Page 156 of The Elusive Billionaire
Asshole Harrington.
“Don’t worry about that. We’re putting teams on you, Madi, Elle, and Clover until we find Riley, that’s all. He needs some more details about Clover.”
The front door clicks shut.
“Wait,” she calls out, but they’re already outside. “We should do that first. Clover…”
“Will be fine. I promise. First tell me why you’re so shaken.”
That’s all it takes for her eyes to lose focus again. What the hell happened?
“Sav, I need you to tell me what happened.”
“He just… He still doesn’t believe me. Riley’s mom got a call from his parole officer, letting her know that a warrant was issued for him, and that he’d attacked me here in Georgia.”
“A place he shouldn’t have been,” I remind her.
“Austin didn’t…didn’t believe me. He said I was making it all up. Again.”
That asshole is done.
“He said I was ruining Paige’s life all over again because now everyone is distraught over Riley when they should be focused on her wedding. He said…he said that Riley’s trying to start over. He said that Riley is getting…married. He said Paige thinks I’m jealous that everyone has moved on while I’ll always be alone, so I’m doing what I always did, hurting them.”
“Sweetheart.” She blinks vacant eyes. “Monroe,” I try again. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but it doesn’t sound like Paige was ever your friend, and as far as your brother goes, he sounds like he only cares about himself. Riley getting married is disconcerting, but we’ll look into it. Do not allow them into your head. They don’t deserve you, Sav, so don’t allow them space in your precious heart either.”
She nods. Words are easy, but I know firsthand how hard it can be to lose family.
“I just…I always held out hope that Paige cut me off because her family demanded it. This proves…it proves that she never even tried to stand up for me. I— She’s probably made me the villain in her story, and everyone believes it.”
I hate that she’s right. I hate that they’ve done this to her over and over again.
I’ll find a way to make them pay for the pain they continue to cause what’s mine.
“But you’re not the villain, and you’re no one’s scapegoat. You’re the hero in this story, and in our story, they’re only a footnote in our lives if you allow them to be.”
“I’ve always loved them.” The sadness in her tone shreds my lungs to bits.
“And because you’re all things good—stubborn, but good—you probably always will. It’s up to you if you allow them to useyour love against you though. If I get a vote, I say you shelve them and cling to the family who loves you for you. Because we know how amazing you are, Sav. And we’ll always fight for you too.”
She surges forward, nearly knocking me on my ass as she wraps her arms around my shoulders.
I hug her back as we tumble to the floor, and I squeeze her tight. I don’t think either of us has had enough affection in our lives, and I’ll be the one to change that for us both.
“Immediate paid leave message is sent.”
Roman sits beside me, making notes of his own. “Good. We’ll start sweeps of the executive offices as soon as the last person has left the building.”
“No one is going to believe that a brand-new building is having a plumbing emergency,” I say. I wouldn’t believe it.
“It doesn’t matter what they think, but no one will question free vacation time, trust me. Especially not PTO. You should also know because of who you are, we’re keeping my internal team very small.”
I open my mouth to argue because I was hoping for a goddamn army, but he holds up a hand to stop me.
“Small but mighty, my friend.” My shoulders tense. I appear to be collecting friends like Pops these days. “We pulled the best from each division to be here—you’re our top priority—but you also require privacy, so we’re taking that very seriously. We’ll begin in your office and work our way out. The entire building will be scoped out in twenty-four hours. If anyone is transmitting information from here, we’ll know it.”
I lean back in my chair and focus on my lucky coin. I’ve studied every inch of this thing for years, but now I see it with new eyes. The sage and violet sticking out of a vase. The Latin word,Domus, etched into the placard—home, unity.
But it’s the tiny little bug that always reminded me of a storm cloud—all this time, I thought that the storm represented me. Once again, Ace was ten steps ahead. It’s a lightning bug, a firefly, and it represents Savvy.
