BARGAIN WITH THE BILLIONAIRE DEVIL

Irene Stewart POV

I downed my beer, trying to clear my head, but the loud music and laughter around me just made things worse. I wanted to join in, laugh, and flirt like everyone else, but I couldn't shake off the weight of my thoughts.

I thought to myself "this may as well be my last day on earth". This was because after that drink if I didn't kill myself, the people I am owing money to would kill me.

Two million dollars! How on earth was I supposed to come up with that kind of cash? It felt like an impossible mountain to climb. I sat at the bar, gripping my hair in frustration, and feeling like I wanted to scream.

It all started with my dad. He said he needed money for heart surgery, and I trusted him without a second thought. I emptied my savings and sent it all to him. But then I found out he'd gambled away the money I gave him. I was crushed, but that was not all ,due to the gambling he had gotten himself into a massive debts that I knew nothing about. Then suddenly, I got a threat demanding two million dollars, or else they would kill me and my dad, I guess seeing as my dad couldn't pay up there money, threatening me, his daughter was the next best thing for them to do. I was ready to confront my dad, but before I could, I heard he'd died of a sudden heart attack. It felt like karma, in a twisted way. Dealing with his mess was overwhelming. I've spent countless nights crying, feeling sorry for myself, stressing about the debt, my job, and my messed-up life. It's been rough, to say the least.

I ask the bartender for another glass. I want to get drunk tonight and at least forget my sorry. The empty glasses continue to line up in front of me and I feel a bit dizzy.

"Hey."

I look up at the sound of a manly voice and my heart almost leaps out of my chest. Damn!

A handsome man is standing beside me looking down at me with a smile plastered on his face. He's wearing a white shirt topped with a shiny black leather jacket. His gorgeous black hair is a bit disheveled but it suits his outlook. His blue eyes shine with a brilliant luminosity as he stares at me.

Shit, blue eyes had always been my weakness. I always look at blue eyes dreamily not knowing how it captures me. Now, there's this super-hot guy, with eyes like the ocean, checking me out. Maybe it's the booze messing with my vision, but damn, he looks like a god.

"Hi," I smile back at him.

"I think you need company," he says smoothly.

I giggle. "You have no idea what I really need right now."

I need money. Two million dollars, to be exact.

"Enlighten me then," he says, sliding into the seat beside me, sipping his drink. Those lips of his... perfect.

I squirm a bit and give him a curious look. "I don't talk to strangers."

"Well, you're talking to one right now," he says with a grin.

I try to give him a glare, but he's too cute. Scratch that, he's too hot.

"Okay, I'll make you an exception. Just for tonight," I give in.

"So what's your name?" he asks.

"Elena," I say, though it's not my real name. There's no way I'm giving my info out to just anyone.

"I don't believe you," he smirks.

Yeah, Elena's a fake name, alright. But I let it slide. "Okay, I'll let you call me that for now," I say, raising an eyebrow.

"For the meantime?" I catch that, but I push it aside.

Ignoring his panty-dropping smile, I ask, "How about you? What's your name?"

"Jared," he says.

I burst out laughing. "Anyone could say they're Jared."

"Well, it's just fair. You can call me Jared and I call you Elena."

I take a sip of my drink. He looks to be a bachelor and a playboy with the way he flirts, taking advantage of his outrageously gorgeous looks.

"So, Elena what brings you here all alone."

"Aren't you alone too?"

I see his amused look. "I'm asking you first."

"I'm here to celebrate my last day on this earth."

"You're kidding."

"No shit. It might be true." I take another glass of beer.

"Why, Elena?"

"I'll spare you the details, Jared." I reply back with his fake name.

He smiles amusingly and then I felt a damn feeling as I stare back at his blue eyes like an ocean so deep it could drown me. He eyes me with an unknown emotion swimming deep in the hollows of his eyes before looking down at my lips.

"I want to kiss you." He suddenly whispers.

Damn! I'm taken aback at his bold statement. I feel my cheeks shading the color of blood as I bite my lower lip.

"Please don't do that Elena. You're turning me on."

