The Billion Dollar Contract novel Chapter 28

Helen walked back to the party looking for her son, when her eyes landed on him she noticed he was chatting with someone so she walked towards them. As she got closer, she realized that it was Samantha. She wondered if Samantha was the reason why Nicole looked a little sad, she knew Nicole was hiding something from her but she didn't want to pressure her into saying anything she didn't want to

"Samantha? I didn't know you were here?" Helen said as she reached them

"It's good to see you again Helen" Samantha replied with a smile

"Me too dear..... Um, can I steal my son from you for a while? I need to talk to him" Helen requested

"Sure. We can continue with our conversation later, right Gabe?" She asked. Gabriel only smiled in reply before leaving her presence with his mom

"Where is Nicole?" He suddenly asked realizing now that she wasn't beside him the whole time

"I should be the one asking you that" Helen replied

"She was with me a while ago" Gabriel said looking around in hopes of finding her

"I saw her going to the bedroom, she wasn't looking so good. Did she say anything to you about not feeling well?" His mom asked making him wonder what could be wrong with Nicole, but she was fine just a while ago

"I'll go check on her" he said to his mom

"Okay son" Helen replied before he left for the bedroom

Nicole leaned against the door as she got into the room, a tear rolled down her face and she had no idea why. Nicole Immediately wiped the tear with the back of her hand so as to stop herself from crying but as soon as her eyes landed on the teddy bear she burst into tears

Gabriel must care so much about that lady to not even care anymore about her presence, she thought to herself. Maybe she was an ex-girlfriend or lover because she was obviously flirting with him right before her eyes, that made her feel jealous and at the same time hurt as she cried even more, she ran to her teddy bear and cuddled it close

"Stop being jealous Nicole. You mean nothing to him. You're just here to play the role of a fiancée, so don't overstep your boundaries" she warned herself wiping the tears from her eyes. After getting herself together, she decided to go wash her face, redo her makeup and return to the party before someone walks in on her looking like this.

Gabriel walked into the room and saw it empty to his surprise, then he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, he decided to go sit on one of the arm chairs and wait for Nicole to come out. He kept wondering if she left the party because she was crowd shy since she was nervous earlier or maybe it could be that she got bored.

He mentally scolded himself for not paying much attention to Nicole because he was talking to Samantha. He would've noticed if she suddenly felt sick or something like that but he was so stupid and careless that he had no idea when she left his side.

He knew that she wouldn't feel comfortable being around so many people since she wasn't used to this sort of things and Samantha made everything even more complicated by acting all flirty and intimate with him right in front of Nicole. He didn't want to tell her off in the presence of the guests because he didn't want to make a scene so instead he acted oblivious to what she was doing but he really needed to clear things up so that Nicole doesn't get a bad impression of him because of Samantha.

Nicole came out of the bathroom and was startled to see Gabriel in the room

"You're here!" She exclaimed closing the door behind her. She hoped it wasn't obvious that she had been crying

"Yes. I realized you were no longer beside me and Mom said you didn't look well so I came to check on you. Are you okay?" He asked standing up from the arm chair and walked towards Nicole

Nicole was surprised at how Helen could see right through her. What excuse was she going to give him now?

"Yeah. I'm fine" she quietly replied

Gabriel stared at her skeptically not believing her one bit. Nicole stole a glance at Gabriel and noticed that there was doubt in his eyes and she knew he wouldn't give up until she told him something reasonable

"Okay okay. I left the party cos I didn't want anyone asking me intimate questions about us which would be difficult to answer, you know...and I also needed to redo my makeup" she liked with a fake smile hoping he would buy it.

Gabriel relaxed a bit after hearing her reply. His suspicion was correct, she wasn't comfortable with the unfamiliar faces so that was the reason why she suddenly left the party. Nicole noticed that Gabriel became uneasy all of a sudden as he was scratching the back of his neck and looking anywhere but her

"Gabriel?" She called trying to gain his attention

"The lady you saw with me a while ago..."

"Gabriel it's okay. I'm in no position to know who she was or is to you" Nicole said cutting him off

She would think about Gabriel and Samantha later, for now she still had a contract to finish. Gabriel was glad that Nicole was understanding, he didn't need to see Samantha now, not when he had Nicole in his life and has finally forgotten about Ashley. Why was this relationship based on a contract in the first place? He wondered

"Shall we? We don't want to keep our guests waiting, wondering where we are" Nicole said standing up from the bed

Gabriel held her hand and pulled her to himself, making her sit on his lap. This action took Nicole by surprise

"If they don't see us, they'll leave" he said with a smirk

"You're a bad host" Nicole replied in a whisper. Gabriel didn't want to return to the party because of Samantha

"So.. do you like your gift?" He asked looking at the giant teddy bear in their bedroom

"I love it. Thank you, but..."

Gabriel couldn't help but wonder what that 'but' meant. Maybe she didn't like the color or maybe it was too big

"I got used to cuddling someone else a day ago" she replied taking Gabriel by surprise. He looked at her in a confused manner wondering what she got used to cuddling when most girls loved to cuddle their teddy bear

"And what is that? If I may ask?"

"You silly" she replied with a smile wrapping her arms round his neck. Gabriel reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her waist and his face close to hers

"Is that so?" He teasingly asked with his lips only an inche away from hers

Nicole felt butterflies in her stomach due to the closeness. She hid her face in the crook of his neck to hide her blush. Gabriel smiled at her shyness and placed a kiss on her hair

"Let's go to bed" he said, gently placing Nicole on the bed taking off her shoes before taking off his own shoes and jacket. He tucked them in the duvet and they cuddled up together, falling asleep in each other's arms.