17. Rosenna
Chapter seventeen
Rosenna
A s I approached the two men, I smiled, making only eye contact with Gavin. I felt absolutely sick to my stomach. Avoiding Beckham’s intense gaze, it was almost as if I was being punished for my sins by the devil himself.
“Gavin… what a surprise. What are you doing here?” I asked, playing off the fact that I wished he wasn ’ t here.
He put his arm around my waist as he placed a kiss on my cheek. Beckham’s gaze on me seemed to harden as he watched the interaction, but he remained stoic.
“I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I know we were having some problems yesterday, and I thought I’d do something nice.”
Some problems… Letting your family demean me and undermining my emotions, concerns, and feelings were more than just some problems— but I was no saint either, so I couldn’t argue too much.
“Caught him walking in with the biggest bouquet of flowers he could find. They’re on your desk, by the way,” Beckham added.
I reluctantly looked over to him as I felt my knees go weak at his voice.
“Did you have to ruin the surprise?” Gavin asked with a laugh.
Beckham shook his head. “Of course I did, Gav. Gotta keep you on your toes. I know Rosenna. She’s not going to let you get away that easily.”
He smiled at me, and I felt my blood run cold. Beckham doesn ’ t smile . When he does, only bad things come from it. This was absolutely no exception.
And Gav … Gav? Gav! Not even a month ago, he criticized Gav for not complimenting me at his father’s dinner and for being unable to “take care of me…” but now it’s Gav .
“We’ll see about that… we’re two peas in a pod, me and her…” Gavin said, looking at me lovingly. My stomach twisted with guilt as he rubbed his thumb over my hip. “I’d beg for her forgiveness for a lifetime. It ’ s why she can never say no to me. ” He said it jokingly, but as Beckham continued staring at me, I felt the pressure under his gaze.
“I bet she can’t,” he replied in a monotone.
I gave them a forced, wavering smile as I pulled out of Gavin’s hold with only a hint of urgency.
“Well, gentlemen… I’ll leave you be. I have to find Kira to get the day under control. Be back in a bit.”
I did my best to walk and not sprint over to Kira’s office. I entered her office and shut the door as I looked to see her working on some paperwork.
“Kira!”
She held up a finger. “Sorry, still processing.”
“You’re about to process my foot up your ass if you don’t help me figure out what to do!”
She whined as she closed the folder and stood up. Joining me beside the door, and we both looked through the glass to see Beckham and Gavin chatting it up a few meters away.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
Kira gave me the side-eye. “What are you going to do is the real question. Vincent just called me to confirm that we’d be going to his Billionaire’s Brunch.”
“I tried saying no. Please tell me you said no.”
“How the hell was I supposed to say no to one of the richest men in the country, Rosenna? Of course I said yes!”
Placing my hand on my forehead, I groaned as I shut my eyes, feeling my headache grow. “God, how am I going to get away from these men?”
Kira gave me a look. “Can I tell you what team I’m rooting for? Hint: I don’t like Gavin.”
I glared at her as I grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her office.
We rejoined Gavin and Beckham, a fake smile plastered on my face.
“Well, guys, Kira and I have a lot of work to do, so Gavin, I’ll see you at home, and Beckham… we’ll keep in touch.”
Gavin nodded and pointed to Beckham. “You better bring the beer, Garcia. The guys will love you.”
I gazed back and forth between them quickly as my heart raced.
“The guys?” I asked, confused but still trying to remain impartial.
Gavin explained, “I invited Beckham to join in on a poker night with the guys at the firm. Thought it’d be nice for them to meet my wife’s biggest client.”
The corners of Beckham’s mouth raised.
I gave another wavering smile in return.
Gavin’s poker nights . Nights at our home, probably a few times a year, where he gathers his law firm buddies, and they play pool, poker, darts… and drink loads and loads of alcohol. Yours truly is often the one mitigating how much they’re drinking as well as what they’re eating for the night.
