Page 37 of The Billionaire's Heart

“Dude. Are you still there?” Garrett says as I don’t answer him. “What the fuck? What’s this shit about you being engaged? Is this true? This shit can’t be true, can it?” He keeps rambling as Mia and I just stare at each other.

That’s when I notice the small smile and the tiny little nod of her head.

“Yes?” I ask her.

“Yes. We can talk later about the details,” Mia says as she’s about to close the door.

“Dinner?” I ask with hope in my voice.

“Yes. See you then.” Mia leaves and closes the door.

“Dinner? I can’t do dinner with you. I’m in Freeport Bahamas right now, checking out your damn islands.” Garrett says over the phone.

“Not you, Mia. And, yes, it’s true. I’m engaged to be married.”

“Oh, fuck me.”

The rest of my day seems to drag on and dinnertime cannot come soon enough. I want to talk to Mia and make sure she’s really on board with all that’ll be happening in the next few weeks.

At least progress is being made on the deal with Sutherland Park Manufacturing, since Mr. Sutherland sent over the contracts for my attorneys to review. Now comes the fun part, negotiating.

While I had my lawyers on the phone, I had them send over an NDA for Mia to sign. They wanted to send over a prenup as well, but I told them to hold on to that for now. There’s no reason to pay the billing hours for something I’m not going to need. This is just temporary until the deal with Sutherland is done and signed on the dotted line.

Mrs. Wilcox set up a calendar for Mia so that she knows when and where she’ll need to be for the engagements that I have on my calendar. She’s also sending over one of my IT guys to get Mia set up on a computer and business phone. He should be here first thing in the morning.

Mrs. Wilcox, once again saving my ass, also mentioned that Mia will probably need clothes for these many activities and so she’s sending over my personal shopper tomorrow morning as well. This is going to overwhelm Mia if I don’t warn her about all of this tonight at dinner.

I’m having all of Mia’s belongings brought to the house later tonight since someone was able to find out the type of car she drives and where her apartment is located. She won’t be able togo back there; it won’t be safe for her. When this is all over, I’ll make sure she’s got some place to go that’s safe.

With my last call for the day wrapping up, I tell everyone that they’re doing a great job and to keep up the good work. I hang up, grab the NDA, and go in search of Mia.

I find her sitting on the back patio by the pool overlooking the beach and ocean. The sun’s going down, and the day is finally cooling off. Mia’s got her notebook out and she’s diligently writing.

“Whatcha doing? Planning a conglomerate already?” I laugh.

“Something like that.” She closes the notebook so I can’t see what she was writing. She sees my paperwork. “Is that for me? Is it an NDA?”

I’m surprised that she asked about it. I was expecting a fight. “Yes.”

She holds out her hands. “Let me see it.”

I hand it to her and watch as she reads every single word. Her head nods in agreement as she signs the last page of both copies and then hands me her pen.

I also sign both copies and hand her one of them. “There you go.”

“Thanks. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t ask for one earlier.” She smiles at me.

“That’s what one of my lawyers said on the phone this afternoon.” I pause, “Listen, are you sure you want to do this? There’s going to be a lot of curious people, both good and bad, looking at us, but mostly you. I wasn’t kidding when I said we’ll be under a microscope in the coming weeks.”

Mia looks pensive and stares out at the ocean before turning back to me. “I know. But it really doesn’t matter what other people think. They’re going to think and say whatever they want, even if it’s pure bullshit.”

“James’ interview?” I pick up on Mia’s tone quickly.

“Yep.” She pops her ‘p’. She looks pissed and I don’t think I ever want to be on that side of her. She may seem nice and sweet at first, but I believe she could have an evil streak if she’s mad enough.

“If it means anything, I’ll own that paper by the end of the week and then I’ll shut it down. They’ve been writing shit about me and my family for years, but now they’ve gone too far.”

“So, is that how billionaires handle things? They just buy what they don’t like and shut it down?”

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