Page 123 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

"I have never felt more important in my entire life," she says. "Good thing I got screw tops." Grace sets one of the bottles on the counter, carrying the other over and into my kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets to find two glasses.

I'm no help. Even if I wasn'tstewingin my thoughts, I haven't really gone through the apartment that well to know where things are located. Camille gave me the place fully furnished, telling me it was easier on her that way, and I wasn't exactly protesting considering I came to New York with just the clothes on my back.

Grace hands me a glass of red and takes a long swig of hers. "Okay, so what kind of help do you need? Makeup? Boys? Hide a dead body?"

"You'd help me hide a body?"

She shrugs. "Hey, what are friends for?" Her gaze catches on the bags sitting in my dining room. "Um, did you go shopping without me?" She marches right over, her hand on her hip. "Is that Van Cleef?" She flipsthetop on one of the jewelry boxes,stifling a gasp. "Oh. My. God." Grace slowly spins on her heel. "You robbed the fucking Van Cleef store?"

I chug some of my wine, ignoring the way it warms my chest and empty stomach. "I did not rob the Van Cleef store." I lick my lips and try to make sense of the situation. "I woke up and this was here."

Grace stares at me, blinking a few times. "What?"

"I mean, it was either here when I got in last night, or someone came when I was sleeping."

"Someone? Like who? Santa Claus?" Grace helps herself to the rest of the things, shaking her head as she explores all the stuff Archer brought me.

"You know who it was, we both do." I settle onto a stool in the kitchen, near the bottle of wine, refilling my glass when I empty it a second later.

Grace comes over, topping hers off, too, and sits down. "You think he broke in here?"

"I mean, I didn't give him a key. How else would you explain how it got in here? I sleepwalked to Van Cleef and went shopping? I don't have that kind of money."

"You said you had his black card, right? It's not impossible."

That's when it dawns on me, I do still have Archer's American Express. I had forgotten all about it, buried in the bottom of one of the handbags he had gotten me. I should probably pay it more consideration since it's capable of purchasing six hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stuff. Unless he paid cash, then that's an entirely different story altogether.

"I didn't use his card. This was him, not me." I drink more of the wine, not caring about the taste and focusing on how it makes my body tingle and loosen up at the same time.

"It's kind of hot," Grace admits.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, breaking and entering is definitely a criminal activity. But it's weirdly romantic. Isn't that the dress you've been wanting from Charlotte's, too? He pays attention, it's sweet."

I glare at her. "Grace. Don't encourage him, he's probably listening right now." I crane my head all around the apartment, feeling entirely too vulnerable.

Grace hops off her chair, sets her wineglass down, and goes over to the window.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Trust the process." She lowers each of the blinds, the place getting darker and darker until she shuts off the lights, leaving us in almost pitch black.

"What the hell," I blurt out, bracing myself on the counter like the world might topple over now that I can't see.

Grace pulls out her camera and hits record, panning the kitchen, dining room, and living room. She walks back over, how she can find her way I'll never know, and hits play next to me."We're looking for a red dot. It's hard to find them with the naked eye but if there was a camera in here, this video would pick it up."

We watch it three times, and nothing indicates that there are any hidden cameras in here.

"Let me check your other rooms. Is that cool?" Grace waits for me to give her my approval before continuing.

"Yeah, of course."

She leaves me there in the quiet darkness, returning a couple of minutes later to show me the screen. "I think you're good, babe." Grace flips the kitchen light on and I squint at the bright assault, my eyes taking a second to adjust.

"Why do you even know how to check for cameras?" I ask Grace and swallow down the rest of the wine in my glass.

"Politics, babe." She climbs onto the stool. "It's hard to know who to trust."

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