Illusion (Billionaire in Disguise 2)

“Your black hat lined with that orange bullshit so someone can easily blow your head off in the dead of night.”

John fell silent again as a smile crossed my lips. Out of all the men on my team, he was the easiest to profile. It didn’t take a genius to know that was the hat he was wearing. I’d seen it being reflected during the perimeter sweep before he called. He wore that fucking thing like a taunt, a “Try to kill me and see what happens” kind of thing.

“Fine. Okay. I’m sorry,” he said.

“You better be.”

“I can tell there’s something else, though.”

“We know each other too well,” I said with a sigh.

“Spit it out, Sam. What is it?”

“I wonder if I’m made a mistake. With Derek.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I’m not used to letting my guard down like this, letting myself feel all these positive emotions.”

“I know. Fuck forbid you smile every once in a while. Doesn’t go very well with that leather jacket and those brooding eyes.”

“You’re a little shit, you know that?” I asked.

“Look, you’ve got me to make sure you don’t get in too deep. But you’re still making sound judgment calls. In a few sentences, you proved to me why we should still keep this job. It’s not finished. Simple as that. There was nothing in there about wanting to stay with Mr. Steele or save his life or anything like that. It was simply ‘the job isn’t finished.’ Had it been anything else, I would’ve called you out on that.”

“I know, I know.”

“So stop worrying. That’s distracting too. Just roll with it, and keep doing what you’re doing. You’re good at what you do. One of the best. It’s gonna take more than a bit of dick to derail you.”

“Okay,” I said with a sigh. “Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Let me know what happens with that guy and his hives. I’ll talk with Derek in the morning about it and figure out who he uses for lawn care.”

“Thanks, Sam. Good night.”

“Night, John.”

Chapter 17

Derek

A Week Later

THINGS CONTINUED TO roll on, but nothing seemed to get better. Gretchen ran the story, and it bolstered her career greatly but did almost nothing for my public persona. I had my public relations sector breathing down my neck for giving an unauthorized interview, and now people were twisting my words in public, saying I was defending Jacob by defending his parents. They were saying I was sympathizing with the enemy and that I deserved to lose my company. My stocks were taking greater hits even though the interview was written with a forward tone of innocence, and all the media called it was a smokescreen for my guilt.

It made me seethe with anger.

I was working as both CEO and COO because no one would touch the position now. I talked with a couple of people within the company I thought I could trust, and they completely turned me down. I was carrying the weight of two massive departments on my shoulders while trying to get more projects off the ground, but the longer Jacob went without getting caught, the more they wanted to stall. It was like these failing companies were waiting until Jacob was in custody or until they knew my company was no longer a threat to theirs.

A threat to theirs? They were all going bankrupt!

It was becoming harder and harder to reign in the money from my investors. Everything was slowly coming to a standstill, and I was worried about the future of my company. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be talking with the Finance Department about the implications of bankruptcy, but now it was plausible. No one would push forward with their projects, the investors were keeping their wallets close, and I was in the red with losing two of my biggest international contributors.

How the hell had I gotten myself into this position?

“Derek? You okay?”