Page 27 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)

ELLIE

The trip back to the ground floor was awkward and warm. Too many egos shoved into a small space. And when the security guards finally dropped her off at the front doors, they gave her a little shove to make sure she understood which way she was supposed to go.

Ellie scowled at them as she made her way down the steps outside and huddled next to a TV news crew as they geared up ready for action.

It seemed impossible that only yesterday she had been sitting inside reception waiting for a job interview.

And it seemed impossible that, then, she hadn’t even met Blake.

How could a life change so suddenly in such a short space of time?

To her left was a small, raised stage, a lectern set up there with a microphone perched on top.

All Ellie wanted to do was run up to it and scream that Blake was innocent, he was being framed, that he was the nicest guy she’d ever met and that the world would see this if they just gave him a chance.

But of course she didn’t. That would probably do more harm than good.

Instead, she stood her ground as people pushed and shoved their way as close to the front of the crowd as they were able.

She checked her phone. Seven minutes until three.

There was no sign of Blake anywhere through the big glass windows, just a wall of security guards.

The crowd spoke in hushed whispers, the constant click of camera shutters sounding like rain.

Several of the reporters were broadcasting live, one hand pressed to their ear as they spoke about “this day of judgement”.

The crush of the crowd and the relentless noise made Ellie feel like she was drowning, but she couldn’t leave, not when she’d come this far.

“Look!” somebody yelled.

Ellie did, squinting through the windows to see the lift doors open. At first she wasn’t sure if the man who stepped out of it was Blake, because he looked broken. His back was bent beneath the pressure, his head bowed low. He looked like a man on the way to the gallows. But it was him.

Blake joined a group of people by the door — the same people who had torn him apart in the meeting room — and they stepped out into the late afternoon heat.

The crowd launched into a chorus of boos and jeers as they emerged, some women chanting “Blake out!” on the far side of the crowd.

The group stopped at the base of the platform, leaving Blake to climb the stairs alone.

The noise seemed to swell as he did so, and Ellie couldn’t even hear herself think.

Quiet! she wanted to scream. Let him talk!

Blake held up a hand, and after a while the noise faded into almost total silence.

All eyes were on him, and Ellie suddenly wondered if the quiet was worse than the deafening roar of the crowd.

Blake was pale, and he looked frightened.

Ellie lifted a hand to wave to him, but she was so short and the crowd was so big, he didn’t see her.

She tried to project her strength to him.

It sounded stupid, but she couldn’t do anything else.

You can do this , she said. Just tell them the truth .

Blake hesitated, frowning. His eyes scanned the crowd and for a moment she thought he saw her.

He took a deep breath, his back straightening.

“Good afternoon,” he said, the slightest of tremors in his voice.

“Thank you all for coming today. As you know, I have been accused of posting some horrific comments on my Heartbook page. Comments that insult and denigrate women.”

“Yeah, you suck!” shouted a man from the middle of the crowd.

Blake’s head dropped, then he looked behind him to the group of people that he had walked out with. The old woman nodded her head to him, her expression stern.

He turned back to the crowd. “I’ve asked you all here to explain what happened,” he went on. “I . . .”

Just say it , Ellie pleaded. Just tell them you’re innocent. The rest we can work out once you know the whole truth .

Blake balled his hand into a fist, resting it on top of the lectern. He seemed to make a decision, nodding to himself. “I am hereby announcing that I will be leaving the company with immediate effect, and will no longer be involved in any way with Heartbook or its subsidiaries,” he said.

The crowd started to murmur, cries of anger rising into the air.

“I do so with a heavy heart. But whatever you think of me, and whatever you think I have done, this is a good company that believes in equality and diversity. I will continue to protest my innocence in this matter, but it seems there is no way to prove it. For that reason and to save the reputation of this company, I am stepping down.”

“Get out!” somebody yelled.

“I want to apologise to everyone who took offence at what was posted on my page,” he said, barely audible now. “Thank you.”

He stepped off the platform to a roar of boos and angry shouts. The reporters were all yelling the same thing: “Blake, did you do it?” But he obviously wasn’t answering any questions.

Ellie stood in stunned silence. Blake had pretty much given up, but why? She knew he was innocent — he had evidence, or at least testimony from a trusted source. Why wouldn’t he fight to clear his name? Whatever had just happened, whatever had driven him to give up so easily, it didn’t make sense.

