33. Gabriella
Gabriella
D amien shook his head. “None. I’m not. In full disclosure, about a year after you left me, I started seeing someone.”
My mind was spinning. “And you’re telling me about her because you still love her? You’re not divorced. Oh, I know, you have a kid.”
“No, I’m telling you because the woman I was seeing is the daughter of a member of Sinclair’s executive board.”
Shaking my head, I said, “I’m lost, Damien. Why does this woman matter?”
“She doesn’t, the daughter doesn’t. Gloria, the board member does. Once Dad is off the high doses of painkillers, the doctors will be doing tests to determine if his heart attack affected his brain. Something about lack of oxygen. If it did—if he has cognitive damage, legally he can’t rewrite his will.”
“Is he okay?” I asked, genuinely concerned.
Damien sighed. “I spoke with him Thursday night for only a short time. He was still kind of out of it from the surgery and sedatives. His short-term memory was shit.”
“Why does he need to rewrite his will?”
“Do you remember when Darius nearly fucked up the entire company?”
“It was a little before I started working for you, but I remember the ramifications.”
“Yeah,” he said with a daunting tone. “Dad was pissed. He didn’t want that to happen with me or with Darius or Dani.”
“That’s why he made the probation period as long as he did.”
Damien swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Dad’s will states that if he dies before I or any CEO named during his life completes the probationary period?—”
“Die,” I interrupted, scooting closer. “Jeez, Damien, is he that ill? Why aren’t you with him?”
“No, he’s not—I don’t think he is. The point is if he would, Sinclair is to be sold. He wanted to know he was leaving Sinclair Pharmaceuticals with a solid reputation.”
My eyes opened wide. “Fight the will. Could the board vote to end your probation?”
“They could.”
“Ask for it. I mean if your father is that sick, they’d understand.”
Damien took another deep breath. “I’m not sure the board would approve me. Darius has been sowing shit. He thinks he wants back in.”
I rolled my eyes. “The man is incapable.” I turned to Damien. “I’m sorry. I love your sister, but your brother is…I’m not a fan.”
Damien’s cheeks lifted with a smile. “See, Ella, you don’t just know me. You also know my family.”
Yeah, three years will do that.
Damien went on, “When I was seeing Gloria’s daughter, I learned something that no one else had told me.”
I scrunched my nose. “If it’s about sex, don’t tell me.”
He shook his head. “Gloria is one of the oldest members of the executive board. She has been there since Dad took over. As you know, Sinclair was started generations ago. Times have changed. However, unbeknownst to most people, there is an old addendum in the company bylaws. There’s a clause that would allow the appointment of a CEO if the candidate were married.”
“But…you’re the CEO and you’re not married.” I sucked in a breath. “You married that woman? You’re divorced? No, you said you didn’t.”
He lifted his hand. “I didn’t marry her. The addendum is archaic. It was written by my great-grandfather in the instance that a woman would inherit Sinclair. He didn’t feel a woman could lead without a man at her side. Darius was the first unwed CEO.” Damien shrugged. “He was actually co-CEO with Dad. When I was appointed, my marital status wasn’t mentioned. Nevertheless, the addendum is still there. Gloria told me about it. She wanted Amber and me to marry. She said if we did, she’d show the addendum to the rest of the board, and I could forgo the rest of the probation. I would be CEO, set in stone.”
I swallowed, a sour taste bubbling from my throat. “Oh my God, Damien, she was bribing or blackmailing you to marry her daughter. That’s illegal.” I leaned closer. “Is this daughter so awful she needs her mother to blackmail a husband?”
Damien scoffed. “No. It was more about getting in on the Sinclair dynasty.”
“Oh, you have a dynasty now. But seriously, report her and have her removed from the board.”
“That would cause more problems. She tried,” he said. “I didn’t take the bait. And now, there’s some bad blood between Gloria and me. If we took a vote now, she could convince enough of the others on the board to vote against me.”
“And where would that get them? They’d not have a CEO.”
“Darius.”
Standing, I paced back and forth in front of the window. “You only have five months. In five months, if you’ve survived the probation period, there won’t be a vote. You will automatically be the CEO in good standing.” I hoped I was recalling the probation correctly. “I don’t recall anything about marriage.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t told about the addendum until Gloria…” He paused. “Amber.”
Amber.
Am I jealous?
I was the one who walked away.
I tried to understand. “You’re saying now with your dad’s heart attack, you think it would be good to marry her?”
Damien stood. “No, forget Amber. She isn’t significant other than because of her, I learned of the addendum.” He came closer and reached for my hands. “Ella, I loved you. I love you. I tried to forget, but damn, with you here, I’m remembering everything. I’m certain there are a thousand reasons for me not to ask this, or for you to say no, but watching how amazing you were today... Maybe as archaic as my great-grandfather was, he was onto something. Having someone at your side is important.” He fell to one knee. “I’m not prepared with a ring?—”
I took a step back. “Damien, don’t do this.”
