Page 12 of A Billionaire's Second Shot

She raises an eyebrow, clearly picking up on my tone. “We were just discussing Damon’s latest venture,” she says smoothly. “It sounds... ambitious.”

Damon chuckles, clearly enjoying the tension. “Ambition is everything, wouldn’t you agree, Levi? After all, it’s what drives men like us.”

I step closer, my posture relaxed but my intent clear. “The difference is, I know when to stop chasing something that doesn’t belong to me.”

The jab lands, and Damon’s smirk falters ever so slightly. He glances at Tania, then back at me, his expression carefully neutral.

“Well,” he says, adjusting his cufflinks. “It seems I’m interrupting something. I’ll leave you to it.”

He walks away, but I don’t miss the way he glances back, as if he’s already planning his next move.

I let out a slow breath, turning my attention to Tania. She’s staring at me, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

“What the hell was that?” she asks, her tone low but sharp.

“Damon was crossing a line,” I say simply. “I was protecting you.”

She narrows her eyes. “Protecting me? From what, exactly? A conversation?”

“From him,” I snap, the words harsher than I intend. “You don’t know him like I do, Tania. He doesn’t care about you—he cares about what you can do for him.”

“And that’s different from you how?” she fires back, her words cutting.

The silence between us is heavy, the unspoken truth hanging in the air. She’s right. I brought her into this for my own reasons, reasons that have little to do with her and everything to do with my deal. But even so, the idea of someone else using her, someone else taking her away—it’s unbearable.

“Tania,” I say softly, stepping closer. “I’m not him.”

She doesn’t move, doesn’t look away, but the guarded expression in her eyes doesn’t waver. “You need to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Acting like you have the right to control who talks to me, who looks at me,” she says, her voice trembling slightly. “We’re not together, Levi. This is just a business arrangement. Remember that.”

Her words hit harder than they should, and for a moment, I can’t find a response. She steps back, creating a distance between us that feels insurmountable.

“Excuse me,” she says quietly, brushing past me and disappearing into the crowd.

Chapter Nine

Tania

The stage lights are too bright, the air thick with the scent of floral arrangements and expensive perfume. The charity event is in full swing, the kind of high-society gathering where everyone is dressed to impress and more interested in being seen than in the cause they’re supposedly supporting.

I stand near the edge of the ballroom, clutching a glass of sparkling water and scanning the crowd. Levi is across the room, talking to someone I vaguely recognize from a magazine article—another billionaire with a name that carries weight in circles I’ve never wanted to be part of.

He looks as poised and confident as ever, his tailored suit fitting like a second skin, his easy smile drawing the kind of attention that makes people hang on his every word. It’s infuriating how natural he is in this world. And it’s even more infuriating how my eyes keep drifting back to him, no matter how hard I try to focus elsewhere.

I take a sip of my water, hoping the cool liquid will calm the heat rising in my chest. This is just a job, I remind myself. Just a performance. And Levi is playing his part to perfection.

So why does it feel like I’m the one who’s losing control?

An hour later,the event is still in full swing, but I’ve slipped away to catch my breath. The constant buzz of conversation and the weight of too many eyes on me have left me feeling frayed, like a string pulled too tight. I lean against the wall backstage, the distant hum of the crowd muted by the heavy curtain separating me from the ballroom.

I close my eyes, letting the quiet settle over me. But my moment of peace is short-lived.

“Tania.”

His voice cuts through the silence like a blade, and my eyes snap open. Levi is standing a few feet away, his expression unreadable, the light behind him casting his features in shadow.

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