Page 195 of The Rebel Billionaire

“Shh, don’t tell anyone. I’m supposed to be the wild, playful brother,” he says, but I don’t miss the tone. I recognise it from Caleb, who was always the fun-loving, fancy-free playboy, but was searching for something underneath it all… someone… Then he found April.

“Enzo, thank you.”

“If you need me, I’m a phone call away. I’ll be over in a couple of months to visit Avril. I may see you then,” he says, and there’s no missing the sadness in his tone when he talks about his daughter.

I know how hard it is to be separated from family. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to be separated from your child for months at a time.

“That would be great,” I say, wondering if I’ll even be here.

“She’s still writing in her journal. Keeps the key on a chain around her neck,” he adds.

“We women need somewhere private to keep our thoughts. I’m glad she likes it.”

I miss my journal. I left it behind at Pen’s, deciding not to start a new one, for fear someone would find and read it.

“Take care, Brooke.”

“You too, Enzo.”

“Brooke,” Alessandro says, exiting his office. “All good?”

I smile at him and nod.

CHAPTER 58

HARPER

Oh boy.

My mind has been wandering back to Alex and every delectable thing he did to my body last night. I keep remembering how it felt to wake wrapped in his arms and how tender my body still feels after what we…

“You seem distracted,” Andie says, dragging me back to the present and to the class I should be concentrating on.

“Sorry,” I say, my cheeks heating.

“Is that a man who’s put that flush in your cheeks?” she whispers, spinning to face me, her eyes wide.

“I… what makes you say that?”

“Girl, you have a well-loved look on your face. Who is he? How long have you known him? Spill to this single mother. I need to get my kicks from somewhere.”

“Erm… a couple of months,” I admit, knowing I shouldn’t be saying anything, but needing someone to talk to. It’s been three weeks since Alex returned from Paris, and our relationship is intense. We’re trying to keep away from one another during the week, not to blur the lines between work and pleasure, because the pleasure is fierce. My desire is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, but it’s also so much more. I feel connected to him, not in the way I am to my family, but as someone who truly sees me, even though everything he knows about me is a lie. How can that be?

“And?”

I look up to find Andie waiting. “It’s been amazing,” I say, unable to contain my grin.

“What the hell are you doing here then? Why aren’t you with him?”

I sit back. “I, we…”

It’s hard to explain how I work with him every day, how I need space to reset.

She laughs. “It’s okay, I’m teasing. It’s good to have your own space and hobbies.” Her face grows serious. “That’s where my relationship broke down. I let him dictate everything I did, who I spoke to. I didn’t realise what he was doing until it was too late, and I was stuck at home alone, raising two children.”

I lean over and squeeze her forearm. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I was young and foolish. He was older, a somebody, while I was a nobody. He was great at keeping secrets… it was a lack of trust that finally had me walking away.”