Chapter 5 Nolan's POV

• What are the chances that the first person you ever loved, spent days hoping she would notice you someday and speak to you would crush your heart in her pretty hands and come back into your life unexpectedly looking hotter and sexier than ever? Okay, maybe she’s not coming back into my life but running into her and having her plan your engagement party counts as being in your life right?
• And still as beautiful as ever. I remember the first time I saw her, I was the awkward kid on the block, just moved from another state where I got into trouble in school with a guy who called my mom a whore for not knowing who my father is. I punched his face so hard I nearly broke his skull. After that incident mom moved away and found a new school for me and also found a new job for herself. But I was having trouble blending in. I never joined the neighborhood kids in their basketball games on the local court, nor did I attend parties. Even before moving, I preferred being alone. But I saw Chantelle Jones coming out of the side door of her house on a Wednesday morning wearing a pink mini skirt and a white shirt with a large floral design and I fell in love. She mumbled something to herself and lifted her shirt up. I looked away but in the next breath, I turned to see her pushing the pads of a purple bra up. From the house came a loud voice.
• “Coco you are not wearing my bra to school!”
• “I’m just borrowing it for today, Yolanda, shut up about it already,” she shouted back. She intrigued me. Mom would have my head if she knew I was peeping through our fence at our neighbor.
• “It’s not my fault you have small tits, I need that bra.” The other voice was closer. Before the back door was thrown open Chantelle sprinted to the front of the house where an open-roof classic Cadillac waited. There were two girls in it singing the lyrics of a pop song that boomed from the speakers. Chantelle hopped in the back laughing while Yolanda, a tall lean muscled girl, tried unsuccessfully to catch her before the car zoomed off.
• Since then I waited for every opportunity to finally talk to her but every time I got within a 10-inch radius of her my tongue suddenly felt heavy and my throat went dry. She became my guilty pleasure. When we finally settled down and introduced ourselves to her family she smiled at me, her honey brown eyes twinkling, and shook my hand telling me a cheerful “Welcome to town. You’re gonna love it here.” I believed her. Then she asked what school I attended and I froze up. While she and her friends hung out in front of our drive and on the local court I watched from a distance feeling like a creep and having no way to tell her how I felt. Then one night I saw her on the street holding hands with one of the cool kids, Jason. He kissed her in front of her house, his hands shaping the curve of her waist and hips. I never knew what heartbreak felt like until that day so when she came to me months later asking “Don’t you want to kiss me?” I almost revealed how long I had waited for her to notice me. But my excitement had gotten the best of me and I fumbled. I wanted to take it slow and please her so that the next time she saw me she would remember the night we spent together and tell me how much she loved me too. But things didn’t go as planned. I was a lanky kid at the time with zero experience with girls so when I thrust into her warm softness, months of want and need finally burst through their restraints and I embarrassed myself. I didn’t even get the chance to give her the pleasure she deserved. I saw the anger in her eyes as sanity returned. She dressed with angry jerky movements almost tearing the seams of her beautiful birthday gown. I apologized.
• “Forget it,” she mumbled. “I should be apologizing. This was a mistake.”
• My fragile heart broke to pieces.
• “A mistake?”
• She found her shoes and stalked to the door. I went after her but by the time I got to the door, she was running to the back door of her house. She shut the door with a thud.
• Under the cool lonely night, feeling like the worst idiot ever I buried my face in my hands and choked back the sobs that threatened to fall. I hated myself, hated my awkwardness, my shyness. Most of all I hated myself and the circumstances in which I was born. I never blamed my mother for having me or choosing me over an absentee father but at the time I couldn’t help but feel my life would be better if mother had remained with Simone Pierce, the bastard I called father. Maybe Chantelle Jones would have noticed me if she knew I was the son of Simone Pierce, maybe I would have friends and be popular enough to stand out in the crowd.
• That night I made a vow. I would be better, I would become a better man for Coco, the type she deserved, the one who would hold her in his arms and not stumble. When mom came home that night I was ready to tell her that I wanted to sign up for the local gym but when I saw the look on her face my worries and Chantelle flew out the window. Then she dropped the bomb.
• “We are leaving, Nolan.” She turned to me with sad eyes. “We are moving.”
• “What?”
• Even mom was shocked at my surprise. I have always been excited to move from whatever town or state we settle in because I can never seem to blend in, I will always be the outsider, the unwanted son of Simone Pierce but this time I wanted to stay. For Chantelle Jones.
• “We need to move. Your father…”
• My father suddenly remembered he had a son. He wanted a son to take over his empire and I was the only candidate. So we moved, 12, 000 miles away from Greenville. Away from Chantelle.
• Now 7 years later, what are the chances that I reunite with the one girl who made my heart beat fast and made me stutter?
• I worked hard on myself in those years. I gained confidence, got bolder, faced the crowd, and embodied a new persona. Heir to Simone Pierce’s empire. My body filled out and for the first time I wasn’t chasing the girls, the girls chased me. I enjoyed the attention for years until I realized I was still the same Nolan, the only difference was my money, people loved my money, without the money I was an invisible shadow just existing.
