Chapter 45
Rafael
I couldn’t believe how great everything was.
A month ago, when we flew to the biggest wedding in the world, a deep despair had sunk into my bones. Harrison was clearly wooing Caroline, and I knew he would succeed. When Harrison Blackstone wanted something, he usually got it. And I had slowly seen Caroline’s opinion of him change.
How could I compete with that?
But since barging in on them in their cabin, the three of us had basically been inseparable. We worked together during the day, then hooked up at night at Harrison’s place. Then we hung out on the couch watching TV and eating popcorn.
We were in a relationship in all but name. All three of us.
Harrison and I had shared a woman before, but it was never more than physical.
A threesome once or twice a week, eventually petering out.
This was different. We cuddled on the couch.
We kissed goodbye. Harrison had stopped hooking up with his female friends when he was out of town, and I hadn’t been with another woman since I first had sex with Caroline.
Labels were overrated, in my humble opinion, but it was undeniable at this point.
Caroline was our girlfriend.
Our girlfriend. Both of ours.
I didn’t feel like a third wheel, or an extra body to join them in bed. Caroline confided things in me. She looked at me with fondness, or even something close to love. Since she started working at the firm, we had begun getting lunch together out on the rooftop deck overlooking the city.
We had something real.
I saw the way Harrison looked at her, too. I knew him too well not to notice. He was falling for her every bit as hard as I was.
Which was why I was shocked that he pushed her into Lucien Moreau’s arms.
“He’s going to try to sleep with her again,” I told Harrison that evening. As we spoke, she was heading to Lucien’s hotel at the Aman New York. “You know him, Harrison.”
“And if I try to stop her,” he said carefully, “it might only make her want him more. I don’t want to be possessive, Rafa. I want her to feel like she can do whatever she wants.”
“I want that too,” I agreed. “But I don’t necessarily want her actually sleeping with him.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Do I detect feelings?”
“Don’t,” I warned.
“I know you, Rafa. You’ve had feelings for Caroline for a while, now.”
I stopped pacing and rounded on him. “You really want to have this conversation right now? Because I know you, too. You’re falling in love with her.”
It was supposed to be a biting comment, something that he would recoil from and go on the defensive. But he shocked me by saying, “Yes.”
I blinked.
“I’ve been falling in love with her for a long time,” Harrison admitted quietly. He swirled the liquor around in his glass, brought it to his lips, then changed his mind and put it down. “That’s why I’m bringing this up with you. You have feelings for her as well. Strong feelings.”
I sat in the chair next to him and said, “I do.”
“Well then.” He pushed the glass of liquor across the coffee table toward me. I picked it up and threw it back, savoring the peaty burn down my throat.
“Hence why I’m frustrated that you convinced her to have dinner with him tonight,” I said.
“Why are you so worried about him?” Harrison cocked his head. “You think he’ll steal her away from both of us?”
“I’m worried he’s going to hurt her.” I had been thinking about this all day, examining my feelings. “Lucien is chaos personified. He’s unpredictable. He only wants her because she’s yours. He’ll get bored of her, then toss her aside.”
“You think so?”
“He’s done it to countless other women,” I replied. “Why would Caroline be any different?”
Harrison leaned forward, passion shining in his eyes. “Because Caroline is different. She’s not like other women. Both of us know it. And I’m beginning to think Lucien has come to that realization, too.”
I thought about that all night, tossing and turning in bed. If Lucien was falling for her just like we were… what would happen? Who would she choose?
Deep down, I was terrified of that possibility. Because I knew I could never compete with the two suave billionaires. Harrison may have always treated me like family, but I knew my place.
I was just a glorified bodyguard, and always would be.
Caroline was already in her office when I arrived to work the next day. She gave me a friendly wave through the glass, but was completely focused on whatever she was writing on her laptop.
Harrison had a breakfast meeting in New Jersey, so I was alone for the morning. I had plenty of work to do preparing for the next two weeks of security, so I pressed the button that closed the blinds to my office and tried to focus on my work.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman on the other side of the building.
A message popped up on the company chat from Caroline: “Got a second? Need to run something by you.”
“I can make time for you,” I replied.
A few minutes later, she knocked on my door and let herself inside. “What’s up?” I asked, ignoring how the mere sight of her raised my heart rate.
“I just emailed you the press release I’m sending today about our acquisition in Tokyo. Mind taking a look?”
“You want me to look at it?” I asked in surprise.
“Sure. You’re smarter than you pretend to be, and I trust your opinion.”
Ignoring how good that compliment made me feel, I opened the email and started reading. I was so focused on the press release that I barely noticed her walking around the side of my desk.
“Just keep reading,” she said, dropping to her knees behind my desk and pulling her hair back.
