Page 47 of The Billionaires

Oh, no.

What if it crushes the?—

Whew.

The metal rod misses the ferret by an inch and hits the ground with a deafening screech that makes everyone slap their palms over their ears.

Unlike the humans, Blackbeard looks more intrigued than scared. He scurries over to the microphone, and judging by the ensuing crunching sounds, tries to eat it.

I run up the staircase leading to the stage, and Lucius does the same on the other side.

This is it.

We have the critter cornered.

We leap for him.

Our bodies collide. Lucius’s hand lands on my boob, but the ferret escapes, clucking excitedly.

“Sorry,” Lucius says, stumbling back. “That was an accident, I swear.”

“No worries,” I lie. My nipple is distinctly peaked where he touched me, and my breathing is more than a little unsteady—and not just from the ferret chase. “Let’s get him.”

We track Blackbeard to the other end of the room, where he stops and looks up at the space shuttle.

His thoughts aren’t hard to read:

Argh! If I could get in there, I could be the first-ever space pirate. Aliens and Predators would shiver their timbers—whatever that means—and walk the space plank.

I move slowly, worried I’ll be noticed. As I pass by a nearby table, I grab a deviled egg.

Behind the ferret, Lucius is also creeping closer, but without any bait.

When I’m ten feet away, the ferret looks right at me with a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Hey, little furball.” I drop the egg between us. “Come get this juicy booty.”

Pirates like booty, right?

Wait, why are people looking at my butt?

Whatever. The good news is that the bait idea works. Blackbeard scurries to the egg, glancing at me cautiously from time to time. What the poor ferret doesn’t realize is that I’m a distraction.

Just as he swallows the egg, Lucius grabs him from behind.

“Time to take this one home,” Lucius says, holding his little friend gently but firmly.

I follow the two of them to the limo.

Once we’re inside, Lucius asks, “Do you mind if I take him home first?”

“Of course not,” I say. “Can I hold him?”

Lucius gives Blackbeard a scratch that kind of makes me jealous. “Do you mind waiting until we get into the greenhouse? It’s ferret proof… or so I thought.”

My lips stretch into a smile. “How do you think he got out?”

Lucius lifts his shoulders. “I played with them before I left. So maybe he got into my jacket pocket?”

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