Page 51 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

“It doesn’t look good that the founder of a charity would lie about the origins. I’m sure with more digging I’d find out more lies. This is just the first.”

“Maybe,” Cynder said. “Though you might be disappointed. This has more to do with the fact that in development meetings, we talked about how important story was to foundations. The consultants recommended adding human elements to the charity.”

Cynder pushed the folder back across the table with a smile meant to look slightly pitying. Olivia looked shocked.

“Unfortunately, I’m not sure that exposing smart marketing tactics would have much impact. It’s more of a non-story. Many charities and businesses use this approach to add in a human element. But you’re welcome to publish this if you’d like to. It’s well-written. Xander has prepared a statement on this. Wyatt?”

Wyatt made a show of opening his laptop bag and pulling out a folder of his own. He extracted a piece of paper and slid it across the table to Olivia, who barely glanced at it. Cynder had been watching her expressions closely. The corners of Olivia’s mouth had turned down slightly and she shifted in her seat. She opened her mouth to say something, but Cynder held up a hand.

“Xander just texted me. He’s still on his call unfortunately. He didn’t want to leave you without a story and we do have something you might be interested in. It seems like you have what you want, though.”

Wyatt stilled beside her and Cynder waited. She could see the indecision on Olivia’s face. She was curious, but clearly didn’t like losing the upper hand and knew she had. Her fingers traced along the edge of the folder in front of her. Cynder could practically feel Wyatt vibrating beside her with the need to speak. Slowly and hoping not to attract Olivia’s attention, Cynder put the flat of her palm against Wyatt’s arm under the conference table.

After what seemed like way too long, Olivia sighed. “Fine. What’s the story?”

Cynder smiled and nodded to Wyatt. He gave her a tight-lipped look and pulled out another folder from his bag. He didn’t like this and neither did she. But it was all Cynder could think of to keep Olivia away from exposing Xander’s past.

“I think that the Tribune will be interested in this story,” she said.

As Olivia’s eyes widened, Cynder tried to quell the panic rising up in her. Her gut twisted. The Tribune would indeed like the story. They wouldn’t wait for a print edition, but would probably have this online within the hour.

Cynder only hoped that Xander would forgive her for it.

* * *

Xander had been hiding out in one of the back conference rooms while Wyatt and Cynder met with Olivia. He had a hard time sitting and found himself pacing the room, despite his hard workout during lunch. His legs were still screaming, but he couldn’t quell the nervous energy that hummed through him. What did Olivia have—or think she had? What was Cynder’s plan?

It was clear to him when he saw her just before he slipped away that she had one. She met with Wyatt about it, but wouldn’t share all the details with Xander. “Do you trust me?” she had asked, her blue eyes guarded but intense. This felt like a test. One he wouldn’t fail.

“Yes,” Xander had said without hesitation.

Why her shoulders had dipped slightly when he answered, he wasn’t sure. He wanted to say it was with relief, but it looked more like disappointment.

Should he have trusted her?

Xander hadn’t realized how dull his existence felt before this week. For so long he lived the equivalent of a winter sky—gray and dull and cold. His emotions had been in check. He had been protected. Now every moment Xander felt like he was really living, even if it was unsettling, riding constant waves of emotion. The largest of which was, of course, the growing attraction he felt for Cynder.

Attraction was too shallow a word. He had been attracted to women since Sarah. Attraction was about the surface and all the things that lay skin-deep. Or it could be. He felt attracted to her for sure—he found himself battling to keep his gaze on her eyes, not her lips or the curve of her neck … or what lay below it. The physical was there.

But he also felt a riptide that yanked him off his feet to some deeper place. Cynder was someone he could laugh with and really talk to. She brought a lightness into his life with just her presence and not for any physical reasons. He didn’t even like it when she left earlier to run errands. He wanted her near him. Always.

He found himself wanting to do things for her, like trying to fix things with her company. Unfortunately, Wyatt had already heard from both the lawyers hired that the will had been done in person with Cynder’s father and Gail present. It was legitimate. A part of him had hoped it was a scheme, that Gail had lied or created a fake will. He could unravel the truth, like a great detective, and then give Cynder back something she had lost, exposing Gail for a fraud. But it seemed like her father had simply been swept away by emotion and made a poor choice.

Was Xander making poor choices as well, swept away by what he felt for Cynder?

The door to the room opened and Xander moved toward it before he realized that it was Wyatt, not Cynder. Xander worked to control whatever look was on his face, especially seeing the guarded look on Wyatt’s. He looked like he carried bad news.

“How did it go? Where’s Cynder?”

Wyatt sighed and flopped into one of the conference table chairs. “Cynder got Olivia to tell her what she was doing. She figured out that Sarah Ryder wasn’t a real person. I guess her article was going to expose that story as a lie.”

Xander’s mouth felt suddenly dry. If Olivia had found that out, she might be very close to finding out the real reason behind the name.

“Cynder said it was just marketing,” Wyatt said. “She did a great job making Olivia feel like it was a non-story. But Cynder seemed to think it was really important to keep Olivia away, so there must be something I’m missing.”

Did Cynder know?Xander tried not to sway on his feet at the thought.

“Why do you think she felt like it was important?”

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