Chapter Two #2
My tone is casual, but anyone with half a brain could pick up on the disgust underlying my words, the disdain for a man who nearly sank the empire his father built for his own greed.
I should have more respect for the dead.
But it’s hard to summon any nostalgia for the man who treated my mother and me like trophies instead of family.
Diana doesn’t flinch as she keeps writing. Her pen flies across the paper. She’s calm, composed. No hint of the vulnerable, grieving woman who caught my attention in the museum, the lover who met my desire and demanded more.
This is good. A chance to replace the fantasy with reality. I don’t want to use anger, or any emotion, to get her out of my system. My mother taught me a lesson she learned the hard way from my father: to feel something for someone was to give them power.
I will not cede power to Diana again.
“Your father was looking to expand internationally. Global expansion of AuraGeothermal and shifting resources from Iceland to the Continent.”
I raise a brow. She’s done her research. “Yes.”
“That must have been difficult.”
“The only difficult thing was realizing how close AuraGeothermal came to being downsized and having its resources split up.” I smile coldly when she looks up.
“I always knew my father was a bastard. My only surprise was that he had managed to conceal some of the worst details of his plan for so long.” I turn my gaze to the harbor.
“He had a stunning home on the water near the University of Iceland, vacation homes in the Mediterranean, a string of mistresses. Paintings any museum in the world would pay a small fortune for. And he still wanted more.”
“Does Xenakis know about your father?” she asks.
“Anything that’s public information, yes.”
Diana bites down on her lower lip. I snuff out the flare of lust before it has a chance to grow.
“The experience with your father… It’s impacted your ability to trust outsiders.”
I stare at her. She stares right back. This is part of what drew me in that night.
Her ability to pick up on subtleties and instantly see what I keep private from almost everyone else in my life.
Back in New York, it was a novelty, refreshing and even calming to talk with someone I didn’t feel the need to keep my guard up around.
Now, however, it’s unsettling.
“My abilities are fine. The experience taught me a valuable lesson, one I continue to remind myself of as we navigate negotiations.”
“Have you thought about telling Xenakis more about your father’s trying to bring in outside—”
“No.” My voice whips out. “This is a business negotiation, not storytelling time.”
“But if he had more context—”
“This is not up for discussion, Miss North.”
Her lips thin into a straight line, but she doesn’t pursue it any further.
“I read your summary of what communications have been like between you and Mr. Xenakis so far. Do you have any hard copies, like emails, I could read?”
I don’t like the idea of her reading my correspondence. But I know it’s because I don’t want my former lover getting deeper inside my head. I need to think of her as a negotiator, an employee.
I get up and print off the most recent back-and-forth between Georgios Xenakis and me.
Diana accepts them, grabbing the corner of the paper so our hands have no chance of accidentally brushing.
With her hair pulled back, I can see the tiny wrinkle between her brows, the narrowing of her eyes, the flickers of emotion as she reads.
Very different from our night together when her hair had fallen like a waterfall over her shoulders as she’d straddled my hips and sank down onto my cock. Hair cascading around her face and grazing my chest as I’d gripped her thighs.
Kristur.
I stand, turning away so she can’t see my cock swelling against my pants. I cross back over to my desk and pull up the latest proposal for the ammonia cracking plant just outside the Port of Piraeus. I read it once, twice, noting several concerns as I resist the urge to look over at Diana.
It’s lust, I remind myself. Simple lust, nothing more.
I responded to her so strongly back in New York because I’d been on the cusp of a life-altering change.
A moment I never imagined could be possible for over two decades.
I was unsettled. Raw. Allowing myself to experience emotions, to feel hope, for the first time in years.
A chance I lost as soon as I let emotions get the better of me and allowed myself to feel something more for what was supposed to be a simple one-night stand.
“You’re very direct in your communication.”
I glance over at Diana. She’s still sitting at the table, a printout of email in one hand, a pen grasped in the other as she jots something down in her notebook.
“Yes. And?”
She finishes her note and lays her pen down before standing and walking toward me.
“Xenakis’s communications are more subtle.” She holds up the printout. “Formal.”
“A mask for unrealistic demands.”
“Have you asked him why he wants more control over shipping and pricing?”
“I have.” My lip curls at the memory. “More experienced. Shipping is his business, not mine. Either I trust him to do his part or I don’t.”
“Do you?”
The short answer is no. Xenakis wants more control over my company.
The last time that happened, AuraGeothermal nearly lost everything.
And I almost lost the one thing I had in my life I cared about.
I’ve spent the last four years rebuilding this company back up and serving as the leader my father should have been.
I’m not surrendering anything to a dramatic billionaire who wants his own way.
But I also know we can’t move forward until Xenakis and I break this stalemate. One of us has to give. I need Diana to do her job and get Xenakis to agree to my terms.
“Trust is not something that comes easily to me.”
Darkness creeps into her eyes before she glances down at the paper in her hand. It wasn’t a statement to hurt her or remind her of what happened. It’s simply a fact.
“Ari—”
My chest clenches. “Mr. Valdasson.”
