Page 25 of Seduced by Her Billionaire Fake Fiancé

“Did you need something?” She whispered, when he still didn’t speak.

Finally, Max’s eyes met hers. “We’re in the paper.”

“What paper?”

“All of them, actually.”

She rolled her eyes. “All of them?”

“The majority of the reputable ones, a tonne of the less reputable.” He handed his phone to her. “Your father made an announcement.”

Andie’s lips parted as she took Max’s phone and began to read the standard engagement announcement, emotions rioting when she read ‘daughter of Conrad and the late Helen Scott, proud parents always’.

“I had no idea he was going to do this,” she assured Max.

“So I gather.”

“Well,” she skimmed the rest of the piece, then passed the phone back to Max. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

“It’s a fair bet that the Santoros will have seen this.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “But okay. That’s fine. I was going to advise them of the change in company status today anyway. I’ve been notified by legal that the funds have cleared. So, we’re officially business partners,” she added, looking down at her negligee-clad body. “I wonder how many HR guidelines we’re breaking.”

His lips shifted in a grudging smile. “I’m not sure those rules apply to us, given that we’re engaged.”

She nodded. “I should get back to New York,” she said stepping back into her suite. “I wanted to break this to the executive team myself. I guess it’s too late for that, but I can at least be there to mop up the mess.”

“You think it’ll be a mess?”

“There are always jitters when a company goes through significant change. And jitters are bad for business.”

“We should present a united, confident, invigorated front,” he agreed. And there it was again. The use of the ‘we’, that bonded them in a way that Andie liked, even when she knew it didn’t mean anything.

“Yes,” she nodded her head. “We should get back to New York, right away.”

Somewhere over the Atlantic,Andie received the email she’d been expecting all morning, from Dante Santoro:

Andrea,

Congratulations on your engagement. Please call me as a matter of priority to discuss our acquisition of Acto Corp.

Your faithfully,

Dante S.

She grimaced,showed her phone to Max, and couldn’t help but feel bad at the smug look on his face.

“I like the guy,” she said with a shake of her head. “I know you guys have whatever history, but he’s always been really nice to me, and I do believe he was passionate about Acto’s future.”

“Because your parents built a company with incredible potential,” Max replied, unconcerned. “He’ll move onto the next opportunity. Don’t lose sleep over him.”

Andie slipped her phone away, stared out of the window, her stomach filled with butterflies that she couldn’t placate. Because of the impending phone call with Dante Santoro? Or because of what she and Max had to do with the executive team? Or because of the feelings he was awakening within her?

Once in New York, Max’s driver took them straight to the office, where a meeting had been called with the executives. Andie could feel the team’s trepidation as they entered the room, and when Max took her hand, she didn’t flinch, nor pull away. She was grateful for the contact, grateful for his support. Even more grateful when he took the lead in the meeting.

“No doubt you’ve all read the reports,” he said, smiling, as though he smiled easily and often, when Andie knew this not to be the case at all. “First of all, we’re very happy to announce our engagement. Secondly, yes, my family has acquired a majority share of Acto—,”

“A slim majority,” Andie interjected, forcing a smile to make it seem as though it was all one big joke.

---