Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

“Yeah. Sure,” I said mindlessly. “Let them in.”

John left my side, and I opened the envelope. I pulled out the smooth letter, but this time it was on heavier cardstock. The paper was woven, and the texture was expensive. There was no letterhead, and the note itself was typed, but this time, I could tell it was typed on a typewriter.

Who the hell still owned a typewriter? And why would they use such a beautiful paper in such a decrepit piece of technology?

MR. STEELE,

I hope you enjoyed the courier. I thought it was a nice touch. It’s a wonderful day today. That gray suit you’re in looks nice. If you have forgotten our deal, let me reiterate it. I know where you are. I know what you do. I know what you enjoy eating and where you sleep. This time, I have outlined

the charities I want your funds donated to. You know, to give you a bit more time to flounder. Which I know you will do. Because I know you, Mr. Steele. Better than you could ever wish for.

Don’t keep me waiting,

Eye

There was a list of charities on the bottom. Sixteen of them, to be exact. They were all over the place. Everything from Wounded Warriors to Autism Speaks to various animal charities. A couple provided clean water overseas to third-world countries and one of the charities provided help to the homeless in San Francisco.

I set the note on the desk as Jacob’s voice caught my attention.

“Something wrong with your office?” he asked.

“The lights have been flickering in the hall the past few days. I’ve had several complaints, and when I came in this morning, I had no power in my office,” I said.

“Leave it to you to get a team here immediately,” he said with a grin.

“You been having problems in your room at all?” I asked.

“Nope, but I’ll let you know if I do. Listen, I wanna talk to you about this Vegas trip.”

“If you tell me someone’s changed the time of the meeting again, I’m gonna—”

“No, no, no. Nothing like that. Man, you’re really tense. I was going to express interest in coming on the trip. You know, for research purposes.”

“And by research, you mean to participate in all the high-roller casino trips,” I said.

“It’s been a while since the two of us did our thing in Vegas. Why not now?”

“Because this is a business trip. Not a pleasure one.”

“Interesting, since you’re taking Sam,” he said with a grin.

“We’ll plan our own weekend trip to Vegas,” I said.

“Just not in the room the two of you will be inhabiting. I can only imagine the body fluids that will spray along that hotel room.”

I snickered and shook my head, trying to let the crude comment pass me by. We weren’t actually in a relationship, so there was no reason for me to feel the anger I did when that comment left his mouth about Sam.

“Mr. Steele?”

I internally groaned as I heard Emma’s voice. I could feel Jacob’s grin on me as I raised my eyes to him. He was taunting me as he continued to eye the electrical crew, with their loud noises and their fucking drills and hammers and bullshit.

“Yes, Miss Emma?” I asked.

“I wasn’t aware a crew was coming in to do any work on your office,” she said.

“Because it was a last-minute call,” I said.

“Do you want me to stay and keep tabs on them?”