The whole operation was on the line. The reason they’d brought her in was the fact that no one from Malone Oil could possibly know who she was. The whole job would have to be scrubbed, and there was every likelihood JT’s company would suffer for it.
“He’s not here.” She said the words even as her mind raced, looking for a solution. She had to be at that retreat. If they missed this opportunity, the Agency would force Malone Oil to admit what was happening to the press and cause a major scandal that would hurt their bottom line for decades. It was precisely why most companies didn’t prosecute corporate spies. “He went out for coffee.”
She stayed at the door, hoping they would go back out the way they came.
“I’m not leaving until I talk to him,” Jordy insisted. He was a well-built man. The expensive suit he was wearing didn’t hide his muscles, though she knew he’d gotten them in a gym. He was a trust-fund baby, though apparently he’d blown through much of it. “That email yesterday was complete bullshit.”
Patrick was on his heels. He was ten years older than Jordy, and his background was far less privileged. It was his ties to Russian companies that made the Agency interested in him. “I agree. I’m a member of senior leadership. I expect more than David Malone will not be attending our retreat. I have every right to know what happened, Deanna. You said JT would be here. You didn’t tell me he was shacked up with a hooker.”
“I’m his girlfriend, and you might think twice about insulting me.” The words were out of her mouth before she could really consider the ramifications of them. Although since they’d caught her in his room wearing nothing but his shirt, she wasn’t sure they would buy the cousin angle she’d so recently come up with.
The retreat was open to families and loved ones. JT could bring his girlfriend.
Oh, he was going to be the one to murder her. She was going to have to explain to the poor man how his one-night stand had turned into a relationship.
“You are not his girlfriend,” the admin said, hands on her hips.
“Don’t be so coy, baby,” a masculine voice said. “Nina here is far more than my girlfriend. She’s my fiancée. I know we didn’t want to tell anyone until we could have a party, but after what happened with Dad last night, I don’t think we can wait.”
She turned and JT walked in like the fact that a good portion of his office was standing in his suite didn’t bother him at all.
What had he said? Fiancée? Oh, god, she’d just become a fake fiancée to a billionaire.
And now everyone would know. Including her boss.
The night before had been good sex, but this was what it meant to be truly fucked.
* * * *
JT figured out things had gone heinously wrong the minute he set foot off the elevator and turned down the hall that led to his half of the floor. The door was open and he could hear voices up ahead.
“I’m not leaving until I talk to him. That email yesterday was complete bullshit.”
JT winced. Jordy was here, and that likely meant Deanna had tracked him down. Jordy wouldn’t have been able to do it by himself. JT had ignored her texts the prior day. He’d been at the hospital and he hadn’t needed his overly ambitious admin’s bullshit. For the most part Deanna was perfect. She did everything he didn’t want to do and was an excellent gatekeeper. One day she would move into an executive position and she would be damn good at it.
But she had boundary issues. Like she didn’t think there should be boundaries closed to her when it came to him. He’d sent her a terse email telling her he had a family emergency and would call her last night.
Then he’d met Nina and he’d let everything go. Obviously that decision was going to come back to haunt him today.
“I agree.” Patrick’s cultured voice grated on JT’s nerves at times. “I’m a member of senior leadership. I expect more than David Malone will not be attending our retreat. I have every right to know what happened, Deanna. You said JT would be here. You didn’t tell me he was shacked up with a hooker.”
Oh, he was about to haul Patrick out and toss him to the street. How fucking dare he…
Nina was going to be upset, and she had every right to be. He hadn’t figured out how he was going to tell her they were working together. He meant to. He’d considered telling her about his meeting at McKay-Taggart and oops, what, she was going there, too?
He hadn’t meant for her to find out because his admin and a couple of members of his board showed up and started calling her a hooker.
And honestly, he didn’t like the term hooker. He’d worked in some crazy parts of the world, places where there were almost no women due to the nature of the work, and sex professionals made life way easier. They were nice women who did a good job.
Yeah, he probably shouldn’t have that argument in front of Nina. She would already be angry. Was this going to screw up the job? He could hear his brother now. He was going to fuck up the op and his relationship with Nina.
“I’m his girlfriend and you might think twice about insulting me.”
He took a deep breath because that had been said with pure confidence.
“You are not his girlfriend.” Deanna had some confidence of her own, but he could work with this. He’d been out of the office for months, allowing her to deal with all