He stood, our chests touching. “Call it probationary. In five months, if you want a divorce, I’ll give it to you with a big payout.”
“I don’t want your money.” I backed away and turned all the way around.
Disappearing .
If I look in the mirror, will my reflection be absent?
“Ella.” He reached for my hands. “You’re pale. Is the idea of marrying me that awful?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Marrying you isn’t going to keep me visible—I’ll disappear.”
“Visible.” His volume rose. “Fuck, Ella, you are the focus of the room, the one standing in the spotlight. You’re all I see. You’re visible. I’d never try to make you invisible.”
“Your dad is going to be okay, so this is a moot point, right?”
Damien walked back and forth. When he stopped, he shook his head. “I don’t fucking know. A week ago, Dad was playing eighteen holes of golf and swimming laps in the community pool. Now he’s in a hospital bed. Mom called this morning and said he’s still in pain. They’re adjusting the medications.” He sighed. “Van said something yesterday that I’ve been thinking about. I mentioned the five months. He said thinking about his children, five months can be a lifetime. Five months is forever. Fucking life can change in a minute.”
A lump of emotions formed in my throat as I walked to him and lifted my arms to his shoulders. “You have a lot happening.”
He lowered his forehead to mine. “You’re the only one I have ever been this honest with—the only person I feel comfortable talking with.”
Vulnerable.
Damien rarely appeared less than in control.
I knew what he was saying was true.
Pushing up on my toes, I kissed his firm lips. What started sweet quickly escalated. An isolated spark that ignited an inferno. His fingers weaved through my hair and our faces turned one way and the other. My breasts flattened against his chest as our hearts beat in double time against one another’s. It wasn’t long until our tongues joined the tango.
I couldn’t think about his idea—about marriage—but I could do my best to make him forget for only a moment or two about his father and company. My head rolled back as his kisses lowered down my neck and in the V of my blouse.
This was what I could do.
I’d been right earlier when I’d implied that Damien could be an ass. He could. That was a personality trait I was used to. Damien Sinclair was invincible. He took a risk with the propanolamine and made Sinclair Pharmaceuticals relevant. Confidence radiated off him in waves, washing others away.
That was probably why Mr. Ayers and Mr. Welsh had their issues. Damien was younger, and he’d accomplished great things.
Hearing the uncertainty in his tone made my chest ache.
As goosebumps scattered over my flesh, Damien began unfastening the front of my slacks. Not to be outdone, I lifted his sweater over his head and ran my fingers over his toned chest. My slacks fell to my ankles.
His gaze gleamed as he crouched down, dragging my panties down my legs. Placing his nose near my core, Damien inhaled. “You smell so sweet. I need to be inside you.”
“I want you there.”
In the hands of a master, I was putty, sitting on the revolving table, waiting to be molded. With my hands on the mattress, Damien spread my legs. I gasped as he separated my folds and plunged his finger deep within me.
“I love how wet you are.” He laid his hand on my back. “Don’t move. I want to fuck you from behind.” This time he used two fingers, stretching me. “Your tight cunt is crying with need.”
I heard the zipper of his blue jeans only moments before I felt his hard cock as he leaned over me. “Tell me what you want, Ella.”
“You.” My core clenched at the loss of his fingers.
I screamed as his hand landed on my ass. Like a lightning strike from my ass to my core, I felt myself grow even wetter. I bit my lip as his hand landed again and again. With each strike, my nipples hardened and my pussy clenched.
There were no more thoughts of his proposal as my wanton need consumed my rational thinking.
“Please, Damien.”
“Your red ass is fucking gorgeous.”
“Fuck me.”
I didn’t need to ask twice.
He delved deep inside me, filling me and stretching me.
As the flames of our passion singed my skin, his hands were all that kept me from falling forward as he pounded, his body slapping against mine. The build within me was instantaneous as synapse after synapse exploded through my nervous system. My entire body tensed like a wire that was stretched farther than it was meant to be. The implosion was inevitable as my pussy convulsed, the epicenter of my undoing. Shock waves radiated in every direction.
The hotel room filled with Damien’s deep roar as he too reached his precipice.
I fell forward on the bed, breaking our connection. My breasts rose and fell as I tried to catch my breath.
Damien lifted me in his strong arms and laid me on the mattress, only to follow to my side and cradle me against his warm chest. “That wasn’t planned.”
“Impromptu afternoon sex is never a bad thing,” I said, running my finger over his cheek and basking in his desire-filled stare.
“What if I could add that to my proposal?”
“I’d want it in writing.”
He lifted my chin and brushed his lips with mine. “I have never lied to you. I was serious when I told you that I planned to propose in Aruba.” He motioned between us. “I’m not some random stranger. Consider what I said.” He smiled. “I can come up with a more romantic proposal, then give me five months to prove to you it was the right decision.”
“And secure your place with Sinclair.”
“Multitasking.”