Page 114 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

“Bull’s-eye.”

“You could have saved yourself a trip. We’re no longer seeing each other.”

“But youwereseeing her?” He took a drink of his steaming black coffee and stared at me over the rim of his mug.

I needed to be honest. “Yeah, I was. I didn’t mean for it to happen. What can I say, she hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to stop it. Both of us did.”

“Clearly you didn’t try hard enough. She’s pregnant.”

I stared at him.

“Slppp.” He took a loud sip of his coffee as if to punctuate the silence that followed.

It was like the world fell apart and came together all at the same time. A million thoughts ran through my head, followed by even more questions. My pulse raced, and my vision narrowed. When the sensation passed, I steadied myself and shook my head. “I gotta see her. How is she?”

He stopped me from turning to leave. “She looks even worse than you do. I was just at her apartment. She’s a nervous wreck, to say the least. Did you knock her up just to get back at me, you asshat? Because if that’s the case, I’m going to absolu—”

“What do you mean? Get back at you for what?”

He slammed his cup down. The sound of ceramic striking marble rang through the room like a bell. “Don’t play dumb with me, Ace. You knowexactlywhat I’m fucking talking about. I had her spy on you, do detective work in your firm, whatever the fuck you wanna call it. I know that you know.”

“How do you know? From her?” It was highly unlikely she’d told him.

“No. Because I know her. My sister is an honest soul who wouldn’t keep it from a man she fuckingloves.”

My shoulders dropped.

There was a pause as I tried to collect my thoughts.

We locked eyes. “You’re a real piece of work, do you know that, Damon?” I asked. “First, you send your sister to fucking spy on me because you don’t trust me, and now you’re accusing me of using her to spite you? You’re a fucking idiot, man. I’m not a fucking traitor or a liar, and I got nothing to hide from you. But I’m fucking mad because you, Miles, and Oliver apparently don’t trust me. What, you think so little of me you go behind my back? It might disappoint you, but there are no secrets, or dark machinations, or any other shit you were trying to conjure up. She’ll tell you the same.”

“Oh, yeah? What’sthisthen?” Damon growled, whipping out his cell and brandishing a picture he’d saved. It depicted Ecclestone and me sitting almost next to each other around a restaurant table. “Is this or is this not fucking Edmund Ecclestone?” he demanded. “The one person I specifically asked you about and you specifically denied working with!”

I could hear Teddy wailing again.

“Keep your voice down, for fuck’s sake,” I hissed, lowering my own. “You’re upsetting the baby. How the hell did you get this fucking photo?”

“Harris found it, our PI.”

I set down my coffee cup and rubbed at my temples. “Wait. Let me get this straight. You didn’t just set Stella on me, but a fucking private investigator, as well?” I huffed. “Jesus. This is getting better and better.”

“Well, I didn’t want to, but I guess I did. Long story. So, confess.”

“Thisfucking photo,” I started, taking his phone out of his hand, and waving it at him, “was taken at a business dinner that I was invited to by a colleague several years ago. I completely forgot about it. I fucking didn’t know Ecclestone would be there, let alone be sitting at the same table. I didn’t speak a single word to him all night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that when I asked you?”

“I didn’t tell you that I’dbrieflymet him before, because I didn’t even know who he was back then. To me he was some nameless construction guy. This is before his ‘rise to fame.’” I made quote fingers around the term.

“You said you’ve never met him,” he pressed. “You clearly met him.”

“Jesus. I’ve never met him in a sense of meeting, and shaking hands, and talking, and doing fucking business together.”

“Why is he calling your office?”

Jesus fucking Christ. “Because he’s a pushy son of a bitch.”

“You gotta give me more than this, Ace.”

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