One Weekend with the Billionaire novel Chapter 51

I have a scotch in my hand. It’s my third. I should probably slow down. I don’t want to wake up with a hangover, but it’s hard not to drown my sorrow in alcohol when I feel like shit.

I’m sitting in the art room I had put in for Julia, looking at the paintings she did when she was here, looking at the stool we were sitting on when we made love in this room. She’s been gone less than twenty-four hours, and I already miss her like hell.

I look down at my phone. I sent her a text about an hour ago. "How are you?" is all it says, but I am hoping she will respond and let me know how it’s going. I have an associate located in the apartment next to hers so that, if Jeff gets violent, that person can intervene. Most of the time, that will be Stringer, but right now it’s someone else so that he could be home with his wife for a while. It will be a rotating assignment, one I’ve delegated to someone else. I trust all of my people to make sure that Julia is kept safe, but I want to talk to her myself.

I want her to call me and tell me that she’s left Jeff for good, that she wants to come back here, come back to me, come back home. I don’t know how I can do this every day, be away from her. It’s like trying to live without oxygen in my lungs. I need Julia just as certainly as I need air.

Her last painting is still on the easel. I move to the stool so that I can study it better. It’s a still life of a bowl of fruit, not anything that should be particularly moving, but it’s dazzling to me. The way she captured the blush of the apple, the way she made the banana appear as if it is leaning so heavily on the orange that it might topple over at any second. It’s a skill not many people have. It’s a talent that is moving and will bring out emotion in many people if Julia is allowed to share her work with others. I can’t imagine being her husband and knowing that painting is her passion but not allowing her to use it. The idea is as mind boggling to me as having such a beautiful flower of a wife but not appreciating her. Jeff Thompson is an unbelievable bastard, and I would like to bash his head in.

I won’t, though. I’ve got some pretty good lawyers, but I don’t want to push my luck on going to prison for the rest of my life over someone who’s not worth it. Surely, Julia will not choose to stay with him, will she?