Chapter 7 - Simon
As frustrated as I am that my plans to deal with Jaco Marcas have been severely derailed, I can fully accept that I wouldn’t change a single thing that has happened so far. I certainly don’t blame her for coming into my life. I’m the one who dragged her into it after all.
I still would have recused her; I still would have married her. In fact, it’s something I’m incredibly pleased about. Even though it’s tense between us, I have high hopes that things will get better in the future.
In the meantime, I’m going to restart my efforts to track down Jaco and restart my plans.
Delays are not as devastating as they seem. Sometimes good things come from it.
Jaco isn’t going anywhere. I still have all the time in the world. Things just need to be restructured a bit. Replanned. And that happens to be something I’m very good at.
I’ll set up another operation to find him and gather intel. I still have Lucas’s information from his phone. Even though it’s old intel, it might be a decent place to start.
I’ll bide my time, and this time I will get better results. I’m sure I’ll be able to find out where Jaco has been hiding.
It’s late, and I’ve been sitting behind my desk all day, making plans, drawing out maps of thoughts and possible ideas, and now I’m exhausted. My brain is tired, and I want to relax.
My body is agitated from not moving enough.
I decide the best way to let off some steam is to jump in the pool.
I head downstairs in my swimming shorts with a towel strung over my shoulder.
When I step onto the wooden deck, a smile spreads over my face.
Blair is in the water. She has her back to me as she rests her chin on her folded arms that are resting on the edge of the water.
She’s looking out toward the ocean. My eyes trace down her back and the delicate bones of her spine.
Her narrow waist as it dips into the water.
The water moves around her as though it wishes to caress her, and I have to drag my eyes away from her because my cock begins to stir, and I don’t want to have to leave before I’ve had a chance to swim with her.
“How’s the water?” I ask, dropping my towel onto a nearby sun lounger.
“Oh, my goodness!” Blair jumps, spinning toward me and splashing water around herself. “You gave me a heart attack,” she complains.
I chuckle. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
Ignoring the steps, I jump straight into the deep end, sending a wave of water rocking toward her. She scrunches her nose at me. “You did that on purpose,” she smiles.
I haven’t seen her smiling much lately, so it’s a welcome surprise.
“I might have,” I grin, swimming to the wall where she’s leaning and leaning next to her to look out toward the ocean.
“It’s so beautiful. Your home is quite special, Simon.”
“It’s your home too,” I tell her, wanting her to view it that way.
She laughs, knotting her brows and shaking her head.
“Only for a bit. When do you think I will be able to go back to my apartment?” she asks.
“I decided that I should get back to work tomorrow, too. I’m going crazy stuck in this house, even though it’s gorgeous, it’s starting to give me cabin fever. ”
I stare at her as though she’s lost her mind. “You can’t go back to work yet. And you certainly can’t go back to your apartment.”
“What do you mean. It’s been two weeks, a little more actually,” she argues, turning to glare at me.
“Blair, it was only three nights ago that you saw all of those men outside your home. Why in the world would you think they’ve given up so easily? They know where you live, and they aren’t going to back down until they find you. Don’t you get it?” I say sternly.
“You said I could at least go back to work!” she blurts out. “You said that if I signed the marriage documents, I would still have my freedom.
“Yes, but only if it’s safe. And it definitely isn’t safe yet. Why would you want to put yourself in danger?” I huff, annoyed that she doesn’t seem to understand how things work.
“Because I’m going crazy here, Simon. What am I supposed to do all day!” She waves her arms in the air in frustration.
It’s difficult to argue with her when she’s moving so much that it looks like the bikini top might slip right off her beautiful, full breasts. I clear my throat and shake my head, trying to pull my thoughts together in a clear manner.
“You aren’t going back to work. That’s the end of the discussion,” I huff.
“Excuse me!” she snaps, her cheeks turning red with anger. “You don’t own me, Simon. You don’t get to decide that. This is my life, and I am not your prisoner! Or am I?” she demands.
I groan, too tired to be fighting her now. “You aren’t my prisoner. But you are under my protection, and I need you to learn to trust me to make the right choices to keep you safe.”
“Trust you,” she scoffs quietly, as though the idea of trusting me is a joke to her.
She shakes her head and turns away from me in the pool.
I reach out and grab her arm, pulling her back toward me, a little too close as she slips in the water and ends up pressed against my chest with her hands on my waist.
I pretend not to notice how my body spikes instantly, heated with desire, feeling her curves pressed against me.
“Simon!” she blurts out, surprised by my forcefulness, but her lips part as she takes in a sharp breath. Surely, she feels it too.
“You promised not to try and escape again,” I remind her with warning in my voice. Her eyes trail over my lips, then up to meet mine.
“And you promised I could return to my old life,” she counters.
“Only when it’s safe,” I say again, regretting that I pulled her so close. Our lips are inches apart, and all I can think about is kissing her.
Her dark browns eyes are flooded with emotion, and she holds my gaze.
I’m so close to leaning down and pressing my lips into hers.
But suddenly she pushes away from me.
“You can’t keep me locked up here forever,” she snaps angrily, taking another step back and creating more distance between us.
I sigh, drained from the day, and I lean back and let myself float in the water for a moment. The coolness of it covers me in relief.
When I look up again, Blair has climbed out and is wrapping a towel around her beautiful body.
I don’t know what to do with her. But I’m going to have to do something to stop her from rebelling and changing her mind about staying.
Maybe I should lock her up after all, I muse with a smirk.
***
The next morning, after a good night’s rest, I have a plan, and I’m busy putting it in motion.
This plan has nothing to do with Jaco and everything to do with keeping Blair happy and close to me. My family has extensive reach and resources in this city, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t use them to my advantage.
