Page 7 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

Chapter 3

Xander stifled a groan when he walked out of the conference room after a meeting. Olivia sat in the waiting area. When she saw him, she jumped up, a wide smile on her face as she crossed the room. Judy rolled her eyes.

“I tried telling her you didn’t have any time this morning,” she said.

“And I told her that you’d make time for me,” Olivia said, stretching up to greet Xander with a kiss on both cheeks. Her typical greeting, but she lingered just a little longer than he was comfortable with. He had to almost forcibly grab her by the upper arms to push her back a few steps. Judy made a small choking sound.

He released Olivia and stepped back. She took another tiny step forward and he stepped back again. Was she going to chase him through his office like this? “Look, Liv. I do have appointments. What do you need? I can give you ten minutes.”

“Five,” Judy said. Xander didn’t miss the dirty look Olivia shot toward his assistant. “You have that very important meeting.”

“Fine,” Olivia said. “Five. But I’ll probably have to call you later to finish up. Or maybe dinner…”

“No to dinner. Follow me to the conference room.” Xander held a hand out, guiding Olivia to walk in front of him to the conference room. He looked back to Judy and mimed holding a phone up to his ear. She nodded. He did have somewhere to be around lunch but did not have an appointment in ten minutes. Judy nodded. He knew that he could count on her to interrupt with a phone call in a few minutes.

Olivia hesitated in the room, waiting for him to sit down so she could sit close. Xander sat down at the head of the table, his normal seat. It also meant more physical separation from Olivia. Of course, as soon as she sat down in the seat closest to him, he felt her foot under the table. He slid back in the rolling chair, crossing one leg over the other as though it were natural, not him trying to escape. Her lips pursed.

“What do you need, Liv? The clock is ticking.”

“I thought you’d be glad that I’m doing a story on your foundation,” she said.

“I am.”

“You certainly aren’t acting like it.”

“Olivia. This is my work. I told you I didn’t have time to see you. I’m happy you’re writing something on the foundation to get the name out there and I’m doing my best to be accommodating. This isn’t personal.”

“But what if I want it to be?”

“Then you should go. I’ve told you I don’t want anything personal. And you’re here in my place of business. I didn’t get to where I am by playing around. If you don’t have anything real to talk about, I have work to do.”

Her eyes narrowed, then her face shifted and softened. Her hands clenched on the table. Xander could see tears threatening to fall. She was good. Even though he knew she was acting, he still hated seeing a woman cry. He resisted the urge to reach across the table and touch her hand, but when he spoke, his voice was softer. “Come on, Liv. What do you want to know?”

She sighed. “I’m just having trouble a little with the background.”

“What background?”

“The official story of the Sarah Ryder Foundation,” Olivia said. “I looked at the website and read the story behind the name and all, but I haven’t been able to verify anything. I was trying to reach the Ryder family—”

“Don’t do that. They don’t want to be bothered. After losing someone, the last thing they’ll want to do is talk about it. I chose the name to be honoring, not because their family wanted any kind of attention. What do you want to know? Ask me.”

Xander swallowed, watching her face carefully. He usually had a great poker face and could be as good an actor as she was, when the situation called for it. Sometimes in business, it did. But Olivia was good at her job. She could always smell blood in the water. And never had trouble being the one to cause the bloodshed. Did she smell the blood now?

Her icy blue eyes searched his face. With a slight frown, she looked down, pulling her phone from her purse and typing something into it. When she met his eyes again, he kept his gaze level, blank.

“Why Sarah Ryder? I mean, I know she had pancreatic cancer, but what was it about her that made you choose the name?”

“She was a friend of a friend,” Xander said.

Olivia was putting more notes in her phone. “Girlfriend? Ex?”

“Friend,” Xander said, his voice cracking a little at the end. “Not close. Acquaintance, really. I didn’t know her personally.”

“And she died from cancer, so you were starting the foundation and…?”

“My family mentioned her story. I wanted this to be more personal than just some random foundation and I didn’t want it named after me or Obsidian.”

“Your family? I don’t know much about them. I thought you said she was a friend of a friend?”

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