Page 47 of Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance

“Preston?” Katherine called out, looking over at the couch.

It took her a minute to notice I was over by the dining table, but when she saw the small spread of food, and the candles, her eyes widened.

“Hello, Katherine.”

“What is all this?”

“This is an apology. I never wanted you to meet Leighton, especially not like that. We dated a few years ago, but I ultimately broke things off when I realized how psychotic she was. I want you to know that there’s nothing going on between us, Kat. I’d never do anything to hurt you, not after what I did before. I need you to know that.”

“What about the charity gala?”

“She asked that I go with her because I owed her a favor for talking to someone from the Times to drop the story they were writing. It was William’s idea, and I know it was stupid. I told her afterward that I never wanted to see her again, and I meant that,” I said.

“You promise?”

“I promise. I will never do anything to hurt you. You’re the one I want to be with. You’re the one I care about. There is no one else and there won’t ever be. It’s you and me, Kat.”

She smiled softly, taking a deep breath, nodding at me. I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her chin, kissing her.

“Where did you find all of this food?” she asked, teasingly.

“Believe it or not, I cooked it.”

“Yeah? Well, let’s see how good of a chef you really are then,” she said, giggling.

I pulled her in close, kissing her once more before I pulled out her dining chair so we could share yet another lovely meal together before getting to the dessert…

I heard the home phone of my penthouse ring, and I reached across my bed to the side table to pick it up thinking it was the front desk.

“Hello?”

“Preston.”

“Leighton? What the fuck?”

“You weren’t answering my calls so I decided to go through your personal concierge.”

“I’m hanging up,” I said, sleepily.

“I have information that you might find rather valuable. Consider it an apology for how I’ve been acting lately. I’m downstairs in the hotel bar. Come find me if you want to know who hired Katherine’s firm to investigate you for fraud.”

She hung up before I could get another word in, and I rolled my eyes. You always know how to get your way, don’t you? I tossed the duvet from my legs, getting dressed quickly, and heading down to the bar to see her sitting alone with a Cosmopolitan in hand.

“Leighton.”

“I’m glad you’re here, Preston. Should we get something to eat?”

“Leighton, I’m only here because you’ve been a total bitch lately and you’re about to offer me a pretty grand apology, right?”

“Right. Okay, well I’ve heard a pretty interesting rumor that your girlfriend has been having clandestine meetings with William. A little birdie told me that he’s the one behind all of this,” said Leighton.

“This is ridiculous. He’s my uncle. You really will try to pull anything, won’t you?” I asked, getting up to leave, but she grabbed my arm, tugging it so I’d sit back down.

“Step-uncle. But wait, Preston. There’s more.”

“I’m listening.”

“As you know I’ve been trying to get the attention of Manhattan’s most eligible billionaires, and one of them just so happens to play poker with William every Thursday evening. It’s a high-stakes game and there are a lot of secrets exchanged at that table that never see the light of day. He said William continuously goes on about wanting to take over the company, and so far he’s succeeding,” she murmured.

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