• I lost interest in everyone and everything. I hate everyone, including Chantelle Jones. If I had gone back to Greenville to tell her I was the son of a billionaire she would no doubt have fallen into my arms. Everyone has a price.
• So when she walked into Penny’s office my initial surprise turned to anger. I had been just another person to her in the past, as a different man will she notice me now?
• She sat stiffly in her seat. Her red dress rode up those sweet luscious thighs of hers. She always was conscious of her figure but that was part of what drove me crazy about her. Even now the outline of her full figure was giving me ideas.
• “What color will Lurane like?” Penny asked. She was all smiles rattling off decoration plans to Chantelle who wrote them down as fast as she could.
• Who cares what Lurane likes? Now that I think about it, the driver of the Cadillac has always been the blonde one. It never occurred to me that she was the daughter of Douglas and Kyndal Grant. Now, bound by a contract I have to marry her. The problem with elites is that everything has to be bought. Everything has a price. Clothes, cars, friends, spouses. When I discovered just how much wreckage my father caused his empire I turned to his old friends for help. Apparently, the bastard had been so much of a tyrant before his arrest for the murder of Zach Wolffe that no one was willing to help his bankrupt son without something in return. Surprisingly, Matt Wolffe, the man whose father my father had brutally murdered extended a helping hand thanks to his kindhearted wife, Sophia Wolffe, but there was only so much he could do. The other person who opted to assist was Douglas Grant but he had a condition, he would only help me if I married his daughter, Lurane Grant. Why? Because the name Pierce still holds much power among the elites. Now I have to plan an engagement party at Lurane’s request because “it is necessary for publicity”
• “Nolan?” Penny repeated for the third time. Her gaze was trained on me waiting for a reply.
• “Pink, pink will be fine. Lurane loves pink a lot.”
• “I think she preferred…” Chantelle started with a frown.
• “She is my fiancee, Coco,” I bit out through my teeth.
• Penelope’s ever-watchful eyes zeroed in on me then on Chantelle.
• “Pardon me, sir, I just remembered a piece of gossip I saw in a magazine.”
• “Gossip magazines cannot be trusted, Coco, how long do I have to keep drilling that into your head?”
• From the corner of my eyes, I saw Chantelle wince but she said nothing. Instead, she nodded and lowered her gaze to the notepad in her hand. That was harsh even for Penelope. As we talked about balloons and confetti and other frivolous nonsense I couldn’t help but observe Chantelle Jones in a new light. She was different. Chantelle Jones used to be bold and confident but she shriveled under the sound of Penelope’s voice though the fire of defiance burned in her eyes she held her tongue against every lash of Penelope’s tongue. This is not the Chantelle I know. Maybe I have been too harsh in my judgment. She should be talking Penelope down, she should be her own boss, be throwing herself at me, yet there was a slump in her shoulders that made me feel…sorry?
• Penny glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and gasped. “Oh shoot. I have lost track of time. We have that meeting with the Gazette this morning, don’t we, Chantelle?” she lifted a piece of paper off her desk and peered at it. “Their representatives should be here any minute now. Nolan.” She stood and pushed her chair back.
• I did the same. Finally, some reprieve from this hell. Lurane should have been here in my place but publicity demands that she pretends the whole world thinks this party was my idea so they can see how very much in love we both are.
• “I can’t wait to see what you will do, Penny.”
• “Trust me, Nol, I’m sure Lurane will love it!”
• She came round the desk to hug me briefly. “Well, see you then,” she winked.
• Chantelle stood and mumbled a “Have a nice day, sir,” then went back to receiving orders for Penny. But as I walked away from the office into the parking lot I heard her sweet voice calling my name.
• “Nolan!”
• I turned. Now she knows me again.
• She was struggling to run in the tight gown. I should be angry but all I could see was how well her hips filled out the dress. If I reached out I could pull her into my arms and pretend 7 years ago never happened, that we both enjoyed a night together on her birthday and became lovers ever since because right now nothing made sense to me than burying myself between her thighs and making her cum over and over until she was weak with pleasure.
• “Nolan,” she breathed heavily.
• Her chest heaved pushing the luscious tops of her boobs over the neckline of her gown. Since when did they become so full?
• Her soft brown eyes were pleading when she looked at me. “Nolan, I just want to say I’m sorry. For everything. Let’s start over again?”
• She extended her hand. Those pretty hands of hers that dipped into the waistband of my pants once, making me lose coherent thoughts.
• I wanted to forgive her, take her hand and raise it to my lips, pull her close and give in to the thoughts of fucking her senseless. That is what Nolan would have done but Nolan Pierce would scorn her apology and turn his back to her.
• And I did just that.
• As I drove away I saw her reflection through the rearview mirror watching the end of my car disappear into traffic.