Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
RUBY
S he was going to be sick. Or possibly just pass out right here in the middle of Beckett’s very nice waiting room.
But then Beckett placed his hand at the small of her back, and everything inside her settled in an instant. Despite how furious she’d been with him on the drive over, she couldn’t imagine facing her own personal nightmare without him by her side.
“A moment, gentlemen.”
The guards at the elevator turned, with Preston between them, and when Preston’s gaze fell on her, his face lit with a predatory glee that made her stomach lurch. But then she caught sight of the blood dripping down his face and she remembered that her man had done that. Had put his own career on the line for her.
No matter what, she had Beckett. And that made all the difference.
“I’ve missed you, little doll.”
Little doll. Because that was all she’d ever been to him. A thing to be used and played with, sometimes trotted out for him to show off to his friends, but otherwise kept in a box. Alone. Abandoned. Unwanted.
No more.
“I haven’t missed you.” Her voice was stronger than she’d expected it to be, and she was grateful it didn’t falter or crack. “I thought I might. I thought, when I left, that I’d regret it. Because you had me so convinced that I would. But there hasn’t been one single second since I walked out of that gilded prison you built for me that I have ever regretted leaving your sorry ass behind.”
Preston’s lip curled up in a familiar snarl. Had she really found him handsome once? Now all she could see was the ugliness beneath the mask. “You ungrateful little bitch. I never should have wasted my time with you. Enjoy my sloppy seconds, Stone.”
“Oh, I’m not ungrateful at all, Preston. In fact, I’m more grateful for you than you could imagine.” Taking a step toward him, she tilted her chin up, locking eyes with his furious gaze. He’d always been so adamant that she keep her head down, her eyes on the floor when she knelt for him, and it thrilled her to know that such a small thing had him seething. “I’m grateful that you taught me what abuse disguised as love looks like. I’m grateful you showed me your true colors, so I would never again mistake red flags for roses.”
She stepped closer, ignoring the way he jerked against the guards’ hold. He couldn’t hurt her. Not now, not ever again. “I’m grateful you gave me a reason to grow a fucking backbone so I could look you in your eyes and tell you how incredibly insignificant you are. I thought you took everything from me when I left. But I was wrong. You gave me hope for something better. You gave me a hunger to prove to myself that you didn’t break me. You gave me the life I have now, and I am so fucking grateful for that. And even more so that you will never be a part of that life ever again. Goodbye, Preston. I hope you have the life you deserve.”
With every word she spoke, the color in Preston’s face deepened, to the point she wondered if he might actually have a heart attack right there in Beckett’s office. “You can’t speak to me that way. I will ruin you, and your little boyfriend, too! You hear me? I will destroy you, Stone!”
Behind him, the elevator doors finally slid open, and she watched as the security team dragged him into the cab, still red-faced and screaming.
When the doors closed on his tirade, she simply stood there for a moment, staring at the spot where he’d stood. And she waited for the panic to come. For the fear she’d felt when she’d first seen him standing there with Beckett when she’d come barging in to confront the love of her life.
But it didn’t come. She simply felt… free.
Turning back around, she grinned up at Beckett. “Well. That was fun.”
Emotions, too many for her to define, swirled in his eyes. “Sonja,” he said, without taking his eyes off her, “hold my calls and clear my schedule for a couple of hours. I’ll let you know when I’m available again.”
Uh-oh. Now there was a hint of fear, not the debilitating terror she’d felt seeing Preston again, but the familiar flutter in her stomach that told her Daddy was not happy. “You don’t have to do that,” she protested as he cupped her elbow, guiding her back down the hallway she’d stormed through earlier with poor Jonas trailing behind her, begging her to stop.
Hopefully Beckett wouldn’t be too hard on him.
“Oh believe me, I do.” Pushing open the door to his office, Beckett nudged her inside. The second it closed behind them again, he had her pushed up against it, his lips slamming down on hers. Claiming her. Branding her.
Gathering her wrists in his hand, he pinned them over her head, using his knee to nudge her thighs apart as he lifted his head to glare down at her. “You took ten years off my life when I turned around and saw you standing there. Where were you supposed to be, little girl?”
