Page 23 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)

ELLIE

“Come on, it will do you good. Fresh air, sunshine, clear your lungs of that city smoke.”

Ellie stretched one leg out of the water, letting it cool.

The bathroom was thick with steam, the water so hot it was almost uncomfortable.

It felt good, though, hot enough to ease some of her aches and pains, and to sweat the disappointment of the day out of her.

The only alcohol in the flat had been an ancient bottle of prosecco in the fridge, and she’d just poured herself a second glass.

The feeling of gently melting into the water was a pleasant one.

At least it had been, until her mum called.

“I’m really busy,” she said, tilting her head back and almost dropping the phone into the water.

“I can hear that,” her mum said, her voice full of sarcasm. “Be sure to wash behind your ears.”

“I mean in life,” Ellie said. “Things might be happening and I might need to be here.”

“Lissa will give you some time,” said her mum. She must have been feeding the chickens because there was a sudden flurry of clucks and squawks. “It sounds like you could do with a break from work, or from whatever else is bothering you.”

The ‘whatever else’ was probably sitting right outside the bathroom door, eavesdropping on her conversation. Ellie pulled her leg back into the water, a current of warmth running up her body.

“Tell you what,” her mum went on. “Just come for the weekend. I’ll transfer you the money for the train tickets. One weekend, recharge those batteries.”

The honest truth was it would be good to get away for a bit.

Mum’s farm was an island of peace and tranquillity, a haven where she had always felt better about herself and the world.

True, Mum would fuss about her hair and complain about her diet and lecture her on her love life and tell her what she should be doing to improve her business plan, but she would also put extra pillows on her bed and plait her hair and give her plenty of cuddles.

“I’ll make banoffee pie,” teased her mum, and Ellie laughed.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “I’ll come. I’ve got this weekend off anyway. I’m fine for money.” She hoped her mum wouldn’t hear the lie. “I’ll travel down tonight. You’re right, it will be good to get away from it all. From work, from you know who.”

And from Blake , she thought. Here in the city there was no way she’d be able to shake him from her thoughts. She could still feel him on her lips, taste him on her tongue. She could still remember the heat of his hands on her skin, his fingers winding through her hair.

“Can you pick me up from the station?” she asked, hoping her mum wouldn’t be able to feel the heat of her cheeks through the phone. She sat up, water sloshing.

“Of course, dear. I’ll be there. Just text me your train times.”

“I will,” Ellie said. “Thank you.”

“You know you’re always welcome,” said her mum, a twinkle in her voice. “And you know you’re also always welcome to bring a guest. Like the man you were out with last night.”

“Goodbye, Mum.” Ellie jabbed a wet finger on the ‘end call’ icon.

She threw the phone on to her dressing gown and took a big gulp of her prosecco.

She could almost feel the countryside wind on her skin, the fresh, woodland-scented air in her lungs, Blake’s hand in hers as they strolled through the trees . . .

Stop it!

Why had her mum planted that image in her head?

Ellie downed the rest of the glass then rinsed her hair and climbed out of the bath.

Wrapping herself in her dressing gown, she opened the door and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Josh was leaning against the wall, waiting for her.

He looked her up and down, a sly smile appearing on his face.

“Nice,” he said.

Behind him, the TV was tuned to the news.

The anchors were dissecting the fallout of Blake’s scandal, and Ellie’s heart clenched at the sight of his picture on the screen, what must be the members of the board standing with him.

But suddenly Ellie felt her brain itch with a warning as she looked at them all.

“Get out of my way, Josh,” she snapped, heading for the bedroom.

“You never used to put a dressing gown on,” he said as she slammed the door behind her.

Her skin crawled. He was such a creep. Why wouldn’t he just get the hint?

At least she didn’t have to take him home to the farm anymore.

He’d always put Ellie down in front of Mum, making cheap shots at her lack of domesticity at the dining table, or laughing at her attempts to saddle the horses — even though he’d never set foot on a farm in his life.

To her credit, Mum had always put him in his place and come to Ellie’s defence, but it made her sad to think that her mum had needed to do that. What kind of man belittled his girlfriend everywhere they went?

Maybe she could go home and never come back. There were plenty of coffee shops there, after all, and Josh would never come looking for her.

“By the way,” he said from right outside the door, his voice making her shudder. “I thought you should know, that idiot is on the TV again. Blake Whatshisname.”

“I saw,” she heard herself say. “And?”

“Just thought you might want to know what kind of trouble he’s got himself into now,” said Josh. “That guy is toast. A fraud. And he’s heading straight for the scrap heap.”

