Page 78 of The Sexy Billionaire

She’s right. I know she is and now, being around Paige again, my feelings on the whole waiting for a time that suits Giada’s career have started to change. She’s the one that messed up, yet I have to be accommodating to her needs above my own.You just want to be able to touch Paige in public.Maybe. Okay, yes. I don’t want to be hanging out with Paige and worry that some paparazzo catches us in a compromising position, labeling her the other woman in the world’s eyes, when it was Giada and Allegra who are the villains in my story.

“Speak to Flora about making your own statement. Screw Giada and Allegra,” she says angrily.

“I can’t out them.”

“Then don’t. Say that she’s on holiday with her best friend, helping her heal from the breakup. I don’t care about them, I care about you,” Natalia states.

“I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Fine,” she grumbles.

“Ciao, I’m here to meet with Mr. Michael Nelson,” I say to one of the employees after knocking on the back door of Paige’s old restaurant.

“He’s in his office,” they say, pointing down a corridor. “I can take you there, follow me,” the chef says. We walk through the back of the kitchen, down a corridor, and toward his office.

He gives the door a hard knock twice. “Wait here, he’ll be out in a moment,” he says gruffly before walking away from me.

Great customer service.

Moments later, the office door opens and out walks a brunette who is fixing up her top; her eyes lock with mine for a moment before she scurries away.

“Who the fuck knocked on my door? I said I was busy,” Michael curses from inside his office.

Anger flares beneath my skin; this man is repulsive, taking advantage of his staff like this. Technically, he’s single, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is how he’s conducted himself during his marriage. I step through the doorway of his office and narrow my eyes on the man dressed in a crumpled white chef’s jacket. His blond hair is messily tousled, and he has beady blue eyes and a grating French accent. This man, and I use that term lightly, had Paige’s undying love, and he threw it away? This is him?You messed up like him, a voice inside me says. I’m nothing like this man. I knew I fucked up when I let Paige walk out of my life; this moron thinks that her being in his life is him doing her the favor.

“Oh, hi, who are you?” he asks, standing up abruptly from the chair he was sitting on.

“I’m here to make you an offer,” I tell him.

He raises his brows high. “What kind of offer,” he questions me.

Slowly, I walk further into the office, making sure all of my six-foot-three height is displayed as I move toward him. “I’ll give you a million dollars to leave your ex alone.”

Michael’s eyes spring wide at my offer before it settles in and he bursts out laughing. “A million, fuck you, she’s worth way more than that. You can tell that bitch I deserve at least ten million.”

Something in me snaps when I hear him call Paige a bitch and the next thing I know, my hand is around his throat and I have him pinned up against the wall. He’s panicking, trying to get free. He shouldn’t be fooled by the ten-thousand-dollar suit because what’s underneath it has been carved from hours at the gym and in the boxing ring. I’ve studied all forms of martial arts and self-defense. Because of who my family is, I never wanted to be caught short. So, he can wriggle and move, but I have him locked down.

“Not so cocky when you have to deal with someone your own size, are you?”

“Fuck you,” he spits at me.

“No, fuck you, you piece of shit. I’m going to tell you once and only once. Leave Paige alone or I will make sure your entire world is burned to the ground,” I warn him as my hand constricts around his throat. His face pales and then turns red as I start to cut off his circulation before I release him. He slides down the wall and sucks in a couple of deep breaths before he launches himself at me. I see it coming a mile away and greet him with a punch to the stomach, which has him falling to his knees.

“Fucking bastard, I’m calling the police,” he screams.

“You think they are going to be able to help you against me?”

Michael coughs and splutters as he continues to hold his stomach. “Fuck you and that dumb bitch. I’m going to make you both pay,” he curses at me.

“Try me, motherfucker. I’ll guarantee you will regret it.”

He spits at my shoes as he hauls himself up. “I’m not afraid of you. I get it, that mouth of hers will make any sane man do crazy things for it.” He chuckles before my fist meets his face and splays him backward onto the floor, blood trickling around his mouth. He wipes his mouth and grins. “Get the fuck out of my restaurant. You see, here in America, I have the right to put a bullet in you if I feel like my life is being threatened, and I would say this little meeting shows just cause, don’t you think?” He chuckles maniacally.

This man is more fucked up than I realized. Not wanting to push him any further, and with my point made, I leave his office.

21

PAIGE

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