Billionaires Meet Millionaire (A Steamy Romance) Page 11

  "Thanks." He said, smiling at her.

  Olta now took the time to look at him carefully. His eye was slightly swollen and a nice shade of purple, as was the spot at the corner of his mouth. Suppressing the urge to touch his bruises Olta backed away little.

  Niall returned his attention the pictures and Olta put the glasses down on her nightstand. As she watched Niall study her pictures she suddenly felt increasingly vulnerable. She hadn't realized it but her room was actually an open diary of her life. And if Niall wanted to he would be able to read it by asking a few well placed questions.

  "So Tirana, tell me about these pictures." Niall said looking at her. Olta sighed softly and she joined him keeping a good foot between them.

  "Well, they're pictures like any other, really. I'm sure you've seen them before. Because if you haven't you've really been missing out on something." Olta said. She felt a grin playing around the corners of her mouth but tried to suppress it. The emotional rollercoaster was riding again and right now she was passing the flighty corkscrew.

  She felt Niall looking at her but she didn't dare look up at him. Instead she focused on one the most recent pictures in the collage. It was John and Mortis relaxing under an olive tree in Ostia. It still felt ridiculous to think that that had been as little as a month ago.

  Niall had apparently followed her gaze as he pointed at the same picture.

  "Rephrase, who are the people in this picture?" Niall asked and Olta was pleased to her his usual amusement in his voice.

  "That's John and that's Mortis. They're the ones who made this."

  "And this is you?" Niall asked incredulously, pointing at a picture in which Olta was wearing a long emerald dress with spaghetti straps. Olta was slightly affronted by Niall tone. She actually thought it was one of the few pictures in which she looked good.

  "It was for the Christmas Ball last year." She replied.

  "You looked good." Niall replied and Olta couldn't detect any dishonesty in his comment. She kept her eyes on the photo. Okay, so he thought she looked good. Right.

  "So you were redhead back then?" Olta nodded. She had dyed her hair red ever since she was thirteen but had stopped after her father's death.

  Niall, apparently, had moved on the next picture.

  "This guy is your boyfriend?"

  Olta was surprised by the edge in Niall' voice and it took her a second to find the picture he was talking about. It was the only other picture with her in it. It was of her and Sam, on the bus ride to Rome. Somewhere during the ride they had ended up next to each other and had fallen asleep together. She was leaning into his chest and Sam had his arm wrapped her waist as his head rested on top of hers.

  "Sam?" Olta said, laughing softly and shaking her head at the thought. Sam, being interested in her, sure.

  "Don't be ridiculous." She added, her laughter dying away to soft giggles.

  Looking up at Niall she saw him looking down at her. He had stepped closer and Olta felt her breath catching in her throat. Damn that look, damn those eyes and damn that mouth, Olta thought. Niall shouldn't be doing this, acting like he might... Acting like that would only make her crush even harder, if that was possible. She stepped away.

  "You really should sit down. I'm going to get to more drinks." Olta said as she walked out of her room. Running away was a good policy, Olta decided but not too practical when one was in one's own home.

  Taking the bottle of lemonade with her, Olta decided that since Niall was asking questions, she might just as well. Perhaps they could start the questions game again, only this time she would raise the stakes.

  Back in her room she saw Niall had finally decided to sit down. She closed her door behind her and headed to the nightstand to refill the glasses. Handing one to Niall she noticed the bemused confused look on his face. Olta took a seat on the cushion seat across from the seat. Olta thought she might as well go in for the kill right away.

  "So, you get into a fight or something?" she asked looking at Niall' bruises. Olta hadn't really given any conscious thought on how exactly to broach the subject but as she spoke she figured that feigned ignorance might not be a bad way. Judging by the smallest of smiles Niall gave her it worked though.

  "Yeah, with my brother. He wanted to watch some movie which I really didn't so it came to blows." The small smile lingered.

  "So, the two of you do that often then?" Olta asked.

  "Nah, not really." Niall said gazing down at the empty glass. The smile had gone.

  "What does 'not really' mean?"

  "Ah fuck, that means that it's complicated, okay. My brother and I, it's difficult to explain. Let's just leave at that you now know just how we don't get along." Niall snapped but he looked up at her with a pleading and guilty look.

  Olta nodded, knowing that the spell had been broken.

  Niall broke the gaze and let his eyes wander the room.