Ellie saw red — literally, her vision darkening with the force of her rage. She wrenched open the door so hard it crunched into the wall. Josh stood there, an expression of surprise on his round face. Ellie took a step towards him, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“He’s not a fraud,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “In fact, I only know one fraud, and I’m looking right at him.”

Josh’s wet lips parted as he tried to object, but Ellie cut him off.

“You, Josh. You’re a fraud. Just look at yourself, you’re so desperate, so pathetic.

You hang around me like there’s a hope I might come back to you.

But I never will. It’s not just that you’re weak, it’s not just that you treated me like shit.

It’s not even that you lied to me every single day we were together, because YOU ARE A FRAUD.

It’s that you believed it — you believed you were better than me, and that you were doing me a favour by deigning to be with me. ”

She had to stop so that she could claw in a breath.

“I’m never going to be with you, do you understand?

I’m never going to say yes. You make my skin crawl, Josh.

You make me feel ill. Is that clear enough?

You can spend every single day hanging out here or at my work, but nothing will make me like you, nothing will make me care for you, and even if you were the last man on Earth, I wouldn’t be with you. ”

Josh’s eyes looked like they were about to roll out of their sockets. Ellie took another breath. “You’re the one heading for the scrap heap, Josh. Because you have lost me. For ever.”

Josh’s mouth gaped like a landed fish. He clutched at his chest as if her words had actually pierced his heart.

Then, just as she knew he would, he got angry.

His face creased, his eyes growing dark.

He sneered at her. “Well, thank goodness for that. You don’t know how relieved I am.

All this time I’ve been hanging around you because I was worried that you were losing your mind.

I was worried that you were going insane.

And I think you are. But now I don’t have to worry anymore.

I don’t have to look after you. I’m free. ”

He folded his arms over his chest and made no sign of moving.

“Go on then,” said Ellie. “Go be free. Get out of here.”

“If I leave, I’m never coming back.”

It was a threat, but to Ellie it sounded like the most wonderful promise in the world. She didn’t reply, and she didn’t break eye contact. After a few more seconds he stamped his foot like a toddler, then wheeled around and strode towards the door.

“You’ll regret this,” he shouted over his shoulder. “And I won’t.”

Only when the door had slammed shut behind him did Ellie let herself smile.

It spread over her face like sunshine, impossible to stop.

Had she really done that? Had those words really just come out of her mouth?

It felt like a dream. Ellie Mae Woodward just wasn’t capable of standing up for herself like that.

But somehow she had done it — she had finally told Josh to leave her alone.

Not somehow . It wasn’t luck, and it wasn’t anyone else. It was her.

Ellie had finally realised that she wasn’t someone to be pushed around. She was valuable and deserved to take up the space that she did, without apologising for it. And she was done letting Josh, or anyone else, make her feel otherwise.

Thank you, Ellie Mae , she thought. Then the smile vanished from her face as she remembered the niggling worry she had when she’d seen the image of Blake and his board on TV. The feature had finished, so she dashed back into the bedroom and opened the news app on her phone.

Three articles down was a post on Blake, and Ellie felt a rush of guilt as she noticed the photograph attached to the piece was him recoiling as the waitress poured the drink on his head.

Thankfully, Ellie had been cropped out of it.

She clicked the link, clicking her tongue impatiently as she waited for it to load.

Heartbook press conference imminent — Blake Fielding expected to address shareholders and users of the floundering social media giant.

She scanned the article, shaking her head.

It was full of the posts that somebody had made on Blake’s account and laden with accusations against him.

It was so unfair that even the press had decided on his guilt.

Ellie rested a finger against another photograph of him, this one taken at an IT conference, and he was beaming with happiness.

She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for him to step out in front of a group of people who had already made up their minds about him.

And then, as she scrolled down, a live feed flickered into place: a video of the Heartbook board members arriving for the upcoming meeting, their names flashing on the screen as the camera panned around the familiar glass building.

Figures stepped out of luxury cars, buttoning suit jackets and striding towards the entrance.

Ellie’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of two of them.

A man and a woman walking side by side.

Something tugged at the back of her mind, her fingers tightening around the phone. She knew them. Not from a newspaper or the internet. Not from anything to do with Blake. But from somewhere else — somewhere real.

Her head snapped up, heart pounding as the image clicked into place.

No. It couldn’t be. It didn’t make sense.

She swallowed hard, her hands suddenly clammy as her pulse thundered. A sick, twisting feeling settled deep in her stomach, one that sent her bolting for her coat and keys.

She had to get to Heartbook.

Blake needed to know.