“I told you, I don’t listen.” Even as the words slipped from her lips, she felt that delightful flutter in her belly again. She was poking the bear, but now that some of the tension had faded, she was remembering why she’d come to see him in the first place. And her own anger was rising up again to match his. “And neither do you, it seems.”
Oh, he did not like that. “Excuse me?”
“The account you opened for me. I told you I don’t want any of your money. Take it back.”
“No.”
Yanking against his hold proved futile. His grip on her wrists only tightened, and she tried to tell herself she was not enjoying being so helpless. “Take it back , Beckett. I don’t want it.”
“Too bad.”
Infuriating man. “Did you listen to what I told you the other night at all, you arrogant, entitled, asshole?”
A slow, wicked smile stretched across his face. “That’s twice now you’ve called me a name since you came barging into my office looking like some goddess of vengeance. It’s going to cost you, Ruby Red.”
Again with that lovely, delicious fear swirling inside her. But she tried to push it aside, to focus on her own anger. “Answer the question.”
“I did listen. I listened as you told me about a man who used his money to control your every move. A man who forced you to rely on him, to the point you questioned if you’d ever be able to survive without him.” Lifting his other hand to her face, he cradled her cheek in a move so tender it had tears clogging her throat. “I never want you to feel that way with me, Ruby. I never want you to feel trapped or scared that you’ll lose everything if you walk away.”
“So, to make sure I don’t feel the way I felt with him, you decided to throw money at me. Exactly like he did. Make it make sense, Beckett.”
Understanding softened his eyes. “Ah. I see why you’re so mad now. The money isn’t… Hold on a second.”
Releasing his hold on her, he turned and strode back to his desk. While Ruby watched on, utterly confused as he pulled a pile of papers from his drawer and held them out to her. “You’ll want a lawyer to look this over. Pick someone you think you can trust and I’ll give you the money to cover their fee.”
“What is it?” She crossed the room on unsteady legs to take the pile from him. It was pages and pages of legalese she couldn’t begin to understand. But a few key phrases jumped out at her, sending her heart racing.
“It’s a contract. I’ve never done anything like this before, because it seems… crass. But I was hoping it would help you feel more secure in our relationship. Basically it says that any gifts from me to you, monetarily or otherwise, belong to you and you alone. The bank account I set up for you is in your name only. I have zero claim to those funds. It’s yours, free and clear, which is also covered in the contract.”
Her heart felt like it might pound out of her chest as she looked up from the contract. “But… why ?”
Moving around his desk, he cupped her face in his hands, love shining in his dark eyes. “I never want you to feel like if you leave me, you’ll have nothing. I don’t want you to think of our home as another gilded cage. I want you to wake up every morning knowing that you are with me because you choose to be, not because you’re too scared to leave. I’m giving you an exit plan, Ruby, though I’m hoping like hell you’ll never have to use it.”
“What’s the catch?” She felt like an asshole for asking, but she had to know. Because there had to be a catch. There was always a catch.
“No catch, baby. And you don’t have to accept it now. Take the contract to someone, have them look it over. If there are any changes you want, we’ll make them. And if this isn’t enough for you to feel safe, to feel free to choose the life you want, then we’ll fix that, too. Whatever it takes, Ruby Red.”
“Sell your company.”
He didn’t even blink. “Done. It’ll take a minute, because the board will need to approve the sale. But consider it done. You want me to give away all my wealth? That’s done, too. I’d rather be broke with you, Ruby, than alone with piles of money. The cash, the house, the cars, all of it means nothing without you.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“With everything I have.”
Tossing the contract aside, she threw her arms around his neck, rising up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his. Need and love welled inside her as he slid his hands down her body to grip her ass, hauling her up against him.
“I’m not quitting my job.”
“Compromise.” Lifting her with that effortless way he had that never failed to make her stomach explode with butterflies, he sat her on his desk. “Which do you like better? The coffee shop or the office job?”
“Coffee shop. Hands down.”
“Quit the office job, keep the coffee shop. The other night, you mentioned how you never went to college. You still want to go?”
She tilted her head to the side as he brushed his lips down her neck, his busy fingers plucking at the buttons on her blouse. “I have no idea what I’d even do there.”
“Whatever you want. One class, all the classes, whatever you want, baby. Within reason, of course. I’m not letting you quit a job just to overwork yourself at school.”
