A Secretive Deal with My Billionaire Boss

Chapter 8

Madison

I slumped in the back of the cab, watching the city lights blur past. My head still spun from Alexander's insane proposition. The cabbie's choice of radio station - some kind of experimental jazz that sounded like cats fighting - wasn't helping my headache.

"Could you maybe..." I gestured at the radio.

"Best station in the city," he declared, turning it up instead.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I sighed and pressed my head against the cool glass, letting the chaos outside distract me.

The streets whizzed by in a blur of neon signs and bustling crowds. My mind drifted back to Alexander and his ridiculous proposal. One year as his girlfriend, solving all my problems in exchange for… what? Being his personal plaything? His exclusive arm candy?

A year of pretending to be in love with Alexander Knight.

I couldn't stop my thoughts from wandering to that night in his penthouse. The feel of his lips on mine, his hands exploring every inch of my body, how he made me cry out with a need so raw it left me trembling.

The memory alone had me squirming in my seat, heat pooling low in my belly. I bit my lip, trying to focus on anything else – the people on the sidewalks, the billboards flashing by, anything but the way he had taken control, leaving me breathless and aching for more.

I imagined what it would be like to be with him again, without the haze of drugs clouding his mind. How his touch would feel against my skin, unfiltered by any substances. How his c**k would stretch me open, filling me completely as he moved inside me.

Fuck.

My hand slid down to rest on my thigh, fingers itching to delve lower, but I resisted. This was not the place for such thoughts.

The taxi jerked to a stop, nearly sending me face-first into the partition. "Hospital's right there," the driver announced as if I couldn't see the massive building looming ahead.

I paid him and stepped out onto the curb, taking a moment to compose myself before heading inside.

Alexander Knight had offered me an escape from my financial nightmare in exchange for a year as his girlfriend. Part of me wanted to laugh at the absurdity, and another part wondered how good it might feel to give in completely.

I navigated the sterile hallways, dodging nurses pushing medication carts and doctors buried in their charts. The hospital's fluorescent lights made everyone look like extras from a zombie movie—probably including me.

Room 304. I knocked softly before entering.

"Mom?"

She lay propped up against white pillows, looking small and fragile in the hospital bed. The TV mounted on the wall droned on about some reality show where people competed to build the best doghouse. Only my mother would find that entertaining.

"Maddie." Her voice was weak, but her smile lit up her pale face. "You didn't have to come again today."

"Of course I did." I dropped my bag and settled into the plastic chair beside her bed. "Someone must ensure you're not flirting with all the doctors."

She attempted an eye roll, but it looked more like she was fighting sleep. "The only doctor I've seen today is Dr. Matthews. And he's about twelve."

"He's at least thirty-five, Mom."

"When you get to my age, anyone under fifty looks like a teenager." She shifted, wincing slightly. "How was work?"

My stomach clenched. How exactly do you tell your sick mother that your boss just proposed being his fake girlfriend in exchange for paying her medical bills?

"Oh, you know. The usual." I fiddled with her blanket. "Crazy clients, endless meetings, Mr. Knight being... Mr. Knight."

"That handsome boss of yours?" She perked up slightly. "The one from the magazine covers?"

"Mom, please don't start."

"What? I may be sick, but I'm not blind." She gave me a knowing look. "And you always get this little wrinkle between your eyebrows when you talk about him."

I smoothed my forehead self-consciously. "I do not."

"There it is again." She chuckled, then broke into a small coughing fit.

I grabbed the water cup from her bedside table, helping her take a sip. "Maybe less talking, more resting?"

She waved me off weakly. "I do enough resting. Tell me more about work."

"Nothing to tell. Unless you want to hear about the new coffee machine in the break room. It makes these weird gurgling noises that sound like—"

"Madison Harper." Despite her condition, she managed to inject that special mom-tone that made me feel five years old again. "You're deflecting."

"I learned from the best." I gave her a pointed look.

She sank deeper into her pillows, her energy clearly flagging. "Just promise me you're taking care of yourself."

The guilt hit me like a punch to the gut. Here she was, worried about me, while I was considering becoming my boss's paid girlfriend to help her. Life had a sick sense of humor sometimes.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really." I squeezed her hand gently. "You focus on getting better."

Her eyes welled up, and I braced myself for what was coming. Mom always got emotional when she was tired, and the medications didn't help.

"I just hate being such a burden." She dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her blanket. "First with everything after your brother—" She caught herself, the word hanging between us like a lead weight. "And now these hospital bills. You shouldn't have to deal with all this alone."

"Mom, stop." I forced a cheerful tone. "The bills aren't that bad."

Lie number one of the evening. The stack of papers in my apartment told a different story.

"And anyway, work's going great. The pay is good."

Lie number two. Technically, if I had taken Alexander's offer, that one wouldn't have been a lie anymore.

"Maddie, honey." Mom patted the bed beside her. "Come sit with me properly. That chair looks about as comfortable as a cactus wearing sandpaper."

I snorted but moved to perch on the edge of her bed. "Pretty sure that's not hospital protocol."

"What are they going to do? Make the dying lady follow the rules?"

"Mom!" My heart dropped to my stomach. "Don't even joke about that."

"Sorry, sorry. Dark humor is all I've got left. Well, that and this stunning hospital gown. Really brings out my eyes, don't you think?" She tugged at the faded blue fabric.

I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. The beeping of her heart monitor seemed louder suddenly, each pulse a reminder of how precious time was.

"I just..." She grabbed my hand, her grip weaker than I remembered. "I hate seeing you work yourself to death for my sake. You deserve better than spending your youth paying medical bills."

"Stop it." I squeezed her hand. "You're going to get better, and then we'll go on that trip to Paris you always talked about. Remember? You said you wanted to eat so many croissants you'd turn into one."

Her laugh turned into a cough. "I did say that, didn't I?" She closed her eyes for a moment. "But Maddie, we need to be realistic. These treatments... they're expensive. And I've seen the way you look when the doctors mention costs. You can't keep—"

"The bills are manageable." Another lie. "I've got savings."

"Sweetie." She fixed me with that mom-look that always saw right through my bullshit. "You haven't had savings since you bought me that wheelchair last year."

I stared at our joined hands, noting how her skin had become almost translucent. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, each second feeling like sand slipping through my fingers.

"I need you to get better." My voice cracked. "I can't... I won't lose you."

"Oh, baby." She pulled me into a hug, and I caught a whiff of her familiar lavender scent underneath the antiseptic hospital smell. "I'm fighting, I promise. But I need you to promise me something, too."

"Anything."

"Don't put your life on hold for me. Don't make choices you'll regret just because of these bills."

If she only knew about Alexander's proposition. About how I was seriously considering it. About how the thought of losing her terrified me more than becoming Alexander Knight's fake girlfriend for a year.

"I won't," I lied again, mentally adding it to my growing list of deceptions. "But you must promise to stick around long enough to see me succeed. To see me happy."

"Deal." She yawned, her eyes drooping. "Though I still think that handsome boss of yours might have something to do with your future happiness."

I rolled my eyes, but my chest tightened. If she only knew how right she might be, just not in the way she imagined.

The monitor beeped steadily beside us, marking time like a metronome. Each beep reminded me that I was running out of options, time, and lies to tell myself about how I'd make this work without Alexander's help.