Page 8 of The Elusive Billionaire
“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve swapped spit.” I narrow my eyes and lock my jaw. “Firefly12.”
And this, right here, is why I’m still touching her. I needed to feel her reaction. See the truth in her face, breathe it in when she gasps in the knowledge that she’s been caught. Witness the moment she realizes she’s sealed our fate as enemies.
“What? How?” Her gaze darts back and forth between my eyes at lightning speed, and I simply point to her phone.
“What the hell is firefly? And do we really have to do this now?” Braxton pleads.
“No. We don’t have to do this. Ever.” I don’t even attempt to control the ice in my tone.
Savvy and I are done.
I sense Braxton walking away from me, but Savvy stands before me with tears in her eyes.
Too bad for her because tears mean nothing to me. After listening to my sister cry behind her locked bedroom door for months, I’m immune to them now.
“Grey, wait. Let me explain,” she pleads.
“No.” The word is yanked from the deepest recesses of my chest. “You’ve betrayed me in a way I didn’t even know I was vulnerable. There’s no coming back from that. You thought we were enemies before?”
Someone clears their throat, so I lean in as close as I can without touching her and lower my voice until it’s no more than a threat on a breeze. “Stay the fuck away from me, you fucking liar, or I will destroy you. Enemies is too tame a word for whatwe are now, and believe me, you don’t want to see what I do to those who betray me. This was your one and only free hit. Stay away from me.”
Her chin trembles—something I’ve never seen before. Savvy is one of the strongest, most pig-headed women I’ve ever met. And I’m a depraved asshole because it gives me the slightest hint of satisfaction as I push past her to take up my duties as best man.
Before I step next to Braxton, I shoot off a text to my assistant, Quinn.
Me: Come up with a believable emergency that will get me the fuck out of Happiness, Georgia and back to California by sunrise.
Quinn: Done.
Quinn: What did Braxton do now?
What the hell is she talking about, what has he done now? Braxton is the only one who’s been by my side since the day I lost it all.
Quinn: Is he leaving you to clean up a mess again?
Again? I’m too angry to deal with this bullshit.
Me: I want to be on the plane in six hours.
Quinn: I’ll send you details shortly.
Pocketing my phone, I inhale a breath so deep my lungs burn, then release it slowly and plaster on the fake smile I learned as a child.
“Everything okay?” Braxton whispers.
“Never been better,” I lie. “Let’s get you married.”
My best friend and brother smiles so broadly that I’m surprised sunshine and fucking rainbows don’t shoot from his mouth.
He looks like an idiot, but even as my insides rot with lies and betrayal that fester like cancer, I’m relieved that he’s happy.
Some of us are just not that lucky.
CHAPTER THREE
SAVVY
The second theceremony is over, I run straight for the bathroom.
