Page 16 of A Man of Wealth

I watch Jared place a hand on Vivienne’s leg and something in me snaps. I turn to Heidi.

“It was great to see you. We’ll have to catch up more later,” I practically growl as I turn away from her.

I plow through the crowd toward them. What the fuck is she playing at? This was not the plan. She was only supposed to talk to him, not physically flirt with the man.

When I’m looming over them, Jared looks up, his face pales a little and he nonchalantly pulls his hand back. But it’s Vivienne’s look of relief that has me dialing up the rage I feel. This wasn’t part of her plan, he’s every bit the asshole that I thought he was.

“Vivienne, may I have a word…please.” I add the last word through gritted teeth. Jared looks between us, apparently hopeful that this obscenely hot woman will choose him over me. What a fucking twat.

“Oh, of course, Conner. Conner, this is Jared Pallin. Jared, Conner Sterling.” He nods at me, and I nod at him. Neither of us says a word.

“Excuse us, Jared. I’ll definitely give you a call this week,” she says with a smile as she stands and this time takes my outstretched arm with such force I fear she may cut off circulation. I lead us out of the ballroom and down a hallway to the back elevators. I never use the main ones here because I don’t like prying eyes.

“W-where are we going?” Vivienne asks as she looks back at the gala ballroom.

The doors open and I pull her inside, walking her to the wall where she presses her back against the cool wood veneer. “You and I need to have a little chat,” I growl as I loom over her like the monster I am.

“About what? Why are you so angry? I was doing what we planned.”

“NO! You were not!” I yell after the doors slide closed.

“Fuck you, Conner,” she yells back and pushes on my chest, only I weigh over twice what she weighs, so I don’t budge.

“You were supposed to chat professionally with him, not act like some escort girl waiting to please him,” I say, my voice clipped with anger.

“An escort girl? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Isn’t that how the press gets their information? They fuck for it,” I ask as I smirk.

“Fuck you! Do you even know what a journalist does? Do you have any idea the danger I’ve put myself in just to try to get the truth out? You don’t have a damn clue, do you? You’re just a spoiled, shit for brains, oaf of a man-child, who wouldn’t know work if it smacked him in the face,” she retorts with a huff.

“I thought we were past the name-calling portion of the evening,” I state coldly. “But if we’re going there, how about that I didn’t think you were a gullible, money-hungry, two-faced whore who writes lies that ruin people’s lives!”

The elevator stops on my last word and the ping sounds as the doors open. Neither one of us moves as both our chests heave with anger.

“Get the fuck out of here,” she says as she points to the hallway outside the penthouse suite. “This evening is over. I don’t make deals with arrogant assholes.”

I step back into the hallway. “Don’t like when someone speaks the truth, do you?”

I take another step back and am surprised when she steps out after me and pushes one finger against the middle of my chest.

“I always speak the fucking truth. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, the truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it, Mr. Sterling, or shall I call you Pound?”

“You lied about my mother!” I yell not caring about the volume of my voice now that we are alone on this floor.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The article you published about my family’s business. You said my mother only married my father for his money, and that is not true. You said that my mother was known as a cold and heartless woman who likely had many enemies, which was the cause of her untimely death.”

She falters and frowns. “I didn’t say that.”

“I read the article. You were listed on the byline, so yes, you did,” I reply.

She shakes her head. “I quoted someone who said that, but the final version I saw had that being said by an anonymous source followed with another quote from another anonymous source saying that such rumors were untrue.”

I pause and look into her eyes. They are wide and filled with confusion. Is she fucking with me?

“And I’m supposed to believe that?” I ask.

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