Page 99 of The Billionaires

He grins. “I got the credit for meeting you before the big boss did.”

Ah. I guess that makes sense. The fact that their stone-hearted asshole of a “big boss” got a human girlfriend is probably an event of mythical proportions, and anyone involved is the gossip lottery winner.

“Is he here?” I ask, not bothering to sound like a caring girlfriend in the slightest. “He has something I need.”

“Let me check.” The guard begins making calls and gets transferred a few times before he says, “Yes. Juno is here looking for?—”

He stops midbreath, and I can picture Lucius on the other end. She’s stalking me now? How annoying.

“Yes,” the guard says after a beat. “I’ll ask her to wait for you.” Hanging up, he looks at me with slight confusion. “That was Ms. Avalin. She wants to talk to you.”

“Who?”

He types a few keystrokes and turns his screen to me to show me a picture. “Her.”

Ah. He’s talking about Eidith. She of the extra ‘i.’

Is Lucius sending her down with my phone so that he doesn’t have to bother facing me himself? Or is he too busy now that he’s literally and figuratively fucked me?

I wait, shifting from foot to foot, until the blond ice queen clickety-clacks over to us, hips swaying like a sexy pendulum.

“Juno,” she says. “I’ve been hoping we could talk.”

That’s odd. She doesn’t seem to have my phone. All she’s holding is a piece of paper.

“Come,” she says in a voice that indicates she’s used to being obeyed.

Curious, I follow her to the nearest elevator. We get inside, but she doesn’t press any buttons. After a moment, the doors close anyway and she says, “We have to make it quick.”

“Make what quick?”

She sighs. “Look… I know about you and Lucius.”

My stomach drops. Did he confide in her about last night?

No. That would be too much, even for him.

Best to play it cool, as hard as it is. “Can you please clarify?”

“I saw the contract on Lucius’s desk. You and Lucius are not real,” she says. “It’s all about money for you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If anything?—”

“Why do you care?” The words come out a touch hysterical.

She hands me the paper she’s been holding. “That’s double what he promised you.”

I stare at the number on the check—which is what the paper is—in stupefied incomprehension.

“That money is yours,” Eidith says. “If, and only if, you break off the fake relationship, as of today.” She points at the check. “There’s an email address I wrote on the back. It’s that of a respected journalist. He’ll expect to hear from you.”

“Why?” I ask numbly.

Is she doing this on Lucius’s behalf?

She shrugs. “Your arrangement has never sat right with me. If he’d asked me, I would’ve advised him against it.”

“Oh?”

I’ve changed my mind about who the biggest asshole in the world is. Lucius will have to give up that title to her.

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