Page 64 of Ruthless Wars

Her brow knits hard with concern, forcing me to lay a reassuring peck on her lips.

“It’s what he does. The footage is there, but no downloads. So he hacked into the emails and cell phones of a few choice suspects. He found the footage.”

“Let me guess. Travis.”

“And Simone.”

Margot’s panic is well contained, and I’m impressed at how well she keeps it together under what she knows is a catastrophe. Calmly, she says, “I know a publicity cleaner. Coop ...”

Her big blue eyes hit mine, and I’ve got to pull her tight against me. But she decides to floor me.

“I can take the hit. You need to protect the Valor Group. And the Alliance. I’m far from a permanent member of Long Multinational. It’s easy to portray me as the rich, reckless heiress—”

In an instant, I’m crushing her lips with mine. Protesting. Protective. Or maybe just shutting up this crazy, selfless, stubborn woman the only way I know how. She’s lost every last bit of her goddamn mind if any part of her thinks I’d ever let that happen, so I reel her back to reality.

“I’ve already taken care of it,” I say, easing her with a few more kisses.

“How?” she asks, skeptical and adorable, with a breathlessness that makes me smile.

“Travis videoed the footage, like pirating a feature film from a movie theater. You can see the monitors in the shot. The little shit tagged the footage, making it easy for Corey to trace it from his text messages and emails. He only sent it to one person, and Corey just replaced the footage. They won’t realize the switch until they sell it.”

This is the point where I notice that cute little nose crinkle when she doesn’t want to admit I’ve got it all under control. “Could Simone have sent it to someone else? What did he replace the footage with? Are we sure—”

“And here we are again. So many questions. So many things I love about you.”

Margot’s wide eyes and smile are enough to keep me going. Knowing I’m the only one who can take her to the brink of stunned silence pleases me to no end, and she earns herself another soft kiss on those grinning lips. I’m going to hell for how much I love teasing this gorgeous temptress.

“Corey’s the best. If he’s sure, I’m sure. And let’s just say whoever pays a pretty penny for that footage will get quite the show. It starts with an empty elevator, then cuts to some insane Twitter video Evie tried blinding me with. It ends with an anonymous woman in a Hello Kitty mask singing ta-da.”

Margot’s blank stare ends with a harsh accusation. “Hello Kitty is Evie, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

“You have issues.”

“True.”

“And the SEC investigation?”

“The SEC already confirmed—on the record—there is no investigation on either Long Multinational or the Valor Group. It should hit the news first thing in the morning.”

I know I haven’t completely deflected my worries about the Alliance as she tiptoes to ask, “So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing that can’t wait,” I say, pushing out half a smile. “Come on,” I say before ushering her back to the scandalous elevator in question. “Let’s have dinner.”

Rigid and facing forward, she stands beside me in the elevator to the penthouse as her gaze keeps wandering to the camera in the corner.

“Nervous?” I ask, my low tone coaxing her as my finger trails up her thigh.

“We shouldn’t tempt fate,” she says softly, scolding me with a sweet warning.

God help me, but the more she clings to control, the more brazen I get, letting my finger skim her soaked panties.

Margot stays absolutely still, but her breath hitches. She’s seconds from coming unglued, and once again, my floor can’t come fast enough.

An annoyingly insistent buzz draws my attention. I fish the phone from my pocket, giving my cock a second of relief. But the text stops me cold.

The elevator doors open and Margot rushes out, but I don’t move. I can’t.

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