  "So, what is that?" He asked in the same casual tone Olta had used before. He pointed towards the mural above her bed.

  "Well that's the weapon, no the crest of the city of Tirana. Ra made it, she's got the same one." Olta said.

  Niall grinned. It was a shield, coloured red but with a black stripe with three x's running down the middle.

  "Not to dis your sister's artistic abilities but it doesn't seem that hard."

  "No dissing my sister. I have dibs on that." Olta glared and she threw a pillow towards him. It missed him by a mile and dropped on her desk.

  "Hey, injured guy here." Niall called out as he ducked for a pillow that was never even close to hitting him. Olta saw his playful expression change into grimace as he moved.

  "You okay?" She asked, rising from her position a little. Niall was breathing deeply. As he nodded he tried to smile a little but it got screwed up in the effort.

  Olta now rose fully and picked up the offending pillow for desk. Moving over to the love seat she put against the armrest.

  She pulled Niall backwards, putting her hand lightly on his shoulder. He let himself recline but he kept his legs on the ground. Olta used her free hand to nudge his knee. Niall got the hint and laid his legs on the seat, the end of them hanging over the other armrest. All the while he looked at her and she avoided his gaze. It felt oddly familiar.

  "Sorry about throwing…" Olta started as she reclined back into her pillow seat.

  Niall looked sharply at her but then grinned a little.

  "You're doing it again." Niall warned her teasingly.

  Olta figured the pain had subsided as his smile was back again. That smile didn't help her efforts to suppress her blush. She looked at him shyly and shrugged.

  For a moment they just looked at each other and Olta felt like they were assessing each other, in the best possible meaning of word though. It actually was a very comfortable. Olta realized that despite everything she had never felt truly uncomfortable around Niall. Nervous beyond belief, yes but not uncomfortable.

  A knock on the door broke the silence.

  "Ja?" Olta questioned and the door opened slowly.

  Olta looked at Niall bemused as he tried to manage himself into an upright position but failing miserably. Grimacing Niall fell back.

  "You guys alright in here?" Her mother asked as she entered the room.

  "What's up doc?" Olta said in her best Bugs Bunny accent as she leant backwards to gaze up at her mother. Her mother glanced down at her before turning to Niall.

  "Niall, would you like to stay for dinner?" Her mother asked.

  Olta's head snapped back up at Niall. Niall, still slightly in pain, looked from her mother to Olta and back again. Olta thought it funny that he looked somewhat embarrassed. It wasn't a look she had seen before but it was decidedly cute.

  Niall looked at Olta again and back at her mother.

  "If it's no inconvenience." Niall asked politely.

  "Now that would defeat the purpose of asking, wouldn't it?" Her mother answered with laughter in her voice. Niall smile widened.

 
; "True, in that case I would love to stay for dinner, Amanda."

  Olta relished in the familiarity of the display. Her mother and John always went through this. It was their little ritual. Looking up at her mother Olta saw that she too recognized the play. For the very first time since her arrival Olta truly felt at home.

  "Good." Amanda smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her.

  Niall looked at Olta

  "I need to call Matilda, though. Do you have a phone I might use? I forgot mine." He stated.

  Olta got up and picked up her mobile phone from under some papers on her desk.

  "There you go." She said as she tossed it over at Niall.

  "You've got a cell phone?" Niall asked.

  "Yeah, isn't it the weirdest thing?" Olta mocked.

  "It's just, I haven't seen it on you before is all." Niall shrugged.

  "It's more for emergencies anyway; it isn't like anyone else besides mamma or Ra might need the number." Olta shrugged back.

  "I'll let you make your call, be right back." She added and she walked out her room.

  Niall needed his privacy and Olta needed to have a little chat with her mother and sister before dinner. There would be no embarrassing story telling this evening.

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  Niall was glad for the privacy Olta had given him, seeing as his father and Matilda expected him to be in his room.

  Hearing the phone ring he felt the numb thumping ache of his bruises increase. The painkillers were loosing their effect. Still, he hadn't felt this good in a very long time, if ever. Although her mother walking in had embarrassed him.

  The situation was completely innocent, of course. The scenario running through Niall' head, however, hadn't been.

  "Foy residence." Matilda's voice brought him back down to reality.

  "Hey Matilda, it's me. I'm just calling to say I won't be home for dinner." Niall said quickly.

  "What do you mean? Aren't you up in your room right now, resting?" Matilda asked challengingly.

