Bet You're Mine: A Lesbian Billionaire Fake Girlfriend Romance(4)

Part of me is a bit annoyed; I’m offering her help in exchange for something that I know she wants anyway, and she’s scoffing at it. Another part of me though, only wants her more. I always get what I want and I appreciate a nice chase every now and then, so perhaps I just need to adjust my approach. Her resilience and reaction were stronger than I had anticipated, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me want her even more.

Plus, I genuinely do want to help her out.

I let out a sigh and put the car in gear, driving off and back towards the club to go and find my cousins, and hopefully enjoy the rest of my night. It doesn’t take me long to get back there and when I pull up, my cousins are there waiting.

Apollo gets into the front seat and scowls at me, shaking his head. I roll my eyes and chuckle, shrugging my shoulders and pulling away as soon as Daniella gets seated.

“What?” I ask him innocently, smirking. “You seem tense.”

“Of course we’re tense Rafael,” Daniella snaps from the back seat, “You left us here high and dry while you ran off with some chick; that’s not part of the agreement!”

Apollo nods and leans back in his seat, clearly annoyed.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to be the ones picking the girl for the competition, not you. Not to mention that you left us there high and dry without warning, that wasn’t cool.”

“Oh relax, you two; you’re adults and can handle yourselves, it’s not like I left you in some shady neighborhood with no protection, you were at a club.”

I sigh and accelerate with a smirk, enjoying the feel of the pull of the car as we head towards home.

“Plus, I went out with the girl from the club, the blushing brunette? She’s adorable and I just had to spend some time with her. We went for ice cream.”

Daniella laughs and leans forward with a smirk, shaking her head in disbelief. I know she thinks that I’m a bit frivolous with my antics, but I can’t help it; a pretty girl is a pretty girl.

“Wait a second Rafaela; you’re telling me that the girl you picked out was the stammering and nervous little thing from the front desk?”

“Yes,” I say with a chuckle, biting my lip, “And that stammering little cutie’s name is Heather, by the way.”

Apollo snickers and shrugs his shoulders, grinning back at Daniella.

“Maybe it’s just me but I’m not too worried; I can’t see that one keeping up with Rafaela for more than a week, tops. Plus, she seems a bit….”

“Ditzy.” Daniella chimes in, winking. “The word you’re trying to come up with is ditzy.”

“Yeah, there’s no way that she’ll be able to put u with you, Rafael. Good luck, though.”

I roll my eyes at the two of them bantering back and forth about Heather, knowing that I’ve got more important things to think about than whether or not they like her for the competition.

Like how I’m going to convince her to see me again.

We get back home and my brother Stefano is there, immediately jumping down my throat about our family inheritance. It figures. It doesn’t take long for both of us to be screaming at each other, tensions rising higher by the second.

“Listen here Rafaela; you’re too much of a fucking loose cannon to inherit our father’s money and business when he retires, you can’t even take care of yourself or hold anyone down! You can’t commit to one fucking girl, how the hell do you expect to be given a business to commit to?”

Stefano’s words sting and although there’s a tiny amount of truth to it, it’s not to the same degree that he’s making it out to be. After all, it’s not like I’m insane or making things harder for the family or anything like that; so what if I like to party a bit?

I can see Apollo and Stefano’s capo eyeing each other up and readying for a fight, but I don’t want it to come to that. Plus, what my brother doesn’t know is that I’ve already got a plan. The fact that I’ve just come up with it now doesn’t matter, nor am I going to tell him that. A plan is a plan.

“Stefano cut it out! It’s not nearly as bad as you’re making it out to be and besides; what you don’t know is that we’ve got a little bet going on.”

I smirk over at my cousins with a shrug and then look back to my brother, grinning.

“If I can keep a girl for at least a month, then I get Apollo’s bike and Daniella’s recipe for Limoncello. So you see; I’ve already got a commitment that I’m trying to lock down, your point is moot.”

