Page 91 of Scarlett and the Big Bad Billionaire
“Right babe?”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
NEW LEASE ON LIFE
Gray
For a minute, I thought Scarlett was going to leave me hanging and demand to know what the hell I thought I was doing.
Not that I had an answer to that question.
I’d seen that ass of an ex of hers, overheard enough of the conversation to identify him, and autopilot had taken over.
Even now, I was acting more on impulse than intellect. I glared down at the guy, pulling Scarlett against my side.
Feeling her heartbeat thump against my ribcage like a frightened rabbit’s, I was torn between the urge to pick her up and carry her out of here and the powerful desire to pound this motherfucker’s head into the linoleum hospital floor.
The thing was, most of what I’d said was true. Ididwant to make Scarlett happy. Ididwant to take care of her.
I sure as hell didn’t want this fucking guy anywhere near her—especially not when she was upset about Vivi’s health scare last night. If he thought he was going to move in for the kill when she was emotionally exposed, he had another thing coming.
“Scarlett? Is this true?” Bryce asked.
She nodded up and down woodenly, probably in shock. Finally, she spoke. “We met in Greece—at the resort, the day you left.”
“You met him on our wedding day?” The guy’s face turned purple with outrage.
“I spent the night, in fact,” I added in a helpful tone. “Nice bungalow you picked out.”
Bryce glared at me then lasered in on Scarlett. “You slut. My bed wasn’t even cold.”
I gritted my teeth and clenched the hand that wasn’t holding Scarlett.
Not worth it. You can’t do her any good from jail.
Scarlett, who seemed to have snapped out of her shock-stupor, smirked. “Well, it wasn’t exactly burning up when you wereinit.”
Now Bryce was literally shaking with righteous indignation. “How dare you. And to think I flew all the way out here to support you. I was prepared to help you care for your grandmother in her dying days and even willing to move out here if you wanted to live on the family estate.”
Ah.It was all becoming clear. Old Bryce had obviously gotten wind of Scarlett’s reconciliation with her paternal grandmother and done a little research, discovering that the Hood family tree was blooming with money.
“How generous of you,” Scarlett snapped. “You might be interested to know that after my grandmother has enjoyed amuchlonger life, she’ll be leaving her money to charity—all of it. Marrying me wouldn’t get you a promotion you didn’t deserve, and it’s not going to get you a fat inheritance either. So, you can just hop back on a plane. Unfortunately, you’ll be flying coach—there’s no gold to dig here.”
Bryce’s eyes slit, making him look like the snake he was, and he hooked a thumb in my direction.
“Likethisguy’s interested than anything other than your money. You stupid bitch.”
Fuck it. It’ll be worth some jail time.
I stepped up close to the guy, looking down at him with my chest to his nose. “I think it’s time you left—this hospitalandyour job at Mixitall.”
“What?” he said, but his tone was much less confident. “You can’t force me to quit my job.”
“You’re right. I can’t force you to. But I can stronglyadviseyou to.”
Bryce looked a little less irate and a lot more unsure of himself. His eyes kept flickering away, unable to maintain direct contact with mine.
“And if I don’t?”
