Page 11 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

Even if he ignores my advice altogether.

Waiting around is the hard part.

Gingerly, I shift from one foot to the other and unclench my hands. Isaiah sits straighter, his eyes never leaving my face. When his phone rings, it pierces through the silence, but neither of us look. Then, Isaiah breaks our stare first and focuses all of his attention on the screen in front of him. He picks up the phone, presses it to his ear, and speaks quietly in a guttural language I don’t understand.

I keep watching him until he hangs up and pockets his phone.

“That was my contact at the DA’s office,” Isaiah reveals in a clear voice. “They couldn’t get the charges dropped. Emilie’s been charged with conspiring to evade customs laws.”

“Shit.”

Isaiah nods. “This is going to have a negative effect on us. We have to find a way to clean up her mess. Get the lawyer to reduce her sentence or something.”

“Emilie freelanced for a lot of companies. I think we’re good. Plus, I thought we didn’t do that kind of shit.”

A muscle ticks in Isaiah’s jaw. “We do if it’s our reputation on the line too.”

I stand up straighter and rake my fingers through my hair. “Emilie is a grenade. I warned you against bringing her on, but you wouldn’t listen. She’s well known for straddling the line between legal and illegal. As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, we should’ve known better.”

Isaiah’s eyes flash as he stands and pins me with an angry look.

Someone raps on the door.

A heartbeat later, Cory pokes his head in, his gaze swinging between the two of us. “I’m sorry to interrupt, boss. Pierce is looking for you.”

Isaiah abruptly leans back and motions for Cory to come in. “We need a third opinion, and maybe you can convince your thick-headed cousin that I’m right.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cory replies. “You’ve got to excuse him. He was dropped on his head a lot when he was a baby.”

I shoot Cory a dirty look. “Thanks for the support.”

Cory steps in and lets the door click shut behind him. He hooks his fingers into the loops of his belt and clears his throat. “So, how can I help?”

“We need to approach Governor Coombes’ daughter in order to get her to convince her father to publicly endorse us, show his support, and the whole nine yards,” Isaiah announces. “Shane doesn’t approve.”

“I think it’s an unnecessary risk at a bad time. If it backfires, it’ll screw us all over.”

“I think that we can convince her to even the playing field,” Isaiah stresses, his expression smooth and impassive. “She’s a smart woman. His daughter means a lot to him. I know this for a fact.”

“Sounds like there’s some history there,” Cory comments before looking over at me. “He is right though. It’s a good move. Having the governor on our side will come in very handy. And it won’t hurt to have a leg up on the competition.”

“Even if this does work, and that’s abigif, how are we going to guarantee that he keeps up his end of the bargain?”

“We’ll have to be very persuasive,” Isaiah replies.

“How do we make sure he doesn’t back out of our deal and have us blackballed or something? I’m sure it wouldn’t take long for the governor to have our asses nailed to the wall.”

“I have a plan for that.”

A few moments pass in silence.

“Do you want to tell me what that plan is?” I asked.

Isaiah shakes his head. “The less that’s made public, the better.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“You know I don’t like being questioned.”

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