RAFAEL
I struck out my racket, took a split step in the center of the court, and then hit the ball back to my opponent. The rhythm of our rallies kept going; neither my competitive challenger nor I were backing down.
Tennis was my best sport whenever I needed to clear my head. There were a few of them that kept messing with my rationality: Dad’s retirement and his impossible request, PeekFlix, and Carter’s delectable assistant.
I’d avoided my father over the past few days. I deliberately didn’t come to their house over the weakened when I usually did to evade further discussion about marriage. I still thought it was ridiculous.
I have a meeting with Emilio tomorrow evening. Carter arranged it for me with Sue, so it was all good. It seemed they were interested in what I’d been offering them so far. He still couldn’t decide, which meant he was still considering New Star and Dragon’s Gate.
As for Savannah, I still had difficulty getting her out of my system, knowing she was just a floor below my office. I hadn’t run into her ever since the party, but I was very much tempted to visit her desk. But I’d reminded myself not to engage with her because it wouldn’t do us any good.
Thank God Carter agreed to play the rackets with me for a few rounds. My brother swung a slice backhand over the net.
Ah, and he’s getting good at this.
I chased the ball down, but my momentum was disturbed when Billy appeared at the back of the court and hit a home run.
I looked over at my tenacious assistant, who didn’t seem to know the meaning of resting hours. His habit of troubling me was getting worse than my mother’s call every other night. I thought he was going to be occupied when I left him with mountains of paperwork in the office.
Goddammit. “What is it now?”
Carter crossed over to my side of the net. “So, no more next round?”
I patted his shoulder. “Later. It’s still my ball.”
He laughed. “It’s obviously mine. You lost.”
Billy proceeded toward me. In fairness to my executive assistant’s keenness about his job, I knew he wouldn’t disturb me if it wasn’t necessary.
I really hoped it was. “What do you want?”
Billy showed me his iPad with news in a bold headline. “I just thought this was urgent.”
CEO OF SEBASTIAN ENTERTAINMENT, RAFAEL SEBASTIAN, PROPOSED TO ACQUIRE PEEKFLIX FOR $10 BILLION.
Jesus. The news had traveled fast. This was supposed to be confidential. I told Carter to strictly remind Sue this wasn’t to be disclosed to the public. But if it wasn’t from Carter, the news could’ve spread from Emilio’s side—not that I was accusing them. Lockhart and Reed had officially seen a glimpse of my cards.
“Shit,” Carter hissed. “This can’t be good, right? You know very well Lockhart can match the offer. I doubt that New Star Media can, but there’s something else you should know that would give them the advantage.”
“What?” I retorted.
“I just heard from Wesley. Emilio’s daughter, Sofia, is Edward Reed’s mistress.”
“And you’re only telling me this now?”
“I was looking for the right time to tell you. You have a lot on your hands right now. But does it matter?” Carter rested his hands on his waist. “Emilio has the final say, and he’s still choosing. He’s meeting you tomorrow, remember?”
“Of course, it does. Who knows what they are planning now? I’m fed up with their dirty tricks.”
New Star Media wouldn’t be able to win if they headed for a clean game. They had to gamble everything to match my offer. But if they used a connection to gain power, it was possible for them to take advantage.
How about Savannah? The friend she caught with her husband was Emilio’s daughter. She could’ve told me.
Wait. Why would she? There was nothing she could do about it.
I shook off the thought, scrolled the page, and read the article further. “It didn’t say anything about the rest of our proposal.”
“The figure isn’t even accurate. You know it’s not just ten billion. But if this came out to the public, the other details might.”
“Who do you think leaked this?”
“Could be an insider. This isn’t a major problem for now, but I’ll call Sue to prevent anything else from coming out. Is there anything else?” Carter asked Billy.
“Oh, there’s another one,” my assistant said, flipping the screen to another page.
RAFAEL SEBASTIAN WITH A WOMAN IN HIS ARMS. THE BILLIONAIRE BACHELOR FINALLY DATING! WHO IS THE LUCKY WOMAN?
