Illusion (Billionaire in Disguise 2)

“All I’m saying is there’s no change in the threat, but there is a change in him. And it’s not a good one. He’s not really eating. If he’s not working at his office, he’s working here. The man could use a break.”

“I can talk to him, but I can’t force him to do anything like that,” I said.

“If there’s anyone who can convince him, it’s you. Spending some time away from this place will be safer for him, but it’ll also be healthier. Just ... talk to him. See what he thinks.”

“Will do. Thanks for the update.”

I lifted my eyes up the stairs and sighed. I knew Derek had been working late, but I didn’t know how badly it was affecting him. The man needed to eat. And if he wasn’t eating, then he was probably having trouble sleeping as well. I sighed as I walked up the stairs, making my way to his office as new men came trekking into the house. The shift changes were always louder than I wanted, with tactical boots stomping around and guns being prepped for action.

But it was necessary to keep this man feeling safe.

Or so I thought.

“Derek?”

“Come on in,” he said.

I pushed through his office door, finding the office rank with body odor. The lights were off, and the screen of the laptop was illuminated to its brightest. He was hunched over his desk, scribbling things down as he murmured lightly to himself. Not once did he stop to look at me as I closed the door, and I debated turning on the light just to get his attention

John was right. Derek was suffering because of this.

“I think we should get you somewhere,” I said.

Derek’s hand stopped moving as he straightened up in his chair.

“Has something happened?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Something has.”

“Is it Jacob?”

I watched Derek swivel around in his chair, his eyes heavy with exhaustion and red from focusing way too damn much on that laptop.

“No,” I said. “It’s you.”

“Can you save the cryptic answers? I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“That’s the problem. In making progress with this case, your stress levels have gone up.”

“You call being shot by my best friend progress?” he asked.

“This has taken a toll on you I didn’t anticipate, a toll I neglected to see because of my need to direct a security team. But John brought to my attention—”

“Ah, John, John, John. He really needs to keep his nose to himself.”

“Kind of hard when you aren’t showering,” I said.

“This isn’t uncommon. When I get into a groove, I don’t stop for much.”

“And according to John, you rarely stop to eat.”

“Sam, do you have a question, or are we going to argue the entire time? Because you’re not my girlfriend, so I don’t have to argue with you to settle and appease your state-of-mind.”

His words cut deeper than they should’ve. I felt a stinging sensation trickling down into my stomach. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, casting aside the pain his words caused me as he swiveled around in his chair again.

“Sam, I’m sor—”

“I know you think you can’t step away from your company because you have no COO. But that’s not true. You have people who are looking into records. You have people who are protecting your property. You have people in the finance division who can go over these records and make sure they line up with what the investors submitted. You have people you pay good sums of money to do this for you. And if you go away for a little while to clear your head, you can always keep in touch with your computer. You have no business deals that require you to be here to close. You have no projects that will need your immediate attention to start up, and honestly? It’s safer. For all we know, Jacob could walk into the lobby of your building with a bomb strapped to his chest and blow the thing sky high. Then what? What’s your executive washroom gonna get you then?”