to you straight. Don’t ask me why I did this, because I don’t have a good reason. When I learned that I had a daughter, I went to meet with, Christina, her mother.”

  “Christina who?” Audrey interrupted.

  “Christina Porter. Like I was saying, I went to meet her and she asked if I was in a relationship…” he glanced at Audrey for a second and looked away. “I told her that I was single.”

  Audrey’s mouth fell open; her words were unable to escape her mouth.

  “I know, I know. It was a terrible lie to tell her, but I did eventually tell her the truth. When I told her about you, she became angry—almost resentful. Now she won’t let me see Kayla.”

  “What are you going to do?” Audrey asked.

  “I’ve hired an attorney, and we’re going to file for joint custody. Christina doesn’t know this yet, but she’ll find out soon because the lawyer is moving the court date up and we’ll be going in a few weeks.”

  “Chad, I don’t even know what to say to you right now,” she said in disbelief. “I thought you would bring stability into my life, not chaos.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. Come here,” he said as he pulled her back in for another hug.

  Chapter Ten

  “Hello?” Christina answered the phone.

  “Christina, I need to talk to you about Kayla,” Chad declared.

  “What about her?” she said as she put away the groceries.

  “I want to see her.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’ll have to think about it,” she huffed.

  “You know, I really don’t want to force the issue, but our court date is only a couple of days away for the joint custody case,” he announced.

  “I don’t have to give her to you without a court order,” she yelled into the phone. “She’s my daughter!”

  “No, she’s our daughter, Christina. And I’m sure the courts would frown upon you keeping her from me. I’d like to come pick her up and take her to the park for a bit.”

  Avoiding the urge to hang up on him, she hastily thought about it. “Fine! You can take her for one hour, and you better have her back in time or I’ll point out to the courts—when we go—that you don’t follow visitation schedules.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll come around 5:30, if that’s all right with you,” he offered.

  “Be on time,” she demanded.

  After hanging up with Christina, he looked at Audrey.

  “It worked!” he said, picking her up off of her feet, swinging her around.

  “Great!”

  As the two got ready to pick Kayla up, Audrey thought about what it would be like to be around another child. Climbing into the truck, her limbs began to tingle as her heartbeat raced.

  “Are you okay?” Chad asked, noticing she was turning pale.

  “I’m fine, just a little nervous.”

  He patted her knee as he put the truck in drive, heading to Christina’s house to pick up his daughter. Audrey waited in the truck as he knocked on the door. Praying to her higher power, she asked for courage, strength and acceptance as she worried how Kayla would respond to her as well. Within a few minutes, she saw a short, bubbly brunette bouncing alongside Chad. As Kayla climbed into the back seat of the pickup, she shot Audrey a strange look.

  “Dad, who’s this? Is she your girlfriend?”

  Shocked, Audrey whipped her head around. “How does she know?”

  “I’ve mentioned you to her before,” he smiled. “And yes, that’s my girlfriend. Audrey, this is Kayla. Kayla, Audrey.”

  “I’m glad to meet you,” Kayla said.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Audrey smiled.

  The three of them had a snack in the park and spent their remaining time pushing Kayla on the swings. Not wanting to upset Christina, he announced that it was time to go.

  “Already?” Kayla begged. “I want to stay!”

  “I know you do sweetheart, but we don’t want to upset your mom. We’ll do this again soon,” he promised her.

  “Definitely! I had a great time, how about you Kayla?” Audrey asked.

  “Yeah, I had fun.” She looked up at her dad, “I like her. Audrey’s nice.”

  When it was time to go to court, Chad went alone. Audrey would’ve liked to have gone, but she was scheduled to work; plus Chad thought it would look better on him if his girlfriend didn’t accompany him. Christina and Chad each stood by their lawyers as the judge called their names. During the hearing, Christina tried to argue the fact that he had been absent almost all of her daughter’s life and shouldn’t be entitled to share custody. Chad’s attorney argued the fact that the mother never informed him about the child until she began to seek child support.

  By the end
of court, the judge ruled in Chad’s favor and even granted him the entire summer with his daughter so he would have a chance to get to know her better. He was on cloud nine as he walked out of the courtroom. Excited to call Audrey and tell her the good news, he had his cell phone in his hand as he exited the courtroom.

  “I won joint custody and the judge granted me this summer with her!” he rejoiced.

  “That’s amazing! When are we going to celebrate?” her voice was bubbling with excitement.

  “Tonight! I’ll pick you up after I leave the attorney’s office.”

  After her suicide attempt, Audrey began working with her sponsor and joined a 12-step recovery program. Meeting like-minded people, she realized that she wasn’t battling depression and anxiety alone. Keeping in touch with members of her program, she found an entire support system that she never knew existed. She was finally thriving, and her relationship with Chad had never been better.

