43. Celeste
Chapter 43
Celeste
I push him away. “What do you mean, you sold your share?”
A frustrated rumble comes with his sigh. Straightening, he abandons the delicious trailing of his fingers up my thigh.
I’d protest the loss if I wasn’t utterly shocked by his revelation.
“I wanted to make sure I could leave with you, in case you got deported.”
He searches my face for approval, or for something I can’t name. But he doesn’t seem his usual casual and carefree self with this admission. He fucking dropped his career because of me.
My heart attempts to flee my ribcage. “But—”
“Xander and Declan wanted me to step in as interim CEO because of the bullshit with Corm. I couldn’t have accepted that, knowing I might need to leave only days afterward. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
I’m completely speechless, filled with thoughts and emotions that range the entire gamut. When faced with a choice between me and his company, he chose me.
It’s stupid and reckless. But it’s so significant.
“It is a big deal, though.” Tears pool in my eyes. It’s a big fucking deal.
“Merged has been in my life for about as long as you, and I have no doubt in my mind that I’m left with the better of the two.” His words leave no room for doubt.
My poor heart. I grab his lapels and pull him to me. Our teeth clash in a kiss that feels like everything. Thank you. I love you. I trust you. I’m yours.
We devour each other’s mouths with urgency, like there’s so much we need to accomplish with it, we can’t ease up and savor it.
The kiss buries the past, clears any remaining doubt, and seals our future in the most explosive way.
It’s a kiss like one that usually follows a proposal, or confirmation of commitment. But this union started with marriage, so we kiss to acknowledge its finality. The most brilliant finality .
“Have you just compared me to a financial company?” I admonish half-heartedly.
He chuckles and dips again to find his way under my skirt. “Oh, God, no. A company makes money. You only cost me.” He smirks.
“Caleb,” I hiss, half scolding him for his words, and half moaning his name as his fingers graze my underwear.
“So wet for me, black swan. Tell me, whose pussy is this?”
He’s not even applying any pressure yet, just holding his fingers lightly over my mound, and my knees buckle. “Yours.”
He pulls his hand away and wraps it around my throat before he kisses me savagely. “Whose mouth is this?”
“Yours.”
I yelp as he whips me around, pinning me with his hips, my back to his chest. His hands cup my breasts roughly. “Whose are these magnificent tits?”
“Yours.”
It’s a ridiculous game, really. I’m saying what he wants to hear. What should concern me is how honest my answers are.
Because he might need me to feed into his possessive nature, but I’m his.
His to love. His to care for. His to argue with. His to confide in. His to fuck. His to make love to. His to play with. His to laugh with. His to be vulnerable with.
His. His. His.
Caleb lifts my skirt. “Whose ass is this?” He squeezes both cheeks, probably leaving bruises.
“Yours.”
“That’s right, black swan, don’t ever forget that.” He rips my underwear off. “Hands on the wall.”
I glance at the small glass panel as a nurse passes by and doesn’t even look our way. Bracing myself against the wall, I bite my forearm as he fills me to the hilt.
We both moan as an overwhelming thrill takes over my body.
We might have upgraded to Caleb’s bedroom, but it’s still so satisfying to find each other in a public place.
That’s who we’ve been from the beginning. That’s the level of trust we showed each other before we even accepted our relationship.
The only difference is that I’m no longer in a role. I’m no longer playing my part.
I live it now with intense honesty.
Lily
One of my clients is hot (fire emoji)
Cora
I didn’t know you ever met with them
Lily
I’ve never seen him, but his voice…
Saar
Look him up online
Me
Don’t! Continue dreaming.
Cora
Don’t encourage her dreaming about a man she can’t have
Me
I got a man I didn’t want and I can’t complain
Saar
(puke emoji)
Cora
I need to get laid.
Lily
Me too
Saar
This is officially the most depressing group chat
“Where are we going?” I tug at Caleb’s arm, but he just strolls casually down the street. “I don’t like surprises.”
