Page 33 of The Billionaire's Secret
I raise my shoulders. "Not as long as you’ll help me with what I have in mind."
"Ooh!" Amelie takes a hefty sip, then balances the glass on the arm of the sofa. "Give."
"It’s all straightforward."
Not.
"Clearly there's chemistry between Saint and me, and I want to stay in London." I say, sticking to the barebones version of the convoluted reality of my life. " I don't want to return to the US."
Summer’s shoulders stiffen. "So you want to get together with Saint?"
"I saw him first at your wedding." I nod toward Summer. "There was an instant connection between us. Of course, I was married to your father then—"
"But you had no feelings for him," she says.
I glance toward her. "It’s not like that. I cared about him, but...Was it that obvious?" Clearly, I’m not as good an actress as I like to think, if both Saint and Summer had seen through my charade.
She scowls, "Only because I'd been trying to figure out why the hell a beautiful woman like you would want to be with him." Her features harden. "He was all wrong for you. Besides," she looks me up and down, "you'd be good for Saint."
"I... I would?" I blink.
She nods. "He needs someone who won't put up with all that alpha bullshit."
"Like you and Sinclair?"
She smiles and her eyes gleam. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Oh?"
She leans forward, as do the other women.
"These men," she tilts her head, "the trick to managing them is to let them show you their worst side; let them rage and rant. And then, when they think they have you cornered, you pull the rug out from under their feet."
I frown. O-k-a-y.
"You get what I'm saying?" She peers into my face.
No. Yes."I...think so."
"Good." She grins. "I think you'll be fine."
"So, you don't mind that I'm hoping to get together with someone else, so soon after your father's death?"
She slashes the air with her hand. "It’s unusual, but I wasn’t close to Adam. He didn’t deserve to die that early, and while I forgive him for abandoning me and Karma to the foster system in the UK… Well, I do believe that he had our best interests at heart and…" her lips firm, "that’s what counts."
Right.
I peruse her features, then reach over and grasp her hand, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For welcoming me into your home, into your circle… For not being…"
"A bitch?" She chuckles.
"Yeah."That too.
"I leave that up to my sister Karma." Her brow furrows, "Wish she was here today."
