Page 32 of The Billionaire's Secret Kiss

Philip was always one of those people who lacked the capacity to pick up on social cues. I'd been surprised when he'd gone to work for a social media company since I always thought of them as being about communication.

Communication was not Philip’s strong suit.

Neither was reading between the lines. It was against my nature to be rude, but I was tired of Philip thinking that somehow, we were on the same side.

"Philip, Noah isn't bothering me. Actually, we're back together, not that it's any of your business. Why are you going after him like this? First, the lawsuit—which we both know was completely unfounded—and then all those tweets the other night? Why would you do this? Why do you have it in for Noah?"

Heavy silence hung in the air before Philip shot back, "How can you even ask me that, Ella? Don't you remember what it was like in school? Every grant I applied for, Noah got. Every time we shared a project, he was voted lead. He had you before I even had a chance to ask you out. He always got everything I wanted. Now I'm stopping him from getting what he wants."

"Do you even hear yourself?" I asked, incredulous. "This stuff is ancient history, Philip. You've been out of college for three years. You have a great job. And you're not just going after Noah. He has employees, people who need their jobs. You're punishing all of them over some stupid grudge you should've let go of years ago."

"Ella, I always thought you were so smart. Why are women so fucking dumb when it comes to Noah Endicott? I don't get it. You're willing to forgive him anything. Don't you remember what he was like after you two broke up? He fucked his way through California. He dumped you the second he got out here, and he never looked back. Now he's in Atlanta for three days, and you’re falling all over yourself to get back together with him? I wasted my time calling you."

"I think you did," I agreed. "You need to stop this, Philip. Leave Noah alone."

"Not going to happen. Have a nice life, Ella."

Philip disconnected the call. I dropped my phone in the center console of my car, staring blindly at the road ahead while I tried to make sense of my conversation with Philip.

I’d never thought of Philip Martin as a nice guy. He was too prickly and insensitive to fall into that category, but I never realized he was a raging lunatic. He hadn't even argued when I'd reminded him that his lawsuit against Noah had been groundless.

There was no point. He knew it, I knew it, and Noah knew it. Everyone knew it. He'd only had enough evidence to blacken Noah's name and drag it out long enough to get some money out of Endicott Technologies.

I racked my brain, trying to remember if I'd ever done anything to encourage Philip's interest. Noah had mentioned a time or two that he thought Philip had a crush on me, but I'd always blown him off. Philip never singled me out or behaved inappropriately, and I'd been too wrapped up in Noah and school to care.

I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, my thoughts snagging on something Philip had said.

He'll be leaving Atlanta shortly, and there won't be any reason for him to go back.

What had Philip done? Was he the reason Noah was leaving town in a rush? I wouldn't have any answers until I spoke to Noah.

If Philip was set on going after Noah and Endicott Tech, Noah was going to need all of his attention to deal with it, especially with the company in such a vulnerable place.

I wanted Noah. I wanted this to work. But maybe, with everything going on, Noah would be better off if I just let him go.

I heard Noah's voice on the other side of his hotel room door as I raised my hand to knock. It got louder, then he swung the door open, and his eyes widened. He stepped back to invite me in, giving me a look of confusion before he turned his attention back to his call.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there. I don't know what he thinks he’s going to prove with this, but we'll figure it out, Dave. We’re not going to let that fucking weasel drag us down. Yeah, no, I know. I'll text you when I have a time. Okay. Yeah, okay."

He hung up and shoved his phone in his back pocket. It immediately started ringing again. With a look of annoyance, he took it out, checked the screen, and silenced the call.

"Ella, what's going on? Why are you here? I thought you had to work today."

His eyes jumped from mine to the couch opposite the desk. His suitcase sat there, half-open, neat stacks of clothing inside.

Stating the obvious, I said, "You're leaving?"

Noah ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated and frustrated.

"Els, I have to. I know the timing sucks. I do. But I have to get back to California. Phillips is out there stirring up shit, trying to kill this deal with Winters. It's complete bullshit, but my team heard a rumor that he's planning a protest tomorrow. I can't leave them to deal with that on their own. It's my company. I can't look like I'm hiding."

"A protest? What the hell is there to protest about?" I asked, thoroughly confused. "Are you guys using child labor for your programmers? Doing animal testing?"

A ghost of a smile flitted across Noah's face before he let out a sigh. "No, that's what's so annoying about it. Philip has people spreading a rumor that the software we’re developing doesn't incapacitate drones but it enables the NSA to get into the encrypted content of any mobile device within range. He’s stirring people up who think we’re stealing their data and handing it over to the NSA."

I shook my head. That didn't make any sense. "But isn't that the opposite of what your software does? I thought your software was valuable because it was going to let people disable a drone without touching nearby devices."

"Well, if you're going to be accurate, then yes. Clearly, truth is not a requirement when it comes to getting people to go crazy on social media. Though Dave is pretty sure that Philip is manufacturing most of it by using bot accounts and hired protesters. There are people out there who know what's going on, and they're trying to stick up for us, but they're getting drowned out by Philip's minions. The whole thing is a fucking waste of time, but we can’t afford for him to tank Endicott Tech’s reputation. Not right now."