Read Online Five Minutes Late: A Billionaire Romance by Sonora Seldon - Free Book Online Page B

going back at this point, so I just piled it on deeper. I would have killed to see Mr. Killane’s reaction to all this, but the crowd of suits still blocked my view of his desk.
    “No takers? Nobody wants to splatter exclusive pictures of the Amazing Colossal Girl all over Twitter and reddit and Facebook? The Amazing Colossal Girl who, by the way, is NOT sleeping with your boss, no matter what you’ve heard?”
    I still couldn’t see Mr. Killane, but there was no mistaking his voice as he dropped a single word into the horrified silence.
    “Yet.”
    I stepped down hard on the urge to glare in the direction of his desk, and even harder on the urge to walk over there and punch him in the face. Instead, I aimed my calm gaze out over the crowd of helpless witnesses to whatever this was, and I kept my voice light, sunny, and utterly relaxed.
    “Shut up, asshole, you’re stepping all over my moment here.”
    Someone gasped. Mr. Killane chuckled, the bastard.
    “So, if none of you guys want to take some pictures you can jack off to later, and none of you stick-figure ladies want to snap some reference shots of what a real woman looks like, how about putting your faces to the front and paying attention to the guy who signs your paychecks, okay? I’m reasonably sure Mr. Killane called you up here to conduct some kind of business, not stand there and stare at me like I’m the second coming of sex.”
    Thanks for the sweet line, Danny.
    The crowd of underlings turned around – not all at once, but in ragged groups of two and three, as some of them stared at each other and more than a few shook themselves as if emerging from a spell. They fastened their desperate attention on Mr. Killane now, and I imagined more than a few of them were silently begging their crazy boss to rescue them from the crazier curvy girl.
    The three suits who were closest to his desk edged to one side as they turned around, and now I could see Devon Killane leaning back in his chair, hands draped carelessly on the armrests, the supremely confident lord of his realm.
    “Well put, Ms. Daniels. And thank you, Dana, that will be all.”
    Dana still stood frozen behind me, where she’d been throughout my little performance – but the instant Killane dismissed her, she bolted for the outer office and yanked the door shut behind her with a thump.
    Mr. Killane promptly forgot her existence and mine as well, as he returned to the conversation that had been interrupted by my grand entrance
    “So, Mr. Elliston – you feel quite certain that the Claytor Investments representatives can’t muster a better offer for Riner Integrated Technology’s outstanding shares?”
    Mr. Elliston consulted with an aide who quoted figures on share prices, another executive offered a comment about the financial stability of a Claytor Investments subsidiary, and I heaved a sigh of relief as the subject of Ashley Daniels vanished from the discussion.
    Another ten minutes of conversation droned by, as I stood there in the background, grateful to be ignored. Then suits started drifting out of Killane’s office in twos and threes, consulting their watches and whispering into their phones.
    Most of them glanced at me as they left – more than a few in nervous admiration, judging by their expressions – and one harried forty-something woman with two aides fluttering around her walked over and gave my shoulder a hurried squeeze.
    “Good luck, kid – you’ll need it with that guy.”
    Mr. Killane rose to his feet as the room emptied out. Only two executives remained, backing away from him just a bit as he walked out from behind his desk.
    The older suit, a guy who I vaguely recognized as being somewhere near the top of the mergers and acquisitions department of the Killane empire, still had more to say.
    “Sir, I’m not sure I see the necessity for you making the trip out to San Francisco to oversee this in person. The team we already have in place is the best available on the