Page 9 of The Next Door Billionaire's Deception

“Whatever? Is that someone's name?”

“Just Ruben. I have no idea what his other name is. She said he told her about her next-door neighbor.”

“You think there's more?”

“What else was I supposed to think?”

“Have you met him?”

“Just heard of him. He's some former real estate agent who tried ripping off the agency that used to own the building.”

“I don't think he knows more. Maybe he bumped into your name in the agency's database as the next-door neighbor to his newest client.”

“That doesn’t explain why he was so eager to tell her. Something’s fishy.”

“Maybe you’re just overthinking it.”

I raise a brow. She shakes her head.

“I take it back. It does seem fishy that she happened to move into the same apartment building while you’re planning to merge. But then, what does she hope to achieve? Will she pull off a spy move and bug your house?”

“She doesn’t have to investigate me. I’m not the one involved in shady deals; they are.”

Anna leans back and crosses her arms on her chest.

“You meansheis.”

“We don’t have proof of that.”

Anna scoffs. “One meeting with her, and you’re already rethinking everything. What happens next, you become best friends?” She eyes me. “I see what’s happening here. Can’t trust a man around a beautiful woman.”

I push my plate aside. “What are you talking about?”

Anna raises her hands, palms facing each other.

“Man, woman, and,” she makes a sizzling sound, drawing her palms closer. Then she entwines her fingers. “And that’s how it happens.”

My lips twitch. “I am not amused.”

“So you say.” She turns to her laptop. “Now, ready to see this?”

“Hold on.”

I empty my mug and make for the bookshelf. It’s hard to focus on work when the puzzle pieces are dancing around in my head, trying to fit in. But they can’t; I don’t have all the pieces.

Did Ruben actually tell Melissa about me, or was that just her excuse? If Melissa truly knows who I am, she has the upper hand.

But then, how did she find out so soon? In my well-thought-out attempt to suppress my identity and affiliation with Vibrant Corp, Anna stood in for me at the business involving Vibrant Corp, Emerald, and a video game franchise from San Francisco. Anna led the Vibrant Corp delegations to the negotiation of the failed merger offer with Emerald Inc. A staged interview with Melissa is all she needs to drill out the information I need from the young CEO—who has no idea what's in store for her dubious firm.

“She can’t know about me, Anna,” I say, returning to my seat. “It’s risky for the merger. Risky for Vibrant. Risky for Emerald. Risky for all of us.”

She inches the laptop slightly to the side and stares in my direction.

“She knows little about you, but she does know something.”

I clap the book in my hand close and lean on the bookshelf, my eyes on her.

“She knows about the investigation?”

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