FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 177

CHAPTER 177

MIE

Simon stood perfectly still for a moment, staring at the crowd on the other side of the barricade.

yose her

I knew that silence. It was the same one that came right before he made a decision no one would be able to

talk him out of

One of the security guards approached us.

“Mr. Hart, we need to get you both out of here.”

Simon pointed toward the man who had thrown the egg.

“Find out who he is. Turn the footage over to the police. And nobody lays a hand on anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

His voice was quiet, but there was an unmistakable edge to it.

“Simon,” I said.

He turned to me immediately.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. It was just an egg.”

“It was meant for you.”

His jaw tightened.

“I know.”

Security cleared a path to the car. Simon kept a firm hand against my back, shielding me from the cameras and the shouting as we made our way through the crowd. He didn’t relax until the door closed behind us.

The driver pulled away.

Simon took off his stained jacket, folded it inside out, and set it on the floor, well away from my dress.

“I should’ve seen this coming,” he said.

“You can’t predict everything, Simon.”

“I can hire people who are better at it.”

I studied his face. The anger was still there, but it had shifted into something far more dangerous than a confrontation on the sidewalk. He was already mentally putting together a list of things that needed to be done.

He pulled out his phone and made a call.

09:57 Mon, Oct 12

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“I need you to check with flight operations. Confirm the aircraft is available, the crew is ready, and we have clearance for the route. If everything checks out, I want to leave tonight. Call me when the flight plan is confirmed.”

I slowly turned toward him.

“What aircraft?”

Simon ended the call.

“Our plane.”

“Where are we going?”

“On our honeymoon.”

“Simon, we’ve already talked about this.”

“We have, but…”

“We agreed to postpone it.”

“And I’ve changed my mind.”

“You can’t just change your mind and have a private jet take off.”

He looked at me, completely serious.

“I can. But I’m not taking off without clearance, if that’s what my favorite attorney is worried about.”

“Don’t joke about this. Hart is in the middle of a crisis.”

“Exactly.”

“You seriously want to leave the country right now?”

“I want to get you away from this circus. The legal team is handling things, the lab is running its tests, and I’ll be available for anything that requires my attention. Sitting in a conference room twenty-four hours a day isn’t going to make a chemical analysis come back any faster.”

“And what if something serious happens?”

“Then we come back. Simple as that.”

He took my hand.

“Jamie, a man tried to attack my wife outside our wedding today. Tomorrow, we could have protesters outside our home. I want security and legal to do their jobs without the press following us around every corner. Getting out of the spotlight for a few days is the smartest thing we can do right now.”

I took a deep breath.

“A week?”

09:57 Mon, Oct 12 12 M.

FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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“At most. Long enough for the press to find something else to talk about so we can go back to the office without making headlines every time we walk through the door.” His hand settled against my waist, his

umb moving gently over my dress. “Before you joined Hart, we went through a flood of lawsuits. Contract disputes, accusations from competitors, you name it. I know how to handle a crisis, Jamie. I’m not saying our problems are going to magically disappear, but we have an excellent legal team. I trust them, and I freed you to trust them, too?”

I glanced down at the brand-new wedding band on my finger.

“I haven’t even packed.”

“Kelly will take care of it. I’ll have her send our things over while we wait in the airport’s VIP lounge.”

Simon tipped my chin up, brushing his thumb across my skin.

92

“Hey, look at me.” I met his eyes, and he continued. “We just got married, sweetheart. I want my wife all to myself for a few days. No meetings, no phone calls, none of this bullshit. Just you and me.”

I laughed softly and slipped my arms around his neck.

“Okay. I trust you, husband.”

The smile that spread across his face made my heart race.

“I like hearing you call me that, Mrs. Hart.”.

“Do you?”

“Very much.”

Simon wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer on the back seat. His fingers slid to the nape of my neck, and his mouth found mine in a slow, warm kiss.

When I parted my lips, his tongue brushed against mine, drawing a soft moan from my throat that he swallowed with another kiss.

I curled my fingers into his shirt, completely lost in him, until a sudden thought made me pull away.

“Wait! What about the kids?”

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