"What?" I innocently blink at him. I smirk inwardly as I see his breathing become ragged. Am I giving him that effect?

I didn't see it coming. It was so lightning fast that suddenly my body is crashed unto his hard body as his hands grip my back. I gasp as my hands come in contact with his chest.

Oh my! I could feel the hard toned body underneath his shirt. I bet he has those perfect abs that would make any girl drool over.

"Don't play innocent on me, Elena." He whispers huskily before colliding his warm lips on mine.

Oh, damn.

His one hand grasps my head as he takes my mouth deeper. His warm lips are covering every inch of my lips not missing out a spot. I feel my breathing stops at his sudden assault.

I've never been kissed like this before. His sudden assault makes me forget my biggest problem and my plan of just getting drunk tonight. His tongue darts out and skims over my lower lip. My mind suddenly goes blank at his action so I grab his nape and begin to respond to his kisses. I feel his smile as he roams his hands all over my body.

"Let's get out of here." I barely hear him whisper between our kisses. I feel him lift me up and when I opened my eyes again, we are already in a room. My mind is still processing if this is a VIP room exclusively for the rich bastards and how we got here so fast when he suddenly lifts my shirt and takes it off.

I suddenly want to cover my chest but he grabs my hands and whispers, "Perfect." as he gazes at my bra-cladded breasts. He starts kissing my neck down to my chest while his hands playfully stroke my inner thighs.

"J-Jared...Ah..." I can't seem to fathom what the hell is happening and the emotions I've never experienced before are flooding me. His warm tongue glides between my breasts before he reaches behind and unhooks my bra.

He leads me to a bed and lays me down as he continues kissing me. I moan as the alcohol seems to be blocking out any of my logic reasoning. I am still in a daze with his wet kisses when I abruptly hear the tear of a foil. I look up to him and realize he is already naked and so am I. My eyes nearly bulge out from their sockets as I take a peek of his huge manhood.

He puts the condom on himself and seconds later, I feel him tearing my walls down. It was so painful that tears gush out from my eyes.

"Shit, Elena... y-you're a ...virgin?"

I nod and brush the tears away. He stills and leans down on me. "Shhh... The pain will go away soon." He starts kissing me gently before moving again so slowly making me used to his intrusion.

I could not describe enough what I feel. I am in the paramount of my greatest emotion I have never thought I could experience. He just me gave wings to soar high in an exquisite ecstasy as I feel something building up inside my very core.

I could hear our labored breathes mingling with each other as he takes me higher with his slow and passionate pace.

"Elena..." Jared groans huskily before the shattering peak of our moment. He growls as his breathing rapidly increases and he buries his face on my neck. I feel my eyes droop as darkness overtakes me and I fall down into oblivion.

RAYMOND POV

I take another look at her sleeping peacefully next to me, her soft breathing filling the room with calm. My phone flashes with an email, but my eyes keep going back to her. She looks so relaxed, with her arms under her head and the blanket covering her.

Last night was incredible. Finding out she was a virgin made it even more special. It's a mix of feeling proud and a bit guilty. I've had one-night stands before, but this is different. There's something about her that has me intrigued.

I decide to dig a bit deeper. It's not something I usually do, but I can't help myself this time. I grab her wallet and phone to check what her real name was and also in order to tell my private investigator to help me get some information on her.

After thinking it over, I ask my investigator for help. It's a move I didn't expect to make, but I really want to know more about her. Her profile says her real name is Irene Stewart not Elena as she had claimed last night. Her parents both died in separate years but she was able to support herself and graduated college. At present, she is working as a home-based tutor for teenagers.

What caught my attention are her bank account details stating how she monthly saved up money then all of a sudden she withdrew it all in two days. There is a short informal note attached in the last part of the email sent to me by my smart investigator after further digging within the short amount of time.

Irene Stewart is constantly receiving death threats from a group of loan sharks. Probable reason: Unpaid borrowed money with increasing interests.

I glance back at her peaceful sleeping face. Who would have thought, a pretty lady like her is shouldering such a large debt? How the hell did she end up going across some loan sharks? How is she coping up with all this? Is this the reason she planned on wasting herself last night?

