Page 57 of The Elusive Billionaire
“You don’t make decisions for me, Drill Bit.” She shakes her head. “I mean it, Greyson.”
“I prefer Patch Daddy.”
Madi and Braxton sit on the sofa across the room chuckling, while Sage slips into a chair positioned in front of my desk. The kid’s put on a lot of muscle since he’s been working out with the football team, but sometimes when I look at him, all I can see is the five-year-old who used to crawl into my bed in the middle of the night because he was scared.
“Monroe.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and turn back to the window. “It’s not a real engagement.” Damn it. This woman is giving me indigestion again. I press a fist to my chest, but it only causes my pulse to quicken even more.
“Obviously. But it’s not a fake one either. I’m not doing this with you. Not now, not ever.”
My gut clenches as though someone kicked me, and I reach for my lucky coin. Rubbing my thumb along the raised words, I allow the familiar motion to soothe my rough edges.
Why is her dismissal of me so damn irritating?
“What are you trying to fix, Grey?” Braxton knows me too well.
“Everything.”
“Everything.” Savvy snorts.
My muscles release, knowing we’re about to get into it.
Fighting with this woman is better than meditation—I can’t deny how my muscles and my mind relax with each shot fired, regardless of how fucked-up that is.
A smile tugs at my lips, and I allow it to grow as I turn to face her. Standing with a hand on her hip, her shoulders squared, and a toe tapping against my floor, she’s a goddess.
An infuriating, lying, sexy, stubborn goddess.
“Yes, Monroe. Everything.”
“Ah, care to elaborate?” Madi asks.
“Sunshine Studios’ stock tanked three days ago and isn’t projected to recover in the current climate. Omni-Reyes slipped to second place on Forbes for the first time in over twenty years. Someone is personally attacking your character, Monroe, and with the way the story took off when my name was attached to it, it means I’m the accelerant here. I’m the common denominator in all of this, so I will fix it however I see fit.”
“I—”
“Can We Talk About That?” —I say, interrupting her—“is still number one on the podcast charts, butThe Matchmaker Manual, Flirting with Fear, and all the other podcasts Sunshine Studios has acquired have fallen in ratings and lost sponsors. Do you know what that means?”
“Sunshine Studios is still new, Grey. Even under the Omni-Reyes umbrella, we’re bound to have some boomeranging.” Braxton doesn’t sound confident, and Savvy catches it too.
With measured steps, I stalk Savvy. It appears that’s the only way I’m capable of approaching this woman. “It means that people are tuning in to listen to you because of the media shitstorm, but that frenzy is also hurting everyone else, and when it dies down, so will your ratings.”
“I don’t care about ratings,” Savvy snarls. “Not mine, anyway.”
Of course she doesn’t. She’s consumed by trying to protect everyone around her, but I don’t know why. Though she doesn’t care thatCan We Talk About That?might fail, she’s worriedabout Madi’s podcast,The Matchmaker Manual, and Clover’sFlirting with Fear.
“I know you don’t.” I soften my tone, even though it takes great personal toughness to do so. “The problem is, you’re now associated with me, and the Wells name is biting us both in the ass, but I promised Ace that I’d never allow our family to fail. Unlike you, I don’t lie.”
“Time out,” Madi says, standing. She’s snapping the elastic on her wrist—her anxiety is in control now. “Do you know something we don’t, Grey?”
“Only that we’re in need of a reputational rehab.”
Savvy’s snarl makes me chuckle.
“And what better way to do that than with a fairy tale?” I say. “After all, it worked for you and Braxton, right?”
“No.” Savvy digs in her heels—literally and figuratively. She’s widened her stance like a fighter, and sadness hits me hard in the chest. She strikes me as someone who has fought for everything she has, and I know firsthand how utterly draining that can be.
Everything I thought I knew to be black-and-white about this woman turns out to be various shades of gray.
