Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

“Yeah,” Sam said. “You’re good.”

“Good on what?” Gretchen asked.

I turned around and watched as Sam made her way back into her own room.

“You know, it’s pretty interesting that your personal assistant is practically naked in your room,” Gretchen said.

“It happens from time to time. PAs get a bit too comfortable, and then you have to make them sign paperwork. Comes with the territory.”

“Paperwork?” she asked. “What kind of paperwork?”

“Paperwork stating that what we have is a platonic relationship. I’ve had to employ the tactic with a past employee.”

“Ah, well. Whatever measures protect you, I suppose. Though from what I last remember, small towels weren’t your fetish. I believe it was black lace and fishnets.”

“Nope, that was just your specialty,” I said with a grin. “And boy, did you look phenomenal in them.”

“It’s good to see you again, Derek.”

“It’s wonderful to see you as well. You look good. Do you wanna come in?”

“I’m actually not here for long. I was hoping you could give me a couple of quotes on what you think about the progress of your company. It’s for an article I’m writing.”

“Really?” I asked. “Because that wasn’t your beat when we met. You hated the fact that I wanted to go into business of any sort. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s why you left.”

“Among other reasons.”

“Such as ...?”

“It doesn't make sense to open this can of worms,” she said with a smile. “We had a lot of good times. You were the first man I ever loved, Derek Steele.”

“And don’t you forget it,” I said with a wink. “Now, what are you really here for? What quote do you really want?”

I watched as Gretchen grew uncomfortable, and I sighed.

“Who told you what?” I asked.

“It’s really embarrassing now that I’ve come here to see for myself,” Gretchen said.

“See what?” I asked flatly.

“Someone gave me a hot tip you were going to be in Vegas for a couple of days having an affair with the wife of a CEO of one of the companies you’ve recently purchased. But that’s obviously not the case.”

“This what you call fighting the man?” I asked.

“Come on, Derek. You know damn well as good as I do that rich white men in your position do whatever the hell it is they want and get away with it. So yes, outing them for their bullshit ways is fighting the system.”

“Gretchen, you have no idea what men in my position go through. You’re pissed off because we’ve created billions from nothing, so you decide to take out your retribution by telling yourself you’re fighting for a higher power. But you’re not. You have no idea the life we lead, so I suggest you find a decent way to roll your own agenda.”

“Derek, what are you talking about?” she asked.

“You got a bad tip. Someone who obviously wanted me to get bad press. You’re not fighting the system. You just got roped into it. Someone wanted to throw an ex-girlfriend at me to see how I would react. Get a couple pictures of me giving you a quote and then plaster it all over the news.”

“Wait, are you serious?” she asked.

“As fuck, Gretch. You got played, and you almost became frontline news.”

I could see the anger growing in her face. Gretchen didn’t like being played. It was one of our downfalls. She felt she was being replaced by my company, and I told her that was partially true. My company needed a lot of tending to while we had been together with the merger that took place, and it all became too much. She felt I was pulling the wool over her eyes with how difficult my job was, and I accused her of not getting it because she wanted to be number one to everyone around her.