Page 1 of Billion Dollar Lie

Prolog

Logan

I should never have done this. Not with her.

I’m paying her to be with me. It’s her job to make me look good, to put on a demure smile and hang on to my arm like a devoted fiancée.

She is the key to my success. And the ring on her finger is nothing but a lie. It’s a signal, to the world, and most of all tothem.

It was never meant to mean anything to her—or me.

I should have stopped this a long time ago. MaybeI never should have started.

But how could I not? How could I resist this brazen, smart and bewitchingly beautiful girl?

The girl who now kneels before me, her head tilted and her eyes closed as she awaits my next move. Her chest is heaving, her nipples hard with arousal and her cheeks flushed. My gaze trails along her perfect little body, her teardrop-shaped breasts, the dark strands of hair that stick to her sweaty neck and her delicate fingers, idly resting on her thighs.

Why is she wearing the ring when it’s just the two of us? Did she ever take it off since I placed it on her finger? How did I never notice?

And what does this mean?

Nothing, probably. It doesn't mean anything, just like the way she looks at me doesn't mean anything. She’s just very good at this. She’s a great actress, that is all.

I will fuck the living hell out of her. And then I will do it again. And again.

And then, at some point, our ways will part. Because they have to.

Whether I want it or not…

Chapter 1

Kat

This isn’t happening.

Not again.

Patrick, my boyfriend of three years, sits across from me, slumped and with an apologetic expression on his face. He sighs and lets his tired gaze idle through our living room, before he turns back to me.

“I don’t know what to say, it just… happened,” he murmurs. “I didn’t want it to happen, but—”

“Oh, please, don’t give me that bullshit,” I cut him off. “It’s not like anyone forced your tongue down her throat.”

“Kat, please—”

“How could you?” I utter, helplessly shaking my head as I avert my eyes from him. “How couldyoudo this to me?”

My gaze is latched to the floor, trailing along the lines of the wooden cracks between my naked toes while I let his harrowing words sink in.

“I slept with Stacey from work.”

A life-changing sentence that has been playing on repeat inside my head—each syllable crushing my vulnerable ego with its withering weight.

He cheated on me. Patrick, the only guy who ever made me feel safe enough to trust him, cheated on me.

I thought I’d finally found my place, after years of being passed around like an unwanted heirloom. He’s so different than the guys I used to date—all those bad boys who were excitingly dangerous at first, but turned out to be flaky cheats with abusive tendencies. I thought I was safe with him.

And now, it’s happening again. I am no longer wanted.

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