Page 44 of Fake Marriage with the Billionaire

“Yes,” she said, meekly.

Richard stepped right up to him, towering over him by at least three inches. Curtis turned his head away from him, still trying to keep up the facade. “Listen,” he said with a little chuckle, “I didn’t know she would be here--”

“You're fired.”

Curtis blinked, his smile dropping. “What?”

“You heard me. You’re fired.”

He looked at him all wild-eyed and panicked. “Y-you can’t do that. You didn’t hire me. The manager in the mailroom…”

“Who do you think his boss is?” said Richard. “You think he’d be able to do a damn thing if I just told him that you don’t work here anymore?” Richard stared down at him as if he was daring Curtis to do something to him.

“I’ll sue you,” Curtis hissed. “Wrongful termination…”

“I would honestly love to see you try it,” he said. “You got yourself hired on at your ex-wife’s current fiance’s place of business, that’s stalking.”

Curtis’ eyes got big. “Fiance?”

“Fiance,” Richard growled. “Then I walk out here and you’ve got your filthy hands on her, that’s assault. Not only could I have you arrested, but I’ve also got enough connections to dream up some other charges to make sure they keep you in jail.”

Curtis was stepping back now, fully intimidated by Richard. But Richard wasn’t letting him, he matched his moves, backing him up to the elevators.

“You’re lucky you caught me in a good mood,” he went on, “So, instead of following my first instinct to stomp a mud hole in your ass, I’m going to give you exactly five minutes to turn in your badge and get out of this building. And if I ever see younearStella again, I’ll make it my personal mission to destroy everything you love. I will leave your life a smoking crater so big, it’ll be seen from space. You got it?”

Curtis looked fearfully up at him and something in Stella wanted to cheer. She’d never seen that look of fear on his face before. It was delightful.

“Time’s ticking, Curtis,” Richard growled. “You better get moving.”

Curtis looked over at Stella, then back to Richard. Defeated, he turned around and jogged for the stairwell. They watched him go and once he was gone, Stella said, “Thank you.”

Richard turned to her and humorlessly said, “It’s nothing. What are you doing here?”

She bit her bottom lip and handed him his jacket. “You left this at my place.”

He took it and a smile played at the corner of his lips. “Can…can we talk?” she asked him. “Privately.”

He nodded and said, “My office.”

They walked into his office, past his secretary who just looked up at her curiously. Richard didn’t bother introducing her, he just opened his door and let Stella in.

Once in his office, Stella said, “You kind of left things a little…ambiguous on Saturday.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m sorry about that, I was just--” His phone buzzed all of a sudden. He rolled his eyes and walked over to his desk, pressing a button on the phone. “Yes?”

His secretary’s voice came over the intercom. “Sorry, sir, I just wanted to let you know that I’m taking my lunch.”

“Fine.” He let go of the button and took a beat, clearly trying to get his thoughts together. “Things are changing between us…aren’t they?”

He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking down at the wood grain of his desk, his finger tapping it gently. “I think so,” she responded.

He nodded. “I didn’t plan for this. I never thought…” He trailed off. Clearly, his thoughts getting in the way again. Stella decided that she would speak if he couldn’t.

“I know that this is all supposed to be a ruse,” she said, “I mean, it’s not like I went into this blind. I knew what I was signing up for and that’s all I wanted from it.”

He looked up at her, his eyes dark and mournful. She swallowed hard and went on.

“But…the longer we do this, the more I wanted to know about you. And the more I wanted to know, the more I think I wanted this to be real. And, that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

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