“What are you…” I began to ask, but stopped when she unzipped my pants. The way she was gazing up at me through her eyelashes took my breath away.
And when she pulled out my cock and flicked her tongue along the underside of my tip…
“I said keep reading,” she warned, then wrapped her lips all the way around me.
I turned my attention back to my laptop, but I was only pretending to care. Every ounce of focus I had was currently savoring the blowjob she was giving me. Even though the blinds were drawn, the door was unlocked. Anyone could walk in at any time.
That only made what she was doing so much hotter.
Between her lips, tongue, and fingers, I didn’t last long. “Caroline,” I moaned, giving her a warning. “I’m close.”
“Hold my head down.” She gazed up at me with the most beautiful look in her eyes. “Make me take it.”
Who was I to deny the lady what she wanted?
I threaded my fingers into her hair and squeezed them into a fist, guiding her up and down for a few more strokes.
Then, as the pleasure reached a crescendo, I pushed her down on my cock, holding her there as I gritted my teeth and exploded into her mouth.
She moaned around me, taking every drop, hands grasping my thighs and squeezing until I had given her every single drop.
“I have a confession,” she said, licking her lips and pushing up toward my face.
“What’s that?”
“I didn’t really need you to look at my email.” She brushed her lips against mine, tasting faintly of what she had just swallowed.
“God, I love you,” I said.
She smiled at me, then froze.
I froze, too.
“I…” I sputtered. “I didn’t…”
“I know you love the way I suck you off,” she said, giving me one final kiss before standing.
“Yeah,” I said with a forced smile. “I really needed that, Caroline.”
“I could tell.” She smoothed out her skirt. “Later, you can repay the favor.”
This time I didn’t need to force my grin. “I think I can do that.”
The door opened, and Harrison strode into my office. “Jesus, that was a pointless meeting. I’m never going to New Jersey again. Not even for John Goddamn Mara.”
“Got a second?” Caroline asked him as I quickly zipped up my pants. “I’ve got a question about your history with Lucien.”
Harrison stopped with his hand on the door to his office. “What did he tell you last night?”
“Nothing bad,” she said, holding out her palms. “But he did reveal that you two used to be close friends. Until something happened that ruined your relationship.”
Harrison checked his phone, then sat on the edge of my desk. “You could say that.”
“It’s not something we like to talk about,” I offered.
“We?” Caroline asked. “Does it have to do with a woman?”
Harrison and I looked at each other. “No. Why would you think that?” he asked.
“It’s just…” She shrugged. “I had a hunch. Forget it. Why did you two stop being friends?”
“He bet against one of the companies our firm was invested in,” Harrison explained.
“He purchased millions of dollars worth of put options. Betting that their stock price would plummet. When it did, he made a small fortune. But it nearly bankrupted our firm. I confronted him about it, and he got upset.”
“Why did he get upset?” she asked.
“He accused me of trying to control him. Which, of course, I wasn’t.
I just wanted him to run his trades by us first, to make sure they didn’t conflict with what our firm was doing.
That was a pretty reasonable request, but it infuriated him.
We got into a shouting match out on the floor, in front of all the analysts. ”
He gestured at the windows, then paused when he saw the blinds were still drawn. I pressed the button on my desk that opened them. I didn’t want anyone to think we were doing something scandalous in here… especially since Caroline and I just had.
“Like the AI startup last month,” Caroline said, working it out in her head. “He invested in a company that was directly competing with Blackstone and Moreau.”
“Which meant he was competing with himself, exactly,” Harrison nodded. “It’s in his own self-interest to communicate with me on these things, but apparently he values his independence. He’s like a stubborn child who impulsively does the opposite of what you want.”
“A chaos agent,” I muttered.
Harrison pointed at me. “Exactly. Chaos agent. He always has been, and always will. He never thinks more than two steps ahead. He has no patience.”
Caroline frowned at this, like she disagreed. I wanted to ask if she had an opinion on that, but suddenly there was a new knock at the door.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” said Brian Fischer, the head of our in-house counsel. “I’ve been texting, Harrison.”
“Sorry. I saw. What’s up?”
“We’ve got a problem. It’s about the gold investment.”
I’d known Brian a long time, and I could tell something was wrong. Something big. The man was sweating profusely, and his eyes kept darting back and forth.
Harrison immediately picked up on that, too. “Let’s speak in my office.”
“Ms. Ashburn should probably join us,” Brian said. “We’re going to need to rope in PR at some point. Might as well be now.”
It took me a moment to remember that Ms. Ashburn was Caroline. It took her a second too, and she quickly said, “Sure, of course.”
She gave me one final look before they went into Harrison’s office.
I can’t believe I told her I love her.