Page 45 of Faking it with My Billionaire Bosses

Sonnie

The next couple of weeks were a blur of dates. Each night was a different date with a different one of my guys. Sometimes we stuck to Paul’s plans, sometimes, we didn’t. I preferred the dates where we went rogue. I’d gone boating with Price, bowling with Drake, and back to the drive-in with Cole. When we weren’t out on dates, I was hanging out with Rosie at Price’s house and waiting to see if any real orders ever came in for me. I’d taken Rosie out of school for the time being, wanting to let things settle down before she had to go back, but it didn’t seem like things were settling down at all. She seemed to love doing her schoolwork at home, though, and her grades were better than ever.

Almost daily, there was a new story about our relationship. There were pictures and they always seemed to paint me in a negative light. So far, I was still very much thought of as a gross skank. It’d become more and more obvious to me the media outlets had changed their tune about the guys. They were back to loving my guys and thinking the world of them. Somehow, the guys were men of sacrifice who were willing to accept less from the woman they loved if that’s what she wanted. They were fuckinglovemartyrsand I was the evil woman demanding their heads.

The latest story had nearly pushed me over the edge of my sanity. The guys slipped out of bed before I woke up and went to work so I had a chance to check my phone for the latest news every morning. That morning, I’d woken up to pictures of my date with Price splayed across several news sites. We’d followed one of Paul’s ideas and had gone to dinner at a restaurant that was way too fancy for me. It’d ended up being fun because Price and I hadn’t been able to eat much of anything they’ve served and we’d snuck to Dairy Queen after, just to mess with Drake.

The pictures showed me in a nice dress, in a beautiful place, scowling at my food. I looked like a bitch. Worse than them twisting an innocent evening into something nasty was the fact they’d been able to capture photos of us sitting inside the car after eating fast food. I was in Price’s lap and he was licking ice cream off my chest. The photos looked horrible, like a cheap porn with a bad plot line. The reality had been sweeter and a shared moment after I’d dropped my ice cream on myself and felt bad for ruining a dress I had no intention of keeping after seeing the tag. He was trying his best to make me laugh. The pictures took that all away.

The guys and I didn’t talk about the news stories. I didn’t know if they thought I didn’t know or if they just knew nothing good would come from those conversations. Either way, they weren’t something we talked about. We’d covered almost every other topic during our time spent cuddling in bed, but those articles were a no-go.

It was that same article after my date with Price which made me wonder if the reason we didn’t talk about them was something worse than I’d imagined. One line close to the bottom of the article had left me frozen in bed for an hour after I read it.Bartender Barbie doesn’t seem to worry her little head about anything but spending their money and taking whatever she can get.

My stomach twisted more than a few times as awful ideas filled my head. I knew they couldn’t be true, but once they were in my head, it was impossible to get them out. I had to do something. I climbed out of bed and felt heavy, like the world already knew something bad was headed my way.

I called Gia and took a deep breath. She answered on the first ring and I just blurted it out. “I think their manager is behind the bad articles, Gia.”

She was quiet for a second and then grunted. “You’re serious.”

“Yes.” I told her about the line in the latest article. “She called me that. She also said that same thing to me last week. She said not to worry my little head and I remember thinking the bitch couldn’t even refer to me as pretty in that sense. It’s pretty little head. Not just little head.”

“Shit.” Gia growled. “I’ll kill her.”

I snorted. “Get in line.”

“There’s more, isn’t there? I can hear it in your voice.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped my arm around my stomach. “She’s their manager, G. What if she’s not doing it alone? The guys have gotten so much good press from this. I don’t get it, but they’ve become these heroes for dating me. They needed to date someone publicly to draw attention to the fact they’re straight and they’ve now become the perfect boyfriends, somehow.”

“No fucking way, Sonnie. They aren’t like that, are they?”

“I don’t think so. I… I don’t know, though, G. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. I just ran into this thing with them and now I’m living in their house with Rosie. I haven’t gotten an order since this started and Jerry is no closer to giving me my job back. I went from having two jobs to zero jobs and being dependent on three men I don’t know all that well. The public hates me. I’m being called a user and a whore nonstop. I’m ruined, Gia, but they’re better than ever. She’s their manager. Would she do something like this without talking to them?Couldshe?”

She was quiet for a few seconds and when she did speak again, she sounded stressed. “Are you going to talk to them?”

I thought about the article and that line. “I’m going to go talk to Samantha first.”

“Is that a good idea?” She sighed. “At least wait until I can be there with you.”

“No, I’m going to do this alone. She’s done enough damage. I’m not letting you get arrested for assault if she says somethingrude to me.” I looked out the window and fought back tears. “Maybe they didn’t know anything.”

“I bet they didn’t, babe. They seem crazy about you.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m coming down. If nothing else, I can hang out with Rosie.”

I wasn’t strong enough to tell her not to come for a second time. “I love you, G. Thank you for being there for me.”

“Duh, Sonnie. You’re my best friend. Keep me updated. I’ll let you know when my flight lands.” She sounded nervous. “I’m sure this is going to be a fun vacation and nothing more.”

The pit in my stomach wasn’t so sure. After hanging up with her, I took a shower and got dressed. I was going to have a little talk with Samantha and figure out what the hell was going on.

CHAPTER 35

Sonnie

I pretended like I was going to come by and see the guys at the office, but when they told security to let me up, I didn’t go to their floor. I went to the floor below theirs, where Samantha’s office was. It was easy to find her. There was a steady stream of people running from her office, close to tears.

I didn’t knock before letting myself in. I just walked in and closed the door behind me, leaning against it for support while staring across the large room at her. She was behind her desk, leaning over it to study something. I recognized photos of myself immediately. “I guess it’s true, then.”

She jumped and looked up at me. “Who the fuck let you in here?”

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