The Billionaire’s Playmate

Thaliana Tangi Dela Vezca

“I will not listen to you! I’ll talk to Dad!” I shout at him.

I’m nervous. We’re far from the port. I can’t swim this distance, and I might drown! What does Rozzean want? If he wants to talk, why here and just the two of us?

He leaves my side and enters the yacht. I feel the yacht coming to a stop.

“Don’t make it hard for the both of us, Thaliana,” he says when he returns.

“I won’t bring you back until we’ve talked.”

“This is kidnapping! I will sue you!”

He just smiles, looking at me since earlier.

“Then sue me.”

He walks closer, and I step back. I want to hear everything from Dad; Rozzean might lie to me. Besides, Klari was always with him!

“Listen to me–”

“No! I won’t listen!” I shout, covering my ears. My phone falls, but I don’t pay attention. I see Rozzean frown.

“You are not going to listen?”

I don’t respond. I’m surprised when he walks to the side of the yacht and lifts his foot.

W-What is he going to do?

Is he trying to scare me?

“You really won’t listen to me?”

When I don’t speak, he suddenly jumps into the sea.

Sht.

I felt paralyzed in my spot. The shock prevented me from moving. The anxiety in my chest was overwhelming. When I finally snapped out of it, I quickly looked down.

“R-Rozzean…” I whispered. Intense fear immediately subsided when I didn’t see him in the water.

“Rozzean!” I shouted. I still couldn’t see him! He hasn’t surfaced yet!

I jumped and dove underneath to find him. Running out of breath, I resurfaced. I looked around again.

“R-Rozzean Cyron!” I shouted.

“Rozzean…”

With the fear of not finding him, I started crying. I scanned the surroundings.

“R-Rozz–”

“See?”

I gasped when I felt him behind me. His hands were around my waist, holding me tight.

“You are afraid to lose me… you’re scared… very scared, Thaliana,” his lips were by my ear.

Facing him, I slapped his arm.

“W-Why did you do that! I thought… I thought–”

Rozzean suddenly claimed my lips. His right hand, which was on my waist, moved to my nape to deepen the kiss. When he pulled away, I saw a smile on his lips.

“Listen to me, baby, let’s not make this hard for the both of us… a lot happened, I regret a lot of things, but my love for you never disappeared.”

“I still love you… I love you so much.”

“Let’s talk… please…”

I clung to his arms and slowly nodded. We resurfaced together. He grabbed a towel from inside and handed it to me. I was looking at him when he suddenly took off his shirt. I swallowed and averted my gaze.

When my phone rang, I searched for it. I looked at the side of the yacht. I picked it up and saw that Dad was calling.

“Hello, Daddy?”

“Are you with Rozzean now, Thaliana Tangi?”

He knows!

I glanced at Rozzean, who was sipping water.

“Y-Yes…”

“Everything that he is going to say is true, sweety. I’m sorry. I got angry at what he did to you and what happened, so I intervened. But seeing how much you were hurt, it’s not right for me to interfere anymore. I talked to Rozzean last night; he told me his plan this morning, and I agreed. I hope you will have a good time with him, Tangi.”

After Dad hung up, I lowered my cellphone to my side.

I pressed my lips firmly together. I cleared my throat and then began to dry my hair slowly. My hands moved deliberately as I pondered Dad’s words. He knows… he also apologized.

“Thaliana…”

I lifted my gaze to Rozzean, but when I felt the yacht moving again, my eyes lingered on the water. I saw the yacht starting to move once more.

So… this is his yacht?

And we are alone… here.

I lowered my head and briskly continued to dry my hair with the towel.

My cheeks warmed at the thought. Talk, Thaliana! Just talk!

“Change your clothes first, Thaliana; you might catch a cold.”

“W-What?”

Look at you! You’re not paying attention!

When I lifted my gaze, he was already in front of me. His lower body was facing me.

“Eyes up here, baby…”

I blinked several times at his words. Instead of looking up, I just stood up.

“I-I will change! Wh-where?” I asked.

Sht! Why am I stumbling over my words?! Why am I nervous? It’s just Rozzean! And we are going to talk! We’ll have a conversation!

I cleared my throat, “Wh-Where?”

But he didn’t speak. He just stared at me. When Rozzean approached, he held the hem of my dress. I clutched the towel tightly when I saw the change in his expression.

“I-I’m… I’m going to change, where?” I asked again, but this time, I didn’t look at him. I kept my head down.

Rozzean’s hand reached for my face. He lifted it, and his fingers trailed down my cheek, finally resting on my lips.

“There’s nothing going on between me and Klari, Thaliana…”

“The reason she was… always with me is because of her father. I didn’t withhold anything from her. I made it clear that I’m already in love. And she knows who I love… and she knows it’s you, Thaliana.”

I swallowed hard under the intensity of his gaze. I was so jealous of Klari because I thought there was something special growing between them.

“I am sorry that I got mad. I didn’t intend to hurt you or say those words to you. I was furious when I learned the truth. I was so lost, hurt, and scared when Tali disappeared in my house. You know… you know how much I love her, right? I am willing to give up everything to be with her.”

Tears welled up in my eyes at Rozzean’s words. I also tried to ask for his forgiveness. But I was hurt deeply because his heart and mind were closed.

“Baby…”

“I went to apologize to your father after my anger subsided. That was all I wanted then. I hurt you out of rage. I didn’t want you to come to my house because I might say something hurtful in my anger. Your father and I had an agreement. He was angry with me for hurting you. I understood him, and I said I would settle everything between us. But he told me that I could only talk to you and approach you when you’ve turned away from your engagement with Luther.”

“W-What?”

So, that’s why Dad asked for forgiveness!

Rozzean caressed my face. He was smiling, but it was a sad smile. When did this happen? When did they talk?

“I was waiting… it took so long… I thought maybe you were falling for my brother because you didn’t turn away from that marriage. Many thoughts crossed my mind about what might happen between you and Luther, especially when you stayed at my parents’ house. I heard they wanted a grandchild from you and Luther, that’s why I sneaked into your room.”

I bit my lower lip at his last words. That’s why he said he would get me pregnant! I remembered him saying that!

“I just looked at you all the time. I wanted to hold and embrace you. I wanted to tell you that I still love you so much, that my love never faded, but I couldn’t because I didn’t want to ruin things with your father.”

“I was angry at myself for letting my emotions get ahead of me when I found out the truth. I said, ‘This is just right.’ So, I accepted it. I endured watching you from afar.”

I let out a sob.

“Baby…”

Rozzean bent down and kissed my tears. He held me by both cheeks while I continued to cry. I just stared into his eyes.

“I am so sorry that I hurt you, for all the hurtful things I said… everything… I am so sorry.”

I clung to his neck and hugged him. I buried my face in his neck. Both of us were deeply hurt as we waited for each other.

“I love you so much, Thaliana…”

I pulled away from him and held his cheeks.

“I love you too…”

He closed his eyes. He was smiling.

“I love you so much too, Rozzean…”