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I’d stood helplessly by while too many things went wrong in my life. While too many risks went untaken. Not this time.
I pushed to my feet also. And for once, I didn’t cower before the crowd of well-dressed socialites and industry executives. I did not babble, and I did not stammer.
Instead, I did what any self-respecting quirky billionaire would do when he had the honor of protecting the man he loved. I bent down, pressed a quick kiss to Bash’s unsuspecting lips…
And lied my ass off.
TWENTY-ONE
BASH
“Thank you, Austin,” Rowe called in his quirky billionaire voice, grinning forcefully. He buttoned his tuxedo and stepped around the table. “But you can step down now. There’s no need for you to accept this award for Sterling Chase.” He took a deep breath. “Sterling Chase can accept his own award.”
In the stunned silence that followed, Rowe stalked to the center of the banquet hall with the same spark in his eye as when I’d met him at the gala—the one that had first drawn me to him and had kindled a fire inside me wilder than anything I’d ever believed I could experience.
It had left me speechless then. It left me speechless now.
Silas dropped into the seat Rowe had vacated without taking his eyes off the spectacle. “What the fuck is he doing?” he whispered.
“I think he’s saving our asses,” I whispered back. And he looked magnificent doing it. His spine was straight as an arrow, his shoulders thrown back. His curls gleamed under the lights, and his tux caressed every inch of his frame exactly the way I wanted to. Exactly the way Iwouldonce this shit-show was over.
“Jesus, Bash. Should we stop him?” Silas demanded.
I shook my head. I trusted Rowe. Trusted him with my secrets. With my company. With my heart. And just like the first night we’d met, every cell of my body hummed with energy, waiting to see what lie he came up with next.
Austin’s eyes narrowed, but he tried to cover his anger with an uncomfortable chuckle. “Very funny, Rowe,” he said into the microphone. He glanced around, inviting others to share the joke. “He’s a burrito delivery guy, everyone, and he has a terrible sense of humor. Pay him no attention.”
My fists clenched on the tabletop.
“I’m not joking, Austin.” Rowe’s voice rang with authority—enough to startle the MC, who snatched back the award he’d been about to hand to Austin and stepped away. “And you’re the one who hasn’t been paying attention. Sterling Chase invented ETC and founded this company with a mission to foster entrepreneurship around the world. To support education. To save lives. To make the world better. You don’tdeserveto accept this award on behalf of Sterling Chase.”
Shocked whispers flew around the room.
Oh my god, I had no idea.
Karen, didn’t I tell you there was something hinky like this?
I mean… he’s young, but like, look at the youngest Kardashian, right?
Does he always talk about himself in the third person like that? Rich people are so extra.
Austin shook his head. “You’re a fraud named Rowe Prince from Indiana, and I’ve never met you before tonight—”
Rowe shook his head sadly. “We met just last week, if you recall.”
“Ohmigod! You carried the chicken burritos!” Irma, one of our account managers, cried before her coworkers could shush her. “I recognize you!”
Rowe nodded. “Yes, madam, that was I. Sterling Chase goes by many names and wears many hats. I’ve chosen to live a more simple life because I find it fosters my creativity without distraction. But it’s also particularly handy when I want to observe my employees without calling attention to myself—”
“Ohhhh, fuck! He’s like that guy from that show who does the thing,” Landry’s date gushed, snapping his fingers. “Yassss!”
“Bet that’s one of his quirky billionaire eccentricities,” Miranda Baxter-Hicks suggested to no one in particular. “Sterling Chase is a Renaissance man.”
Rowe—Sterling—glanced over his shoulder and nodded gravely at her, accepting this praise. “Indeed, Miranda.” He turned back to the podium. “And I’m sorry to say that you, Austin, have disappointed me greatly with your attitude.” He clucked his tongue. “And your lack of scruples.”
“Thereisno Sterling Chase!” Austin shouted into the microphone. “Everyone knows that.”
Except everyone didn’t. Rowe was the sort of person everyone wanted to believe could be the billionaire founder of a company—young and angelic, a little outrageous, and drop-dead gorgeous. It didn’t matter what his real name was or where he came from. In fact, that would all add to the mystique. This audiencewantedto believe.
