2. Contracted to Him

LEO POV

I could not stop thinking about the woman who had destroyed my plans. I've always settled with the fact that women were only good at one place and that was in bed. I never pictured myself getting married at 31. 

Despite my unwillingness to start a contract marriage with the stripper, I had to comply due to my father's plan. He always found a way to every problem I had and this was not an exception.

I just needed to exercise a little patience till all was calm for me to assume the chairmanship role of R&B group. After all these, we'd dump her.

I dropped my pen and pushed my swivel chair farther from my table. I dialed her number which my executive secretary, Jude had found and waited patiently to bash her. I had so much joy in doing so. We had a few conversations after which she began to fume over the phone. 

"I'm not pregnant. God forbid that I carry your child,"she screamed over the phone. "The cafe or nowhere else,"she added.

I wasn't in for an argument with her so I agreed. I had to put up with her so my father's plan could work out. She would know her place sooner or later. 

"Be at the Cafe by 4pm. My secretary will get you to my villa,"I said, pulling the swivel chair in.

"Why are we meeting at your villa?"she asked and it was the most stupid question I had ever heard.

"Are you really dumb or pretending to be? Have you forgotten that we need to avoid the media and public for now?" 

She fell silent for about a minute, then said; "Bye!"and hung up the phone.

She was really testing my patience and I contained my emotions with all my might. 

"Did she just cut the call on me?"I questioned myself and suddenly burst out laughing. My face then contorted with rage. 

She had clearly crossed every limit. A mere stripper was acting up to me, the heir to a conglomerate. 

I lost my zeal for work and placed my hand over my head while contemplating on the coming days. I'd make life a living hell for her after she signs the contract.

My daydream was halted as Annabel forced her way into my office.

"I told her you would not entertain any visitors but she forced her way inside," the receptionist said.

"Don't worry. You can leave now,"I ordered her. 

Annabel glared at her, hissed, went over to the couch and sat down. 

One thing I loved about her was her curves and boobs. She always knew how to keep it all in the right places.

I was mostly attached to her and she was best at satisfying my lustful pleasures. Other than that, I'd never put a ring on it even when I knew she wanted it. 

"Just spill it, cupcake,"I said, watching as she almost blew up with rage.

"How could you do that to me, Leo? After everything we've done together. I've given everything to satisfy you but you just washed all my efforts down the drain by getting married to an unknown woman,"she cried.

Her tears were soul-moving but it didn't move mine one bit. I laughed loudly and sat beside her on the couch. 

"How could you laugh in this situation? You've betrayed me,"she cried loudly.

I smiled and pulled her hands into mine. "You saw the video?"

"It's literally everywhere on the internet."

"Calm down, cupcake. You should know that the media would do anything to find a scoop even if it's fake,"I said, trying to calm her down.

"What I saw wasn't fake. Your father even approved your marriage. Despite all my efforts to win him over,"she said and broke down again.

To be honest, I could tell with a glance that she was pretending but I couldn't care less. She served as my personal stripper and I desired to keep things that way in the coming days.

"Tell you something, she's a stranger to me. I don't know her but we just have to do this because our situation was a mess. It's a fake marriage that will be over as soon as I am appointed as Chairman. You're the only one for me,"I assured her.

"If I'm the only one for you, why do you still go after those local and cheap stripper girls? Why don't you ever get satisfied? I've already told you to steer clear of those girls. For all we know, she might have set you up to blackmail you," 

I thought about what she just said. How could I have missed that part? I started putting the pieces together and she seemed devious to me.

A usual stripper would have left the room and taken her payment from Jude but she stayed in bed for hours past her working schedule.

I need to investigate the issue and if it turns out that Emily's involved, I'll fuel her life with misery and suffering.

"She wasn't involved. It's someone else who hoped to bring me down,"I said, waving off the topic.

"Whether she's involved or not, I'll make her life a living nightmare. She's so arrogant, annoyingly confident…"I suddenly exploded, feeling so angry for thinking about her.

"Why are you marrying her if you hate her this much? We can find other solutions to this problem"Annabel said, staring closely at my face.

I stayed quiet for a while with my head slightly facing the other side of the room.

"What if she starts working with me at the gallery? I could find a role for her which would keep her busy throughout the time of the fake marriage"she said.

"Is that necessary? She doesn't need to be busy. She only needs to suffer for putting me in an awkward situation. You know how hard it was to prove myself to Dad,"I said.

"As much as I hate the idea of the contract marriage, I can't imagine what you'll do to her if she's always around you. Working with me will help her stay far away from you so you won't be so stressed every time,"Annabel said, caressing my beard. 

"You're so smart,"I said, pulling her closer. We spent the rest of the day smooching in my office before I headed to my villa to meet Emily.

I headed straight for the bathroom, trimmed my beards and had a cool shower. I wore simple fleece joggers with no tees on. My home line beeped which signaled that Jude had brought her into the villa.

She was seated quietly in the living room when I stepped out from the East wing of the building. I quickly sized her up; quite nice for a lowly stripper. She had long red hair and was wearing a simple shirt and trousers. 

She instantly stood up when she saw me walk in. I placed my hands in my pocket and glared at her. She stood firm for a few seconds but her confidence began to wane afterwards.

My plan to puncture her annoying confidence was working. She stuttered before she finally spoke. 

"When do I sign the contract? We can't keep staring at each other," she said and looked away.

"Why did you do it?"I asked her

"Do what?!" She questioned, looking confused.

"I know you called the press men. I knew it was your plan to extort money from me in the first place," I said, moving slowly towards her. 

"I don't understand you. Why would you assume that I did that?"

"Because you're poor. You're in poverty and that kind of blackmail and extortion mentality has eaten deep into your system,"I replied.

Her face was laced with anger but it was none of my concern. She doesn't know what's coming for her.

"What proof do you have that I made the call?!"she yelled.

I laughed loudly while pacing the room slowly. Then I moved towards her, making direct eye contact with her.

"Do you think I'll make accusations without any evidence? You want proof? I'll show you proof,"