The Wrong Wife (Morally Grey Billionaires #5)(21)

The ball of emotion in my throat grows bigger. I swallow around it and scan her features—pale cheeks, thin lips, hollows under her eyes. Vestiges of her beauty cling to her features, and if I stare hard enough, I can still see the animated mother who’d drive me home from school, play the piano in the mornings so I’d always wake up to the sound of one of her favorite sonatas, hold my father’s hand and mine when they took me to my first opera as a birthday surprise… She gave up so much for my happiness, even turned her life upside down to move to another country, just to be close to me in London. And how do I repay her? By not even making it as an actress. Not being able to pay for her to remain in the home she’s grown to love.

"I’m such a selfish daughter." I swallow down the tears that threaten to overwhelm. "I’m so sorry, Ma, I wasn’t able to help. I’m sorry I was too self-involved to realize the true state of your health. But I promise, we’ll find a way. I’ll take you home. It’s a flat I share with Mira, but you can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch and—"

A knock on the door has me glancing toward it.

The manager of the place, Sunita, stands there. There’s a grim look on her face, and her lips are pinched. Oh, god, I thought I had another twenty-four hours before having this conversation, but there’s no putting it off. I place the comb on the dresser, then bend and kiss my Mom’s cheek. "Let’s get you into bed, shall we?"

I urge my Ma to her feet, and once she’s in bed, I pull the covers over her, then step out of the room. Sunita shuts the door. We stand in the hallway, and she opens her mouth to speak, but I raise my hand. "I know what you’re going to say, and I did everything I could to avoid it, I promise."

She just looks at me without saying a word.

I square my shoulders. " Honestly, I tried everything. If there was any other way out, I’d have taken it," I lie. "I don't want to move her out of here, but—"

She blinks. "You don’t have to take her out of here, but you insist you’re going to. What is the rationale behind that?"

"I thought I’d find the money to pay and keep her here, but—" I blink. "Hold on, did you say I don’t have to take her out of here?"

She raises a hand. "That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. You don’t have to move her."

"But I don’t have the money to pay to keep her here."

Her scowl deepens. "What are you talking about?"

"That I’ve been unable to find a way to keep her here."

She leans forward on the balls of her feet. "But her bills have been paid."

I freeze, open and shut my mouth, but nothing seems to emerge. I seem to have disconnected from my body and am looking down at the scene unfolding. So, this is what a brain fart looks like?

"Penny?" Sunita waves her hand in front of my face. "Penny, you okay?"

I draw in a breath and my lungs burn. "Her bills have been paid?" I manage to choke out.

"Yes, and for the next twelve months."

"B-by whom?"

Her gaze widens. "You don’t know who paid your mother’s bills?"

I open my mouth to agree, then give myself an inward shake. Don’t kick a gift horse in the mouth. Take it and move on. You want your mother to stay here, don’t you?

"Ohhh, I know who did. It was my new boss."

"New boss?" She tilts her head. "You found a new job?"

"Yes, yes, I’m going to be the assistant to the CEO of Warren Media."

"Warren Media?"

"Yes, he’s my friend Abby’s brother. That’s how I got the job, and as part of the deal, he—I mean, the company—agreed to pay for my mother to stay here."

She smiles. "That seems like a generous offer.”

I shuffle my feet. It’s a guess on my part to say it’s Knight who paid the bills, but who else could it be? No one else I know has that much money to spend. But why would he do that? And for the next twelve months? I pull my phone out of my pocket and pretend to gasp. "Look at the time. I need to go meet my new employer."

"You’re meeting him at five p.m.?" Her forehead furrows.

"Oh, yeah. I officially start tomorrow, but it’s a preparatory session. These big companies—" I roll my eyes. "They’re so particular." And now I can’t stop the lies that spew out of my mouth. I wave my hand at her. "Well, thank you again for being so helpful. I gotta go." I brush past her and walk down the corridor and out of the building.

My head is swimming. A strange floating sensation fills my limbs. It feels like I'm in a dream, walking through a thick syrup. I manage to make it to the tube and head over to Knight’s office building. I enter, march up to the reception and announce, "I’m here to meet Knight Warren."

"Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist sniffs.

"I don’t, but he’ll see me."

She looks down her nose at me. "I’m afraid he won’t be seeing you if you don’t have an appointment, and—"

"Penny?" His rough, hard voice rolls down my back. Sparks of awareness flicker off my nerve-endings.

The receptionist in front of me jumps to her feet so quickly, her chair overturns. Her face is flushed a deep red, and her pupils are dilated. OMG, is she going to have an instant orgasm right now? Not that my thighs are not quivering. And the inner walls of my pussy are clenching. My panties are not so drenched, I can feel the wet fabric sticking to my inner thighs. But seriously, does he have that effect on everyone?