Page 484 of His Virgin Romance Series

Simon looked at her for a second and then his panic won out. “My mother is sick,” he said desperately. “She needs an operation, and I needed the money… Mrs. Beaumont offered me a thousand dollars if I did what she asked.”

“Mrs. Beaumont,” I said, turning to the pale-faced woman.

“You fucking idiot,” Mrs. Beaumont looked livid. “Shut your damn mouth.”

Simon was sobbing quietly, and Mr. Beaumont was looking at his wife as though she had just grown a second head. “I had nothing to do with this.”

“Don’t even bother,” I said bitingly, and then I turned back to Mrs. Beaumont. “I don’t understand; why did you want to frame Alani?”

“The whore was fucking my husband—”

“She was doing no such thing,” Brie said, cutting in. “She was trying desperately to avoid your husband’s inappropriate advances. She should press charges and have him convicted of sexual assault.”

“What proof does she have?” Mr. Beaumont demanded.

“We have footage of you offering Alani that choker,” Brie informed him. “The same choker that your wife planted in her room to frame her.”

“I should go to the police,” I said. “Both of you deserve to go to jail. But I suppose it’s enough to know that you deserve each other. I want you out of my resort in the next hour.”

“I want my choker back,” Mrs. Beaumont called out.

Ben produced the choker from his jacket pocket. “You can have it back,” he said, handing it over. “It’s not even worth a thousand dollars, let alone a million.”

“Ben,” I said. “You can supervise their departure. Simon, follow me.”

He followed Brie and me out the door. We went back to my office, and just as we were about to enter, Brie stopped me.

“Seth,” she said, whispering so that Simon wouldn’t be able to hear. “What are you going to do with him?”

“I’m going to check his story first,” I said. “I’m going to make sure his sick mother is real… If she’s just a fabrication to justify his part in all this, then I’m going to fire him immediately.”

“And if it turns out to be true?”

“Then I’m going to suspend him for a few weeks without pay,” I said. “And…pay for his mother’s operation.”

I saw it again—that awed, proud look in Brie’s eyes. It was like I was really her hero. And while a part of me was thrilled to have earned her love and respect, another part of me was worried. What if things didn’t work out between us? Would she still want to work with me? Would she still look at me like I was her hero?

Or would she start seeing me differently, would she start seeing me, as I really was: a mortal man who was nobody’s hero?

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