Page 77 of The Mysterious Billionaire
“Where?” I demand, and bang on the desk. People are starting to come out of their offices to see what’s going on, but I don’t care.
“Can I ask your name, please?” the receptionist says, clearly buying time.
“I’m Caesar Ashford,” I say icily, “and I want to see Maddie Rutherford, right now.”
“She’s busy, sir, but if I could take your number, I’ll have her call you back as soon as she’s available.”
“Maddie!” I yell down the corridor.
The receptionist stiffens. “Mr. Ashford, I’m going to have to call security if you don’t calm down…”
I lean forward and glare at her. I’ve reached the limits of my patience, and it’s impossible for me to back down. “I’m going to search every office in this building until I find her unless you get her for me RIGHT NOW.”
Chapter Nineteen
Maddie
“…and I think we should include a five-year forecast,” I tell the team sitting at the table with me.
“Ten might be better,” Brielle says. “It’ll look more impressive on a bigger scale.”
“True. Although—” I stop talking as a raised voice sounds from outside the meeting room.
“MADDIE!”
I blink. “What on earth…”
“Who’s that?” Brielle asks.
At that moment, my phone buzzes on the table. I pick it up and answer it. It’s one of the girls from the main office.
“Caesar Ashford’s here,” she says breathlessly. “He’s demanding to see you. Barbara’s trying to get him to calm down, but he’s pretty irate.”
My heart immediately beats at double time. “Okay, thank you, I’ll deal with it.” I end the call and get to my feet.
“What’s going on?” one of the guys asks, but I ignore him, go over to the door, and open it. Taking a deep breath, I go out and walk down the corridor.
Caesar is in reception, currently arguing with one of our security guards who’s trying to block his path.
“Please, sir,” Jack says, “come with me.”
“Get out of my fucking way,” Caesar yells, snatching his arm away from Jack’s grip. He looks past me, and his eyes widen as he sees me. “Maddie!” He pushes Jack away as he tries to grab him again. “I want to talk to you.”
“It’s all right, Jack,” I say. “Everything’s okay. Caesar, come with me.” I turn and walk along the corridor, without looking to see if he’s following.
I can feel his eyes like lasers burning into my back. People watch us pass, brought out by his yelling, but I don’t look at any of them. My heart hammers, but I stay calm and take him into the meeting room where I’d been working with Brielle and three other members of my team on the summary report that Gramps requested.
“Can I have the room please?” I ask, and, throwing me curious glances, they get up and vacate the meeting room.
Brielle stops as she goes to pass me and says, “You want me to stay?”
I shake my head. She gives me a curious look, then follows the others out, and I close the door behind them.
This room doesn’t have glass walls like the boardrooms. Is that a good thing? I’m glad we have no witnesses, but his eyes are blazing, his chest heaving, and he’s standing with his hands on hips, glaring at me as if he wants to strangle me.
Fuck me, he’s gorgeous.
Briefly, I imagine stripping the way I did in the cottage, just to see what he’d do, but I discard the idea quickly as I see the iciness in his eyes. He’s really, really mad.
