Billionaires At War

CHAPTER LII

Cassandra stepped out of her bathroom, steam flowing out in her wake as she rubbed a towel over her wet hair. She and her mother arrived early in the evening the previous day, and it felt good to spend the night in her bed. As she passed by her bed, walking to the wardrobe, she noticed breakfast sitting on a tray, waiting for her. She pulled on a clean shirt and walked back to the bed, sitting on the mattress before picking her laptop from the bedside table. She flipped the laptop open and immediately dialled him, waiting patiently, as she ate, for him to answer.

"Morning."

She tipped her head at him as a response, her hands were busy with the breakfast plate in front of her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good." He sounded tired, his words aside, looked tired as well, but she didn't mention it. If he refused to say it, then he wasn't going to talk about it; he didn't want to talk about it.

"Discussed the contract yesterday, and he called up to say he agrees with the time and place, money and all that. Should be arriving in the city early tomorrow morning."

Cassandra flashed him a brilliant smile before she took a sip of her freshly squeezed pineapple juice. She was happy he would be returning soon and even happier that the deal didn't fall through any more loopholes. There were more trips planned in the future, hopefully with less drama, but they did well for their first contract. A good start was always a prefered beginning; it encouraged confidence in future endeavours.

"Do you want me to come over and get you when you arrive at the airport, or do you want to visit me at home?"

Something caught his eye, and he looked above the laptop for a second. The sound of knocking also made her look up until she realised it was from his end. After a short second, he looked back at her with a weary nod.

"No need to come for me; I'll stop by my house first then, if I don't pass out from exhaustion, come visit you afterwards. Hey, I have thought of something while you were gone."

"Oh really!" she dropped the fork in interest, giving him her full attention. "Feel free to share whatever is on your mind."

"We haven't had a formal dinner with my mom. If we weren't an obvious couple, I would think it's alright to not meet her, but the whole city knows about us; she knows about us. If it's okay with you, maybe a simple dinner at my place so we can talk, introduce ourselves, newly, to one another?"

The last mother she agreed to meet on the terms of dating ended up at her feet when her son had decided to leave her at the altar. She trusted Harrison wasn't trying to rush things between them, but it meant a lot to him, and she didn't see any reason not to. As he already mentioned, it wasn't like they were a secret to his mom.

"I have met your mother on many occasions, but never as your girlfriend. I don't know, I wouldn't want things to be awkward, not really good with icebreakers." She sighed, toiling with the tips of her hair as she spoke. "When you get back, we'll discuss it and figure out what to do."

"Sure. When I get back."

Harrison placed a palm over his chest, rubbing the spot mindlessly as he trailed off. The hand on his chest moved in small circles, and she followed the movement even when he didn't say anything.

"What's wrong with you?"

His eyes shot back, and he waved his hands at her, "Not sure why, but my chest just been heavy the past few days, that's about it. Look, forget that for a while and tell me how you are. I know Shantel has gotten your head bleeding by now."

"Haven't spoken to her since I got back, only a text here and there, but nothing wild. Haven't told her about the shooting either, but Julia does know, and she gave me an earful. My mom has a way of delivering news scarily, freaked Julia out before she even saw me."