Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,11

army of bodyguards if you needed them.’

‘No thank you. Listen, Violet, I’m as free right now as I’ll ever be. But the paparazzi follow Connor and that exposure could put me in danger.’

‘You’re exaggerating. So what if the paparazzi take a photo of you? You’re Mia Simms now, not Callie Buckley.’

Callie Buckley.

Mia closed her eyes when she heard the name.

So much had happened since she was Callie Buckley.

Life hadn’t been completely happy and certainly hadn’t been stress-free back then, but at least she’d lived her life honestly. She’d been able to form friendships based on who she really was—not someone she was pretending to be.

Now her life was one lie after another and there was an ever-pressing need to keep looking back over her shoulder.

A soft knock sounded on the door. ‘Ma’am, your tea.’

The butler wheeled in the ornate wooden tea trolley.

‘Thank you, Dawson, and pass on my thanks to Nell. We’ll serve ourselves.’ The butler gave a slight bow and left. No sooner had the study door closed behind him than Violet patted the couch beside her.

Mia declined the unspoken invitation. She was way too wired right now to sit still.

‘Giovanni would never look at you and see the teenager you were,’ Violet launched as she poured the tea from the fine bone china teapot.

‘Think, Violet. Every woman Connor dates is a beautiful somebody. If he’s seen out with a plain, unknown woman, the media is going to be all the keener to discover who I am and how I came to be dating him.’

‘And they’ll learn you’re Mia Simms, an employee in his company.’ She added some cream to each tea cup then picked up a spoon to stir. ‘They’ll assume you met at work.’

‘I work hard at my job. I don’t want to be viewed as the CEO’s latest fling. And apart from that, the press would wonder where I’m from.’

‘The background created for you will stick. The FBI have been doing this sort of thing for decades and Stanley used all his MI5 connections to liaise with them. He’s perfectly satisfied there are no holes left unplugged or he’d have ensured you had a personal bodyguard right from the beginning.’ She handed Mia a cup of tea. ‘He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he thought your life was in danger. Neither would I.’

‘But Mia Simms is employed by Stewart Corporation. She works at the same soup kitchen with Violet Stewart who happened to be the closest friend of Callie Buckley’s grandmother. How long would it take Giovanni to work it out? How long before he realises that Stanley was Archibald’s cousin and all three of you were good friends with my grandparents?’

‘I refuse to believe he’d trace you.’ She made a dismissive gesture with one of her hands and the diamonds from her rings flashed as they caught the light. ‘You don’t even sound American now.’

‘Violet, please forget your demands and go back to hospital.’ Mia sat back down on the edge of the settee, a seething mass of angst. ‘You’ve already forced Connor into noticing me and he’s not interested. Accept it.’

‘He hasn’t had a chance to see the real you. He thinks you have no spine!’

Gee, thanks for sharing that with me!

‘I doubt he thinks so any more,’ Mia said with a grimace. ‘When he came storming into my office to confront me, I lashed right back at him.’

‘Perfect! That’s just what he needs!’

Mia groaned.

‘Dear, isn’t there a single ounce of feminine pride in you that makes you want to show him how beautiful you truly are?’

It was her own need more than pride that wanted him to reconsider her appeal as a woman, but she squashed the thought. ‘I’m not Cinderella and you’re not my fairy godmother.’

Violet sipped her tea then smiled. ‘Oh, but you could be, Mia and I definitely have it in me to play fairy godmother. Biscuit, dear?’

‘No, thank you.’

Violet sat calmly drinking tea and nibbling on a shortbread biscuit as though she’d never launched her outlandish scheme. Meanwhile, nerves ate into Mia and the last thing she felt like doing was eating a damned thing.

‘Frankly, the way your grandson spoke to me today was so hurtful—so insulting—I’m not interested in dating him. I don’t even respect him professionally after the way he behaved.’

‘It wasn’t the CEO of Stewart Corporation who confronted you today.’ Violet sighed and regret bracketed her mouth. ‘I believe the person you saw wasn’t even the man, but the grief-stricken boy who lost