Page 351 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“Now what?” I ask.

“Oh, poor Max,” she says. “He kind of looks like a posh lion, don’t you think?”

I reach over and twist Naomi’s ear, saying, “What was it you wanted to tell me so bad?”

“Ow!” she says, swatting at my hand, but only succeeding in making it worse. “Okay, okay,” she says. “Let go and I’ll tell you.”

“I fell for that too many times when I was six,” I tell her. She’s so focused on protecting that ear, she leaves the other one wide open, so with my free hand, I latch onto that one.

“Fine!” she shouts. “It’s a ring!”

I release my sister from my kung-fu grip. “What?”

“Grace,” she says, rubbing both her ears, “he bought you a ring.”

“Oh shut up,” I say and smack one of her hands covering an ear.

She pulls the hand away from her ear sharply and she’s moving her jaw around, saying, “That was horrible. Don’t do that to anyone ever.”

“Maybe he had thoughts, but you weren’t there for the last conversation,” I tell her.

“Well, then tell me about it,” she says. “Enlighten me.”

I wince. “I kind of only remember bits and pieces,” I admit. “That hot tub after the liquor was a bad idea.”

“Hey, at least you didn’t pee in there,” she says.

“That’s true,” I agree. “What I do remember, though, it wasn’t the kind of conversation you have when you’re about to pop the question.”

“Say whatever you want,” she says, resting her head on her hand. “He got you a ring.”

“Are you doing that thing where you lie to me just to see if I can tell?” I ask. “This really isn’t the time or the topic—”

“Yeah,” she says, “gotta level with you. I would have taken that course and everything, but then I realized I didn’t want to after all, so I just watched a few episodes of the show they made about it.”

“So you’re an admitted liar telling me to trust you?” I ask.

She jabs me in the ribs just to show me she can and says, “Don’t believe me then. The thing was freaking huge, though. You should have seen it.”

CHAPTER20

REALITY

ZACH

The board room is empty, but it won’t be for long. I’ve called a meeting and we’re going to discuss the terms of my resignation as CEO of Stingray.

There just isn’t a point anymore. I’ve tried to change directions, tried announcing one of the more notable things we were saving for next spring—a cellphone that builds up a small backup charge with every step a person takes, rewarding them with extra off-the-charger time for physical activity—but everyone hailed it for exactly what it was: the last desperate attempt of a man who can’t let go.

Even if I could keep my job, the company’s not pulling out of this nosedive without something drastic. Maybe this will be seen as just another desperate attempt, maybe not. All I know is I’m not willing to see what feels like the only thing I have left go up because I’m not willing to give up control of it.

I’m going to be one of those guys all the late night guys talk about for a while, but lately, what else is new?

The door opens and the board starts filing in, one by one. I knew they were expecting this meeting sooner or later, but they could have done a better job hiding the fact.

“Come in and have a seat,” I tell them. “There’s only one item on the agenda, and I think we all know what it is.”

“We’ve done some new math,” Reeves says. “I think we can nearly double your legacy fee if you’re willing to step down now.”

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