Page 58 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

"Fuck," I mutter and run my hand through my hair. That's when my sights land on the person sitting a couple of tables away from London, an old acquaintance of mine from my old life. I skim through my phone and locate his number, hitting call as soon as I find it.

It rings, and rings, and I keep my eyes glued to the screen and hope I didn't get this wrong.

He picks up a second later. "Long time no see, pal."

"Do you see that redhead to your left about twenty feet?"

"What? No hello, how are you? I thought we were close, buddy."

"Unless you want me to expose every single escort you've hired to the local tabloids, I suggest you do exactly as I say."

"Shit, man, hang on, don't get so hasty." He turns around, scanning and locking his sights on London. "The hot one sitting by herself?"

"Choose your words carefully, Jack, otherwise they'll be your last."

"Fine, fine. What do you want me to do?"

"Go give her your phone."

"What?"

"Did I stutter?"

Jack gets up and approaches London, her head doing a double take as he gets right next to her. "You've got a call."

"Excuse me?" London says with great hesitation.

"Tell her who it is," I speak loud enough so he can hear me.

"Archer," London calls out and snatches the phone from Jack. "What the fuck do you want?" Her voice is hushed.

"You need to get out of there, London. You don't know who you're on a date with."

"I don't know who I'm living with either, and that doesn't seem to stop me. Pretty sure my date is harmless, big boy." She smiles politely, if a bit falsely, at Jack.

"I'm warning you, London. I wouldn't joke about this. You need to go."

"I shut my phone off for a reason, Archer. Because I wanted to have a good evening. I think I deserve that, don't I? Why do you have to ruin this for me? What's wrong with you? And to bring some random stranger into this." She covers the speaker and says, "No offense," to Jack.

He shrugs and takes a piece of bread from the basket on London's table and bites off a chunk.

"You need to listen to me," I try to make her understand. "He's not who you think he is."

"Yeah, well, neither are you, and neither am I. I'm a grown-ass woman. I can do what I want, Archer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date to finish." She disconnects the line and gives Jack his phone back. "Sorry about that," she tells him.

"No worries, I understand how frustrating Archer can be." He nods stiffly at her. "Have a nice evening, miss."

"Thanks. You, too." London dusts off the wrinkles in her dress before returning to her seat, taking a quick glance around to no doubt see the damage caused by our conversation.

But luckily everyone seems so focused on themselves that they don't pay her much attention.

"God damn it, London," I quip.

I skim the layout of the restaurant, do a search to pull up the schematics, and go to work doing what I do best—hacking.

It takes me two entire minutes to shut the electricity off, the entire place going dark except for the occasional cell phone someone is staring at. A dozen patrons let out a collective gasp and I can barely hide the triumphant smile on my face. But why stop there? I disconnect the phone lines, throw a signal blocker in place, and focus my attention on the street outside. If I can just…

With the final click of the enter key, I send the traffic light flashing, cars blaring their horns and locking up their brakes. "That ought to stall them." I move what I can over to my cell phone, putting the tracker of London's phone in one corner, and two video feeds split across the rest of the screen.

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