Page 10 of The Rebel Billionaire

I squeeze my eyes shut as soon as the words leave my mouth.

Fuck, this is going to be impossible.

Sophia tuts before squeezing my shoulder.

“Don’t worry. We’ll work on it together,” she says.

I turn to face her, her expression serious.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m a hard taskmaster, Brooke. Have no doubt. I’ll not have you bring my family into disrepute. You’ll need to get your story straight. I owe your mother a favour, but I won’t accept any blowback on my own family.”

“Understood,” I say.

She motions for me to sit on a nearby sofa, before studying me again.

“First things first, the wig must go. You haven’t done a bad job of your makeup. The shading has altered your face shape, but your eyes…”

My eyes? Fuck… my contacts.

“I have contacts… I…”

She tuts again, and my heart sinks. I open my mouth to apologise, but she holds up a hand, before picking up her phone.

“Harvey, darling… yes… I have a friend in need of a makeover.” Sophia holds my gaze. “Yes, terrible breakup.” She winks at me. “Needs a new look…” Another pause. “Perfect. See you in the morning.”

She disconnects the call and places her phone on the table.

“Tomorrow morning. Ten a.m. Harvey has been my stylist since I arrived in the States, thirty years ago. He’s completely trustworthy. Believe me, the things that man has seen and heard, he could write a bestseller, but he’s watertight.”

An empty feeling settles in the pit of my stomach.

I hope she’s right.

“Don’t look so worried. He’s also a genius. Your current disguise might have worked in getting you out of the country, but you need to be able to live. If you’re going to be employed at St Clair, the wig needs to go. You can’t be fiddling with it all day. That alone will draw attention.”

My hand drops back into my lap, and I tilt my head, unsure whether I heard her correctly.

“Work at St Clair?”

“Of course, what else are you going to do with your time?”

“I haven’t really given it much thought. I just⁠—”

For the first time in my life, I’m rudderless. Since the sex-tape scandal, I seem to have drifted from one day to the next. I’ve had no time to stop, think or digest what has happened. Even last night, after I researched Sophia, I sat alone, staring at the door, listening to the sounds of the city outside, and for anything that might mean they’d found me. What has my life become?

She leans forward and pats my hand. “A job at St Clair, even if it’s mundane, will allow you to escape the confines of your apartment. Security is tight at HQ. Corporate espionage is real in our industry, especially with the St Clair profile.”

“Cheap knockoffs?” I say.

She laughs and shakes her head. “It’s not the cheap knockoffs that bother us. It’s our designs being stolen and sold to our competitors who pass them off as their own. You’ll be safe there, especially once we’ve refined your story.”

“Thank you, it’s very kind, but what if someone recognises me? It’s not like my face hasn’t been plastered all over the press. Harper Frazer’s sex scandal was not small news at home.”

I want to be as truthful as I can, since Sophia is putting her neck on the line for me.

“Let me worry about that. Once Harvey’s finished with you, even your mother will walk past you in the street.” I go to open my mouth, but she holds up her hand. “Don’t thank me yet. I expect a lot if I’m going to help you.”