THE BILLIONAIRE IS OBSESSED WITH ME

Chapter One

*Chapter 1: The Deal - Expanded*

The coffee shop smelled like roasted beans and warm vanilla. I sat in my corner booth, finally getting a quiet moment. Rain tapped the glass windows behind me. It never lasted long. The woman across from me was about to ruin it.

Six months of dating her. Six months of complaints and one-sided talk. I’d come for the dark roast and chocolate cake. She’d come to criticize the chairs, the music, the barista’s smile.

Before she left for the bathroom, she’d been talking nonstop. Her voice had that high, tight pitch that drilled into my skull. I couldn’t even taste my coffee.

Then movement caught my eye. My security team shifted on the other side of the room, hands near their jackets. I looked up as a woman slid into the seat my date had just left.

She moved like she owned the air around her. Dark hair falling past her shoulders, red lipstick sharp as a warning, eyes that didn’t blink first. She set a thumb drive on the table. The metal felt cold even from here.

“Can I help you?” I asked, lifting a hand to stop my men.

She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Not her face. The way she sat. Like someone who’d already lost everything and had nothing left to lose.

“I know you don’t know me,” she said. Her voice was low, steady. “I don’t know you either, except what my husband, soon-to-be ex-husband, told me. He’s turned out to be a mess, so I wouldn’t be surprised if half of it was lies. Doesn’t matter.”

“What is this?” I kept my voice even, but my pulse picked up. Deals like this didn’t walk in off the street.

“Information.” The corner of her mouth lifted. Not a smile. A blade. “My ex destroyed me. He left business files on my laptop. Transactions you’d be interested in. I’m not here to blackmail you, Mr. Yates. I want to pay you to help me take him down.”

“Bribe me how?” I almost laughed. People underestimated me all the time. Then she said the name.

“Evan Sampson is my ex.”

The cup in my hand stopped halfway to my mouth. Evan Sampson. That name had been on my desk for months. A rival. A problem I was planning to solve.

Married to _this_ woman? I let my gaze run over her once, slow. The set of her jaw. The way her fingers didn’t shake. “How did he ruin you? Please don’t say cheating.”

“With my sister.”

The word hit like ice water.

“Twins?”

“No.” She shook her head. “He slept with my sister at her birthday party. Got her pregnant. In the house I bought for us.”

My jaw tightened. I could ruin Evan’s reputation with half of what she’d just said. “I could destroy him with this alone.”

“Do it.” She said it flat, like she’d rehearsed it. “It’ll hurt my mother more than me at this point. They’re getting married this weekend. It took me a month to go through his files. He forgot to change his email too, so I’ve been reading his messages. He hates you. His whole family does. They call you ‘Yates the Vulture’ in their emails.”

“What do you want?” She wasn’t a weeping ex-wife. She was a woman with a plan, and plans were dangerous.

“Look through the USB. My contact info is on it. If you want more, I’ll give it. One condition.” She leaned forward. I caught a hint of jasmine from her perfume. Something clean and sharp.

“There always is.”

“Ruins him. Take everything. Make him pay.” Her voice stayed calm, but her knuckles were white where she gripped the table edge. “But don’t touch the child. It’s not their fault. I don’t want a kid punished for this. He didn’t ask to be born into that mess.”

“If I take everything, you lose alimony too. You’ll walk away with nothing.”

“I don’t want his money.” For the first time, something cracked in her voice. “I want him to feel what I felt. That moment when your whole life turns to ash and you realize the person you trusted most lit the match.”

Behind her, my date’s voice rose near the restroom. A splash, then a sharp gasp. The woman across from me stood, smoothing her skirt.

“Looks like my distraction ran out,” she said. “Call me if the files are useful. We’ll negotiate.” She dropped a card with only a number on it next to the USB. Then she was gone, weaving through tables, rain catching in her hair as the door closed.

I palmed the USB. It was lighter than it should’ve been for something that could crash a company. I nodded to security. “Scan it. No viruses. Air-gapped system. And find me everything on Evan Sampson’s ex-wife. Everything. Bank records, family, where she lives, who she talks to.”

“Yes, sir.”

My date returned, water dripping from her silk skirt, mascara running. “Cedric, some woman dumped water on me in the bathroom. Then another one did it coming out. How is this your favorite place?”

“Unlucky timing,” I said, hiding a smile. The brunette had arranged that. I owed her one, and I always paid my debts.

“The staff should control their customers better,” she huffed, dabbing at her skirt with a napkin. It only spread the stain.

“Was it staff?”

“No.”

“Then why blame them?” I sipped my coffee. Still warm. Still perfect. Unlike this date.

She rolled her eyes and picked up her coffee with wet fingers. “Who was that woman at the table?”

“What woman?”

“The one who just left. With the red lips.”

“Wrong table,” I lied smoothly. Lying to her was easy. “She was embarrassed.”

“Then why did she run out?”

“Maybe her date left her.” I met her eyes. “Can we drop it? Enjoy your coffee before it gets cold.”

Twenty minutes later I was done. She complained about her pastry tasting like fish, about the music being too loud, about the chair hurting her back. I decided I was coming here alone from now on. The cake was worth it. She wasn’t.

When the bill came, the owner stopped us. Cara, the woman who’d run this place for ten years, came out from behind the counter. “Mr. Yates, I heard about the incident in the restroom. Please, let this meal be on us. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Appreciate it, Cara, but I’m happy to pay.” I stood, dropping cash on the table anyway. The brunette had cost me a date. Least I could do was cover the cake.

“You’re a valued customer. Please accept this.”

“Then thank you. Next time it’s on me.” I tipped my head to her. Outside, rain had picked up, slicking the street and reflecting the neon sign.

I turned to my driver. “Take her home. I’m going to the office.”

“You’re not coming with me?” She trailed a hand up my arm, nails clicking on my suit sleeve.

“No,” I said quietly. The truth was simple. “Today made it clear we’re not compatible. We won’t be doing this again. Goodbye.”

I left her standing there in the rain and got in the front seat with security. “Office. Now.”

I rolled the USB between my fingers. Cold metal. Hot information. A woman who wanted revenge more than money. And a rival who’d just made a dangerous enemy.

For the first time all evening, I felt satisfied.