Chapter 71
Anton
Iunlock my phone again and eye the last two messages from Gen with vague amusement.
What the actual fuck?
I’m coming over
That was ten minutes ago, and my office is only a few streets away from Alchemy. I started to reply. Started to explain myself. And I knew it wouldn’t wash. I’m better off pleading my case to her face to face.
I’ve already told Rix to bring her straight through when she turns up.
She arrives a few minutes later. I stand quickly, rounding my desk. Not only does she look sexy as fuck in a black sleeveless shift dress that hugs her body in all the right places, but a single glance tells me she’s fucking furious.
And there’s nothing more arousing than my ice queen spitting fire.
I’m not stupid enough to attempt to kiss her. If I got that close she’d probably knee me in the balls. So I stand in front of her, my legs planted wide and my hands in my pockets.
It’s my trademark don’t fuck with me stance.
I know it’ll piss her off and turn her on in equal measure. Just like I know exactly why she’s here. And like I knew not to tell her anything before I put the plan in motion.
‘Come to thank me in person, sweetheart?’ I enquire.
She knows exactly what I mean, because her gaze shoots to my dick before returning to my face.
I smirk.
She scowls.
Oh, this’ll be fun.
‘What the fuck did you do to Rapture?’ she hisses, dropping her enormous Birkin on the floor and stalking over to me, hands on her gorgeous hips.
‘I had an associate of mine access their books and make a little phone call to the good people at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs,’ I say smoothly. ‘You’re welcome.’
‘Did he falsify their accounts?’ she demands.
‘What? Fuck, no. They’re shady as fuck—he didn’t need to falsify a bloody thing. It was all there in black and white. Money laundering and tax evasion.’
She looks decidedly unconvinced.
‘Seriously, sweetheart. They were using crypto and art to move money. It didn’t take a genius to work it out—my guy figured it out in an afternoon.’
‘Did he hack their accounts?’ she asks.
‘The less you know the better,’ is my pithy answer to that. And it’s true.
She glares at me. ‘How fucking dare you.’
What the actual fuck? ‘Hang on a sec. I did you a favour. You had a problem, and I made it go away.’ I pull my hands out of my pockets and snap my fingers. ‘Boom. Done.’
‘You overstepped.’ She looks wildly around the room, like she can’t believe we’re having this conversation. ‘You butted in to my business without asking me, or even telling me. It wasn’t your place. It’s completely unacceptable, and it’s fucking patronising.’
‘What?’ My jaw hangs open in disbelief. I can’t believe she’s getting her knickers in a twist over this when she should be on her knees, thanking me with her mouth on my cock. Jesus Christ.
‘Anton,’ she says, like I’m a small, obtuse child.
‘Alchemy is none of your business. Literally. The guys and I can handle it. And for you to get involved in somebody else’s company like that and undermine them—it’s staggeringly inappropriate.
Can’t you see that? You’re not my puppet master.
I’m a grown woman, and just because I haven’t amassed the same insane wealth as you have, I’m still perfectly capable of doing my job and running my company.
It’s demeaning that you’d think I need you to ride in and rescue me—it’s a total joke, in fact. ’
‘Now, look here,’ I say. I’m fucking furious.
‘This isn’t about wealth, or me trying to patronise you.
It’s about being ruthless enough to get the job done.
The inconvenient truth is that you wouldn’t have had the balls to do anything about those dicks.
You’re far too much of a rules follower.
You would have sat back and moaned about them and just fucking watched while they made off with a chunk of your clientele. And your employees.’
‘That’s not fair!’ she protests. ‘I would have focused on making Alchemy the best offering it can be for our members. Not on destroying another club just because they’re the competition. And I certainly wouldn’t have sunk as low as to back-channel and break the law to take them out.’
‘I didn’t break the law,’ I lie. ‘And stop being so fucking disingenuous. You’ve been worried about them since France. Can you honestly stand there and have a go at me for removing the entire problem for you?’
‘Yes,’ she says. ‘I can. It’s the principle of the matter.
You don’t seem to understand that what you’ve done is a huge violation of our boundaries.
You’ve made me feel like a silly little girl who can’t handle herself.
You can’t help yourself, can you? You’re so controlling.
I thought you liked me because I have some backbone, but you can’t help wading in and getting involved when you had absolutely no justification in doing so. ’
‘I thought you liked me controlling you,’ I say, my voice dangerously quiet. My words deliberate.
She steps right up to me so we’re almost touching, and I gaze down at her.
‘Let me be very clear,’ she says. ‘You get to control me in bed because I like it. Because I let you. Make no mistake about that. I will not let you control me outside the bedroom. You’ve made me feel small and weak and pathetic, and you’ve never made me feel like that before.
So if you’re trying to get your kicks by controlling me in my professional life, know this. I will not stand for it.’
We glare at each other, the air around us thick with tension. She’s beautiful, and she’s amazing, and she’s so fucking wrong about my motivations I don’t know where to start.
I wrap my fingers around her wrist and stroke her pulse point with my thumb.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ I hiss. ‘You’ve got it all backwards.
I did it for you because I wanted to help you.
Because I love you. And I’ll always do whatever it takes for you.
Even if it means getting my hands dirty in ways you’d rather not know about. ’
She stares up at me in shock, the wind taken out of her sails. I know she wasn’t expecting this kind of declaration yet, but it’s the truth. And I’m willing to lay myself bare to clear up this little misapprehension of hers.
Then she pulls her wrist away from my grasp.
‘How dare you use those words to manipulate me into rolling over?’ she asks, those big blue eyes wet. ‘And don’t touch me.’
She steps back and stoops to pick up her bag. And then she’s storming out of my office.
‘Gen!’ I bellow. ‘Get back here!’
But she doesn’t fucking do as I say.