Chapter 26
ELOISE
“ M orning, Kitten.” Ren’s voice echoes from the ceiling when he looks up at me from the breakfast table. This isn’t a dining room, it’s a dining hall, and Ren looks really out of place in it.
“You should have woken me. I’m gonna be late for work,” I scold him, smiling awkwardly at Otto, who’s standing by the door looking like he’s waiting for an order.
“Work?” Ren stares at me as if I’ve just grown an extra head.
“Yes, work,” I answer in frustration. I’m already embarrassed that I’ll have to wear the same dress that I had on yesterday. Ren didn’t pack anything in that travel bag that would be appropriate to wear to the office, and we won’t have time for me to stop by my apartment to change.
“You realize I wasn’t kidding last night? I’m fucking loaded. You don’t have to work.”
“I get that, Ren, but I like my job. I worked hard to get where I am. I want to continue for as long as I can.” I straighten up my spine and stand firm.
“But your preg–”
“I would think very carefully before you finish that sentence.” I point my finger at him, and when I notice his eyes flick over to Otto, I give the old guy a stern look too.
“Sit down, have some breakfast. We’ll talk about this.” Ren gets up and pulls out a chair for me
“I don’t have time for breakfast, I’m supposed to be at work in just over an hour, and traffic is gonna be hell.”
“You have to eat breakfast, your–”
“Ren.” I stop him, looking to the door and reminding him we have company.
“Don’t worry, Otto already knows. Everyone here does.” Ren proudly drops his hand to rest on my stomach and makes that handsome boyish grin again.
“Ren, you're not supposed to say anything this early on.”
“Kitten, you're living here now. I spoke to Mary, she’s gonna do some research into what you should be eating, and I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Thursday.
” He pats my tummy proudly before taking his seat again.
“Just let Otto know what you want and he’ll send your order through to the kitchen.
” He takes a sip of coffee and winks at me over the rim of his cup.
“Will your uncle not be joining us?” I ask; we haven’t been formally introduced, and considering how angry he looked when we arrived, I’m nervous about it.
“Uncle Stefan tends to keep himself to himself.” He gets back to eating his breakfast.
“Ren, this isn’t normal,” I whisper.
“I thought we decided normal wasn’t gonna be our thing.” He puts down his cup.
“You know what I mean; butlers and chefs, me not going to work. I’m not prepared to give up my job, at least not until the baby actually gets here. I’d go crazy rattling around this big house all day.”
“Fine.” Ren shrugs, and his response takes me aback a little. I was expecting a fight, or at least some kind of compromise over the situation.
“Okay.” I smile victoriously, taking a sip of the orange juice which has already been poured out for me. “What is this?” I look down at the pill that's beside the glass.
“It’s a prenatal vitamin. I had Otto go out and fetch them last night.
You need to take it once a day,” he informs me, and since we seem to be starting the day off so well, I don’t mention the fact that I shouldn’t ever trust him again when it comes to taking pills. Instead, I pick it up and swallow it.
“That’s my girl, now what can we get you and my baby for breakfast?” he asks.
“I shouldn’t have eaten those pancakes.” I hold my hand over my mouth as Ren brakes at the traffic lights.
“You look really pale.” He strokes his hand over my back, looking concerned. While I focus on not ruining the interior of his car.
“It’ll pass, it’s been like this for a few days now,” I assure him.
“You know, morning sickness is a good thing; it means your hormone levels are high and the baby’s healthy.”
“You seem to be an expert.” I manage a smile.
“I’ve been planning this for a while.” He smiles back at me, moving us forward and surprising me when he turns into the underground parking lot beneath my office building.
“Ren, you can’t park in here, you need a permit,” I explain as he finds a space. “You could have just dropped me off outside.” I start wondering what he’s doing when he gets out of his seat, moves around the car, and opens my door for me.
“I’m taking you all the way up today.” He takes my hand and leads me toward the elevator before I can put up any kind of argument.
“This isn’t necessary.” I try to make him see how overbearing this is before we reach the floor my office is on.
“I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to my desk.
” Ren ignores me, waiting patiently for the doors to open.
I’m already half an hour late, and I’m starting to worry that everyone else will think they missed the bring-your-boyfriend-to-work-day memo.
“I’m here,” I tell him cheerily when the door finally opens. “Thanks for seeing me up. Maybe we could meet for lunch?”
Ren ignores me again, stepping out onto my office floor and slowly taking it all in.
“Ahh, Eloise, you're late. I was hoping to have the Gret…Mr. Ashcroft.” Helena, our acting chief editor, looks up at Ren in shock, and I glance between them both, wondering what I missed.