I should just get up, don my clothes on and disappear like I usually do after one-night stands but here I am, thinking of a plan. A plan I could only think of with great temptation and she will probably refuse but I want to take my chance and do whatever it takes.

Irene Stewart' POV

My eyelids feel like lead as I pry them open, greeted by a face that might as well belong to a deity. "Jared," I murmur weakly. How long has he been watching me sleep? He's already dressed, sitting across the bed, his gaze fixed on me.

"Good morning, Irene," he says, and a shiver runs down my spine at the sound of my true name. The memories of last night flood back: how we met, talked, laughed, and then... ended up here. I feel a wave of self-disgust for giving my virginity to a stranger who now knows my real name.

I meet his gaze, but his expression is blank. His lips are pressed into a tight line, his eyes devoid of the warmth from the night before. What happened to him? This isn't the same Jared I encountered last night. Gone is the playful, flirtatious demeanor; now, he exudes an inexplicable aura.

"I... I'm sorry..." I stammer, pulling the duvet around myself as I sit up. But I can't find the words to continue, to apologize for lying about my name.

"Irene Stewart, aged twenty-five, an orphan, and a home-based tutor," he recites details about me with a mocking tone, holding my wallet with my ID card in hand. I glance down, fidgeting with my fingers, searching for some excuse.

"I'm Raymond Nash," he suddenly declares, making me snap my head back to him.

"What?" I blurt out.

"Jared was just an alias. I lied about my name too. So, I think it's fair to say we're even on that front," he challenges, daring me to feel bad about my lie while admitting to his own.

I clutch the blanket tighter around me as I stand, wincing a little as a pang of pain shoots through my core. Damn!

Jared... I mean, Raymond stands up and slides beside me with a worried look on his face. "Are you okay?"

I tighten my grip on the duvet around me. "I want to take a shower."

"Sure." He steps aside and leads me to the bathroom. Along the way I notice that my clothes are already neatly folded and are on top of the couch. I blush in embarrassment. Did I sleep for too long?

Once I am inside the bathroom, I immediately let the warm water cascade down my body hoping to wash away the drifting memories from what happened last night. I feel dirty and embarrassed with what I did.

When I get out of the shower, Raymond hands me a paper bag with fresh clothes. I take it shyly and in no time I emerge fully dressed with jeans and a sweatshirt.

Raymond is sitting on the couch with a thoughtful look on his face. He seems to be thinking something serious with the way he his rubbing his index finger across his jaw.

"I...last night, I..." I couldn't find my voice. I want to tell him to just forget about what happened and I will just move on with my life just like nothing happened.

"What do you want?"

What? I frown at him. His stiff voice and the way he speaks gives me the impression that he's not playing around.

"Let me rephrase it, how much do you want?" he regards me with a stoic expression that it is so hard to read what he is thinking and there is something in his voice that changed. Gone was the playful and humorous Jared I knew from last night. His voice holds authority and it gives me the creeps.

"I... Jared, sorry, I mean Raymond, I don't know what are you talking about."

"I've had women like you before. You offer me your body knowing I can pay you with a big sum of money."

His words cut through my heart and I feel the anger surge in my veins. He thinks I'm some kind of a prostitute?

"I know there's a huge debt running after you."

My anger was replaced with shock. "H-How did you know that?"

"Irene, I have my own ways." Raymond replies while twirling his phone on his hand. "And I have an offer you wouldn't resist."

"No." He seems surprised with my answer. "No, I will not accept whatever that is." I'm surprised with how I sound strong right now.

"Are you sure, Irene?" he raises an eyebrow. "I already deposited half million dollars in your account."

What the? Half million dollars?

He raises my phone and I bet he already has gone through my messages and contacts while I was asleep. "I'm pretty sure the loan sharks will be very glad to get paid today, right Irene?"

I feel the tears in my eyes but I hold them back. My mind suddenly gives me flashes of death threats on my door , reminding me of the constant worry and fear I have whenever I go out.

