Page 46 of The Thing About My Secret Billionaire

I’m so in my head about what a despicable fucking person I’m being and focusing so hard on the wood that it takes me a second to register the phone vibrating in my back pocket.

I turn off the sander and, while it grinds to a stop, wipe the sawdust off my hands on my pants and grab my phone.

It’s Prince Oliver, one of my three co-owners of the Boston Commoners soccer team.

“Hey, Ol.” The moment I met him, he asked that we drop his title, saying he wants to live as normal a life as possible.

“Hey, mate,” Oliver says. “Got a mo?”

“Sure.” I wander over to the window that has a clear view of the donkey paddocks on the right. The feed shed is to the left, with the house beyond it.

“Do you really think we should sell Schumann?” he asks.

“Shit.” My hand makes a slapping sound against my forehead. “Sorry. I totally forgot about the group texts.”

“Seriously?” Oliver scoffs. “I thoughtthe only reason you’d ever not be the first person to reply to a Commoners’ message would be if you were dead.”

It’s true. Business things never slip my mind. Particularly not to do with the club, which is my passion business rather than my fortune-making one. If working my ass off to make millions in condos has been worth anything, it’s that it gave me the ability to buy one-quarter of the soccer club I’ve followed since I was a kid growing up in Roxbury.

“Yeah, I’ve been a bit…” I search for the words. “… not really myself.”

“Unwell?” Oliver asks.

“More…distracted.” I lift one foot onto the bench below the window and rest my elbow on my knee. “The offer for Schumann is good, right? I mean, it would make financial sense for us to take it.”

But I know for sure that the loss of our beloved captain who’s spent his entire career at the Commoners would not go down well with the fans. I mean, what am I if I’m not a Commoners fan first?

“Right.” Oliver sounds crestfallen. “That’s what Leo says too. That’s what both you dispassionate business guys say.”

“You’re such a softy.”

“Try telling that to the British press that thinks I’m”—a slight pause—“irresponsible, disrespectful, and self-indulgent.”

“Did you just read that from an article?”

“Yup.”

“You need to stop looking at that fucking crap.”

“Maybe.” He sighs like he’s just collapsed into the giant armchair in the corner of his Manhattan apartment.

“Anyway,” he continues, “Schumann kind ofistheclub. Does there not come a point where loyalty and feelings are more important than cash on a spreadsheet?”

I get where he’s coming from. Oliver’s a man who moved to the US and walked away from a whole royal life because he couldn’t take it anymore. He goes with his gut on things, rather than quantitative analysis.

“Of course I get it,” I say, watching Harley wander over to Petunia and nuzzle her ear a little. She startles at first, but decides to stay and enjoy the attention. “I never thought I’d not care if a venture didn’t make money, but with the Commoners I really don’t. Has Chase told you what he thinks? He was noncommittal in the group chat.”

“It’s so Chase to try to walk the middle line to keep everyone happy,” Oliver says. “I can’t figure out if he doesn’t mind either way or if he feels the same as me but doesn’t want to rock the boat.”

Chase Cooper, Hollywood heartthrob, acting genius, and, despite all that, somehow also the world’s nicest human. “Hah. That figures.”

Up ahead, a shiny black Escalade turns off the road and crunches up the gravel driveway. Who the hell around here drives one of those?

“I know you’re busy over there with your revenge land deal,” Oliver says. I’d given him a brief outline of my plan last night in a text conversation. “Which, just to be clear one more time, is a terrible, awful, nightmarish plan that would backfire so fucking hard if the woman finds out.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” I rub my temple. “But I don’t see how she would. No one here has a clue who I am.”

“Anyway, while you’re busy pretending to love donkeys…” He pauses to chuckle. “…which willnever not be funny, might you have time for the four of us to have a video meeting in the next couple of days?”