“I had no idea you were visiting today. If I had, I’d have prepared something. Yvonne, get Mr. Ashcroft a coffee,” she calls over to our receptionist, while I wait for someone to explain what's going on here.
“No need to prepare anything, I’m sure I’ll be getting a good enough insight into what goes on around here.
I’m gonna need an office.” Ren rubs his hands together, looking around as if he’s deciding which one will be suitable.
“Where's your desk, Kitten?” he asks, making me blush when he calls me that in front of my boss.
“Ren, what’s happening here?” I whisper.
“Miss Meadows is located in bay three,” Yvonne tells him dutifully as she hands him his coffee and looks up at him all dreamy-eyed.
“Okay, I’ll take that one.” He points to the one directly opposite.
“Sir, that's Mark Freeman’s office. He’s one of our best journalists,” Helena tells him.
“Then he can share an office with you,” Ren tells her, moving on past and heading toward Mark’s office.
“Ren, what the fuck?” I slam the door once we’re inside alone.
“Baby, you know how turned on, you getting mad, makes me. Pregnant mad looks even hotter on you.”
“This isn’t pregnant mad, this is just…” I haven’t got a word for it… “Grrr…What's going on? Why are you here? Why does my boss know your second name and I don’t?”
“Because I’m her boss.” He rests back in the chair behind the desk and tests out its bounce.
“What do you mean, you’re her boss?”
“I own the magazine.” He shrugs, swivelling the chair and adjusting the height.
“You don’t own th— You own the magazine? ” I grip my hair in frustration.
“C’mon, Kitten, don’t do that, you made your hair look so pretty today.” He frowns at me.
“How long have you–”
“Take a guess.” He stands up and comes toward me, shutting out everyone who’s staring in at us when he reaches behind me and pulls down the blind.
“Since I started working here?” I growl back at him, letting him see that I’m not at all happy with this new revelation.
“Correct answer, you just earned yourself a promotion. Whose office do you want, pretty girl?” He leans in to kiss me, and I duck under his arm to get away from him.
“You can’t do this, Ren, you can’t own the magazine I work for.”
“I’ve owned it for all this time, and you didn’t even know. What’s the difference?” He folds his arms and rests his ass on the desk.
“The difference is now I do know. People are already thinking that I got the Junior Editor role way too soon. I can’t have this. I can’t have you be my boss's boss or whatever you are…”
Oh my god, are you the reason I got promoted?” I suddenly feel like everything I’ve worked for has been a lie.
“No.” Ren points his finger at me. “Up till now, I’ve been a silent owner. My uncle was calling all the shots; I had nothing to do with you getting your position.”
“Up till now.” I catch what he’s just said. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you are pregnant with my child, and I want to be close to you. I told my uncle I’d be taking more responsibility in my investments, and this is where I’m gonna start.” His lips linger close to mine, and as tempted as I am to give in to them, I don’t.
“So what do you intend to do all day, sit in here watching me work?”
“Come on.” I roll my eyes when he laughs, “You know watching you is my favorite thing to do.”
“And there's nothing I can do about this?” I check.
“Not a thing.” He kisses me before I can shove him away. “You should get to work, Kitten, you're already late.” He opens the door, and when he goes to step out, I drag him back. “Where are you going?” I whisper.
“To get my girl a coffee, I need to make sure Yvonne knows to stock up on that decaf.”
“Whoah.” I drag him back inside and slam the door.
“I’m pissed about this, Ren. If you really intend to be here every day, you're gonna stick to some of my rules.” His lips twitch when I shove my finger hard into his chest. “I don’t want anyone in this office knowing about us.
I don’t want them finding out I’m pregnant.
This place is the only touch of normal I have right now, and I need it. ”
“How am I supposed to hide the fact you're mine when I want the whole world to know?” he questions, making me weaken and smile a little.
“You can work on it while you're watching me,” I tell him, turning on my heels and heading out the door.
“Hey, Eloise!” Mary-Ann calls me over to the watercooler.
“Rumor has it that he’s the guy who owns the magazine; he looks more like one of the models.
” She looks at him through the glass now that he’s pulled the blind back up.
He’s standing in front of the huge window that looks out over the city, doing stretching exercises to loosen up his shoulders.
And looking right at me. “What were you doing in there?” she asks, peering over her glasses at him.
“I, erm…I bumped into him downstairs. He was asking me a few questions, that’s all. You know how these rich folk are, got more money than sense.” I leave her to gawk at him and move on to do some work.