Page 22 of Daddy's Billionaire Broker

JACK

Ididn't want to leave Grace's side for even one second, but duty called.

As I headed to the stage to give the opening speech for Dan's retirement sendoff, I felt a hand land solidly on my left shoulder. Turning, I found myself face to face with Edward Hawthorne, the head of a rival brokerage.

They weren't as large as us, but for some reason, Edward had it in his head that we were direct competitors, and was always trying to one up me about something or other. He was also quite a bit shorter than me, and I always wondered whether that annoyed him.

Instead of allowing myself to become irritated, I spun and shook his hand warmly. "Edward, great to see you. Wonderful of you to come out tonight for Dan."

"Congratulations to you as well, of course," he said with a strange, tight grin.

I waved him off. "Pfft, birthdays. Just a waste of cake past the age of ten."

"Oh, I don't mean that," he said, casually glancing toward the back of the room over his shoulder. "I mean the hot little piece of ass that you're here with. Really sexy. Where did you pick her up? I know that men your age tend to go for younger women, but is she even—"

My palm was over his mouth and his back was against the wall in a flash.

"You will not. Say. Another. Word." My voice dripped with ice and venom. "You will turn around, walk out of this building, and we will drop this completely. Is that understood?"

Edward half nodded, and as soon as I released him, scuttled out the door.

I took a slow breath to steady myself. I had pushed the thought out of my head before, but it was still there. Of course people were going to think that my dating a girl nearly half my age was the manifestation of a midlife crisis. Or some sort of prize I had awarded myself for hitting the billionaire mark.

I didn't want to admit it, but I cared about what other people thought of me. Not me personally, but if it hurt my standing in the industry, and the reputation of the company? Then it was important.

My father's warning from years ago echoed in my head: be spoken of, not talked about.

Forcing myself to conjure up a bright smile for the speeches, I got through the official festivities, then searched for Grace as soon as I could sneak away.

She was lurking near the back of the room. I hated seeing her all alone, looking lost.

Then it hit me. I didn't give a damn what anyone said about us, ever. Grace was my girl. We belonged together. I should have been with her tonight.

"I'm so sorry," I said, slipping my hand around her hip in a subtle gesture to connect us, without being obvious. "In a few months, you’ll be up on that stage with me. But I didn’t want to bother you with all of this crap quite yet."

Grace looked visibly worried, nervously glancing around us.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked.

"You didn't tell me about your situation," she said.

"What situation?" I tried to think back to anything I could have done to upset her. "If you mean that guy that I asked to leave, he's been a creep for years. He shouldn't have even been here."

"I don't know anything about that. I meant your financial situation."

Dammit. I rolled my eyes, attempting to look casual. "The billionaire thing? I try not to think about it, actually. As soon as I can take a proper break, I'm going to sit down and go through my holdings. There's probably a lot that can be re-distributed. A lot of it is stocks in small and medium businesses, so it's not even my money, exactly."

"But why didn't you tell me?" she persisted.

"I didn't think it was important. I've never asked you how much money you have."

She pinned me with a stare that could have peeled paint from the wall. "It's completely different, and you know it."

Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep anything from you. I guess I assumed that you knew. Everybody does."

"Well, I didn't."

"Please don't be mad, baby," I whispered, reaching up to run my fingertips along her cheekbone. "I'll be done with the official stuff in about half an hour. Can we go somewhere after that?"

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