"What's the deal?"I almost choke on my words.

A victorious smile fleets across his face before it disappears. "Two months, Irene. For two months, you give me what I want and I'll pay you."

"And what... do you want from me?" it comes out as a whisper and I could barely hear it.

He looks at me amusingly and smirks. "I think you know what I mean, Irene."

Damn! I feel my knees go weak.

"But... two months?" I almost shriek at him.

"Yes, and this," he pulls out a check from his wallet and scribbles something before handing it to me. "Twenty-five thousand dollars for today."

I gape at him and I suddenly have the impulse to grab the chequee and tear it into pieces before his very eyes. I want to shout at him that I won't let him pay for my body and use it whenever he could. But... do I have a choice?

I slowly raise my hand to accept the check and it feels foreign in my palms. I look down and clearly, twenty-five thousand dollars is roughly written across the small piece of paper.

"Two months? Can't we...uhm...I don't..." Damn it, why am I stuttering? My knees feel weak and my voice seems to be stuck on my throat.

"Okay, here's the catch, Irene. If you finish the two months, I will pay you a million dollars. Real talk." My eyes are about to jump out. A million dollars?

"But only after two months. If you back out and stop midway, I won't hold you back but you won't receive your bonus at the end." He smirks evilly and I suddenly have the urge to claw his blue eyes out even though they got me in the first place.

I fist my hands at my side and gulps. My response at this moment will turn my life around completely. Can I handle this? Should I choose to throw away my dignity to save myself from death in the hands of those cruel loan sharks?

I grit my teeth as I whisper the single word weakly surrendering to the fleeting sense of courage I felt.

"Deal."

It was a weak and agonized whisper but it was my voice.

Irene Stewart' POV

Tears stream down my face, soaking into the sheets beneath me. I can't recall the last time I cried like this, feeling utterly devastated and disgusted with myself.

As I go home to the comfort of my apartment, I head straight for my bed, giving in to the flood of tears I've been holding back for far too long.

What have I done to myself?

I feel so filthy, so utterly worthless. Selling my body to a stranger... I curse him for taking advantage of my desperate situation. I never imagined that debt would cost me my dignity.

And now, I'm burying myself deeper with my deal with that damned Raymond Nash. I never knew I would ever allow myself to enter into that kind of relationship. I teach teenage kids not only with Geometry and Physics but also with moral messages and keeping dignity intact but now, I feel so ashamed at what I've done.

I suddenly miss my best friend, Amber Ace. She's currently away on her honeymoon so I couldn't get in touch with her. But even if she reaches out first, I wouldn't be able to tell her what kind of deal I just accepted.

My tears wouldn't stop flowing but my eyes start to droop slowly and I let myself fall asleep on top of white sheets soaked with my own tears.

I wake up to the loud ringing beside my head. I groan and lift my heavy eyes open. I squint my eyes at the bright sunlight through my window. I turn off my alarm and groggily gets up and head to the kitchen for a glass of water. After rinsing out my mouth, I make my way to the bathroom, pausing at the mirror to confront my tear-stained reflection. My red, swollen eyes stare back at me, and I let out a sigh at the sorry sight before me.

"Get your ass up, Irene, and be the woman that you are!" I mentally scold myself, grabbing a towel. That's it. No use crying over spilled milk. A warm bath will clear my head and help me gather my thoughts.

As I sink into the soothing embrace of the bathwater, a sense of calm washes over me. I'm filled with determination and optimism. There's a life waiting for me beyond this mess, and I refuse to let pathetic circumstances drag me down. If fate has thrown Raymond Nash into my path as a means to tackle my crippling debt, then so be it. I'll swallow my pride this once, but that doesn't mean he gets free rein to use me. I'll set my boundaries and stand my ground. I got myself into this mess, and I'll damn well get myself out of it when the time comes.

Wrapping myself in a towel, I prepare for another tutoring session with my students. They'll be arriving soon, and I need to be ready.