With her shirt tossed off to the side, he went to work on her bra, slipping the hooks free and letting her breasts fall free as she leaned back to give him access to her body. Access he greedily took advantage of, sending flashes of pleasure through her as he nipped and sucked at her aching nipples, pulling a low moan from deep inside her. “To be clear, you’re not letting me quit my job. I’m quitting my job because it sucks and Nancy’s a total bitch.”
His laughter vibrated against her breast. “Well, I was going to have her fired, anyway.”
“Don’t you dare.” She glared up at him, well aware she probably didn’t look very intimidating sitting on his desk, half naked and flushed with pleasure. “You’re not going to use your money to ruin someone’s life just because they were mean to me.”
Pulling away, he raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching with amusement as he pushed her skirt up her thighs. “What’s the point of having money if I can’t use it to make my babygirl happy?”
“I didn’t say I was agreeing to be your babygirl.”
“Didn’t you? My mistake then. That must be some other gorgeous woman on my desk, about to get her pussy eaten until she screams.”
Need for him, stronger than she’d ever felt, tightened in her core. “It better not be.”
“Never.” Eyes locked on hers, he dropped slowly to his knees. “There will never be anyone but you, Ruby Red. So take as much time as you need to be okay with that. Because I’m playing for keeps, baby. Now, lie back and let Daddy take care of you.”
She’d never felt so decadent as she did in that moment, sprawled across his desk as he peeled the last of her clothes from her, leaving her naked and exposed in his office of all places. She had no idea if the door was locked, but she didn’t care. Nobody was going to come barging in on the big boss, and if they did, they deserved whatever shock they got out of seeing their fearless leader with his face buried in his woman’s pussy.
All those thoughts fled however at the first touch of his tongue to her clit. From that point forward, all she knew was him and the pleasure he showered her with as he feasted.
Until, at last, she did exactly as he’d said, and came screaming his name. Screaming for Daddy as one orgasm, and then another, wrecked her from the inside out. Leaving her boneless and gasping for breath as he rose to his feet and gripped her hips.
“We’re not at the club,” he said, pushing inside her, his cock scraping her already over-sensitive nerves.
A strangled laugh worked itself past the tightness in her throat. “No. No, we are not.”
“But you called me Daddy.”
Gathering what little strength she had left, she pushed herself up, wrapping her arms around his neck as he moved inside her with strong, slow strokes. “What else would I call the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with?”
He dropped his forehead to hers, his breath catching. “Daddy. You should absolutely call that man Daddy.”
They moved together in silence, a slow, shimmering ride to the top. And when they reached it together, he captured her lips in a kiss so sweet it brought tears to her eyes as he filled her one final time.
“I love you, Ruby Red,” he murmured against her lips.
“You better. Because I’m so fucking in love with you I can’t stand it.”
“Thank god.” He kissed her again, a little fiercer, leaving her breathless again by the time he lifted his head. “I need to get dressed so I can go call a board meeting. Are you going back to work?”
“A board meeting? For what?”
“To talk about selling the company. It’s complicated, and it’s going to take a good bit of maneuvering to ensure it’s left in good hands, so you may need to be patient with me.”
She’d thought she couldn’t be any more in love with him. “You do know I wasn’t serious about that, right? I just wanted to know that you would . Which is probably pretty shitty of me, now that I think about it.”
“You’re sure? Because I was dead serious. If that’s what it takes for you to feel safe and secure, then I’ll sell.”
“I know you would. And that’s all I needed. After all, you already punched my ex in his stupid face and…” As the scene played over in her mind, something she hadn’t picked up on at the time jumped out at her. “Oh my god. Did you threaten to send the mob after him?”
“It wasn’t a threat. Killian’s a member of the club. It was a promise.”
“That shouldn’t be hot but goddamn, it really is.” Cupping his face, she drew him down for another long, slow kiss. “I need to get back to work so I can let them know I’m quitting. Jacqueline’s going to kill me, but I’m sure once I explain the situation, she’ll understand.”
“Will you come home tonight?”
Home. He meant his big, beautiful house, which had somehow become her home too in a terrifyingly short amount of time. Because no matter how much she loved her little apartment, home was wherever he was.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll come home.”