Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 289 I watched him for a few seconds, seeing how Nate moved around the room mechanically, clearly lost in his thoughts. I decided I wasn't going to pretend I hadn't noticed. "You know this isn't going to work, right?" I said bluntly, still sitting on the bed but looking straight at him. He turned, surprised by my directness. "What?" he asked, a slight frown forming. "You lying and shutting down every time there's a problem," I said, shifting on the edge of the bed. "Especially when the problem involves me.' His eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise.

"How do you know it's about you?" "Because I'm getting very good at reading you," I said, crossing my arms. "And because I saw how tense you got after that call. Whatever Tori said to you in the kitchen, had something to do with me." Nate let out a deep sigh, dragging a hand through his hair in frustration. From the look on his face, I could tell he was about to tell me something he would have preferred to keep to himself. "You're right," he admitted at last, walking over and sitting beside me on the bed. "It's about you. Or rather...

it's about Alexandra." My stomach tightened at the sound of that name. "What does she have to do with anything?" "Remember when I gave my phone to Tori so she could look up that recipe online?" he began, his voice taking on a carefully controlled tone. "Well... while she was using it, a message from Alexandra popped up." My jaw tensed automatically. Of course it had to be Alexandra. It was always her. "What kind of message?" I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral.

"She said she was planning to pass through Bath during the holidays and wanted to know if I was in town," Nate continued, watching me closely to gauge my reaction. "And Tori responded as if she were me, without thinking about the consequences. She invited Alexandra for lunch tomorrow." I felt anger flare hot in my chest. Not necessarily at Tori as she really did seem like the impulsive type, but at the situation itself. At the way Alexandra always managed to creep into our lives no matter what. "And those calls last night..." I started. "The first one really was work.

the second..." Nate sighed. "That was her confirming she was coming. She said she'd already accepted the invitation and was excited to see the family again. By the time I saw the message thread on my phone, it was too late. She was already on her way. "That's why you argued with Tori," I said quietly. "I was furious with her," he admitted. "Not because she

include me at all. Maybe her opinion of me had shifted over the course of the evening. But she had definitely not changed her mind about the benefit of having a

have to stay for lunch tomorrow," he said softly. "We can leave before she gets here. Come up with an excuse, say you're not feeling well..." Part of me wanted to take the out. It would've been easier, less dramatic. It

expression that this was the part bothering him the most. "Tori told her," he admitted with a heavy sigh. "And that's what pissed me off the most. It wasn't her place to share." A wave of irritation rushed through me not just because of the breach of privacy, but because of the implication that Tori had run to tell Alexandra as if she were sharing some juicy

A determination I didn't know I had-a strength born from being done with letting Alexandra push me into corners. "No," I said firmly, rising from the bed. "We're not leaving."