Page 4 of Broken Billionaire Boss

My heart is all over the place. Here he is in the flesh with a million-dollar makeover and at the helm of a billion-dollar company. What…the…hell?

Rhence clears his throat, forcing me to look at him. He’s grown an inch or two since I last saw him, now standing at 6’1 or so, and that teen bod has filled out into that of a man’s. No telling how many hours in the gym it takes to maintain that perfect physique. In his finely cut suit, he is a vision to behold.

He twists his wrist to glance at his Rolex, and I try not to roll my eyes. “I have other meetings that I must attend. I’ve had my secretary schedule weekly meetings with you to go over the restructuring of your business model. Those meetings will take place in person at my office uptown.” He glances down his nose at me. “Don’t be late.”

Where had this arrogance and attitude come from? This was not the Rhence I once loved. What happened over the last ten years to change him into…this?

“Rachel, I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.”

“Right, don’t be late. Got it,” I say impatiently, eager for him to leave so I can read his bio. I’ve got to find out where he’s been and what turned him into such an asshole.

He hesitates a moment, leveling me with an ardent stare before he departs. Was that malice I saw behind those stunning green eyes? Yes, but why? All I ever did was love him and worship the ground he walked on. Why the animosity? Then again, he did save my company. Maybe I’m completely misreading the situation. Or maybe he has a greater agenda. Either way, things just got a hell of a lot more complicated…and interesting.

Chapter four

Rhence

Holyshit.Ididn’tthink it was possible for Rachel Bradly to look even more amazing than she did in that cute little cheerleader’s outfit back in high school, but damned if she didn’t take my breath away when I turned to look at her in that chic, form hugging business suit.

In high school I’d always teased Rachel that she was Halle Berry’s younger, hotter sister. And after today, I still firmly stand by that opinion.

It was all I could do to maintain my composure under her penetrating gaze just now. That teenage boy inside of me wanted to fall to his knees and beg her to be his again. That boy wanted to show her all that he’d accomplished so that she’d finally come to see him as worthy of her; her equal. He wanted to tell her that he’d done all of this for her.

Fuck that.

I’m not that naïve little boy, so desperate to carve out a place to belong. I don’t owe my success to anyone other than myself. I picked myself up out of the gutter and enrolled in college. I earned that damned degree and worked my ass off at a software engineering firm. I took what I learned there and added my own innovations so I could create Horizon Inc.

As for women? I’ve had my share of the loveliest the world has to offer. Many whose beauty rivaled Rachel’s. But all those women had one fatal flaw: They weren’t Rachel Bradly. She was special, a rare beauty with a heart of gold. She should have been dating one of the hot jocks with all the swagger riding around in their exotic sports cars. But she’d set her sights on me, the poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks. For a while there, I was the happiest person on the planet. I couldn’t believe my good fortune that someone like Rachel had fallen for me. For that year, she gave of herself generously, mind, body, and soul, and I gave her everything that I was in exchange.

I close my eyes as my chauffeur drives me back uptown. I’ve been through these memories so many times, and I’ve had no luck purging them from my system. They persist as the framework for the happiest time of my life.

But as love would have it, the person responsible for the happiest period of one’s life is often responsible for its darkest.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I check it. Parker. I sigh. Might as well get this over with.

“Yeah,” I say.

“So, how’d it go?” he says anxiously. “You tell the uppity bitch to go fuck herself as you handed her a pink slip?”

“What fun would there be in that? Nah, I’ve something much better in mind.”

“Rhence, c’mon, dude, we talked about this. Don’t let that douche hoe back in your head.”

“She’s not a hoe, Parker.” The statement comes out more defensively than I’d intended.

“Ah, ok, here we go…”

“It’s not like that. I was Rachel’s first. She’s got her faults, but bedhopping’s not one of them.”

“Nah, she just dumps the guy she pledged her undying love to because he didn’t have the right pedigree.” He snorts. “There’s a name for that, this girl’s all about the Benjamin’s.”

“No, that’s just it. Rachel’s never been hung up on money, otherwise she’d never have been with me in the first place. She dumped me because she caved into pressure from all those around her, telling her I wasn’t good enough for her. That’s the crime I’m going to make her pay for.”

There’s a pause on his side of the line. Then, “Uh, what exactly is that supposed to mean? What do you have in mind?”

“I won’t bore you with the details.”

“Let’s hear it, man.”

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