Page 60 of A Billionaire Gentleman

I managed to stay on my feet until I heard the front door close, and then I crumpled to the ground. A wounded cry ripped from me, too strong for me to keep inside.

It was all true. Everything he’d said. It didn’t matter that I loved him. I’d lied to him. Broken his trust. I’d tarnished everything we’d shared.

I’d considered myself better than the women I worked with at Diamond Star, looked down on anyone who’d even consider selling a piece of themselves to provide for the people they loved, but I was the whore, not them.

I didn’t know how long I stayed there, only that by the time I finally stood up, a chill was in the air and my knees ached. I limped inside, hoping against hope that he’d come back and just hadn’t been able to talk to me yet. It didn’t take long for me to confirm that I was alone. His stuff was still here, but that didn’t mean anything. He’d taken his phone and wallet, I was sure, and anything else he’d left behind could be replaced.

The thought struck a nerve when I realized I was one of those things he’d left behind. Not because he’d ever treated me as an object, but because that’s what I’d made myself when I’d accepted this job.

He wasn’t coming back, and I didn’t need to check the airport to know he’d left on the jet. He’d said I had to find my own way back to Vegas. The couple hundred dollars in my wallet and almost-maxed-out credit card wasn’t going to get me far, though. The money Jude had given me was in a savings account I couldn’t touch from this far away. That left me with pretty much only one viable option.

I picked up my phone and called the only person who could help me now…if he even would after I told him what I’d done.

“Deklin knows.”

Thirty-Six

Deklin

I’d thoughtabout calling Grandad on my way to the airport, and then again while I’d been waiting for the pilot to do whatever he had to do to get us off the ground. During the nearly eleven-hour flight, I’d been tempted more than once to call just to ask if Sofi had been lying.

I hadn’t done any of it, though. I wanted to be face-to-face when I asked him if he’d done what she’d said. If he said no, I knew he’d be the only one sympathetic that she’d lied to both of us. If he said yes, then I wanted him to look me in the eye when he told me why.

I hated that I was even considering believing Sofi’s claim of Grandad’s involvement, but too many things about it made sense. It’d been Grandad who’d kept Aurelia and me apart so much. Trips he’d planned. He’d never mentioned anything about wanting an assistant, and then he’d suddenly hired one, but not in Houston and not from a pool of assistants who were already employed by the family. He hadn’t mentioned interviewing anyone, and he hadn’t told me where he’d gone that first day in Vegas.

All of that evidence was too damning to ignore.

But he did have one very important thing going in his favor.

Motive.

There wasn’t one. He’d been friendly with both Ronall and Aurelia the entire time. Not simply polite, but friendly. He liked them both. I’d never heard him speak a word against either of them.

Even if he’d thought Aurelia and I were moving too fast, hiring someone to break up the relationship seemed a bit extreme. If it was merely a timing thing, I would think he’d do something like offer to buy us a house if we waited until Aurelia was done with grad school.

Which was why none of this made any sense at all.

It was evening by the time I got into a cab, but I gave the driver Grandad’s address without a second thought. While he and Cynthia were probably settling in for the night, it wasn’t so late that they’d be sleeping. Besides, this couldn’t wait. If Grandad hadn’t been involved, he needed to know what Sofi was saying about him. If he was involved…

I shook my head, not wanting to even think about it.

By the time I arrived at Grandad’s house, the pressure of all of the emotions that had been roiling inside me since Sofi’s confession had my hands almost shaking. My stomach was in knots as I pounded on the door.

“Deklin? What’s wrong?” The concern on Cynthia’s face helped me keep my temper in check.

“Is Grandad here?” I stepped past her as she moved back to let me in.

“In the den.”

She followed me as I headed down the hall, but I didn’t wait for her. I liked her, but this wasn’t a social call. Grandad was in his favorite recliner and raised his head when I walked in. He set aside the book he’d been reading, his expression serious, and I wondered if he already knew why I’d come.

“Did you hire Sofi to fuck me?” The words were harsher than I intended, but they’d been building in me for almost a full day.

“No.”

The answer was simple and should have satisfied me, but it didn’t. Sofi had said sex hadn’t been part of the job, so Grandad could’ve been telling the truth in that one-word answer, but still have been responsible for her and I getting together.

“Okay, maybe not sex, but she said you hired her to seduce me. To break Aurelia and me up.” I wasn’t shouting, but my voice was definitely raised louder than I’d ever spoken to my grandfather before. “She said you found her at some strip club in Vegas and offered her a ton of money to pretend to like me just so I’d dump Aurelia.”

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