Alle Kapitel von Satisfying the billionaire (mxm): Kapitel 171 – Kapitel 180

Grayson’s lawyers moved fast. By the time I got home that evening Max had already seen the news alert. He held his phone up as I walked through the door. Knight Industries Files Harassment Complaint Against James Knight. European Division Access Permanently Revoked. “That was quick,” he said. “Grayson doesn’t move slowly when he’s decided something,” I said, dropping onto the couch. Sophie looked up from the armchair. “Is Diana okay?” “She’s safe,” I said. “Grayson has people outside her hotel and his lawyers are building a case around this morning’s approach.” I exhaled slowly. “James overplayed his hand.” “Panicking men usually do,” Sophie said quietly. I looked at her. “Diana said exactly that.” “Smart woman,” Sophie said simply and went back to her book. Max sat across from me. “So James is done?” “Not completely,” I said. “He’ll fight the complaint. His lawyers will drag it out.” I leaned back. “But he’s exposed now. He was operating from the shadows and the shadows

He called me twenty minutes later just to hear my voice. I was on the subway heading back to Max’s when his name lit up my screen. I pressed the phone to my ear and curved slightly toward the window for what little privacy a crowded Sunday evening train allowed. “Hey,” I said. “Hey.” His voice was low and warm and different from every other version of it I had catalogued. “You called,” I said. “You told me you were falling in love with me,” he said. “A message didn’t feel sufficient.” The man beside me was reading a newspaper. The woman across from me was asleep. Nobody in this train car had any idea what was happening inside this phone call. “Fair point,” I said quietly. “Leo.” I inhale. “I meant what I said. What I typed.” “I have been in love with you since long before I deserved to say it. Before I had done anything that justified even being near you honestly.” “I know,” I said. “I’m not telling you that to rush anything,” he continued carefully. “I know we said slowly

The photograph spread faster than either of us expected. By Friday morning it had been picked up by four entertainment sites, two gossip columns and one surprisingly serious entertainment journalist who framed it as a human interest angle on Grayson’s statement. Rising actor. Billionaire CEO. The weight of what had brought them together and what they were building after it. My phone had not stopped since 7am. I sat in my trailer between scenes reading headlines I hadn’t asked for and feeling something unexpected about them. Not the urge to hide or correct or manage. Just a quiet settled certainty that this was my life and I had chosen it with full knowledge of everything it contained. Jade knocked. “Five minutes Mr Carter.” “Coming,” I said. On set Carol said nothing about the photograph. She ran us through two scenes. Focused and demanding and entirely uninterested in anything happening outside these four walls which was exactly what I needed. The second scene was a turning

Grayson left at ten. Max walked him to the door which I had not expected. They stood there for a brief moment and Max said something quiet that I couldn’t hear from the couch and Grayson nodded once and they shook hands. Just two people reaching an understanding. I walked Grayson to the building entrance while Max and Sophie did the dishes with suspicious loudness to give us privacy. We stood in the small lobby, the rain starting again outside, light through the glass door falling across the floor between us. “Thank you for tonight,” he said. “Sophie cooked,” I said. “Thank Max for the interrogation.” “I meant it.” His voice was quiet. “Being here. Being part of something ordinary.” I stopped what I was doing . “I don’t have much of that.” I looked at him carefully. “You can have more of it.” “I know.” His eyes held mine. “I intend to.” We stood for a moment. Then he said, “Leo.” “Yes.” “Can I kiss you?” I stepped forward. “Yes,” I said. He kissed me gently. When he p

The magazine interview was scheduled for Thursday. A journalist named Claire Danes … not the actress, she clarified immediately when she introduced herself, with the practiced ease of someone who had said it ten thousand times … arrived at Grayson’s apartment with a photographer and a voice recorder. I liked her immediately. We sat in Grayson’s living room. Him and I on the couch. Claire across from us with her recorder on the table. “Before we start,” she said, “I want you both to know this isn’t a gotcha piece. I’m interested in what actually happened. The whole picture.” “Good,” I said. “Because the whole picture is the only version we’re telling.” She smiled. “Perfect.” She clicked the recorder on. “Leo. Start wherever feels right.” I looked at Grayson briefly. He nodded slightly. “I was broke,” I said simply. “Completely broke. Debt collectors at my door. No work. No options.” I paused. “And someone told me about a man who could help people. For a price.” Claire leane