Page 68 of Born a Billionaire

“You bet.” She patted him on the shoulder as she walked out, and he stared at the guy through the glass.

“Who are you working with?”

The entire drive back to his house, Oliver worried about Adelia being there alone. His hands trembled against the steering wheel, and his heart raced, knowing another person involved with the blackmail was on the loose. The lack of control over her safety wound him into a giant ball of anxiety.

He jumped out of his car the second he turned off the engine and raced into the house.

“Adelia!” he cried as he noticed her packed bag on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t give her two seconds to reply before he called out to her again. “Adelia!”

“I’m up here.” Her footfalls sounded on the steps.

He let out a breath, and his shoulders sank with relief.

“I packed up my stuff,” she said with a smile. “I thought maybe you’d want to stay with me at the lake house for a few days.” Her expression turned from one that could melt him to the core to a look of concern. “What is it?”

“I spoke a little too soon this morning,” he told her.

Her eyebrows crinkled. “What do you mean?”

“It’s very clear to us that the guy we brought in is working with someone else. He’s not exactly the brains behind the operation.”

Her shoulders sank. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. We’re working on it.”

She plopped down on the couch. “I’m so sick of all this.”

Oliver walked over and rested his hip against the back of the couch. “I know you are.”

“Maybe I should go to England and stay with my dad for a while.”

Oliver’s heart clenched in his chest. “If that’s what you want.”

She let her head fall back against the couch cushion. “I don’t know. At least before all this, I knew the paparazzi would be hanging around. They were overt about it. This creepy stalker crap is disconcerting.”

“Well, maybe you should leave Michigan. You revealed you were here in the article anyway, so it’s not like you can hide out anymore.”

She rolled her head to the side and looked up at him. “I like hiding out here.”

He rounded the couch and sat down next to her, and she immediately snuggled into his side with her head resting on his chest. “And I like having you here. But you might be right. And maybe while you’re away, we can get the guy to give up his partner.”

“And I can come back here without that hanging over me.”

“Exactly.”

She shifted to look up at him. “But what about us?”

“I just want you to be safe, Adelia. That’s the most important thing right now.”

“I don’t want to leave just when I discovered what a good kisser you are.”

He laughed. “I’ll still be here when you get back.”

She sighed. “I’m sure my dad would like it if I spent Thanksgiving with him so he doesn’t have to be alone.”

Oliver nodded, though he knew her being gone for weeks would leave a hole that no one else could fill.

She gazed up at him with hopefulness in her eyes. “You could come with me.”

“That’s really tempting, but I should stay here and work. It’ll make me feel like I’m taking care of you, even when you’re so far away.”

“This isn’t exactly how I thought things would go when you got home,” she said, “but absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?”

“Absolutely.”

---