Page 101 of The Billionaire's Pact

My brows rose. “Rocco?”

“Give me a minute.” He took out his phone and made a call. “Yeah, it’s me, Morgan. You told me Marjorie wouldn’t be at the premiere…You can’t control who shows? She had a chair… Not acceptable. She’s not headlining this movie…Whatever. Bottom line, if you want my support again, don’t count on it,” he snapped and disconnected.

I touched his arm. “What’s going on, Rocco?”

He grunted. “Majorie. She’s become a problem. I broke it off, and she has me GPSed everywhere. I’m sick of it. I don’t want her linked with my work or anything else again.”

My mouth dropped opened. “You’re not friends—”

“We were, but not now,” he said abruptly.

I folded my arms. He was angry, but he had no right to take it out on me. “How else would I have known? If you want me to know the truth, you should share it with me. You left me the second we entered the theater.”

“I sat with the production; that’s what we do at these events,” he said in a brisk tone.

“You didn’t have to sit by Marjorie, laugh with her, let her put her head on your shoulder, kiss your cheek,” I listed off, then flattened my lips.

He snorted. “There were cameras on us the whole time. I’d be a public scumbag if I was anything but nice to her, even though I didn’t want to be. She used us for publicity and fucked over our movie to get it. I left the second the panel interview ended.” So why did it take so long for him to get to the party? I wasn’t sure what to believe.

We fell silent for a few minutes before he said, “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m upset Morgan was too weak to stand on his work that he tried to conjure up salacious drama for the press. We agreed ahead of time that she wasn’t allowed on the panel.” His phone vibrated in his hand, but he didn’t answer it.

“But she’s in the film,” I pointed out.

“A miniscule role that I got for her. It was Lulu’s Oscar to get, and they’re not talking about her. Marjorie has her film, Patchwork, which she has a more prominent role in, showing here soon. But she had to interrupt Morgan’s film, and now the press will forget his hard work. It’s selfish and self-serving, but…maybe I gave her no choice.” He blew out his breath.

I turned back to him. “What do you mean by that?”

“We hadn’t seen each other in months, so it’s not like we were still together. The breakup and marriage announcement was fast, I get that. But our relationship wasn’t going anywhere. I’m being upfront, Adelina. I stopped having feelings for Marjorie quite a while ago.” His voice lost steam.

“Okay. Thank you for telling me that,” I said, hoping he could hear the genuine thanks in my tone. He’d been wronged tonight, too, and I wouldn’t ignore that for him.

His phone chimed. He checked it, then pressed ignore.

“Now, tell me, where was Isla?” he asked, his voice strained.

“With me most of the time. It’s a party. Janus told her he wanted to discuss a business opportunity. She left for a call. But Rose Steele came over to chat with me, too.” I bit my lip.

“What did Rose want?” he asked in a clipped tone.

I lifted my shoulders. “To offer advice.”

Rocco tutted. “Rose has no advice to give. She opened the door for an open marriage with Morgan, and it will never close again. Now tell me what else Janus did to you. Did he hurt you?”

I shrugged. “No. He was friendly for the most part. We danced…Oh, Morgan asked to dance with me—”

“He did? Fuck me,” Rocco hissed, his jaw clenched.

I crossed my arms. “Should I say anything more or are you going to freak out?”

“Morgan crossed a line; I needed to know that. I’m calming down. Tell me the rest.” His voice wasn’t exactly calm.

I took a deep breath. “Janus talked about a business opportunity, then touched my face. You came.” And thumped your chest.

“He dared to touch what is mine?” he said incredulously. “Calling you my fiancée? As if he had a chance in hell to take you away from me. I’d break that asshole in half.”

Rocco was worked up for a fight, and it finally hit me why. It wasn’t just his annoyance at Marjorie at the premiere. “You’re jealous.”

He rolled his neck. “I’m protective.”

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