He laughs. “Didn’t seem that way when I fingered you in the restaurant last night.”
I roll my eyes. “Idiot.”
“Keep up insulting me in that lovely accent of yours and I’ll have to fuck you in a back alley here.” He winks, but his eyes are darker, filled with want.
“Continue de rêver.”
“Celeste,” he warns, and I laugh.
“We will get arrested one of these days, Mr. van den Linden.” I snake my arm around his waist, leaning into him.
The familiar street in Chelsea isn’t exactly bustling with people, but our casual progress still upsets the flow of pedestrian traffic.
In the last four days since our first meeting with Reese, we seem to live in our own bubble, unaffected by the chaos the city bestows on its people.
With Mia spending most of her time with her mom, and Caleb being unemployed, I canceled my performances this week, happily passing them to my understudy. We need this time to enjoy peace after the turbulent few days we’ve had.
“It’s a good thing Cressard is a resourceful lawyer, Mrs. van den Linden.” He kisses the crown of my head and steers us to another street.
A wave of nostalgia sweeps through me. I wasn’t really thinking about our exact whereabouts after Peter dropped us off, but now I wish we were elsewhere in the city .
I don’t voice my concern, because there’s still a part of me I’m not sure how to reconcile, or how to share properly.
“What’s wrong?” Of course, Caleb picks up on my hesitation.
“My school used to be down there.” I beckon with my head in the general direction.
“I know,” Caleb says, and pulls me in that exact direction, crossing the road. “Let’s go see it.”
“I don’t want to.” I pull back, but he doesn’t relent.
Stopping in front of the entrance I crossed so many times, he hands me a set of keys. I stare at them, frowning.
“Take them. They’re yours.” Caleb dangles them between his fingers.
“Keys?” My confusion is obvious in my lack of vocabulary. “Why are we here?”
Caleb sighs. “Jesus, woman, can’t you just squeal with joy?” He rolls his eyes and unlocks the door.
“Why do you have the keys?” I don’t dare follow him inside. I don’t want to see the place I miss so much.
“Because you didn’t take them from me.”
“Caleb,” I snap, and the bastard laughs.
“I got it for you.”
“You rented this space?” I recall our conversation in the kitchen, but how and when would he even get it? For me ?
“I bought it.”
“Why?”
“You’re kind of slow today, black swan.”
“For me.”
“Finally, you’re catching up.” He pulls me inside and leads me to the main dance studio.
The space hasn’t changed much. There are some yoga mats in the corner. I think someone used it for pilates and yoga in the interim. The back wall is painted a hideous shade of red, but it still smells and feels like my studio.
“You bought this building for me?”
He nods.
“You’re kind of shit at delivering gifts,” I deadpan.
“Come on, it’s not often I can make you speechless. Or frazzled. I had to milk the fuck out of the occasion.”
He stands there, leaning casually against the mirror, handsome as sin. Entitled, perhaps, but kind as well.
This man keeps showing up for me in the most unexpected ways. “I love you.”
“You can thank me on your knees.”
I scoff. “I don’t know if I want you to be my boss and my landlord, in addition to being my annoying husband.”
“Oh, black swan, I’ll be your annoying everything for the rest of our lives.” He comes to me and takes my hand, placing the other one on my hip. “But I’m not your landlord. This building is yours.”
He pulls me closer and starts swaying to nonexistent music. It’s unreal how we find a rhythm without the beat, our moves synced.
I dance with him in the silence, soaking in the place and thinking about his generosity. This is too much , is my first thought, but I learned already that he lives by a different scale.
“Does this mean you won’t buy me an airplane?”
He throws his head back and laughs, without breaking the dance. “I’m getting you an airplane, because I’m still traumatized from searching for you at a public airport the other day.”
Now I laugh. “Such hardship, pretty boy.” Our gazes collide, and the previous lightness gets heavy with desire. “I’m not going to run away.”
