A Year With The Billionaire
Chapter 69

Isabella's

POV

I could barely sleep a wink throughout the night. I can't place how I feel about this or why I didn't sleep.

Am I worried about Jayden?

Why did he suddenly inform me that he is coming to Verona? Is he coming for a business meeting? Is he coming to see me?

He clearly rejected my offer for us to come together so I shouldn't raise my hopes high. Am I scared of him?

Why should I be scared? Am I scared that he will ruin what is between Romeo and me? He doesn't seem to like the fact that I was with Romeo last night and laughing. Romeo is a clown and he makes me laugh but he is just a friend.

Even if I want to be in a relationship, I know it isn't the right time to do this. I am married to someone else and it will be so bad of me to go into a relationship with a man I just met. I might actually consider him in the future if he asks me out. He hasn't said anything yet but I know he likes me just as much as I like him. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. I will probably tell him what is happening. I actually lied to him last night that Jayden is a friend who is just checking up on me.

I regret why I called him a friend instead of a brother. Maybe if I had called Jayden my brother, Romeo wouldn't have looked surprised and asked me why my friend is checking up on me that late.

My emotions are jumbled and I don't understand how I feel.

I should be excited that he is coming, right? But I am not. How can I be happy when I don't even know why he is coming over?

I will be highly disappointed if I get over-excited with the thought that he is coming over because of me so we can explore the city together and he ends up coming here because of some business shit. Just before I can rise from the bed, a knock comes on the door and I get up to answer it.

"Ta-da!" Romeo appears in front of my door with a bouquet and a bottle of red wine.

"Hey", I quickly recover from my shock and give him a brief hug, absentmindedly.

He notices my mood and when I pull away from the hug to accept the flowers and allow him into the room, he asks. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, sure!" I reply quickly. "I just feel a little tired from last night's walk", I chuckle to hide my nervousness.

I should replace a way to excuse myself from tonight's date too. Romeo is an Italian too and he came from Spain. He told me he has been frequenting Verona for three years and he knows his way around more than I do.

He actually promised to take me around at night for the remaining days left for me to go back to America and I accepted willingly because I was always bored in my hotel room after Alejandro drops me off by 7 pm. These days, he drops me off earlier than usual and I suspect that he is seeing someone.

When Romeo bumped into me and he was demanding my name, I saw Alejandro talking to some brunette and I am suspecting they are a thing now.

It's actually shocking that the belief of replaceing love here in Verona is actually true. Alejandro has found a woman and Romeo's friend too who has spent a week here already.

I was already thinking that Romeo and I might have found ours too but after receiving Jayden's call last night and hearing about the announcement of his arrival this morning, I am not sure anymore. "Hey!" Romeo waves his hand in the air to catch my attention. "Are you ok?"

"Yes", I say and drop the flowers and bottle of wine on the table. When I turn around, I bump into him and he grabs my waist.

We stay like that for a while, I am trying to think of the best way to get out of his hold without offending me.

"Tell me what the matter is", he pleads with his cute blue eyes.

"I'm fine, I just feel a little under the weather. I doubt if I can go out tonight, I should probably rest in bed."

"I'm sorry", he releases me from his hold eventually and I heave a sigh of relief. "Should we grab a quick breakfast downstairs?"

"I would like to have some coffee, I have no appetite," I tell him.

I have an appetite actually but I want him gone before it is time to welcome Jayden. He hasn't called me this morning and I don't even know if he is on his way already or not.

If I agree to grab breakfast with him downstairs, he might take longer than usual before going but if it's just coffee, I will replace a way to make sure he leaves before I come back up. "Let's go then", he persuade me, grabbing my hand and I nod.

I am in a decent sleep top and trousers and I won't want to waste any more time by looking for something else to wear. I move to wear my flip-flop before trudging behind him calmly.

"Last night was amazing", he remarks, turning to look at me as I lock the door with my keys.

It makes me smile. I had fun too last night but it was cut short by Jayden's unexpected call.

This is something Romeo and I have been doing for two nights in a row and today ought to be the third night but that won't be possible.

I didn't expect that Jayden would call me. I thought he didn't care about how I was faring in Italy and I was trying to make the trip worth it. He didn't call me when I landed but sent me a text message instead which I didn't reply to on time because I thought he was going to call but he didn't. When I sent my reply, he still didn't call and now after one week, he is calling.

I honestly didn't expect that he would call me again. I already narrowed my thinking to the fact that we would see each other when I get back home.

I was actually trying to be understanding. An understanding fake wife, I guess. I know he is busy but it won't take anything to give me a minute call, will it?

But I understand. He is a busy man. He doesn't have time to call people who mean nothing to him.

"You better be good by tomorrow or I will have to whisk you away tomorrow night", Romeo mentions to my hearing and he laughs at his own joke.

I laugh too.

I hope Jayden will be gone by tomorrow. If he is here for business, he should be gone in a day or two and it won't arouse Romeo's suspicions.

I have been doing a good job of keeping him away from Alejandro. I don't want him to think I am cheating on Jayden first or have him interrogate me again about the rumors.

Romeo begins to ramble on about last night's date but I am miles away. My mind is miles away as we take the staircase down to the lobby before heading over to the coffee shop right in front of the hotel. Romeo opens the door to the shop and we both walk in.

While he requests two coffees, I stand behind him thinking of how to make him go now so I can go back upstairs to call Jayden so I will know if he has landed or not.

When he gets the coffee, he passes one to me with a smile.

I force myself to reciprocate the smile. I take a hold of his hand with my other hand and we walk out.

"Do you feel better now?" We cross the road to the other side where the hotel is.

"Not really. I'm really down. I should go take a rest."

"Is it the flu?" He peers down at me with worry. "Should I call a doctor?"

"No, no, no!" I chant. "I will be fine, don't worry. I just need to rest."

"I should leave you then", we stand by the roadside, facing each other with my hand still holding him.

Thankful for the suggestion of leaving, I nod quickly and heave a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"I will call you", he says and hugs me. I pull away and he continues to watch me intensely instead of going.

I am about to push him to go when he leans forward to peck my forehead. His lips are on my forehead while I close my eyes, expecting this to end soon so I can go up.

"Isabella Russell?" I hear a voice that sounds familiar and I replace myself pushing Romeo away and the coffee in my hand dropping to the floor.

I snap my head to see a car beside the road. It wasn't there when Romeo and I crossed over here. I didn't even hear the sound of a car packing beside us.

Is it who I think?

"Hey", Romeo shouts at me just at the same time the car window is winded down and I see him. "Jayden?!"