Page 18 of The Billionaire's Secret Kiss

Tate and Emily drove me home. I didn't have any more of the cinnamon schnapps after dinner, but I'd had a glass of wine while I was eating and I was in no shape to get behind the wheel, even if I was only going a few blocks.

The jingle of my ringtone cut into the dark car as we pulled out of the parking lot. I checked it, curious. The number was unfamiliar. Normally, I’d let it ring through to voicemail, but I was just tipsy enough to answer.

“Hello?”

“Ella? Ella, it’s Phillip. How are you? It’s been a while.”

“Phillip Martin?” I hadn’t spoken to Phillip Martin in almost two years. Not since he’d sued Noah over the alleged stolen code. He’d called me once, right after the suit was filed, but I’d been so upset I’d hung up on him.

“Yeah. Long time no talk,” he said in a jovial tone more suited to a conversation with a good friend, not an out of the blue call to someone he hadn’t seen since college. Odd. “Listen, I heard that Noah was back in Atlanta and I just wanted to check in and make sure you’re okay. Has he tried to see you?”

“Um, why are you asking, Phillip? Are you keeping tabs on him? Doesn’t he have a restraining order against you?”

“That’s old news,” Phillip said, blowing off the restraining order and sidestepping my question. “No, we’re going up for some of the same contracts, and I’ve been keeping an eye on him. When I heard he was going to be back in Atlanta, I was worried about you. I know you had a tough breakup.”

Phillip’s voice was heavy with sympathy, but something about it was off. My brain was mildly pickled on schnapps, but I knew enough to distrust Phillip Martin.

“We did,” I said evenly. “But I’m fine now. Like you said. Old news.”

“I heard you had a job with Vance Winters. Noah show up there?”

“Phillip, I’m sorry, but I have to go. My friends just showed to pick me up. It was nice talking to you. Take care.”

I tapped the phone to hang up and stared down at the screen, the time of the call blinking at me.

What. The. Fuck?

“Did Phillip Martin just call you?” Emily asked in an incredulous voice. “I didn’t think you knew him that well.”

“I don’t,” I said slowly. “We were acquaintances in college, but that’s it. He’s never called me before. Except—”

“When did he call you before, Ella?” Tate asked, his voice low and dark. Belatedly, I noticed we were pulled over in the alley, not far from the parking lot behind his building.

“Right after he brought suit against Noah,” I said. “I hung up on him, and he never called again.”

“What did he want?” Emily asked, sounding worried.

“To make sure Noah wasn’t bothering me. He knows I work for Vance. He wanted to know if Noah had met with Vance.”

“I don’t like you in the middle of those two,” Tate said. “That lawsuit got ugly before Noah settled. I’m not surprised Phillip Martin is watching Noah, but I don’t like that he’s watching you. How does he know you’re working for Vance and Maggie?”

It was a good question.

“If he’s watching Noah and found out he was talking to Vance, he might have looked into Vance. There was that picture last month,” Emily pointed out.

I’d gone to the park with Vance and Maggie, playing with Rosie in the sun while my employers enjoyed a run together. Someone had snapped a picture of the happy family and caught me in the background. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like a big deal. Now I wondered.

“He’s going to try to mess up Noah’s deal,” I said, awareness dawning in my tipsy brain. “That’s why he was checking to see if Noah met with Vance. That asshole.”

“Maybe you should come back to our place,” Emily said. “I don’t like this guy watching you. Not with Noah trying to get to you, too.”

“I thought you wanted me to give Noah a chance.”

“I do, I think,” Emily said hesitantly. “I want you to be happy. But this is getting weird. Whatever is going on with Phillip and Noah, you don’t want to be in the middle.”

“We’ve got plenty of room, Ella,” Tate said. “So do Vance and Maggie.”

“No,” I said. “Vance has plenty of security on the loft. And Phillip is in California. He’s not really interested in me anyway. He’s all about Noah.”