Page 74 of The Mysterious Billionaire
Marcus turns to face me and looks me in the eye. “How are you doing?”
“Fine.”
“Really?” He gives me a look that says,I know you better than that. “I didn’t want to push you to talk about it. But I thought you might have come and seen me.”
“What are we, fourteen?” I’m irritated that he’s married with a kid on the way, handing out advice like the older brother. “I don’t want to talk about her.”
His eyebrows rise. “Her?”
With a jolt, I realize he was talking about the company. Fuck.
He stares at me. “Oh no.”
I blow out a breath. “It’s not what you think.”
“You mean you didn’t sleep with Tom Rutherford’s granddaughter?”
I scratch my cheek. “Okay, it is what you think.”
“Jesus Christ, Caesar…”
I run my hand through my hair. “It just happened.”
“By accident?”
“No, I mean… it wasn’t planned.”
“By you, maybe.” He’s not amused. He’s alarmed. “Where did you stay, exactly? In Queenstown?”
“No, at Blackridge Station.”
“At Blackridge? Where?”
“In a… um… cottage.”
Now he looks wary. “What kind of cottage?”
“A… uh… shepherd’s cottage…”
“Please tell me that’s the name of a very exclusive and luxurious hotel.”
“Er…”
“Fuck me, Caesar! You stayed in a cottage alone with her? Christ.” Someone walks past, and he stops talking and waits until they’re gone. “You’re fucking lucky she’s not crying rape,” he snaps eventually.
I glare at him. “She’s not like that.” Except the thought had crossed my mind how vulnerable I’ve made not just myself but the whole company. If she wanted to turn on me, to accuse me of seducing her, or worse, I wouldn’t have a chance of fighting it.
He frowns. “This is why you’ve been quiet? I assumed it was because you’ve been deciding what position to take.”
I look down the corridor at the boardroom. Dad’s glancing at his watch. “That’s also on my mind.”
He studies me, his brown eyes filled with concern, not anger. “Bro… you know Tom sent her to soften you up, right?”
I study my shoes. “Yeah.”
“Tom is capable of doing anything to get what he wants.”
“Jesus, I know! Why do you think I’ve been in such a mess since I got back?”
