Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

“Because she’s my girlfriend, asshole. I’m just keeping it a secret, telling people she’s my personal assistant in public.”

The silence was deafening, and I debated on stepping out from behind the corner and playing along with his little game. Until I heard Jacob chuckling.

“You sly dog. You’re feeding her those statistics, aren’t you?” Jacob asked.

“Of course. Who the fuck would know those other than me on a regular basis?” Derek asked.

“I knew she was too gorgeous to be someone you hired. She’d get you into trouble in the office in a heartbeat like those senior partners you got rid of. Though I’m disappointed you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone. It’s not like you to keep that shit from me,” Jacob said.

“Well, there are death threats in play. I’m trying to let life roll on as normal, not allow the fear to control me-type thing.”

“I know why you haven’t told me about her,” Jacob said. “You haven’t slept with her yet, have you?”

“Nope. This is our first night out together.”

“Oh, I can’t wait for the stories. That brooding stare. Those strong shoulders. She’ll fucking pin you to the mattress instead of the other way around,” Jacob said.

I was ready to vomit all over his fucking suit.

“Eh, my bet is she’s a pillow princess. Likes to moan and beg. The strong, silent ones always do,” Derek said.

That man was going to lose his teeth if he didn’t shut the hell up.

“Just be careful,” Jacob said. “That’s all I’m asking. Plus, you know Emma has the hots for you.”

At least I wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“I’ve made it very clear to Emma that I’m not interested in her in that fashion.”

“Well, rumors have been flying about her tonight. I heard through the grapevine that she’s pissed. At home crying her eyes out because you didn’t invite her to attend the event with you.”

“I never attend events like this with her,” Derek said. “She’s never necessary.”

“Well, she had it all in her head that you were going to ask her to this one. At least, that’s what I heard.”

“Emma’s a good PA, but that’s all she’ll ever be to me,” Derek said. “When I first figured out she felt that way, I offered her a good recommendation that would’ve gotten her into any company she would’ve wanted to work. She blew it off and made the choice to stay, so I took the matter to Human Resources. I signed a waiver stating what had happened and that I addressed firmly the fact that nothing would happen between us. She signed the waiver as well, and it got filed.”

“Funny how you think a little bit a paperwork will stop a twenty-eight-year-old from fantasizing about her boss,” Jacob said.

And again, he had another point. I was beginning to like how observant this Jacob character was. Even though he had been undressing me with his eyes all damn night. I was pissed off that Derek thought he could leave my side this long. What the hell did he think I was going to do? Stand around and sip on wine all night counting windows and clocking faces? He had another fucking thing coming if he thought he was running this rodeo. Even though I was his employee, I had the ability to step in and call the shots to his security teams at any point in time.

I was about to announce my presence when a movement caught the corner of my eye.

I whipped my head around and saw a shady-looking waiter staring right at me. He was a massive man with burly forearms and a suit that was a size too small. He had no elegance of movement and had no idea how to balance his tray. People were asking him to lower the damn thing so they could get drinks off it as our eyes connected.

I felt my heart thundering in my chest as I took in everything about it.

Neck tattoo, forearm sleeves, scar on the left side of his forehead. Dark brown eyes with a buzzed head and calluses on his hands. Right leg was slightly shorter than the left, dominant limp that slumped his shoulder. He was a grotesque-looking man and didn’t belong in an event like this at all.

But for his size, he could move quickly.

After all the drinks on his tray were gone, he bolted through the crowd. I swallowed the urge to follow him and play into the possible distraction he could’ve been. He wasn’t brandishing a weapon anywhere on his person. That much was for certain with how tight his suit was, but he was certainly taking stock of me.

Which meant there was the possibility someone knew who I really was.

I was nervous about the whole thing and knew I’d made the right decision in coming over to the restrooms. For all I knew, that man was trying to make Derek his mark tonight. I had committed his face to memory, and I would have to hit up my sketch artist later. My research could help me with the tattoos to nail down who he was, but if I had a sketch I could run through the international databases, that would help me a great deal.

My attention turned back to Derek and Jacob as their conversation started to die down.