Page 89 of The Elusive Billionaire
“Grey,” Brax shouts as we pass him, but I don’t release the pedal. If anything, I will the cart to go faster.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
SAVVY
“This is bullshit,”Madi seethes. She rarely swears, so when she does, it’s noteworthy.
“This is part of the process.” Kristen Richardson is a beautiful woman with a plastic smile and eyes that remind me of deep, bottomless pits.
She’s also my own personal devil today. Standing on the golf course with her hands on her hips, wearing a navy Alexander McQueen pantsuit and pale-pink wedge heels, it makes the chasm between us feel that much wider. I roll my eyes hard when I peer down at the golf dress I’m wearing that’s half an inch away from being obscene—thanks for that, Greyson.
“They do appear to be more aggressive with them than they are with the men.” Quinn has been mostly silent today, but I flash a sliver of gratitude her way when she finally speaks up.
“This is a man’s world, Quinn.” Kristen manages to sound aloof even when tossing barbs as though they’re compliments. “If Savannah can’t stand up to them, what chance does she have of tricking the world into thinking that she and Grey are getting married?”
“We are getting married,” I say for the third time today.
“Right. I forgot. It’s just that it’s so…sudden.” Kristen’s eyes never change, but there’s something off about her body language that I can’t get a read on.
“They’ve been together almost as long as me and Brax,” Madi says with double her normal amount of sass. “They simply kept it quiet while they figured out where things were going.”
“Hmm.” Freaking Kristen. I can appreciate that she’s good at her job, but I also think she might be a shit human—it’s probably what makes her so good at her job. She has no respect for human emotions.
“I did hear they were together at Christmas,” Quinn offers, which is strange to me since she was so against us that day in Grey’s office.
I can’t trust either of these women.
“It’s neither here nor there,” Kristen says flippantly. “Savannah has a role to play, just as Greyson does. If she can’t answer the questions, she really doesn’t stand a chance at Greyson’s side.”
“My question is…” Madi sucks in a breath as though she’s actively trying to make herself appear bigger. My poor friend is vertically challenged on a good day. “Why hasn’t Savvy been prepped for today? After Braxton and I got together, I went through extensive PR training. You’re a crisis PR guru, according to Brax, so why haven’t you prepared your client for the onslaught of negative questioning?”
Kristen clicks her tongue, and finally, a spark of…something flickers to life in her dead eyes.
“I was hired to get Omni-Reyes out of a situation they never should have been dragged into—theyare my client. My expertise does not extend to…significant others.” The way she sayssignificanttells me she believes I’m anything but.
“Then your expertise is no longer required.” Greyson’s voice is a deadly storm touching down from the open cooler we’recurrently refilling. I hadn’t even seen him or the stranger at his side approach.
The second he steps into our small circle, it’s as though he’s siphoned all the air from the entire golf course.
“Don’t be rash.” Kristen’s tone is so condescending, I’m curious to see how Grey will respond.
“Don’t be rash,” he repeats. His voice is silvery smooth, but his muscles are tightly corded and ready to snap. “Don’t be…rash. Hmm.”
“I simply mean, I’m the best at what I do, and you’re too smart to let something as immature as emotions cloud your judgment. My job is to protect Omni-Reyes and its holdings. I can only do so much when you flat-out refuse to do half of what I’m suggesting.”
“I hate to break it to you Ms. Richardson, but I am Omni-Reyes and its holdings, which means I make the decisions, you simply supply options. And as such, I’d like to know why nearly all the paparazzi chasing after my fiancée are people we let go when we dismantled Montgomery Media.”
When Grey and Braxton shut down the business Brax’s adoptive father had built, a lot of shitty people lost their jobs, but they went out of their way to keep the good ones. Unfortunately for me, none of the good ones seem to be here today.
“What?” Madi is downright feral, but I stay composed, opting to watch Kristen’s curious demeanor instead. “After what those leeches did to me, you allowed them back into our lives to go after Savvy?”
“No, I’m sure that’s not correct.” Quinn quickly flips through documents on her phone.
“I assure you, every person on this property was vetted and invited for a particular purpose.” Nothing seems to ruffle Kristen. If I were in any other situation right now, I’d probably even admire her for it.
“Your guest list requires curating.” The Drill Bit is out in full form today. “Roman, could you please drive Madi to meet Braxton on the tenth hole? I’ll be finishing out the day with my beautiful fiancée while Kristen corrects her mistake before I blacklist her from anyone worth knowing.”
The woman actually scoffs. “You could try, Mr. Reyes, but it would never work.”
