Lahat ng Kabanata ng Billionaire Alpha: Kabanata 371 - Kabanata 380

Matt"Then stop being stupid. Society says what you should do and you project that shit onto me and Dad as if we're judging you. There's only one person scrutinizing your shit and saying that you're coming up empty.""Myself." I hung my head in shame. Damon was spot on. He always was."Exactly. What happened with Erica?""I slept with her.""And? Was it everything you wanted it to be?""Yeah. It just tied me tighter to her, but I'm in the middle of one of those fight or flight moments. I usually tuck tail and run.""That doesn't mean you're not a man, Matt, or that you're not strong and capable of making the right choice. It means that you've once again allowed yourself to fall into the trap of 'not good enough,' but you're the sorry mother fucker who's setting the standard, no one else. I'm pretty sure Erica would rather have you snuggled up in the bed with her than walking around her house looking for an exit. She's not thinking about your 401K or your net worth, or how many compani

Erica"Yep. I'll call you later." I hung up the phone and tossed it back on the bed. Matt's portfolio sat on the floor beside the suitcase, and I couldn't help but pick it up and carry it into the living room. I wanted to take my time and really take in all that he'd put together. Only the smaller pieces would have fit in the hard plastic contraption he had them in, but anything done by him interested me.I dropped down to the floor in the living room and unzipped the container, being careful as I pulled out a good handful of paintings and transferred them to the coffee table. I moved through them slowly, each picture tugging at a different part of my heart. To say I was fearful over having him paint me would have been an understatement.The painting of Damon that lay before me on the table stole my breath. I'd seen it before, but knowing the story behind it and actually having the time to study it filled me with the horror of what Damon must have felt that day. His whole world came t

MattShe laughed. "Right, cause that's me.""It's the ‘you’ I see." I licked at my lips and pulled one of my favorite sketching pencils from the pack. "We can take breaks for sure. I just need a couple of hours to get the raw sketch down.""And do you want me in the sports bra or nude?""You can actually wear what you have on for now because I'll be working on your face first." I grumbled softly to myself. "I should take my man card for not saying nude."She laughed again and the sound of it caused my heart to flutter. "All right. Take your pictures before you forget. I'll stay in the dress and change when you want me to.""Awesome." I set the pencil and pad down and got up. "Pose for me and let me put you in the perfect position.""Kinky." She put her back to me and turned a little, giving me a smoldering look. "This good?""Fucking hot for sure." I moved up behind her and repositioned her shoulders a little. "You look like a goddess.""You're just being sweet.""Nope. Just telling i

Erica"You sore already?" I moved up behind Matt as he stood at the stove, working on dinner later that night."Yeah. Damn, that was a serious workout, Erica. How often do you girls do that?"I reached up and pressed my fingers into his shoulders, massaging him as he groaned in delight."Every Sunday night. I love it. I feel like I got a detox and a workout.""No wonder you look so damn good. That was far more intense than I thought it would be." He reached up and gripped my hands but kept his back to me. "I'm gonna pass out if you keep that up.""Then I can do it later for you.""Sounds good. Go take a load off. Dinner is almost done." He released me and went back to cooking as I walked into the living room. I hadn't checked my e-mails for the last few days, which wasn't me at all. It was funny how quickly my desire to be needed by the office dissipated when I had something else to focus on.I sat down at the small desk on the far end of my living room and pulled up my laptop, workin

Matt"So? How was it?" Bethany worked on a ham sandwich in the kitchen at my father's house as I leaned against the counter beside her and watched."It was great. Erica was a load of fun, and Seattle is insanely beautiful.""And?""And I signed the contract with Jonathan after Erica looked it over. We'll be doing the showing in November, I think. I get a few extra tickets to it, and I'd love for you to be there with me.""You know I will." She picked up the two halves of the sandwich and offered me one of them. "What about you and her, Matt? You're being so fucking cryptic.""I know." I took a big bite and shrugged before turning and walking to the backyard. The flight home had been miserable because I couldn't stop working through a million ways to see her again. Like that night."So stop acting like Damon and give me my brother back, please." She moved up behind me and walked out to join me on the patio. It was still a little warm for what most people would consider fall weather, bu