Page 32 of Flirting with my Billionaire Boss

It’s not actually real anymore. I have to remind myself of that. She’s not with him now. Unless she decided to go back to him. I don’t really know that, do I? Because I threw her out. What’s done is done. I can’t change it now. But regret snakes through me. Maybe I should have taken more time to conduct an investigation. I should have gotten my security cameras fixed. They’d been messed up. If I’d taken the time to get them repaired, I’d have proof of who took the jewelry.

Callie said she didn’t do it. Had I made a mistake by not trusting her? She’s never lied to me before. It’s possible that I was too hasty.

It makes me sick to think that she might have gone back to him. I turn over my phone again. Should I send her a message to check in with her? I pull up her profile and pull up the screen that has our last private chat. We’d talked about Skipper peeing behind the grand piano.

Of course. Our conversation was centered on my ridiculous dog. Can I send her another message? I keep staring at the screen while I take another bite of Lucky Charms.

It’s too late to message her. What if her phone isn’t on Do Not Disturb, and it wakes her up? She’s pregnant, and she needs her rest. I’m exhausted and not in my right mind anyway. It’s the middle of the night, not exactly the best time for me to be making major life decisions.

Because that’s what this would be. Callie is important. She’d quickly become that way. But I’m not sure if she’s supposed to be in my life anymore. How can I be with someone I can’t trust? That dependability is everything.

But not having her is about to destroy me.

No. I won’t message her tonight. I’ll finish my cereal, go back to bed, and finally get some good rest. Because my meeting in the morning is important, and that’s what matters right now. Talking to Callie can wait.

Maybe in the morning things will be clearer, and I’ll see what a bad idea it is to text Callie.

Because this is just me being irrational in the middle of the night, right? It has nothing to do with the fact that my heart is aching for this woman I know I shouldn’t want. She’s proven herself to be greedy just like my ex-girlfriend. I’ve learned my lesson about girls who just want me for my money.

Callie said she didn’t want to get involved with a guy with money, but her actions are proving otherwise. She clearly has positioned herself in my home so she can benefit from my wealth. For all I know, the next thing would be for her to cheat on me like what happened before.

I can’t take that chance, and I won’t take it. I just hope the throbbing hole in my heart will go away soon. Because the longer I’m not with her, the worse it seems to get.

* * *

Iwalk into my office at our headquarters in Atlanta the next morning. The receptionist comes into the room. “Your ten o'clock is here. He couldn’t make it, so he sent someone in his place.”

“Ok. Sounds good.” I get up and head down the hall, coffee and notepad in hand. I walk into the room, and a guy with dark hair has his back to me. “Thanks for coming.”

He turns to me, and my heart goes cold. “Mr. Keith, I apologize Donald couldn’t make it today. He suddenly came down with the flu.”

Am I hallucinating? Because the man in front of me looks identical to Markus, the guy I was stalking on social media. Oh yeah. I ended up staying up even later, stalking his page instead of going to bed. He seemed like he was completely full of himself. But this guy is his exact replica. It’s uncanny.

Because I can’t help myself, I say, “I didn’t catch your name. What did you say it was?”

“Markus Richardson.” He reaches out to shake my hand, but I don’t take it. “Is something wrong?” He keeps his hand outstretched.

What am I doing? I overcome my shock and take his hand. “Sorry. It’s nice to meet you.”

He clears his throat. “So I’ve been looking over the proposal, and I think we have an excellent shot at making this work.” His voice drones on, but I can’t focus on anything he’s saying. In my mind’s eye, I keep seeing his arm possessively around Callie, and her pale face wherever she talked about what life with him was like. I hope with everything in me that she hasn’t gone back to him.

I know I’m being horribly rude and unprofessional, but I interrupt him anyway, because I can’t stand another minute of this conversation. “You say your name is Markus Richardson?”

He pauses. “Yes.”

“I believe we may have a mutual…” What’s the right word? Friend? No. Definitely not that. Acquaintance? That doesn’t seem strong enough. “Well, we both know the same person.”

Markus blinks at me. “Who is it?”

“Callie Richardson.”

“How do you know her?” he asks.

“She used to be my personal assistant.”

“Used to be? What happened?”

I feel my face heating up. I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “It turns out she’s a thief.” I probably shouldn’t be telling him this, but I’d like to see what he thinks about the situation. Because he probably knows Callie better than anyone else, and he’ll know if she’s capable of stealing. Of course, there’s always the chance that he’ll throw her under the bus just to be a jerk, but this is the only way I can think of to possibly clear her name.

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