Page 53 of Misdeeds of a Billionaire

“So are you,” she said as she slid her bag over her shoulder. “Goodbye.”

And just like that, she dismissed me, leaving me staring at her back.

What. The. Fuck.

Chapter22

Odette

We’re going to die.

The words repeated in my mind like a broken record. Over and over again.

If I wasn’t so shaken, I’d strangle my sister with my bare hands. I loved her, but I loved my son more.

One million dollars!

Danso called it interest. I called it bullshit. But I was in no position to argue with a criminal. A renowned killer.Jesus Christ. For a split second, I even imagined killing him, but there were bigger fish than him, and they’d keep coming until they got what they wanted.

One million dollars!I thought again. We’d never be able to come up with that kind of money. We were dancing on the line between broke and stone broke.

A bead of sweat trickled down my spine, and it had nothing to do with the warm February temperatures of New Orleans. It had everything to do with the man I just saw. The combo of meeting with a criminal and seeing my ex-lover was enough to send me into a full blown panic.

Byron Ashford.

Butterflies erupted low in my stomach, even after all this time. This attraction to him burned—in more ways than one.

Good God.

Of all the people to run into today, why him? Seeing Byron rattled me more than I cared to admit. It cracked wounds open that I thought were sealed shut. Every woman went through one earth-shattering heartbreak. He was mine. End of story.

I’d moved on. He’d moved on. Obviously. He had a baby next to him. And a gorgeous woman. Not the bitchy blonde fiancée that I’d run into before. This one almost seemed nice. Truthfully though, she could have been a wife to any one of those men. And whatmen. Blond. Pale blue eyes. Scary looking. Nah, she had to be Byron’s wife. He’d be her type. I mean, how could he not be?

A wave of something unpleasant slithered through my veins.Envy. Jealousy.It was ridiculous. But I couldn’t help feeling the irrational anger that shot through my veins. He was out there getting laid, and I couldn’t even remember the last time I had sex. Long, lonely years of no sex.

I groaned out loud as I rushed through the back hallway of the restaurant. My life was hanging by a thread, and I was pondering Byron’s relationship status.

I didn’t fucking care. I was content. Happy. My healthy and wonderful son and my sister were all that mattered.

Finally spotting the bathroom sign, I pushed on the door when I heard a painful grunt. My eyes roamed the bathroom, finding my son and sister unharmed. And then I saw it. Or rather, him. Winston Ashford.

“W-what happened?” My eyes locked on Winston’s big body, sprawled on the bathroom floor.

“I had to knock him out,” Billie snapped, her voice low. “Shut the door before someone sees us.”

I shook my head. “Jesus Christ, Billie. You’ll have every goddamn person after us by the time you’re done. Why did you knock him out?”

“He wanted to take Ares,” she whimpered.

I frowned. “Why?”

Winston Ashford didn’t strike me as a man who cared much for children, much less kidnapped them.

“He thought Ares was his.”

Surprise flared in me. I had never hooked up with Winston, unless—

“Billie, why would he think that?”