The Secret (Billionaire Secrets 1)

“No, thank you,” she said softly.

Simon grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured out a glass. He downed the glass in one gulp, the liquid burning as it went down. It tasted like engine oil, but his resolve had already been strengthened. It was time to get the truth out of Heather. Even if that meant destroying their working relationship.

Setting his glass aside, he turned around to face her. “I know this can’t be easy for you.”

She crossed her arms and met his gaze. “Nothing is ever easy. Not anymore.”

Simon raised his eyebrow. Her words were so cryptic. Despite that angelic face and her desire to keep the truth from him, he sensed something potent simmering underneath.

It didn’t matter how prim her manner. How conservatively she dressed. Something raged beneath her calm exterior. He had tasted that much in her kiss. There was passion inside his assistant. The same passion that the girl from his youth had shown him. That was how he had known it was the Heather he had grown up with. Nobody kissed like she did. Without restraint.

There had been no good reason to take her into his arms and return her kiss. But it was like he was completely at her mercy. A woman making him this out of control was dangerous for his career. And yet, he wanted this danger with her. Welcomed it.

“Life will always be difficult. And lying makes life even more difficult,” he said coldly.

Her eyes flashed, but her only answer was stone-faced silence.

So, she was going to insist on making this even more difficult than it had to be. Heather might not know it yet, but one way or another he was going to get the truth out of her.

He wouldn’t let her out of this room until she confessed.

Chapter 8

It was impossible to tell him the truth. Not if she wanted to keep her job. Or her dignity.

Her insides were in knots. “I didn’t mean for things to get so out of control.”

Simon’s eyes were fixed on her. That severe gaze of his made her quiver with some dark, indescribable emotion.

No matter how much Simon had tried to mold himself into the controlled man he was, she knew that deep down he was utterly ruthless. She had witnessed that much at the Q and A earlier. Even with his entire reputation and company on the line, he still refused to back down from the press. The press he needed. If he was willing to discard the reporters he needed, what would he do to a mere assistant who probably meant nothing to him?

“But you lied anyway,” he growled. “You are Heather Monroe, aren’t you? The Heather I grew up with.”

She had no idea how to tell him that, even though they had grown up together, she was no longer Heather Monroe. That girl was long gone. All the innocence and hope she had carried in her heart as a teenager had been crushed after Simon left her without a second glance.

“Yes,” she said finally. “We grew up together.”

“How could you lie about not knowing me?” he demanded.

If she had expected him to take her into his arms after her confession, that hope was immediately dashed. Simon was now scowling at her, suspicion still flashing in his blue eyes.

“It wasn’t intentional,” she said. That much wasn’t true, but she had told one lie already. What difference did one more make? “I just blurted out the lie without thinking. I didn’t let on that I knew you because I was worried I wouldn’t get the job if I admitted knowing you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You think I’d refuse to hire you because of our history together?”

She nodded.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m a fair man,” Simon continued. “I would have given you a chance just like anyone else.”

“If we had simply been friends I would have admitted the truth, but we were more than that.” Her face flushed, and she lowered her eyes. “We broke up, and I didn’t know if that would affect my chances at getting hired.”

“That was years ago,” he said. “We’ve both moved on. The breakup hardly matters at all now. We were kids back then.”

For some reason his words were like a cold, sharp knife straight to her heart. Simon had ended things so long ago, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. If anything, being around him these past two weeks had reopened a wound that had never fully healed.