Page 81 of Forbidden Billionaire
Lila’s eyebrows fly up.
Reeling, I look at her. “Like the Lane Marchand?” There can’t be two of them, can there?
“Yeah.” Tasha shrugs. “I feel like I’m kind of stuck where I am. I love being a property acquisition specialist, but I want more, you know? To sell things. And he’s building out a whole innovation hub downtown. I’ve been following it since the announcement. The guy’s a viper, but he gets shit done.”
Lila blinks slowly. “He also nearly got curb-stomped at the farmer’s market last month. People hate him. Talk about someone whose image needs rehabbing.” She shrugs. “Not that I’d take on a project like that.”
That’s saying a lot, since she’s the go-to PR whisperer for both local stars and their desperate imitators.
“Man has no redeeming qualities.”
“He is passionate.” Tasha lifts her glass.
“Greedy,” Lila counters, no fan of billionaires, even though she has a few who are clients. She doesn’t mind taking their cash and donating it to causes she supports.
“Rumor has it, he’s trying to poach you, Seraphina. Is that true?”
My stomach bottoms out. Where the hell did that information come from?
“What?” Lila’s voice goes high-pitched. “Are you serious?”
Both of my friends look at me.
“I got an inquiry from a recruiter.”
“Does Blackheart know?”
“No.” I shake my head. “And I said no immediately.”
“You’d better have.” Lila blows out a breath. “He’d lose his goddamn mind.”
Tasha laughs. “He’s not exactly Mr. Balanced Energy, is he?”
I feel as if someone pulled the rug out from under me. “Where did you hear that?”
Tasha takes a sip. “I’m in the industry. Anytime there’s something big happening in the real estate market, gossip starts flying. Half the time, the rumors aren’t true. And this Lockhart deal has everyone talking.”
“She’s right.” Lila sits back as if she’s holding court. “Even I’ve been hearing about it.”
“There was the whole scandal with Bianca Lockhart.”
“Someone doesn’t want the deal to go through,” Lila guesses.
Marchand, no doubt. The man who wants to poach me, the billionaire viper Tasha wants to work for.
“Speaking of gossip…” Lila gives me a sideways look. “How’s it going with your dark prince?”
I swirl my wine, stalling for time. The last time she’d seen him had been at dinner, right here. Of course she has questions. “Good.”
“That didn’t sound confident.”
“This…” What to say? “Work is stressful.”
“Getting deals across the finish line can be murder,” Tasha agrees.
Lila nods.
“And Sunday night…” I really hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
