Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

“Open it.”

She reached into the envelope and pulled out thick piece of paper in a familiar color, covered in elegant writing. An invitation. Heather read over the words. “Our high school reunion  . But, I never got an invite.”

“That’s probably because you went to another high school for your senior year,” he reminded her. “They probably only sent out invitations to graduates. Ordinarily I wouldn’t go to something like this, but these are desperate times.”

It was almost impossible for her to imagine Simon at an event like a reunion  . His privacy meant so much to him that he guarded his private life obsessively. A reunion   would likely be torture for him. Torture made worse by the scandal. “You’re going to go to this thing?”

“Yes, but only because it might help us save everything,” he said. “And that can only happen if you agree to this.”

Her eyes widened. “Agree to what?”

“Come to the reunion  .” He reached for her hand. “Heather, this can only work if you come with me, and agree to be my date.”

Chapter 8

Be my date.

His words hung in the air, stirring a tension between them.

He knew he’d just asked the impossible. Requested something that was going to destroy the last shred of privacy either of them had. But they were running out of options. The media, his company... it felt like everyone was squeezing them hard, and with Gary so difficult to control they had to steer the narrative back in their direction. What a stupid idea. And yet...

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“It’s not a romantic date,” he blurted out, ignoring the fact that he wished things could be romantic between them. “It would be more like me escorting you.”

“Simon, something like that would send the media into a frenzy,” Heather finally said. “Gary just lied and said we were still sleeping together. If we show up to this reunion   that’ll make it seem true. We’ll look like a couple.”

“Not if we show everyone that we’re just friends and coworkers,” he said. “Let everyone see that we get on well together, but we’ve put anything romantic behind us.”

Heather frowned. “What does Linda have to say about all this? She’s the media relations officer, after all.”

Reaching for his cell phone, he started composing a text and sent it to Linda. “I’ve just asked her to come up here for a quick meeting.” Getting Linda mixed up in all this was probably for the best, though he had spent years ignoring a lot of her advice. Mostly because it consisted of talking incessantly to the press like some of the other self-important CEOs in the tech industry.

But as he glanced over at Heather and saw the pained look on her face he realized that, right now, he was desperate enough to do anything. Even if that meant letting Linda in on his idea.

LINDA APPEARED MINUTES later and they all sat down at the table in his office.

“This is a first,” Linda murmured from across the table. “Things must have to be bad for you to be asking for my help, Simon. Usually I have to drag you kicking and screaming to have any media-related meetings.”

Wordlessly, he slid his cell phone in her direction.

Linda raised an inquisitive eyebrow, grabbed the phone, and started playing the video of Gary making an ass of himself in front of the media. “When did this come out? How have I not seen this?”

“It literally got sent to me ten minutes ago,” he muttered. “Some journalist sent it to me first as a courtesy, but it will probably get out within the hour. He’d like me to respond to it.”

“Well, we have to release a statement,” Linda said. “Refute this. Condemn everything this guy says. Really go after him and nail him to the wall.”

“That guy is my ex-husband,” Heather said from her place beside him. “We’re not going to be nailing him. It’s freedom of speech. He’ll just find more ways to prove it’s true. Or say more hateful things.”

Linda frowned. “I understand that you want to protect your ex, but we have to go on the offensive and discredit him. Destroy him if we must. He can’t get away with this.”