“That’s good, black swan, that’s very good.”
“Send him up.” Caleb hangs up and turns to me, puzzled. “Cormac Quinn is here.”
He gets out of bed and pulls on his sweatpants and a white tee. Completely disregarding my ovaries.
He kisses my forehead. “Get dressed.”
“He’s surely not coming to see me. ”
“Most likely not, but the idea of you being naked in the same space as him makes me want to kill him.”
I laugh. “Possessive much?”
His expression darkens. “Celeste,” he warns.
I roll my eyes and get my robe. It’s concerning how his growling spreads butterflies in my belly. “Okay, okay, I’m getting dressed.”
“Good girl.” He winks and leaves.
I take my time getting dressed, knowing full well that those two need time to talk.
When I called Cormac Quinn two days ago, my attempt to talk to him proved two things. He’s an asshole. No surprise there. And he’s a smart businessman. Unfortunately.
I put on a white button-down blouse and a brown skirt and pull my hair into a bun. Stepping out of the bedroom, I catch Caleb’s timbre.
They’re still in the living room? I thought Caleb would take him to his office.
“I find it strange you’d come here out of the kindness of your heart,” Caleb snorts.
“What can I say, we miss you.”
“Bullshit. Why would I return to a sinking ship?”
“A bit of a PR nightmare deters you? We’re thriving, and we need you. We can find someone else, of course, but you brought in leads that would make us more money if you brought them to fruition. ”
I bite my lip and tiptoe to the stairs. I don’t want to interrupt this, but I can’t help but listen in.
“You could have sent Xander.” Caleb walks to the bar and I step back, hoping he won’t see me.
“I wanted to come myself, after I learned why you left.”
Asshole. He wasn’t supposed to bring that up.
“What do you mean?”
“Your wife has some damn good persuasive skills. If she ever decides to quit dancing, make sure we hire her.”
I scrunch my face as if I could stop the words from coming out of his mouth.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oopsie. You didn’t know she called me. My bad.”
I step forward and walk down, the commotion drawing both men’s attention. “Corm, so nice of you to visit.” My words might have a polite meaning, but I don’t hold back my sarcasm.
When I explained to him that my circumstances forced Caleb to sell his part of the company, I also asked him to keep my interference a secret. But what did I expect from him?
“Celeste, nice to see you. But I think I’ll leave the two of you to enjoy your evening.” He drops a folder on the coffee table. “Have a look and call us tomorrow. Good night.”
My attention turns to Caleb. He studies me, his expression solemn.
Then, without a word, he walks to pick up the folder and flips through its pages. I stop at the base of the staircase, unsure if I should join him, worried I might have overstepped. Embarrassed him. That he might loathe my interference.
What man wouldn’t? Shit. I wanted to finally do something for him, but I guess I should have thought it through better.
His gaze finds me again, and I falter.
“You talked to him.” It’s not a question, and that almost makes it worse.
I nod. “Yes. Is that an offer to buy back your share of the business?”
“No.”
My heart sinks as I approach him and snatch the folder. Scanning the documents, I frown. “This is the sale agreement.”
Caleb flips to the last page. Beside his signature are Xander’s and Declan’s, but the field for Corm’s signature is empty.
“He wasn’t there the morning we did this. It turns out he hasn’t signed it yet.”
He takes the folder from my hands, drops it to the sofa and pulls me to him .
“Are you mad I talked to him?” I lower my head, but look up at him through my lashes.
“I’m not happy about it, but when I look past that, I think I’m grateful. The asshole was waiting for me to come beg him. He came to gloat that I sent you to do it for me, but I guess now he knows that’s not the case.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t bear that you left because of me. You deserve both. Merged and me.”
“Oh, black swan, you’re wrong. I deserve Merged, and thank you for nudging them for me. But I don’t deserve you. I will, however, try to live up to that challenge every day. For the rest of my life.”