Page 64 of The Billionaire and the Maid

Greta’s smile widens. “Good. But why did you tell Ken you were just using her?”

My head whips back as I look at her in shock. “What? What do you mean?”

She tells me what happened. How Ken was a slimeball to Ella, which has me seeing red. And how Ken said our fake relationship was all for looks, which is a lie, or at least it is now. What the hell? How did Ken even know about our fake relationship?

And then I remember. I had set my phone down in a meeting while texting Ella. I’d left my screen unlocked. He was sitting next to me. After the meeting, I had forgotten to pick up my phone as someone was talking to me. When I went back to get it, Ken handed it to me and said he’d found it on the table, and it was a good thing he found it and not someone else. I’ve always hated Ken, but Dad thinks he’s a good assistant.

“He’s a dead man,” I growl as I stand.

Greta looks a little shocked. “So, it wasn’t the truth?” she asks.

I shake my head and take a step toward her. “Far from it. He must have read my texts with Ella. I left my phone on a table at a meeting, and he returned it to me.”

“Oh,” she manages as she looks up at me.

“Where is she, Greta? I need to find her. I need to explain,” I beg as I reach out to gently place my hands on her shoulders as I lean down to look into her eyes. “I…love her.”

“Forty-seven Beach Drive, apartment two-o-six,” she states.

“Thank you,” I reply as I kiss her cheek and take off toward the front door.

“Chase!” she calls out and I turn as I open it.

“Yes?”

“She’s hurt. Very hurt. She says she’s all better and doesn’t care, but I call bullshit on that. Just, be gentle with her. She’s been through so much. You’ll need to fight for her. To make her understand because she’ll expect the worst even if her heart tells her she can trust you, she won’t,” Greta says.

“I know. I just need to get her to listen for a few minutes. Hopefully, I’m not too late,” I say as I nod in agreement.

She holds out her hand, motioning me to stop. I pause and look back at her.

“You need to do more than just show, Chase. She needs…a grand gesture. She needs you to do something, not just say something. Actions speak louder than words,” she says.

“How long is she planning to stay there?” I ask.

“It’s my condo. She’s welcome to stay as long as she wants. But I imagine she won’t stay for more than a couple of days.”

“Then, I need to get to work,” I declare.

“Good luck!” she calls out as I shut the door and hastily make my way out her door and back to my car.

I press call on my car’s Bluetooth. “Dial Dad.”

“Chase?” my father answers.

“Dad, we’re firing Ken,” I state.

“What?” he asks, his voice rising an octave.

I tell him everything Greta’s just told me. I come clean about asking Ella to be my fake girlfriend while leaving out the vase part. And I admit my feelings for her. And when I finish, my father is silent. He’s never this silent.

“Dad?” I ask, making sure we haven’t lost our connection.

“He’s a dead man,” Dad says.

I grin. As much as my parents drive me crazy, they love me and the fact that he wants to murder Ken tells me that Ella has somehow started to weasel her way into their very guarded and walled-off hearts.

“I think we can skip the killing and get busy with the firing,” I state as I end the call and pull into the long drive that takes me to Nonno’s cottage.

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