Page 141 of The Billionaire's Fake Fiancée

Gail crosses her arms. “How about you tell me everything and hope for my goodwill. Or don’t.”

Gail doesn’t look at me, but she’s highly aware of me. Gail and I have been going up against vipers in the negotiating room for years, and right now we’re working together, an unreadable wall of intent, bearing down on Marvin’s sorry ass.

In short, I’m the bad cop now. More like the crazy cop.

If Gail doesn’t do something, will I? How reckless could I get?

I give Marvin the kind of crocodile smirk that I’d imagine Stefano DiMera would wear.

Finally Marvin crumbles. He tells all. He portrays himself as the victim of Wydover. Claims Wydover came to his bar where he worked and threatened him. He’s probably lying about the threats, but the rest of his story matches what my PI worked out.

Gail eventually calls security. Marvin wants to leave on his own, but Gail makes him wait for the burly pair of guys to arrive. She tells him she doesn’t want to see his face again. She doesn’t want to hear his name again. She suggests Alaska.

I check the clock in the corner—one hour until our reservation. I text Tabitha, letting her know I could be running late.

If you get there first, sit tight—the surprise I have will be worth it, I promise!

“What do you have against Alaska?” I ask once Marvin’s gone.

She’s not in the mood for jokes. “Soareyou the kind of guy to break ten laws to secretly obtain DNA samples and have them tested?”

“Not really,” I say. “It was…unusual for me.”

“This whole thing is unbelievable,” she says. “What possessed you…”

I swallow. “Have you ever watchedDays of our Lives?” I ask her.

She folds her arms, eyes sparkling, and stares at me strangely. If I didn’t lose her business with the DNA testing, I definitely have now.

“I need to be across town,” I say.

“Wait. I have billions of dollars sitting in a reconciliation fund doing nothing, and you’re going to leave and go across town?”

My pulse races as I make sense of her words. She’s offering me the account? My blood races. The future I thought I’d lost begins to unfold in front of me. “What are you saying?” I ask.

“You put our house back in order nicely,” she says. “Even though I was taking everything away and handing it over to Wydover, you did the right thing. Let’s do this. I wanted you. I gave into his ridiculous review only because I assumed you’d win it.”

“But what about all of the DNA business?”

“That snake was posing as my nephew. I’d say a little bit Stefano DiMera was called for, wouldn’t you?” She winks. “But I have to say, you should’ve seen that Bellcore coming.”

“I know. We’ve been analyzing it. Trying to learn from our mistake on that.” I still can’t believe she’s looking to work with me.

“You did the stand-up thing with my funds, and honestly, I won’t have that money in reconciliation all weekend—I won’t do it. You start the wheels on taking over our accounts right now and I’ll get my board to sign off.”

I can’t believe it. I didn’t expect it. I’m getting the account.

It’s well into rush hour, but she wrests her board members out of wherever they were. I’m on my phone, fingers flying, pulling my team together.

I call Tabitha, but she doesn’t answer. Is she showering? Getting ready for our date? I can’t leave in the middle of this process, but I can’t let her go sit alone at that restaurant—I won’t take that chance. I call Clark over to Gail’s tower. While she’s updating her core group, I go down to the street-level entrance and wait for him.

“Don’t you have to meet Tabitha for her birthday tonight?”

I tell him what happened and explain that if I manage everything right, we’re getting every last cent of Gail’s. We still have time. I might be a little late, but I’m thinking no more than twenty minutes.

“Doesn’t she hate to be alone on her birthday?”

“This thing was our baby. She’ll understand. And if this goes well, I’ll walk in maybe ten minutes late, and she won’t be alone, because you’ll be there. Order a bottle of something bubbly. Tell her I have news she’ll love.”

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