What the fuck?
There were a couple of photos on the page. One was from the party when I held Savannah by the staircase, and another was at The River Café. But they didn’t show Savannah’s face. It wasn’t my first time being photographed with a woman, but I’d never read an outrageous headline like this before.
Why couldn’t they fucking leave my personal life alone?
“Are they serious?” Carter snatched the iPad to read the full article. “This is Savannah.”
“Yes, but they blurred her face.” For now. She shouldn’t get tangled in my affairs. She was going through enough mess.
“It says here that you even drove her home.” Carter looked up at me and laughed. “Wow, Rafe. The paparazzi must be obsessed with you. He finally saw something worth publishing.”
“What is so surprising about that? I have driven some women to their apartments.”
“I drove them,” Billy interjected, raising his hand.
“Yes, but she’s different—” I paused. And they both stared at me in astonishment. “Just call the agency that published that article and prevent anything like that from coming out,” I instructed.
“Of course, sir. But that’s not the actual problem,” Billy said.
When would this ever stop? “What now?”
“Ms. Winkler called my desk, and she told me to bring your girlfriend so his wife won’t be bored. Apparently, Mr. Estrella is bringing his missus to the meeting.”
A beat passed. “Come again?”
“Ms. Winkler said her boss read this article, and he wants to extend his greetings,” he explained further as if this wasn’t something serious. The rumors of him being a family man must be true. But when the hell did I get a girlfriend? I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist in unison.
Carter burst out a laugh, holding his chest as he cackled. “Oh, did he now? God, if Dad hears this... He will—”
“What now, Carter? He will do what? Celebrate? I will not feed his ego. Not in a million years,” I shut him up. “Billy, tell Sue I’m going alone because I don’t have a fucking girlfriend.”
“But he’s looking forward to it, sir,” Billy added. “It will not be good for your image if you don’t oblige.”
“I don’t owe them anything to oblige!” Since when did my assistant become nosy? Oh, yes. He always was. “You will tell them what I said, and this is the last time we will speak of this.”
“I already said yes.”
“What?!” I snapped.
“Should I tell Savi?” Carter shrugged, suppressing a laugh. “Isn’t she the woman in the photos?”
“Don’t,” I warned firmly. I picked up my duffle bag and towel and moved out, but they followed me around and blocked the way.
“Listen. It doesn’t have to be real,” Carter convinced. “Just take my assistant with you like she’s Billy. Besides, she can help you. She knows these people, right?”
“And you want your assistant to pretend? Do you think she’ll come? You’re being ridiculous.” I continued to march, walking past my intrusive brother.
“Are you worried about that now? I’ll tell Savannah it’s a part of her job.” He raised his palms. “Might I remind you what you are doing this for? This is for the company and to win PeekFlix. To win Dad’s favor.”
“That isn’t the plan. We’re not lying to those people, Carter. I’ll do the introductions, tell them the article isn’t true, and offer them the best deal they probably wouldn’t get in their lifetime. Understood?”
“Come on. If he’s bringing his wife, it’s our job to make a good impression on her too—with Savi, of course. You can’t do that alone. Besides, what do you know about tending wives? No offense. You can’t win PeekFlix with your current attitude.”
Fine. He got me there. He sounded just like Dad. “Will it work?”
“It will,” he assured. “If the Reeds are using tricks, why can’t we? If we nail this, we have more advantages. Businessmen like Emilio like money, but he’s the kind who lives with principle.”
I smirked. Did he find all of those details while meeting with Emilio’s assistant? Impressive. I had a good feeling Emilio’s assistant was in favor of us.
“Did Sue tell you that?”
Carter beamed. “I’m that good.”
“Talk to Savannah.”
“Yes!” He lifted his arms above his head. “I’ll call her right now.”
“You better be right about this.” I shook my head, chuckling. as we headed out to the exit.