Page 19 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)

BLAKE

It couldn’t be true.

It just could not be true.

Blake literally felt the warmth drain out of him, his skin breaking into goosebumps, his scalp shrivelling. He was shaking like he’d fallen into ice water. It was only Ellie’s touch that kept him from sinking into the cold, dark depths completely.

He forced himself to take a long, shuddering breath, fighting the dizziness that threatened to pull him under. The room swayed, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again to find Ellie’s face.

Her expression mirrored his own turmoil, her brows knitted together, her lips pressed tight. She wasn’t just sympathetic — she felt this pain with him. That understanding, that fierce empathy, was like a lifeline.

Blake managed a weak smile, and Ellie responded by squeezing his hand tighter before reluctantly letting go.

The absence of her touch was like losing a tether, and the chill rushed back.

He pushed himself upright and strode to the window, his hands gripping the ledge as he stared out at the city below.

“It’s somebody I know,” he said. “Somebody at Heartbook has done this to me.”

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” Nate said. “I’m so sorry, man.”

But who?

Maurice was a snake, and Agnes he was surprised at, given how she was like a mother figure to him, but they were loyal to him and to David, he was sure of it.

They were old-school businesspeople, interested only in the bottom line.

They’d never do something to sink the ship.

Even though Mike could be a loose cannon, he wasn’t the kind of guy who would orchestrate such a cruel and dangerous plan.

There were thousands of people who worked for the company, of course, but none of those would have had access to his office, or the passwords for his computer and his phone.

Which left only one possibility.

“Michelle,” he growled.

Nate leaned against the desk, arms crossed. “You think she’d go that far?”

Blake turned, his fists clenched. “You didn’t know her like I did. She hated how much attention I got, and when I ended things, she was furious. This—” he gestured vaguely to the room, to the weight of their conversation — “this is exactly her kind of revenge.”

Ellie’s eyes widened, her lips parting slightly as if she wanted to speak but wasn’t sure what to say.

“But,” Blake added, the thought striking him like a blow, “the timeline doesn’t fit. These posts started appearing months before we broke up. Why would she start sabotaging me while we were still together?”

“Good point,” Nate said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But it doesn’t rule her out completely. Maybe she had her reasons. People like Michelle? They don’t need logic to justify their actions.”

Blake paced, the floorboards creaking under his weight. “I don’t have time to guess, Nate. I need answers.”

“I’m working on it,” Nate said. “But it’s not going to be easy.

The posts are gone, but the damage is done.

The metadata’s out there, screenshotted and saved by thousands of people.

Your profile is down, but that doesn’t clear your name.

Unless you’ve got security footage of your office proving someone else was at your desk . . .”

“No such luck,” said Blake. “The cameras cover every corner of the building, except our private offices.”

Nate sighed. “Even the one post you couldn’t have made, because you were with me, would only be my word, and who’s going to believe a coder with a hatred for trousers?”

“There has to be something we can do.” Ellie stepped forward, her voice laced with determination. “Is there anyone else who can vouch for how awful Michelle is?”

“Yeah, David. He hates her as much as I do.” Blake looked from Ellie to Nate.

“I’ll pull every string I’ve got,” Nate said. “But you need to prepare for the fact that clearing your name isn’t going to happen overnight.”

Blake clenched his teeth, his frustration bubbling over. He hated feeling powerless, hated that someone had taken everything he’d built and twisted it into a weapon.

A soft clink of china interrupted his thoughts and he turned to see Sophie standing in the doorway, a tray of steaming mugs in her hands.

“Tea,” she said with a gentle smile. “It won’t fix anything, but it helps.”

Blake took a mug, the warmth seeping into his cold fingers. “Thank you, Sophie. You’re an angel.”

Ellie took a mug as well, cradling it in both hands as if drawing strength from its heat. The four of them stood in silence, sipping their tea, the room heavy with unspoken thoughts.

Finally, Blake set his cup back on the tray. “Thank you,” he said, his voice steadier now. “But I can’t stay. I have to figure this out.”

“Go,” Sophie said softly, her eyes filled with compassion. “And remember, you’re not alone.”

Blake nodded, then pulled Nate into a quick hug. “Thanks for everything, man. Let me know if you find anything.”

Nate clapped him on the back. “I will. Stay sharp, Blake. We’ll get through this.”

Blake glanced at Ellie, her presence still grounding him. Whatever came next, he was glad she was by his side.

“Let’s go,” he said, a flicker of determination lighting his heart.

Blake’s jaw was still clenched as they left Nate’s apartment, his mind cycling through every possible betrayal, every moment where he might have let his guard down around Michelle.

His shoes hit the floor hard as he strode down the corridor towards the lifts, Ellie keeping pace beside him.

She didn’t say anything, but her presence grounded him in a way he hadn’t expected, like an anchor in the middle of a storm.

At the end of the hallway, he jabbed the button to call the lift, the glowing circle dimming under the force of his thumb. The metallic buzz of the lift’s approach filled the silence, but the noise barely registered over the thrum of his blood pounding in his ears.

“Blake,” Ellie said softly, breaking through the haze of anger clouding his thoughts.

He turned to her, his expression tense, his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. “What?”

She didn’t flinch at the roughness of his tone, just stepped closer, her eyes steady and filled with something he wasn’t sure he deserved. “We’ll get through this,” she said. “Together. Nate and Sophie were right, you’re not in this alone.”

Her words stopped him cold, hitting him like a punch to the gut. He stared at her, the power of her gaze pulling him out of his spiral for a moment. The air between them seemed to thicken, the charged silence suddenly electric.

He felt his anger still simmering just beneath the surface, but now it was twisting into something else, something he wasn’t entirely prepared for.

His pulse quickened as her hand lightly brushed his forearm, her touch sending a jolt through him.

The tension wasn’t just from his frustration or the betrayal they’d uncovered — it was deeper, messier, a dangerous blend of his heightened emotions and the undeniable pull he felt towards her.

Blake gritted his teeth, trying to shove it all down, but the energy between them crackled, almost tangible. He didn’t want to let his anger manifest as something he couldn’t control, something charged with arousal. Yet as he stood there, inches from her, the temptation was undeniable.

Her eyes flicked to his mouth for the briefest second, and he felt the shift like a spark igniting a fuse. His heart slammed against his ribs, his breath shallowing as the tension wrapped tighter around them.

“Ellie . . .” he said, his voice low, rough around the edges.

Her fingers tightened on his arm, her lips parting as if she might say something, but no words came. She didn’t move away, didn’t break the connection, and that only made the moment more volatile.

Blake’s hand hovered at his side, the urge to close the gap between them almost overpowering.

Every muscle in his body was coiled, his self-control fraying.

He knew better than to lean in to this kind of intensity, not when everything in his life was already on the verge of collapse, but with Ellie standing there, looking at him like that, it was damn near impossible to think straight.

And then, a door creaked open.

The sound cut through the moment like a blade, and Blake jerked back, his head snapping towards the source. A man emerged from one of the neighbouring apartments, balancing a stack of cardboard boxes, oblivious to the charged atmosphere he’d just disrupted.

Ellie dropped her hand, her cheeks flushed, and Blake took a step towards the lift, running a hand through his hair as if that would somehow clear the heat still buzzing in his veins.

“Let’s go,” he muttered again, his voice harder than he intended.

Ellie nodded, her eyes wide, and followed him in.