Page 160 of The Billionaire's Secret

"And you agreed?"

She reddens, "Hey, I thought it was romantic. Besides, he told me that he’d—" she chews on her lower lip.

"What?" I peruse her features. "He made you a deal?"

"He said," her gaze flicks away, then back to my face, "that I’d get to make the wedding cake, and take credit for it. He said he’d ensure all the media would cover the event and my name would be mentioned."

"But the wedding ceremony was impromptu…"

"Not the one that's about to take place.”

"Oh?" I frown, then stiffen, "Oh."

She nods and her features scrunch up, "He's been...uh... planning this for a few weeks. He—ah!—" She shuffles her feet. "He wanted to surprise you with a society wedding that'd get a lot of attention."

"Oh, he did, did he?" I growl. The nerve of the man.How dare he take me for granted?There’s a bitterness to my voice that I can’t disguise when I ask her, "Did he also pay you to friend me?"

"Of course, not." She sits up straight. "Look V, I swear, he only wanted to make it special for you."

I snort.

"Besides," she wriggles around trying to find a more comfortable position. "I could hardly turn him down."

"Of course, not," I echo her.

She stiffens, "It's not easy, trying to make it on your own."

"You bet, it isn't."

She scowls, "It's cut-throat out there." She waves her hand in the air, "Think of what this kind of exposure could do for my business."

I stare at her, "I'm thinking a lot of things, all right."

She reddens. "Please try to understand, V. I mean, if you guys were going to get married, then why not keep the catering for the wedding in the family, huh?"

"I suppose Isla's doing the wedding planning?" I ask.

She glances away, then back at me.

"Of course, she is," I scowl.

I suppose that makes sense too. I mean why look outside when the talent is in your circle of friends? So why does it feel like a bloody betrayal? I place the cap on the bottle, screw it back in place with deliberate precision. "So, the time when Meredith met me outside Selfridges…" I glance up at her, "She brought me here to meet all of you. Did Saint put her up to that as well?"

"You’ll have to ask Meredith about that." She swipes the hair back from her face.

"Did he ask you to round up all the women so you all could keep an eye on me?"

"It…it wasn’t like that." She leans forward to take my arm.

I shake it off, "All this time, I thought, perhaps, I had a support circle here, that perhaps I had a chance of finding a place where I belonged… I should have known that asshole would set me up. It was all about making sure that he was informed of my movements."

"He wanted to keep you safe."

"Bullshit," my voice echoes around the space.

A couple speaking at the far end of the corridor looks our way. Like I care? I glare at Amelie, "It was a way of controlling me, making sure he could monitor everything I did. He wanted to see if I’d give myself away."

"Give yourself away?" She frowns, "What are you talking about? Saint wanted to ensure that you didn’t feel lonely, that’s all."