Free The Billionaire's Secret by Ava Miles

woman, ma cherie,” Belle said, nudging him in the ribs.
    “As you wish,” he said with a laugh. “To making the bread of life.”
    The words held a spiritual significance she’d never fully understood before. Bread was life. She’d known that for some time. Now she understood the deeper nuances of that statement. Bread did give life. It had given her life. And now she wanted to share that life with others—like she had with Evan. Her new knowledge humbled her mightily.
    “To making the bread of life,” she said and connected their glasses in the toast.

Chapter 4
    Evan was counting the minutes until Margie texted him to tell him she was free. He had no idea how long her master baker would keep her today. He hadn’t been able to resist looking Andre Moutard up on Google. The guy seemed legit, but who knew if he was a good boss?
    The events of last night had shaken his foundation, everything from their kiss to her revelations about her painful past. As he glanced around his luxurious penthouse apartment filled with every modern convenience—and not a hobbit door in sight—he felt a familiar fear rise up in him.
    She wasn’t going to like him when she learned he was obscenely rich—billionaire rich—and had been entrenched in the same shallow circles as her parents until recently. He just knew it would ruin everything between them.
    The ruse would have to continue…at least until he knew she cared about him as much as he did about her. Since she wanted to make love with him, he knew she cared. A lot. And it both humbled him and excited him.
    He decided to call L’Hotel again to make sure everything was ready for them should she still want to be with him tonight. His body tightened with lust as he imagined slowly undressing her and kissing every inch of her glorious body. But they wouldn’t have the entire night together. She’d have to leave for the bakery before two a.m. Normally he didn’t stay with women afterward. He rather liked his space and solitude, but he wondered what it would be like to wake up with her all warm and tousled from sleep. And he found himself wanting something he’d never before thought to want.
    The phone rang, and he snatched it up, seeing it was Chase. “Did you see the new prototype for the Paint Prep Mistress? It’s looking great, isn’t it?”
    “Evan. I told you we can’t do this.” His friend paused. “I know you’re happy about the invention, but we need something else. Something that will complement the rest of what we do.”
    This was an argument they’d carried on every day for a week—ever since Evan had diverted a few key staff in their Research and Development Department to work with him on improving the design.
    “Chase, I know you don’t see this going anywhere, but it will. I can’t explain it, but there’s a defense application here somewhere. I can feel it. I just don’t know what it is yet.”
    “You keep saying that,” Chase said in an aggrieved tone. “And I keep trying to believe it. But most of our clients in the countries we currently serve don’t need help painting their buildings. Or their planes or their ships…”
    Didn’t he know that? But there’s something there. He kicked the desk, feeling the frustration well in his gut. The key that would unlock this whole thing was hidden from him. But he couldn’t find it. Right now it was like he was trying to walk the famous labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral outside Paris in the dark. He couldn’t find the center.
    “I’ll use my personal funds on this, Chase,” Evan said in a hard tone. “I know I’m blowing your perfect corporate budget right now.” Some of the materials he’d ordered to modernize the invention and make it sleek and lightweight were astronomically expensive.
    “Did you really need the specially insulated titanium?” Chase asked. “That seems kinda excessive for a painting tool.”
    It probably was, but he hated working with inferior metals. And besides, the