Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Three (BWWM Romance Serial) by Mia Caldwell Page B

here, Jada,” Marina said. “So you know Syl is
always telling me the latest rumors. Let’s face it, the woman can’t keep her
mouth shut to save her life. I didn’t want to browbeat her for more info
because she’s my best source in town and I owe her a lot of favors.”
    “Come on. What stories has she broken for you? Was a
councilman using the courthouse copier to make flyers for his garage sale
again?”
    “Don’t scoff. Journalists protect their sources.”
    “Sounds like you’re giving yours up right now.”
    “Shut up. So, Syl said it was important that CGTV break the
story. I agreed to stay in the background. After I hung up with her, I dug
around on the internet and found a number for the CGTV tip line—”
    “CGTV has a tip line?” Jada asked.
    “That’s how they get the best gossip.”
    “I figured they made it all up.”
    Marina shrugged. “Not all of it. So I called the tip line
but I got voice mail. I left a message asking them to call me back. It was
pretty late in the afternoon when they did. I told them what Syl had told me to
tell them, but they didn’t sound interested. The guy said that maybe they’d
look into it, maybe not. That was that.”
    “Really? That’s weird.”
    “I thought so, too. That night, I decided maybe Sasha wasn’t
a big enough name on her own to get their attention. I felt badly about letting
Syl down, so the next morning, when I didn’t see anything on the celeb shows
about Sasha, I called the CGTV tip line again.”
    Jada leaned forward. “Did you talk to Sylvia about all
this?”
    “No. She wasn’t at work. Mrs. Nell said Syl stayed home
because one of her kids was sick or something. She wasn’t sure. You know Mrs.
Nell.”
    “I can’t believe she still works down there. Isn’t she like
a hundred years old?”
    “Close. She drives Syl nuts. She’s half batty and the little
bit of work she does, she does wrong. Mostly, she crochets teapot cozies and
booties all day long. Mrs. Nell aside,” Marina continued, “I called CGTV again
and got someone different. I changed what I told them this time.”
    “In what way?”
    “I said I was a local journalist and had a huge tip about
billionaire Ian Buckley’s fiancée. I said I didn’t have the resources to get
the info myself, but if CGTV would agree up front to share the info and let me
support the story in print after they broke it, then I would tell them where to
look for the scoop of the year.”
    “Nice move. You wanting to share in the glory helped
convince them it was a valuable tip.”
    “Exactly,” Marina said.
    “And you used Ian’s name in case Sasha’s wasn’t enough.”
    “Right. So this guy called me back a few hours later and
agreed to the deal. I told him about the records department and he said someone
would be in Springers Glen that afternoon. We arranged to meet at the coffee
shop on the square and he said they’d share whatever they found with me.”
    Jada’s heart began to pound. “So what was the info?”
    The corner of Marina’s upper lip quirked in disgust. “I got
stood up. I waited at the coffee shop until six o’clock and they never showed.
I called CGTV over and over but no one returned my calls. I didn’t know if
they’d changed their minds and didn’t come, or if they’d gotten something so
huge that they decided to cut me out.”
    “It would have been too late by then for you to go to the
courthouse and find it for yourself. Did you call Syl at home and ask her?”
     “I could have, but I didn’t. I was too embarrassed that I
might have been played. I thought I’d wait and see if there were any stories on
TV about Sasha or Ian over the weekend. I fell asleep watching CGTV that night.
When I woke up the next day, the first thing I saw was your house and all the
reporters swarming around it. I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea what had
happened.”
    Jada shuddered at the memory.
    “It took me a while to figure out what the story was,”
Marina said.