Stefano is silent for a second and then he bursts out laughing, making me roll my eyes as his gaze darts from Apollo and Daniella and then back to me, shaking his head.

“You can’t be fucking serious, Rafaela.”

I shrug my shoulders and smirk, nodding.

“Dead serious, brother.”

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, smirking at me before finally crossing his arms over his chest.

“Fine; if you win this bet then I’ll back you with Father, but if you lose, then you have to back me. Agreed?”

I’m not one to back away from a challenge, especially not one with stakes as high as this one, so I step forward with a grin and shake his hand.

“Agreed. You’re on, brother.”

With that I take my leave, anxious to get back to the club as soon as I can to work things out with Heather. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet, but I always get what I want and right now, she’s it. So, for now my focus will be doing my best to get Heather to see me again, whatever that takes.

Nothing is going to stop me.





Seven





Heather





In the middle of a steamy yet unwelcome dream featuring a dark-haired woman with sparkling brown eyes, my alarm blares and wakes me. I groggily pull the sheets over my head, silently pleading for five more minutes.

Some time later when the sun begins to beat down on my face, I finally pull myself into a sitting position. I rub my eyes and reach for my phone, nearly dropping it when I take note of the time.

"Shit!" I overslept by an entire hour. Running around the room like a madwoman, I rush to pull on some clothes and brush my teeth.

Finally shaking away the dream about Rafaela, I brew some coffee and dial the number for work.

Rachel picks up after only one ring, and she's raging. "Heather where the heck are you, I'm drowning in work here!"

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't sleep last night and Emma took a while to settle down. I'll be there I promise."

"How many times have I heard that before?" Rachel pauses, and I hear her trying to calm an angry customer in the background.

"I'll leave the house in ten minutes max. Just have to get my daughter up and ready."

The customer in the background begins to yell, and Rachel calls Sara in to help though it's not her job. "I can't get the shop's accounts to balance, and the landlord is giving us Hell again about the rent going up. I don't need the additional stress of wondering whether or not you're coming to work every day!"

Her comment hits me the wrong way and my cheeks redden with anger. "None of that is my fault!"

"Maybe that would be true if you showed up for once!" Rachel huffs, the sounds of the store's chaos diminishing as she hurries into the back room.

My brows knit and I can't believe the words I'm hearing. "Maybe I'd show up if I didn't have endless bills, a young child, and nobody to help me out with her at home!"

Silence echoes from the other line, and I toss my half-empty coffee cup into the sink. I'm in no mood for it at the moment.

"Look Rachel, I'm trying my best." Tears sting at my eyes as the frustration builds. I really do want to be a good employee, but it's harder than it seems.

The owner of the book shop takes a deep breath before continuing. "I know you are. I'm sorry for getting upset with you, there's just a lot going on here and we need your help."

I feel as if I'm fighting with a sister. We really do care about each other, and I understand her point of view. "I'm sorry too, after I get Emma ready I'll be right in."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe you do have too much going on." The way she says it concerns me, and I suddenly feel the need to backtrack on my previous point.

"Well, it's not so much that I can't handle it, I just need a break once in a while." The free childcare at work is a perk, but caring for Emma alone at home can be difficult.

Rachel misunderstands my point completely, and says something that makes my heart drop. “I agree, I think the best thing for the both of us right now would be a break.”

My breathing becomes ragged as I practically watch my job slipping away. “What do you mean?”

She takes a moment to think, most likely wondering how to say whatever she’s thinking so she doesn’t offend me. “You should take some time off. Don’t worry, your job will still be here when you return, but just think of it as a mandatory vacation.”

I can tell that she’s trying to put my health and sanity first, but I don’t need a break. I need my job. “That won’t be necessary, just let me come in today and we can talk about it then.”

“No Heather,” Rachel’s voice is firm but empathetic. “Please just take a few weeks for me. Once you come back refreshed, you’ll feel so much better and your work performance will naturally improve.”