As I run a brush through my hair, the doorbell interrupts my routine. I glance at the clock on the wall; it's still thirty minutes to ten. My students usually don't show up until ten thirty. With a sense of bewilderment, I finish up quickly and hurry to answer the door.

What on earth...? My jaw drops as I come face to face with the last person I expected to see. Raymond Nash stands before me, clad in a sleek grey suit that accentuates his muscular frame.

"What are you doing here? How...how did you know where I live?"

He ignores my questions and just steps inside my apartment. I look behind him and saw another man in a suit probably his body guard standing beside a sleek and shiny black car. I roll my eyes. So he brought a bodyguard with him. Or does he always have one whenever he goes out?

I turn my attention back to Raymond and follow him as he steps in and roams around my living room as if he already knows my place. He stops at the center just in front of my center table and regards me with a look.

"What?" I irritatingly frown at him. I didn't know that part of our deal is having him visit me abruptly. "I thought you would call me whenever you need me, not coming in here and..."

"I just wanted to check where you're living." He interrupts me as he stares at me.

"Check for what?"

He ignores me again and looks down to gaze at the picture frame standing on the table. It was a picture of me with my students last year when we had a house party here at my apartment to commemorate our last tutoring day.

"You looked happy here." He whispers.

I couldn't agree more with what he said. I always feel contented and happy whenever I bond with kids or teenagers as I tutor them.

"Why are you here?" I ask him again. "Don't tell me you want to..." I feel my tears starting to form again as I swallow and start to feel shitty about myself.

He seems to have gotten the message for he quickly said, "Just as I said, I just wanted to check on your apartment." He strides to the door. "I will soon call you and be ready when I do."

He didn't even say goodbye and just went out the door leaving me. Damn! I thought I could handle this toughly. I thought I already agreed to be headstrong but whenever he is infront of me, I feel weak and feeble.

Raymond Nash's POV

Damn it! I hiss in annoyance as soon as I get inside my car and Franklin, my bodyguard and driver closes the door and walks to the driver's seat.

"Straight to my office." I order him as he starts the engine.

I look at the rearview mirror at the fading apartment behind us. I shouldn't have come here.

I didn't know that coming here was a bad idea. I debated long enough this morning if I should pay her a visit. I don't know why I wanted to see her badly.

It was a bad idea. I could still clearly picture the shock and the fear in her eyes when she saw me at her door.

I muse over to the fact that I felt guilt creeping up on me when I noticed her red puffed eyes. She must have been crying all night. What have I done? Is she regretting her decision to be part our deal?

You forced her, you fool.

Damn it! I never experienced this being so guilty in regards with women. I've never done this before.

In no time, we arrive at the front door of the large building I own. I unbutton my suit and loosen my necktie as soon as I enter my main office.

I heave a sigh and sit down. I push away the disturbing thoughts on Irene as I bury myself to the paperworks in front of me.

Thankfully, I was busy the whole day with lots of meetings and interviews in my schedule that I temporarily forgot about Irene. I haven't realized it but it was already six in the evening when my secretary Wade informed me that my last business meeting for seven PM is cancelled.

I frown at his notice as he stutters and tries to explain. That business meeting is for the upcoming launching of my new product and it's very important that it should not get cancelled.

"Why the hell is it cancelled?" my stern voice makes Wade stutter more.

I roll my eyes. This is no news for me. I don't know how it came to be but all of my staff are always trembling in fear whenever I use my stern voice. I have the reputation of being an authoritarian and strict boss.

"Uhm... Sir...th-they called a while ago that...Mr. Andrews won't be able to−"

He stops midway when I forcefully slam the pen I was holding onto the table.

"Get out." I say through gritted teeth. Wade hurriedly goes out and I could hear his sigh of relief.

I can't believe that important meeting would be postponed. I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration.

Damn it! I have been looking forward for that business meeting and it gets cancelled last minute.

I pick up my phone and dials a number. After the fourth ring, she answers.

"Hello." Damn, even her voice on the phone mesmerizes me.

"Be ready. My driver will pick you up in an hour." I immediately command her and without hearing her reply, I hang up and leans backward in my swivel chair.

I need a distraction tonight.