Her head snaps up. Her lips thin into a straight line before she inclines her head.
“My apologies.” Her voice is just as icy as mine. “I’d like to go back to the beginning, review everything that’s transpired between you and Mr. Xenakis. I’d also like to review the proposals you’ve made so far, as well as any you’ve received.”
I glance at the clock. “I have a meeting in an hour.”
“Then, we’ll cram as much as we can into that hour. After that, if I can have a space to work in, I can conduct some of my review by myself.”
I can see why she’s good at her job. But I don’t like how quickly she’s taking control.
“Thirty minutes. I have other things to attend to before the meeting.”
“Forty-five.”
I arch a brow. “This isn’t a negotiation.”
“It’s the future of your company.”
Anger flares. “Don’t manipulate me.”
Her eyes flash, russet fire. “I’m not. I’m stating facts. You want this to be successful? Then, I need to know more about what you want beyond what’s on that contract. Details about your company’s culture, the logistics. Details only you can provide.”
I lean toward her. “I hired you, Miss North. You work for me.”
“And I need you to trust me to do my job.”
Silence falls. The words hang in the air between us. Her cheeks pale, but she doesn’t back down.
“Thirty minutes, Miss North.” I close the distance between us until I’m towering over her. “Take it or leave.”
She stares at me. I can see the contemplation in her eyes, the desire to fight in the tense set of her jaw.
But then she sighs softly and shakes her head.
“This was a mistake.”
“What?”
When she looks at me again, the pain in her eyes has me wanting to cross to her. I thrust my hands into my pockets and lean back, away from temptation. Away from her.
“You don’t trust me. You’ll never be able to trust me.”
“Not personally, no. But this is business.”
Her shoulders drop, as if the weight she’s been holding up all this time has finally won the battle. “They’re not mutually exclusive.”
I smother the fire inside me, reach for the ice that has kept me in control all these years.
“You left my bed and walked straight into my brother’s arms.”
“I didn’t lie about there being no one else. Liam told you, we got engaged later that day,” she says, trying to hold on to her calm. Judging by the tremor in her voice, just barely.
“Yes, because a few hours makes such a difference.” I smile coldly. “Tell me, Diana, had he already told you he cared for you, and sex with me helped clarify your own feelings? Or did you use me to give yourself a confidence boost before throwing yourself at his feet?”
She strides across the room and picks her briefcase up off the table, stuffing her laptop and notebook inside.
“We’re done here.”
I beat her to the door, slide between it and her. She glares up at me, color high in her cheeks.
“Let me out or I’ll scream.”
“Leave, and I’ll sue you and your firm for breach of contract.”
Her fury washes over me, hot and potent. It hits my skin, slips beneath. The air sharpens, not just with anger, but with the one thing I swore I would never let myself feel for this woman again.
Desire.
We stare each other down, wills clashing, breaths mingling. Her lips are parted, her breathing growing more ragged with each passing second. I don’t have time to savor the bitter triumph of knowing I’m not the only one affected. Not when my cock hardens in an instant.
Her gaze drops to my mouth as she sucks in a shuddering breath. Just like she did in Central Park right before we surged together and kissed like we’d been starved for touch for too long. Never had a simple kiss rocked me so deeply.
Diana leans forward enough to bring her lips dangerously close to mine. She wants me. And I want her. I want her more than anyone I’ve ever desired in my entire life. It’s a living, pulsing thing inside me, a need to take, to possess.
I should let her walk out. Put as much distance between us as possible and never contact her again. No woman has ever tested my discipline, let alone made me want to throw the rules I live by out the window. She’s dangerous.
But letting her walk away would be failing. I need to get my cock under control and my mind back where it belongs. Diana’s effect on me is a concern. But AuraGeothermal needs her expertise.
And I need to do this. Regain command and exert my authority.
It nearly kills me. But I pull back. Just a fraction, but enough space to make it clear I have no intention of kissing her. Her eyes widen, then darken with embarrassment and shock a moment before she jerks back.
“Make your choice, Miss North.”
Despite the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks, she tilts her chin up. Damn it if I don’t respect her for standing her ground.
“You’ve already made it for me, Mr. Valdasson.”
I ignore the bitterness beneath the rough huskiness of her voice as I step back.
“Then, let’s continue.” I move away, walk back to my desk and sit so she can’t see the bulge in my trousers. I glance at my watch. “We’re down to twenty-seven minutes.”
It’s interesting to watch her, to see her visibly wrestle her emotions back under control.
But she does it with surprising ease. In a matter of seconds, the woman teetering on the verge of losing her equanimity is gone, replaced once more with the professional who strode into my office and tried to assert herself in my space.
She walks to my desk and sets her briefcase down, taking her things out once more with cool efficiency. When she finally sits, her face is smooth, her eyes opaque. She asks me questions in a voice bordering on robotic. No hint of passion, no emotion whatsoever.
I’ve won the first battle. Established my dominance, refused to cede control. Didn’t let lust take over.
I’ve won. So why do I feel as though I just lost something important?