Page 7 of Bad Boy Billionaire Protector

“Are you going to go?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a good way to get in with the right crowd.”

“Just be careful. Owens can be a slippery bastard.”

“He lapped up the billionaire stuff.”

“Yeah. He likes the rich, elite ones. That’s who he spends all his time with. The less wealthy ones, not so much.”

“Well, he’ll be excited to find out what I can bring to the table.”

“Oh yeah. He must think he won the Mega Million. What’s your name again, Christos something?”

“Christos Ianthos. Very Greek.”

“Must be difficult for you,” he responded dryly.

We both laughed. I knew how difficult things had been and were continuing to be for him. It made me want to get to the bottom of my investigation as quickly as possible. If not for me, but for him. He had already given up so much to the investigation as an invaluable source of first-hand information.

“I want you to know that I’m going to work as quickly as possible to get this all sorted out for you.”

“I know man. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Okay. I better go. I have another class in an hour.”

“Okay. Take care.”

He hung up.

Chapter 4 – Amber

Ifoundithardto concentrate in my English Literature class so I was all too glad when it was finally over. I packed up my things and left the lecture hall, saying goodbye to the person who had sat next to me. I didn’t know them, but I was always hoping that being friendly would eventually make me some new friends. I had lost contact with most of my friends who had moved on or continued on to post grad work. It was mostly my fault. When Adam had died, I shut everyone out and didn’t contact anyone after they called me. I just disappeared into myself, and my friends disappeared too.

I knew that a good stretch in yoga class would clear my head so I headed to the campus gym. I’d pre-booked the class knowing that it made me more likely to go rather than relying on myself to just turn up. Perhaps I had come back to college too early. Perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to concentrate the way I would need to. All I could think of was Adam and how he had died. I wanted to get to the bottom of it all, but I didn’t know how.

I was lost in my own thoughts when I bumped into Helena. One of mine and Adam’s friends from last year. Tall, with long blonde hair and an aristocratic demeanor, I had always been a bit wary of her. She gave the impression she was judging every move you made, but again, that could just be because she had a slightly upturned nose that made her look as though she was turning her nose up at everyone- the perfect resting bitch face. Although she was naturally standoffish to most people, she had taken a liking to me, perhaps because I was with Adam. I couldn’t fathom it.

“Hi, Amber! Long time, no see!” She squealed and gave me a hug.

I simply nodded, not really sure how to explain myself. “Hi Helena. How are you?”

“I’m fine. It’s so good to see you back at school. How are you? How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay, thanks. Just trying to get through a day at a time.”

“I can imagine. We were all devastated when we heard about Adam’s…passing.”

There was a silence between us as I nodded like one of those stupid bobbly-head dolls. I really didn’t want to talk about it. But still she prattled on.

“It was such a shock. None of us thought that he could ever, you know…kill himself. There was just no reason for it. It didn’t make sense.” She shook her head in confusion.

I winced at that thought, as the memory of finding him unconscious flooded into my brain.

“I don’t understand why he did it,” I managed to say, my voice thick with the tears I was trying to hold back. Helena saw I was starting to get upset and put her hand on my arm.

I noticed she was wearing the same ring that Adam had. Her ring looked like a more feminine version of Adam’s but it was unmistakably from the same society. I recognized the design of the characters etched in the band. All his close friends seemed to have one. She was part of the same secret society he was. I needed to find out more about it. But I just couldn’t come out and ask her. It wouldn’t get me anywhere, given that she was probably sworn to secrecy. That fucking society. If only I had paid more attention to what Adam was doing with the group. Last year, I happily focused all my attention on the private bubble that Adam and I had created or on my classes. Everything else just fell off my radar.

“Let it all out, Amber. You’re still grieving. Come here.”

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