Free All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction) by Olivia Thorne Page B

said softly.
    There was a long silence.
    I realized what it meant.
    “You already know,” I whispered, and closed my eyes in pain. “God, that was fast…”
    “Sarah texted me and asked if it was really you… is it?”
    I laughed once, bitterly. “Haven’t you seen the pictures?”
    Her reply was so quiet I almost couldn’t hear it: “…yeah…”
    “So then you know it’s me.”
    “…it could’ve been Photoshop… right?”
    I sighed, still not opening my eyes. “It wasn’t Photoshop.”
    “…how did it happen…?”
    I thought about a smartass reply – well, when a man and a woman love each other very much and want to make a baby outdoors…
    But I figured that wasn’t the best play, when what I really wanted was a shoulder to lean on. “It’s… it’s really fucked up. Yes, we did it, but Connor has this rich, evil ex-girlfriend who’s trying to ruin him…”
    “Is she trying to ruin him because she’s jealous of you?!”
    “No, it’s… it’s a big business deal thing… she was trying to blackmail him…”
    “Holy shit – did you guys call the police?!”
    “It doesn’t matter, she already dropped the bomb.” I looked around the seat and down the aisle. Twenty feet away, Connor was pouring himself a drink as Sebastian looked on in severe disapproval. I carried on in a whisper. “Anh, I’m so scared… and I can’t admit it, not in front of him…”
    “Why not?”
    “Because he gave me the choice of whether the photos got leaked or not.”
    “What happened?! Did that evil ex lady double-cross you?”
    I frowned, then realized Anh didn’t realize what I had done. “No… I chose to let them get out.”
    “WHAT?!”
    “She was going to destroy all his plans if I didn’t.”
    “So you destroyed your own life instead?! AND HE LET YOU?!”
    “Anh, this isn’t helping.”
    A pause.
    “Sorry. What… what do you want me to do? Is there anything I CAN do?”
    I drew my body into a little ball on the seat, the smallest that I could get it. “Tell me it’s going to be okay.”
    A longer pause.
    “It’s going to be okay,” Anh said.
    She didn’t sound convincing.
    She sounded like somebody in a movie holding the hand of somebody else who was going to die… and both characters knew it, but were going through the motions because nobody wanted to confront the truth.
    “My parents… I can’t tell them, I can’t…”
    That was the real reason I hadn’t called them: because I couldn’t bear to hear the disappointment and shame in their voices.
    “It’ll be okay,” Anh repeated in her robotic voice.
    “I didn’t do it for the money,” I whispered.
    “Pff, I know THAT.”
    That was the real Anh – and she was telling me the truth.
    I smiled. “As long as you don’t think too many horrible things about me, I’ll be okay.”
    “Too late!”
    I grinned wider.
    “But now I can TOTALLY see why he paid you 50K… damn, girl, you FREAKY.”
    “Anh!” I whispered hoarsely, verging on laughter.
    “Just kidding. But still – DAAAAMN.”
    Once I got off the phone with her a few seconds later, I was in a much better mood.

23
    Connor was finishing off his second glass when he called me over to the loveseat. “Come here, we’re getting ready to take off.”
    I slipped in beside him, and he wrapped one arm protectively around me and pulled me closer to him. Though he still seemed fine, I could smell the scotch on his breath.
    Sebastian and Johnny sat across the table from us in a double seat of their own. Sebastian looked mightily pissed off; Johnny looked like he was trying to stay out of the line of fire.
    “Buckle up,” Connor ordered as he drained the rest of his scotch.
    I picked up the ends of the belt from the seat and locked them together around my waist.
    “Want another drink?” Connor offered.
    Across the table, Sebastian glared at me like, Don’t encourage him.
    “No, thanks.” As Connor reached for the bottle, I put my hand on his arm. “Maybe you