The Billionaire's Disgraced Virgin (Billionaire Knights Book 2) by Nic Saint

“You look great, by the way. Haven’t changed a bit.” He gestured to her hair. “Well, except for the color, of course. I think I liked you better as a brunette.” He glanced nervously at the door, and it was obvious he wasn’t keen on being discovered by Mike.
    This knowledge gave her the power to cry out, “If you don’t leave this instance I’m calling Mike!”
    He grinned. “So it’s Mike, huh? On a first name basis with the boss already. Nice work, Gwen. Now, listen, I’m pretty sure this Mike character doesn’t know who you really are, and I’m willing to let it stay that way. Are you listening to me? I’ll keep my mouth shut about what happened between us five years ago.”
    “What happened was that you betrayed me in the worst possible way!”
    “That’s not how I remember it, but anyhoo, like I said I’m willing to keep this all under wraps, providing…”
    Dread filled her. For some reason she knew what he was going to suggest even before he told her.
    He was rubbing his goatee, and she noticed the ‘mummy’ tattoo on the knuckles of his right hand. “You’re Mike’s financial point person on this deal if I understood him correctly. Well, let’s just say it’s in both our best interests if you give him the right information. That is to say, the information I’ll supply.”
    This wasn’t really happening. “You want me to deceive Mike?”
    “Of course not,” he said with a smirk. “I just want to make sure he’s got all the right data to make an informed decision about the purchase price. Do that little thing for me and I’ll conveniently forget all about Gwen Parker.”
    “You’re disgusting,” she spat.
    “You didn’t seem to think I was disgusting the last time we met.”
    “I was a different person then. And I didn’t know you like I do now.”
    He yawned. “You know, whatever, right? Just make sure you feed him my numbers and as far as I’m concerned all is forgotten.”
    She wanted to tell him there was no way she was going to deceive Mike. That she wasn’t going to lend herself to this kind of blackmail. But she knew there was no other way. If she didn’t agree, Lewis would expose her, and then her life was over. Her shoulders sagged, and the look of triumph on his face told her all she needed to know about the kind of man Lewis Dixon had become. Back then he’d been an ambitious photographer, willing to tread over others to make a name for himself. Now he was a corporate stooge who didn’t mind stooping to blackmail to further his paymaster’s financial gain. He’d beaten her. And the moment he’d left she sank onto the bed, and was reduced to tears.
    Mike saw that creepy Lewis Dixon fellow exit Chloe’s room just as he was mounting the stairs, and his eyes narrowed even as a fresh wave of anger tore through him, obliterating the goodwill with which he’d started to view Chloe. Immediately all his old suspicions returned to the fore. Had she been playing him? Was she secretly colluding with this guy, giving him information about Knight Enterprises so that he could report back to his boss? If she was she was even more manipulative and devious than he’d thought. Feeding him her sob story about a lost love and then inviting that same ex-boyfriend into her room?
    Then it struck him. She’d never gotten over him. She was still pining for the guy. A sudden burst of jealousy was added to the unstable mix that was his emotional state. Instinctively he knew he was right. Dixon was using her to spy on him—to supply Press Corp with vital information on Knight Enterprises.
    He would have knocked but under the circumstances he’d lost any sympathy he might have had for her. And as he stepped into the room, fully intent on telling her to clear out, he was struck by the sight of her sobbing on the bed, crying as if her world had just ended. His lips tightened. It was obvious she was still crazy about Lewis Dixon. So why then did he suddenly find himself cradling