Claimed By the Billionaire

9 Present day

Okafu closed her eyes and rested her head on the car seat headrest.  Thank God the uber driver kept a clean car. She wished she could close her ears too. Lina wouldn’t stop bitching; apparent she had taken her away from a potential good time with some random guy she had found her sitting too close to her – more like in his lap.

 “You can tell me what happened, you know?” Lina asked stopping her tirade.

“Nothing happened,” Okafu said. Lina scoffed at her. Of course she didn’t believe that nothing happened. Okafu wasn’t sure why she was keeping her meeting with Ren Amatapa and seeing him again in the club a secret.  Okafu’s stomach flipped as she remembered the feel of his eyes on her. She shook her head and bit her lip.

Was he following her?

No, that’s not possible. Why would he do that? He was Ren Amatapa, and she was just…

“Okay, be like that.” Lina said annoyed. She folded her arms across her chest and stared out the window. The uber driver slowed down as they came closer to her house. Lina jumped out first as soon as the car came to a stop. She walked up the driveway without looking back.

“Thank you,” Okafu said to the driver. She got out of the car and the driver drove off. She stared at the car until it disappeared, and then she turned to the house. before she could she saw a sleek black Mercedes Benz idling a few paces away.

She would recognize that car anywhere.

Her heart slammed against her chest. She turned and rushed to the house and shut the door behind her as if she could easily shut Ren Amatapa out of her life.

What did he want?

She saw him at the club and now he was here?

What did he want?

“You truly are a buzz kill. I wonder why I’m still friends with you?” Lina said stomping up the stairs.

Okafu groaned feeling drained. If only Lina knew what was happening.

Tell her, a small voice in the back of her mind said.

No. She couldn’t. Ren Amatapa will go away eventually. She was a very small fish in a very big pond that he controlled and owned. His interest in her will wane.

It had to, Okafu thought as she followed Lina up the stairs.  

Present day…

It had to…

The words she had used to comfort herself echoed in her mind, bringing tears to her eyes as she wished they would cancel her father’s command.

No. Ren’s interest hadn’t waned. If anything it had gotten stronger. his black Mercedes Benz had followed her everywhere, even though he never approached her. He was there, lingering, making his presence known to her, while he dismantled his father’s business until there was nothing left. 

Even after that, he never left. He was there waiting.

And she was so very aware of him. Her body tingled with awareness every time she saw his car crawl by her house or school. She could somehow feel his eyes on her too, as if they were connected somehow.

But they were not.

He was nothing to her.

Now, he wanted to make her his wife. Buying her from her father for the debt he owed. 

Okafu’s entire body shook at that thought. He was forcing himself into her life, bulldozing over everything she had carefully worked hard achieve. She’d worked hard to be normal and focus on getting through school without her panic attacks taking over her life or relying on her therapist to survive everyday like she’d done after her kidnapping.

Now she didn’t know how she was going to cope. 

Fuck! She couldn’t go back to that dark time of her life.

No. She couldn’t.

Okafu whimpered as a deluge of emotions washed over her. Tears filled her eyes, and her hands tightened on the edge of the basin as she felt her knees almost give out.

“Honey?” her mother’s soft voice came through the door laced with concern as if she heard her cry. The door was pushed open as she walked in. “Oh honey.”

Okafu felt her arms wrap around her. She turned and laid her head on her mother’s shoulder. She needed her strength to get through this.

Oh god… why was this happening to her?

“It will be alright, baby, just breath.”

Okafu breathed deep willing herself to calm down. It wouldn’t help for her to wallow in her misery. With her it was easy to fall into depression especially when she felt cornered and being robbed of her freedom. It felt too much like her kidnapping, even though she couldn’t remember the exact details the feeling of being helpless and trapped was always there.

And she hated it!

“Why is dad doing this?” Okafu pulled back from her mother. “There has to be another way. We can run away. Run where Ren wouldn’t find us.”

Her mother shook her head despondently. Okafu knew the answer before her mother could even say anything, her answer just made it the more real and sad.

There was no place she could run, where he wouldn’t find her. Ren was everywhere.  He will burn this town down to find her. The way he had trapped her father and ruined his business showed his ruthlessness and tenacity. He’ll definitely come for her. And worse of all no one will hide her away from him, if she did manage to run away. There was nowhere to run. He owned everyone and everything.

“You listen to me,” her mother cupped her cheeks staring her in the eye. “You take this one day at a time. You are strong, you can do it. I’ve seen you pull yourself from the dark and join the living. Ren is another obstacle in your path, you hold your head high and finish what you started. You go and finish school, you hear me?”

“I wish I didn’t have to be his wife. Why does he want me?” Okafu asked in disbelief. She was nothing special. Her hair was an afro mess half of the time; she didn’t put much effort in her appearance to attract any man with eyes. She was just simple – Not really pretty and not ugly either.

“Why does a man want a woman?” her mother asked with a slight laugh.

For s*x, Okafu scrunched her nose in thought. Well, he made a very bad business move, because she wasn’t very good at that either. Not that she had any s*x.

She didn’t think she could bare to allow a man to touch her.