Ellie bit her lip, watching as Blake headed towards the building, the crowd still jeering behind him. She pushed her way through the crowd, thankful this time to be as small as she was.

“Blake!” she shouted, but everyone else was calling his name, too, and hurling insults his way.

She apologised as she rammed past a news reporter, struggled through one last camera crew and a group of women with anger twisted on their faces, and finally reached the front.

Blake was less than a dozen yards away from her, but another ogre of a security guard planted a hand on her shoulder.

“That’s far enough,” he growled.

“Blake!” she shouted past the man. But her voice was lost in the chants.

Blake was striding back through the doors and Ellie had the sudden terror that if he went, she would never see him again.

He would vanish into the ether, he would spend the rest of his life in hiding, and all she would have of him was the memory of his smile, and the fading touch of his kiss.

“Blake, please!” she shouted. Then, remembering what he had told her about the early days of the company, she called, “Flusher! Flusher!”

Blake paused, his head cocked to one side. Ellie called his nickname again and he turned around. The old woman who he had been standing next to the stage was right behind him, trying to usher him inside the building, but he steered her gently to the side and scanned the crowd.

“Here!” Ellie shouted. “Here, behind Shrek!”

He found her, and a sad smile appeared on his face.

“Billy, I’ll be out of your hair soon. Can you please just let me past?” he said, and the security guard stood to one side.

Blake strode up to her, stopping when they were merely inches apart, a great smile crinkling his eyes. It took all her strength to not throw herself on him and start kissing him, but that would be a mistake, especially in front of this crowd.

“Hi,” he said, fighting to make himself heard, his smile growing bigger.

“I had to find you,” she said, breathless. “Blake, I know who did this. Michelle and David—” She took his arm, gripping it as if she could physically keep him from walking away. “They’re together.”

Blake blinked, his forehead creasing. “I know. They were kind enough to show me.”

“And that means . . .”

“That David’s been lying to me from the start,” Blake finished.

“Yes,” Ellie confirmed, her voice thick with frustration. “I saw them together at the café, the day your posts went viral. He must have been with her this whole time. And that means he set you up too. Blake, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to step down. You can fight.”

“I can’t.” His gaze flicked past her, towards the crowd pressing in around them, security struggling to hold them back. His expression was unreadable, warring emotions flickering across his face.

“Why, Blake? Why didn’t you just tell the truth to the reporters?”

“Because I made a decision.” Tears glistened in his eyes. “I could either save myself, or I could save Heartbook. I chose the company. I chose the people.”

Something exploded on the ground by Blake’s feet, what might have been strawberry milkshake splattering both of them. He looked up, alarmed, and the security guards started closing in. One took Blake’s arm, but he shrugged them away, his eyes locked on Ellie’s. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice raw.

“You don’t have to apologise for being a good person,” Ellie said, her voice steady even though her heart raced with everything unsaid between them.

She hesitated for a second, then the thought hit her like a flash of lightning.

Before she could overthink it, the words spilled out.

“Come away with me. Right now. Let’s just get away. ”

“What?” Blake’s brow furrowed, the surprise clear in his eyes. “Where?”

“I’m going to my mum’s farm tonight. It’s in Devon,” she said, her words rushing out like a flood. “The fresh air will do us both good. Forget about all this, just for a little while. You need to breathe, Blake. I want you to come with me. We can escape together.”

For a brief, breathtaking moment, his face softened. The light returned to his eyes, and Ellie thought he might actually say yes. She held her breath as the silence stretched between them, the chaos of the crowd fading into the background.

But then another object whizzed past, smashing on to the pavement a few feet away. This time it was a cup of coffee, the dark liquid splattering dangerously close.

Blake flinched, instinctively pulling back, and the fleeting hope in his expression dissolved.

“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I won’t do that to you.

You mean too much to me to be dragged through the dirt.

This is what I meant when I said I can’t see you anymore.

Don’t you understand? It’s not because I don’t want to, it’s because of what happens to the people around me. ”

“Blake . . .” Ellie’s voice wavered, her hand still outstretched. She wanted to grab him, to shake him, to make him understand that she didn’t care about the dirt or the chaos or the crowd. All she cared about was him.

She opened her mouth to say something else but another security guard appeared and between them they dragged Blake through the doors. Blake looked back once, his face barely visible between the men. His eyes met Ellie’s and they were the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

Then the doors closed, the men steered Blake around a corner, and he was gone.