  That night, when Chad picked her up for dinner, they celebrated together as they discussed their plans with Kayla for the summer. As they were making plans throughout dinner, Chad suddenly began acting weird; though, Audrey couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly. About half way through dinner, Chad stood up and began tapping on his wine glass with his fork.

  “Excuse me, everyone! Sorry. May I have everyone’s attention please?” he announced to the restaurant.

  After everyone head’s had turned to face him, he dropped to one knee in front of Audrey.

  “Audrey,” he said, “we’ve been through many ups and downs together. I don’t know where I would be without you. You are the sun that my world revolves around, and though this question is long overdue: will you marry me?”

  Everyone in the restaurant began clapping and cheering as a teary-eyed Audrey shook her head yes, accepting Chad’s proposal. As he slid the ring on her finger, the newly engaged couple kissed before Chad took his seat across from her again.

  “Oh my God, I had no idea that you were going to propose to me tonight! I would’ve worn my waterproof mascara,” she joked.

  “The way I see it, I should’ve asked you a long time ago. Everything in my life is finally falling into place, and this is the last piece,” he gazed into her eyes.

  “You’re so romantic,” she said.

  “I do have one more question for you,” he stated.

  “What’s that?”

  “When are you going to move in with me?”

  “Seriously?” she asked. “I thought you’d never ask!”

  As soon as Audrey was settled in, she and Chad began setting up a room for Kayla. She was surprised at how happy it made her care for another child, even though it wasn’t her own. Strangely, Kayla reminded her quite a bit of Alex, which she found comforting. When Kayla came to stay for the summer, she and Audrey spent plenty of time together whether it be baking in the kitchen or going out on outings. The three of them vacationed in Italy, something Audrey had always wished to do. Shortly after they were back from vacation, it was time for Kayla to go back to her mother’s house. It saddened Audrey that she was leaving. Even though the court agreement was for Kayla to alternate one-week increments with each parent, Audrey felt like it was an eternity.

  “You know, we could start a family of our own,” Chad casually brought up the idea one day.

  “Why did you say that?” Audrey asked him as she painted in her art room, which was a spare bedroom in the mansion.

  “Because you seem so lonely when Kayla’s at her mother’s house for her week of custody. I just thought I’d throw the suggestion out there, in case, you know….you wanted to have a baby.”

  Audrey turned around with a stunned look on her face. “Do you know?”

  “Know what?” He was obviously confused.

  “I’m pregnant!”

  “What? When? How did that happen?” he rubbed his forehead. “I mean, I know how it happened. How long have you known?”

  “Are you kidding me? You really didn’t know?” she giggled.

  “No! I swear!”

  “I took a pregnancy test about a week and a half ago. I was planning on telling you after I went to the doctor. I have an appointment on Tuesday,” she gushed.

  “And you weren’t going to tell me? I’d want to go with you if that’s okay.”

  “Absolutely!” she exclaimed.

  “How far along do you think you are?” he wondered.

  “I’d say probably about seven weeks…maybe eight?”

  “Wow! I’m going to be a dad again!” he picked her up and spun around in a circle. “I love you!”

  Epilogue

  Audrey was feeling anxious that hot summer day as she walked into the store to do back to school shopping. It seemed like only yesterday that she had given birth to Alexis, their beautiful daughter. Now, there she was with her little family: Chad, Alexis and her stepdaughter Kayla, about to brave the crowded store for school supplies. She looked at the girls and realized how lucky she was. Audrey could hardly believe that Kayla was going to be a freshman in high school and Alexis was going to be starting kindergarten. She couldn’t help but think about how she almost missed out on all of it.

  Six years. That’s how long it had been since the incident in which Chad stormed into her house and saved her from herself. In that time, she had been to her meetings, met regularly with her sponsors and hadn’t had any relapses. She didn’t want to. Life was too good and she wasn’t about to ruin it over a drug. She had control over her life and she was going to keep it like that.

  Chad married her in a beautiful beachfront wedding ceremony.

  Audrey wanted to wait until after the baby was born but Chad wouldn’t hear of it. He said she deserved to have a husband when the baby was born and he even took care of all the wedding planning so she wouldn’t have to be worried with it. Audrey surprised Kayla when she asked her to be her maid of honor and you could tell that the little girl was so proud to be standing next to her at the altar.

  Audrey loved the beach so much that Chad put their house on the market and bought a beautiful 4 bedroom condo in Florida that overlooked Clearwater Beach. This complicated his visitation schedule with Kayla at first but he made it work. He was a dedicated father and he flew back to Missouri every other weekend to see her. He also got her during school vacations and for the entirety of their summer break. Eventually, Christina started dating a man. He and Christina didn’t get along and Kayla ended up moving to live with her dad full time.

  Every day, Audrey stands on the balcony outside of her bedroom door and thinks about how lucky she is. She finally has everything she has ever wanted. A loving husband, a beautiful family and memories of the best son in the world who may be gone, but will never be forgotten.

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