“I’d hate to impose,” Beckham said.
Gavin shook his head. “Nonsense. We’d be delighted to have you.”
“I guess I’ll check my schedule then,” Beckham uttered in response as he ran his eyes over my figure.
Kira let out a small noise as she caught the gesture, but reluctantly left me alone with them as one of our other employees called her over.
“Gotta get back to the office. I’ll see myself out. See you at home, love,” Gavin said.
I nodded as he placed a small kiss on my cheek. He gave Beckham a final handshake as I swiftly left the area.
Behind, still within earshot, I heard Beckham excuse himself to the bathroom before heading out. Suspecting that was not exactly what he planned on doing, I sped, hoping to make it to my office—but very quickly, terrifying footsteps approached from behind. I floored it, running the last of the distance, throwing the door closed—
It hit a foot.
Beckham pushed the door open.
I crossed my arms. “What are you doing, Beckham?” I seethed.
“I’m not doing anything, Flower,” he assured.
I stepped a few feet back as he took one step forward. He noticed and gave a small smirk at the gesture.
“Go away,” I warned. “Stop meddling with my life.”
“Me? Interfere with your life…?” He drew closer, and I could feel my mouth going dry as he towered over me. When he took another step forward, something flickered in his expression. Something dark. Something utterly unstable. “I would never do such a thing. I’m just looking to have a good time, and Gavin seemed like the perfect person…” Leering down from just a few inches in front of me, almost taunting now, he continued, “You heard what he said. The guys are going to love me.”
I backed away, but my desk stopped me, and I looked away from Beckham as he caged me in, his hands on either side of me as he looked down at me lustfully. He leaned down to my neck, and I blushed as he breathed in deeply, like he always did. Then he pulled away, and I saw the look of pure desire in his eyes as he clenched his jaw slightly.
“Beckham. You have to stop,” I whispered.
But he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me flush against his chest. I gasped.
“Stop? I haven’t done anything that you haven’t liked before, Flower…”
I bit my lip as I held back the small moan that wanted to surface while he groped my ass.
“Beckham…” I whispered breathlessly.
“Bet you’re having a hard time saying no to me, hmm?”
In the midst of the lust and passion shining in his eyes, there was a hint of jealousy.
I’d beg for her forgiveness for a lifetime. It’s why she can never say no to me.
“Beckham, you can’t be jealous,” I said as he attacked my neck with an open mouth kiss.
“Why the fuck not?” he practically growled.
I found the courage to push him away. “Because we are not together.” I pushed my hair out of my face. “I-I cheated on my husband with you, for Christ’s sake.”
“And what if I told you I want us to be together?”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Beckham. I cheated on my husband with you. There is no ’together.’ We simply had sex.”
“And that’s all it was to you, Flower?”
“That’s all it’s ever been! You told me yourself, Beckham. You don’t love, and you don’t know how to feel. So, forgive me if I looked at this on the surface level.”
His jaw ticked. I could never quite read his other emotions from his face, but I could tell he was angry.
Steeling myself, I said, “This has gone far enough. If you want to pull the contract, then pull it. I need to get my life on track, and I can’t do that if your goal is to tear it apart.”
He remained stoic for a moment, then left the room wordlessly, slamming my door closed.
I took a seat on my office chair, only for Kira to barge in right after.
“Why did Beckham just storm out of the building?”
I shook my head. “I had to get him to stop, Kira. The man is insane.”
“But I was rooting for you guys.” She pouted, and I narrowed my eyes at her as she plopped down on the seat in front of my desk. “What are you going to do if you see him at Vincent’s brunch?”
I bit my lip before I sighed, almost defeated.
“I don’t know. Hopefully by then we can secure a few more clients and get through the day without being questioned by Vincent about why his son suddenly pulled out of the contract.”
This was for the best. It had to be. I had to stay away… but Beckham was unpredictable, and I knew I would find myself being unable to say no to him soon enough.