Chapter 35 Dante
DANTE
We’d done as Harper asked and returned to work, leaving her home alone in my penthouse.
She had plenty of security, and anyone attempting to approach her would find a nasty surprise waiting for them.
Not only had I employed extra security at the penthouse, but the cameras around the property and especially outside my doors and windows, were top of the line.
That did not stop the constant churning in my stomach.
I’d bought her a new phone and left it with her while Julian took her old one in case of any new threats.
The change in her demeanor had been instant this morning when I showed her the phone and promised her that Lila, and the three of us, already had her new number saved.
No one should be able to contact her except for the four of us.
She’d promised not to give out the new number, except to her doctor.
I fisted both hands and rested them on my thighs, taking several deep breaths to try and find that calm, cold place in my core that gave me strength.
It slipped away from me.
Fuck.
Harper had more than unraveled me, she’d changed my very nature.
Pretending everything was normal became more difficult with each passing second.
I’d closed my door as soon as I arrived, something I always did, but a sharp, closed-in feeling smothered me.
The dark walls and glittering liquor cabinet did nothing to ease my frazzled nerves.
I considered a drink, but I needed to keep my senses sharp.
Someone was coming after us, after Harper, and my hands were tied.
I tapped a few keys on the laptop and continued reading about gestational diabetes and pregnancy in general.
I’d never had a reason to study it before, and the progression of pregnancy gave me a focus.
We were at the end of the first trimester, based on my calculations.
Soon there would be ultrasounds and more tests.
More doctor visits. Would she want all three of us going with her to the doctor?
We could rotate, but that might be even more confusing to the doctor and staff, especially since we all planned on being there for the birth.
Harper carried our child. The smothered feeling eased, replaced with a sense of awe.
I was going to be a father. We had not bothered talking about paternity testing.
We were all the baby’s father. It’s how things were always meant to be for us.
Unconventional, sure, but somewhere along the way, we became a unit.
I preferred it this way. The four of us made a whole family.
Five counting our upcoming bundle of joy.
It took all of us for this to work, and I’d never cared for conventional relationships anyway.
They always failed me. Harper and my best friends had never failed me.
Her reassurance that her father would approve put the icing on the proverbial cake.
A smile eased out, and I traced the line of a baby’s jaw that had appeared on the screen when I prompted the search engine for images to go with my studies. Soon, I’d hold our child.
The door opened and Bethany walked in wearing another of her low-cut blouses and too-short skirts.
I bit down a groan but kept the icy frown in place.
“I brought you a coffee. It’s your favorite. Fresh beans and a splash of cream, just the way you like it.” She leaned over the desk, once again bending far more than necessary to place the cup next to my hand.
I pulled away, anger and disgust twisting my mouth.
Her scent overwhelmed the fragrance of fresh coffee and clogged my nose.
I attempted to wave it away, but her invasion of my personal space made it worse.
“Perhaps you could wear something work appropriate from now on. Especially if you’re going to insist on leaning over my desk every five seconds.
” I almost threatened to talk to HR, but that came back to the three of us, making it an empty threat.
Bethany jolted back a few inches but managed to stay far too close for my comfort.
She pouted, her expression falling from a happy grin to a muted and disbelieving look.
Instead of retreating like usual, she crossed her arms and propped her hip against the corner of the desk.
Both moves caused her breasts to push upward.
One wrong breath and they’d spill right out. Which was most likely her goal.
“Why are you pretending you’re not interested in me?”
Impertinent little bitch. “I am not pretending.” I’d rather spend the rest of my life alone than endure a night with someone like her, someone who tried to manipulate her way into my bed by using her body.
A slyness entered her eyes, and she licked her lower lip, giving me that slow once over that I despised. “Oh, I don’t believe that’s true. If you would go for someone like Harper, I believe you’d be more than thrilled to have someone like me give you a little attention.”
“Then you’d be mistaken.” I controlled the anger through years of willpower.
As much as I would love to rise to my feet and loom over her, the power play would work to her advantage.
“And you will never speak like that about Harper again.” Even that little speech risked giving me away, but defending Harper was second nature.
“We all know she slept with you.” Bethany ticked three fingers into the air. “You. Alexander. And Julian.” The grin turned mean and haughty all at the same time. “Even though there’s a strict company policy prohibiting that kind of behavior.”
I took a single, short breath to regain my control and laced my fingers together on top of the desk.
“If you ever speak like that again, I will fire you. You get this one warning because you have performed well here. But I can have a new receptionist, one who knows her place, by the end of the day. I dare to say she might even do the job better than you.”
“Ah, threats. I thought you might try that.”
I held up a finger. “I’m not finished. You will never spew that kind of hateful gossip, not about Harper or anyone else. Besides”—I let my own smile turn vicious—“Harper no longer works for this company, so what does it matter if we are seeing her?”
The gloating expression melted from her face faster than ice cream in May. She spluttered but no true words emerged. Red infused her cheeks, and she tightened her arms over her stomach. “Does this mean you’re still seeing her?”
“Why, Bethany, you sound like a jealous lover. Why would you dare take that tone with me?” This time I did stand. Resting both palms on the desk, I kept us at eye level. “What I do is none of your fucking business. Get out of my office. Now.”
I’d been told before that the controlled anger and my quiet delivery were scary enough to make hardened men shudder. It worked just as well on Bethany.
She pushed away from my desk with a gulp and hurried out the door, slamming it closed behind her.
If I had any other cause to let her go, I would use it. Truthfully, until these last few months, she’d been a model employee. What was it about the gossip surrounding Harper that made so many others think we would fall at their feet if they so much as batted their lashes?
After waiting to ensure Bethany did not about-face and storm back in, I lowered to my seat but resisted dropping my head into my hands.
The defeated posture pulled at me, but I fought it back.
How bad were the rumors about Harper? Were Alexander and Julian experiencing the same kind of reaction from our female employees?
I’d neglected to ask them, and they hadn’t mentioned it.