Page 29 of Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance

I watched as she made her way inside and I caught a glimpse of that beautiful grin of hers through the glass right before she made her way to the elevators.

I sauntered through the lobby of my building, heading for the elevator when I heard a familiar, sultry voice behind me. There was a part of me that just wanted to keep walking because I knew that wherever that voice was, there would always be trouble. The incessant clacking of her heels got louder as she rushed around to look me right in the eyes, and she had the biggest smile on her face.

“Leighton? What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She tossed her blonde hair to her back, undoing her fur-lined coat ever so slightly, and I saw that diamond necklace I gave her ages ago still hanging right at her decolletage.

“I was hoping we could chat. I just got back in town and I heard about what’s been going on. What do you say we have one drink, hm?”

I glanced around at the rather full lobby to see that people were starting to whisper as they stared at me. It was almost as if they didn’t even pay any attention until they spotted Leighton, because we had quite the rocky past, and we always seemed to be the talk of the town. I told myself I’d never let any woman too close to me after you. What do you want?

I grabbed her by the arm, leading her into the elevator so we could head up to my penthouse to have a little privacy. Once we were both safely inside, I headed straight for the hard liquor, because I knew that I wasn’t going to like whatever Leighton had to say.

“Aren’t you going to offer me one? Man, I could’ve sworn you used to be so much more of a gentleman. I guess you’ve really changed after all,” she said, playing with her necklace. She undid the buttons of her coat, wearing the same incredible dress that Katherine had worn earlier that evening. I furrowed my brow at her, wondering what kind of fucking game she was trying to play with me here. Whatever it is, I don’t want any part of it.

“Why are you back here, Leighton? Why now?”

“I booked a spread in Vogue for the Fall issue and that means I had to come back to the city for the shoot. I didn’t even know what was going on until my friends were bringing it up at dinner,” she said.

“Bringing what up exactly?”

“Well, you managed to do some damage control, I see. That reporter was going to town trying to paint you in the worst possible light, but now new information has been going around,” said Leighton, playing with her hair.

“What new information?”

“Apparently someone’s been talking about you seeing the woman that’s supposed to be investigating your company for fraud. I knew you were a player, Preston but I didn’t expect you to stoop that low. Is that what you have to do to protect Kingsman Enterprises?”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” I snapped.

“Yes, I do. I spoke to Riley. I set the record straight that there’d be no way you’d be seeing anyone else because we’re getting back together. It didn’t take much to convince her.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I spat.

“You can thank me later, darling. I’ll be sticking around for a while. I look forward to meeting that lovely little girlfriend of yours. I’m sure once she finds out how truly terrible of a boyfriend you really are, you’ll be missing how easy things were with me. You and I are cut from the same cloth after all. I can’t say the same about dear ol’ Katherine.”

“How the hell do you know her name?”

“You really have no idea how bad this is, do you? You probably thought that story was going to be the last of your little PR nightmare, but you were wrong. I did what I could to help, but knowing Riley, she’ll see right through it eventually,” she said.

“I think it’s about time that you leave, Leighton.”

“Right, well you know that I’m just a call away if you need me. I’ll be here to help you, darling. Whatever you need. Ta.”

She grabbed her coat, slipping it over her bare shoulders before taking off down the elevator, waving at me with a smirk before the doors closed. I pinched the bridge of my nose, wishing this entire nightmare would just disappear, but I downed the rest of my drink before I headed to bed. This is something that’s just going to have to wait until tomorrow. I wonder how much time Kingsman Enterprises has before the stories start coming out. Riley’s probably working overtime. I need to get ahead of this and fast.

I woke to the clamorous sound of banging coming from my front door. I groggily sauntered over to it, looking out of the peephole to see William standing there with what appeared to be a tabloid magazine in his hand.

“Good morning, William. You know this could’ve waited until I made it to the office, right?”

“No, it couldn’t because you’re not going to the office today. You’re going to be holed up in here getting work done without so much as anyone interacting with you.”

“Watch your tone, William. What is going on?”

He handed me the magazine, and I took one look at the cover, sighing.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. New information? Possible fraudulent activity? Well, this isn’t a reputable magazine so I don’t think I can even blame Riley for this one,” I murmured.

“It may not be reputable, Preston but you know the entire city is eating this shit up. What the hell happened? I thought I took care of this mess,” he responded, and I shrugged at him.

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