Page 5 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

His scowl made me laugh. “Look, I know you could handle this lawsuit if her fucking attorney was Satan himself.”

“That would be easier. I don’t want to fuck Satan.” I also doubted I’d get half as flustered inhispresence.

Miles rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I do, and I’m not saying I can’t win. Didn’t you hear me before? I’ve got this. I just don’t want to deal with the smug asshole.”

“You’re the one who said we should play this one by the book. If that’s changed, and you’d like me to call in some favors….”

“Miles, we stepped far enough over the line when we dealt with Ben’s family. We can win this one through proper legal channels.”

Miles hesitated for a moment, making me think there was something he wasn’t tell me. “I’m happy to try other tactics if working with Jasper is going to bring you too much grief.”

“I appreciate that you would use your criminal contacts to save me from annoyance—”

He held up a hand. “It’s more than annoyance. You haven’t been this irritable in a long time.”

“He beat me at tennis yesterday.”

Miles shook his head. “This isn’t about tennis.”

I really wished it was. “Jasper was bitching about me not having to work for anything again, and the problem is, he’s right.”

“The fuck he is.”

I could always count on Miles to defend me, even from myself. “Miles.”

“No. You lost your parents when you were in middle school, then you, a gay boy, came to a school fully of bullies where nothing was punished as fiercely as empathy and kindness.”

I laughed. “Our old school was veryLord of the Flies.”

“Yes, it was.”

“But I had you, Carter, and Worth, so it was fine.”

“You graduated top of your class from Harvard Law, that took work.”

“True, but it was just for me. I don’t actually need a job.”

Miles scowled. “That doesn’t mean you don’t work hard.”

“Jay didn’t grow up with money. I don’t know his exact circumstances, but he’s—”

“Jealous? Bitter?”

“Can you blame him?”

Miles sighed. “No, I can’t. So you’re calling him Jay now?”

“That’s what everyone calls him.”

“Not you, until now.”

“That has nothing to do with my point. He has a right to resent me and anyone else who was given the easy path to success. Neither of us really knows what it would be like to not be able to buy whatever we wanted.”

“Ben’s trying to help me understand what it’s like to live in the real world. I’m working on it, but speaking of money, we could always—”

“We are not bribing him to lose the case. He has plenty of money now. Besides, even if I wanted to play it that way, his ego would never let him do it.”

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