Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
LOGAN
T he next day, I sat at my desk, staring at my phone and reviewing the texts I exchanged with Piper last night. The one that sticks out is where I call her Hardcover, explaining that we both put up a front to the world. It’s true. I need to be strong for the company’s image and my employees.
We both experienced hell when we were kids. Elliot saved her. My best friend, the man I’m betraying by dwelling on my connection with his sister. But I can’t deny it.
Looking at these messages, we seem like a good fit. That’s why I tried to get things back on track last night, changing the subject. But this morning, I failed again. I couldn’t resist sending her another text, even if I knew it was wrong.
The betrayal isn’t just because Elliot’s my best friend—he also helped me with the business. Without his sister, the idea for Do It All never would’ve come to me. Without Elliot, there never would’ve been a company.
Last night, when discussing her outfits, I got rock-hard thinking about her slipping into a pair of hip-hugging pants. My entire body went solid as my muscles strained. I wanted so badly to be with her, to sink my hands hungrily into her, to claim every inch of her delicious curviness.
I had to leave my bed, go to my home gym, and start rowing like a crazed Viking on the machine just to stop myself from wrapping my hand around my throbbing cock.
Today, after actually getting some work done, Elliot visits me in my office.
“I need to ask a favor,” he says.
“You’ve got bags under your eyes, bro,” I tell him honestly. He looks like he hasn’t slept properly in days.
He sits opposite me, smiling tightly. “Don’t make this about anything else. I need a favor, that’s all.”
I sigh. “Elliot, you know I’m here for you, don’t you? Whatever this is, whatever’s happening, I can help you. You don’t need to go through it alone.”
He grits his teeth, shaking his head. “You don’t get it. The only way you can help me is by agreeing to work with Sal.”
“You’re living in a dreamworld if you think I’d ever let mobsters into my company. You should know better than even to ask me.”
“I need you to give Piper a ride home,” he says. “That’s the favor. It has nothing to do with Sal.”
I almost tell him no, but that would be suspicious as hell, wouldn’t it?
“Well?” he snaps when I don’t reply.
“I’ve got no problem giving her a ride,” I say. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to tell me what’s going on. Since when have you known some mafia goon ?”
“He’s not a goon, Logan,” Elliot says, reaching for his pocket.
“Leave that vape thing alone, man.”
“Who are you now, my mother?”
I sigh, running my hand through my hair. “Elliot, I don’t want to fight with you. We’ve been through too much together to resort to this. But what you’re saying, and that meeting you arranged, is just not you. Has he been threatening you? Has he hurt you? You know I can arrange security. I can contact a firm right now.”
“If you do that, he’ll take it as a sign that you want to start a war.”
“A mob war?” I mutter in disbelief. “This is a joke.”
“No, Logan, it’s not,” he replies. “That’s the thing. It’s not a joke. It’s serious. This could mean the end of the company.”
“Over my dead body,” I growl.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I hammer my fist against the desk, causing my keyboard and other items to leap into the air. Rage infuses me.
“You helped me build this company. Without you, without the seed money – seed money you could’ve lost, pissing your inheritance down the drain – Do It All wouldn’t exist. And now you want it all to crumble to shit.”
“I don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
“That’s the thing, brother,” I say. “I’m ready to get hurt to keep this company intact. The moment we accept a deal like this, Do It All ceases to exist. We will have sacrificed everything, all our morals, and this company was built on morals. If I have to fight the mob to protect that, I will.”
Elliot bolts to his feet. “I didn’t come here to argue about this. I came to ask if you’d give Piper a ride, and you’ve agreed to that. There’s nothing else to talk about.”
I sigh. “Fine, but this isn’t over. What are you doing, anyway?”
“Huh?”
“Seeing your mob friends?”
“I’m seeing a lady, as it just so happens,” he says. “A small slice of light in this dark, fucked-up misery.”
He leaves my office, slamming the door. I stand up, restlessly pacing the office.
I know giving Piper a ride home is a bad idea, but what else can I do—tell her to find her own way?
My body goes hot just thinking about it. My balls ache, flooding with seed, tickling into my base, and threatening to make my cock stiffen right here in the office. A mix of rage, lust, and adrenaline rushes through me, a cocktail I find difficult to manage.
My phone makes an ‘alert’ sound. I rush to my desk, and I’m overly disappointed when I realize it’s not a text from Piper. It’s a calendar alert reminding me of my meeting with Milo, Piper, and the tech department in five minutes.
I stride to the elevator, close my eyes when I’m alone, and breathe slowly, gathering my wits, my sanity, and my tranquility. I will not let myself slip in front of my employees. That’d be beyond bad.
When I enter, Piper, Milo, and Russel from the tech department are already in animated conversation. They all stand when I walk through the door.
“Relax. I’m not royalty.”
It’s difficult not to look at Piper. She’s wearing hip-hugging pants just like she mentioned in her text, the fabric wrapped with tight temptation around the thickness of her delicious-as-fuck thighs. My body pulses with hunger as I think about stroking my hands over the roundness of her ass, then under her shirt, up to her bra, feeling the heat of her skin.
“What’s the latest, then?” I say, sitting down.
They exchange looks. I’m coming across as grumpy—better that than the truth.
“I was just saying I could work up some mock devices,” Russel says. “For internal use, to see how they would work practically.”
“There’s no point worrying about copyright or data implications before we’ve explored the functionality,” Piper says, nodding.
“Very well phrased, Piper,” Milo says, aiming a smile her way.
Under the table, I’ve got my fist clenched as though I’m some pouting goddamn teenager. He’s got every right to compliment his employee, but it annoys me.
I need to get control of this before it goes too far. Judging from the texts last night, it already has gone too far.
“Okay, then,” I say, standing. “That was easy. Russel, let me know when the prototypes are ready.”
Piper adjusts her collar, brushing her hand up and down her neck. It’s completely innocent, of course. It's just a normal gesture during a normal workday. But it almost makes me wild.
I leave the office quickly before I do something I’ll regret.
How am I going to handle being alone with her later? I’ve done it before, I remind myself. It’s not like I pounced on her in the interview.
She’s the sexiest, most tempting, most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. But even if she makes me feel like one, I’m not, in fact, an animal.