Page 367 of The Morally Grey Billionaires Boxset

Rick

"No, absolutely not. You are not doing this." She paces back and forth across the floor of the living room. We’re back at the house, and the rest of the team are sprawled around in the space.

Finn lounges in the chair opposite me. Enzo and Manning take up most of the couch, while Jagger leans a hip against the wall. The TV on the wall has been turned off—for the first time since we’ve occupied the house—a measure of how serious the topic of discussion is.

Caspian stands with his feet wide apart, a sneer on his face.

The rest of the guys take up the chairs that’ve been dragged in from the rest of the house.

All twenty of them are here. Guess there’s some use for the group chat Finn has instituted.

Not that I’m part of it. But Finn had shared the message on my behalf and the guys responded at once.

Now their gazes are trained on the woman who stands in the middle of the room and scowls at me.

Her golden eyes crackle with fire. Her blonde hair is piled up in its usual bun.

She hasn’t changed out of her work clothes or her heels, while the rest of us are in our jeans and sweatshirts.

"This is not going to help things." She turns on Finn. "Why don’t you make him see sense?"

"Actually,"—Finn edges forward in his seat—"I’m not sure he has a choice."

"Actually, he does." She slaps her palms on her hips. "He can turn down Dennis’ challenge to a fight."

"And lose face? If news of this gets out, he’ll become the laughingstock of the internet.”

Caspian's statement is followed by silence. The rest of the team look at him. The expressions on their features range from anger to frustration to derision.

And I’m the one who did that. I’m the one who put us all in this quandary.

When I lunged for that wanker, Dennis, I didn’t think of my team at all.

For the first time in my career, I put myself first. Not my teammates.

And while it surprises me, I don’t regret it.

Not one bit. There's no way I could have allowed him to walk away after he insulted her like that. No, I did the right thing. I wish the rest of the team didn’t have to be impacted by it.

"Shut the fuck up, Prick," Finn growls.

"Fuck you, too, Hand," Caspian shoots back. "What kind of a call name is Hand, anyway? If it’s supposed to indicate the size of the organ between your legs, we both know mine is larger, longer, broader and—"

"—no match for mine." Finn smirks.

"Oh?" Caspian looks him up and down. "If you want to compare—" He reaches for his waistband, as does Finn.

"Fucking hell." I rise to my feet. "Can’t we get anything done without the two of you reverting to primates?"

"It was him." Both point to the other.

I crack my neck, then jerk my chin in their direction. "Shut the fuck up, you two."

They shut up. Or at least, Finn does.

Caspian glances at me with a measuring look. "You have to do it. You don’t have a choice."

"He doesn’t have to do anything,” Gio retorts.

He turns on her. "Are you worried about him because he’s the captain, or because the two of you are fucking each other?"

"Don’t talk to me like that." She marches up to him and stabs a finger in his chest. "I’m the PR manager of this team. I might not play on the ice, but as image conscious as you are, you know that it’s in my hands how I paint you in the media."

He blinks, then seems to get a hold of himself. "You don’t scare me,” he scoffs.

"Oh?" She draws herself up to her full height, then taps the toe of her right stiletto. "All I have to do is put out a few whispers about the size of your package. Perhaps, even leak some limp dick pics and ensure the trail leads back to you, and then we’ll see."

His jaw drops, then he laughs, the sound uncertain. "You wouldn’t."

"Wouldn’t I?" She rubs her nails on the collar of her Chanel jacket. "I know enough people in the right places in the media world to make this a reality."

He surveys her features, then nods slowly. "You made your point; I’ll back off. For now. But there's nothing stopping me from leaking to the media that the two of you are sharing a room, either."

She stills, then tips up her chin. "Try me, buster. The same people who’d attribute a dick pic to you, would hold back news about me."

"Also, there’s a reason we’re sharing a room." I prowl over to stand between them. "You going to tell them, babe?" I soften my gaze as I meet hers.

"Eh?" She scowls. "Tell them what? And why are you ca—"

"You see, there’s a reason we’re sharing a room, and it’s not only because there’s no extra room for Gio here."

She angles her head.

"It isn’t?" Finn taps his fingertips on his thigh.

"It isn’t?" Caspian asks slowly.

The unsettled expression on his features is almost as satisfying as the shock on her face when I drawl, "It isn’t. Because what Gio and I failed to tell the rest of you, is that we’re engaged."

"Engaged? You told them we’re engaged?" She leans against the door to the room and folds her arms across her chest. Her voice is deceptively mild, and that’s the first sign there's a side of her I haven’t seen before.

"You told them that you and I"—she points between us—"are involved in a relationship. "

I hold her gaze, and underneath the golden sparks in her eyes, I spot silver flashes.

Not something I’ve seen before—a sign that she’s pissed, I’m sure of it.

The fine hair on the nape of my neck rises.

My subconscious, honed by my many tours, warns me this is a situation not to be taken lightly.

All my senses home in on her. "Umm, can we talk about this? "

I slowly raise my hands, so as not to incite her further, and her eyes flash. The pulse at the base of her neck kicks up. If we were in a superhero movie, there would be flashes of lightning sparking off of her skin.

"You want to talk?" she asks, again in that tone of voice that almost has cheerful lilt to it. One that makes me very, very wary. If I don’t answer her, it’s going to make things worse.

If I do—? I’m not sure it’s going to make things better.

The only thing I’m grateful for? She waited until we got behind closed doors before she decided to lower the boom.

I nod slowly. "I do want to talk, yes."

"So talk." She taps her foot, clad in those six-inch heels with the red soles. Not sure which designer created it, but fuck, if it doesn’t add height to her legs and push out her butt, as well as enhance the thrust of her tits. Which is chauvinistic, I’m aware, but I’m a red-blooded male, and I can only resist looking at her assets to a point.

Besides, it’s Gio—not any woman. The kind of woman I’ve dreamed of meeting for years.

"You have to admit, it was an inspired way to nip the gossip at the source."

"Inspired?" She pushes a finger into her cheek and pretends to think. "Let me see… What do I think?" She directs her gaze back on me. "I agree."

"You do?" I stare at her, trying to peer through that expression of serenity on her face and failing.

"It was inspired. And so is this." She bends, slips off her stiletto, then lobs it at me.