  "Um, No?" Niall asked nervously. An upset Matilda was a scary thing, even over the phone.

  "NiallFoy, where are you?!" Matilda demanded.

  "I'm at Olta's. You know the girl I told you about?" Niall explained quickly.

  Matilda's tone softened immediately.

  "You really should be resting, you know."

  "I'm fine, really."

  "Well, you have fun then, young Niall." Matilda said before disconnecting the line. Niall was sure she’d used her title for him mockingly.

  He looked at phone in his hand and smirked. Quickly he entered his own name and number and then gave himself a ring. Now this phone could be used to actual use.

  Laying down the phone Niall glanced around the room again. His eye fell on the collage on the other side of the room. Niall had been pleased with Olta's reaction about that guy, Sam or something like that. Niall had never realized that she might already have a boyfriend. The thought just hadn't occurred to him.

  So when he saw this guy holding Olta like he himself wanted to, Niall had felt a wave of jealousy and possessiveness, only to be replaced by some weird giddy joy when he heard Olta's derisive words and laughter. Niall was pretty sure that her words had been directed at herself and not that Sam guy and he briefly wondered what that meant.

  But the fact that Olta would snuggle up to a friend like that, now that was promising. Maybe he could get her on this seat beside him and have her snuggle up to him.

  Oh, who was he kidding, he was in way too deep to just be friends with her. And if he wasn't a complete idiot Olta wouldn't want that either. But that was assuming that he wasn't a total idiot and these days that was quite an assumption. She had, after all, run away again when he spotted a clear opportunity.

  And snapping at Olta while she had addressed the very big elephant waltzing around them was pretty stupid. It had, after all, been the excuse for him coming over. But if he could avoid talking about his brother, he would, regardless of Olta's tact in the matter.

  Olta reentering her room shook Niall out of his reverie. She had a cheeky grin on her face and Niall frowned at this.

  "It's alright then? You staying over for dinner?" Olta asked and the cheekiness disappeared. Niall nodded and he noticed that this time she didn't close door.

  "You okay, can I get you some aspirin or something. My mom has some stronger stuff too."

  "Stronger stuff?" Niall asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Olta giggled softly.

  "I don't think my mother deems a couple of bad bruises painful enough to crack open the morphine though." Niall looked at her wide eyed. Her mother kept morphine in the house? Okay.

  "No I'm all right, thanks. Tell me more about your friends back home. I mean it's only fair isn't it?" Niall said composing himself.

  "Fair?" Olta asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

  "Yeah. You know far more about me and the others than we do about you. You haven't been really sharing or anything." Niall stated and he saw her blush return but he was more caught up in the emotions flashing over Olta's face.

  He saw shyness followed by bewilderment. Then he saw a flash of what he could only describe as anger only to be quickly replaced by fear and, who would have thought, insecurity.

  "I've shared things." Olta said, slightly defensive. Niall tilted his head and looked at her intently.

  "Sure and I'm glad to know that you like science fiction and period drama's and that you're trained ninja and that your brother's got an excellent taste in women." Niall was glad to see a smile edge its way on Olta's mouth.

  "He's coming over on Friday."

  Niall didn't understand who she was talking about.

  "My brother." Olta explained with a faint smile. "He's coming over coming Friday to explain himself to his mother."

  "So he's hopping on a plane to come and tell his mother what he has been up to?" Niall chuckled. The guy was like twenty-eight or something. It didn't sound all too healthy to him.

  "Well I think the fact that he'll be seeing Miss Aliton.. God that really doesn't sound right." Olta laughed. "Do you know her first name because it sounds to me like my brother is having it on with Mrs. Robinson and that just doesn't sit right."

  Niall smiled at her and shook his head.

  "No, can't help you there. But come on Tirana, something a little bit more substantial."

  "Substantial? We've known each other for less than a week." Olta clearly wasn't too pleased with his current course as Niall saw a flash of annoyance cross her face.

  He wanted to back paddle right away. He hadn't meant for Olta to get annoyed with him. He wanted Olta happy, laughing and blushing. Well, he got her blushing but it seemed for the wrong reasons. Niall opened his mouth to start his retraction but Olta never gave him the chance.

  "Coming from Mr. I-snap-when-someone-asks-me-anything-remotely-personal, I think that's rather rich." Okay, so Olta had picked up on that. Right. And she was giving him a very harsh and rather scary look.