This is what leads me to start a whole new company, but one that I already have some experience in.
It doesn’t take me long to set up a small office on the third floor of a building I already own. Five employees running a legitimate company that sources and negotiates the purchase of very rare books, then researches and decides which to keep as an investment and which to sell to a higher bidder.
Blair wants to go back to work because she’s bored, but she doesn’t have to go back to her old job, exposed and in the open, and somewhere that makes it hard for me to protect her.
This way, she can do what she loves, work with books, and work in the security of one of my buildings. It’s perfect.
And to my relief, Blair is thrilled about it. I don’t tell her I set up the company for her. I make it sound like it’s something I’ve been working on for a while, and now that I’m ready to launch it, she has a safe job where the men who are hunting her won’t be able to reach her.
“Sourcing rare books? That sounds more exciting than my previous job,” she says, smiling. “But are you going to be watching over me in the office every day?” she adds, scrunching her nose.
“No. I work on the upper floor in the same building, but this is a side project of mine; I don’t have time to manage it, and expect you and the team to manage it fully on your own.”
“I can do that. Definitely. Thank you for thinking of me. I appreciate this,” she says.
Early in the morning, she stands next to me in the elevator, excited to start her first day at her new job.
The door chimes and slides open on the third floor.
She grins and turns toward me. “I’ll see you later then?
” she says, making it clear that she doesn’t want me to walk her all the way to the office door.
“I’m on the top floor if you need anything. Good luck with your first day,” I smile, making no move to leave the elevator. She doesn’t know it, but I have access to the office security cameras. I will be able to keep an eye on her from upstairs.
“Thanks,” she says with relief as she steps out of the elevator and the doors slide closed, blocking her from my view.
The building is safe. She’ll be fine. I still don’t like the idea of her being away from the mansion and the heavy security I have there, but she’s right. I can’t keep her as a prisoner even if the idea excites me.
In my office, I should be getting a lot of work done, but the camera feed on my laptop is distracting me.
I can’t stop watching her. She’s settling in nicely.
Her desk is neatly organized, and she’s already started researching and sourcing suppliers of rare books.
I think she’s actually going to be damn good at this job.
But the thing that’s bothering me is that one co-worker in particular keeps coming over to her desk to talk to her.
He’s in his early thirties, around my age, and not bad looking, objectively.
I hired him because he has many connections to antique auction houses that specialize in books.
But now I’m regretting that decision because he seems to have more interest in my wife than in actually doing his job.
All day, I tell myself to ignore it because she’s handling it well and isn’t interacting in any way other than professionally, but the gall of this guy is starting to grate on my last nerve.
It’s only three, not anywhere near the end of the workday, when I stand up from my desk in a rage and gather my things to leave.
I can’t stand it for another second. I need to make it clear as fucking day to this asshole that he’s messing with the wrong girl.
The elevator doors slide open on the third floor, and I storm out of them, then pause and force myself to calm down. I can’t go in there like a madman. I need to be more subtle than that.
Sighing, I take a breath before I start moving again.
Walking into the open-plan office, my eyes dart straight toward her desk, where the guy is standing exactly where he was when I closed my laptop upstairs. His arms folded as he half-sits on the edge of her desk, next to her chair.
“Blair,” I say, my voice booming loudly against the walls. “How has the first day been going?” I ask cheerfully.
Blair looks up, surprised to see me. Her frown says she’s not particularly happy about it.
The guy turns to look over his shoulder at me, but doesn’t move away from his desk.
I step around him, knocking him harder than I need to, and wrap my hand around Blair’s jaw, lifting her face and pressing my lips lightly against hers.
She is stunned into silence as I pull away and turn to the guy, who has managed to take a hint and take a step back.
“Simon, Blair’s husband,” I offer him my hand, smiling with my lips while my eyes shoot daggers at him.
“Uh, Matthew, uh, good to meet you,” he stammers.
“I know who you are, Matthew. I hired you.”
“Oh, um, oh,” he stammers again. “It’s good to meet you in person, Mr. Popov. Blair and I were just, um, discussing an upcoming auction,” he says quickly.
“All day?” I challenge him.
“What?” he asks, confused.
Blair stands up, making a noise of it as she pushes her chair backward.
“Simon,” she says, polite but stern. “I don’t finish work until around five,” she says with a tight smile.
I turn away from Matthew and grin at her. “I know, but I wanted to come down and see how things were going.”
She sneers, still trying to maintain a professional attitude around her co-worker.
“That’s nice, but I have a lot of work to do,” she says sternly.
“I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ve also got a lot of work to do,” Matthew blurts out, backing away and smiling awkwardly.
Of course you do. You haven’t done a damn thing today because you’ve been flirting with my wife the entire fucking time.
When Matthew is gone, Blair grabs my arm and drags me into the corner of her office area, away from the open-plan space where everyone can see us. She backs herself into a corner, dragging me along with her.
“What the hell was that?” she hisses angrily.
I take another step closer to her and press her back against the wall, keeping my voice low. “He was practically falling over you!” I snap.
“So, what! It’s not like we’re married for real. And you practically stamped your damn name on my forehead like you own me!”
“I do own you, Blair,” I growl under my breath, caught up in how her body feels pinned beneath mine. She suddenly becomes aware of how cornered she is, and for a moment her eyes flash with regret, but she has nowhere to go if she wants to keep this conversation private from her co-workers.
“You can’t control my every move!” she huffs in an angry whisper. But her voice is faltering, and her eyes are on my lips.
I brush my hand down her side without thinking about it. My fingers burn need as they move over her perfect shape. Blair takes a sharp breath in, and I wait for her to scold me again, but she doesn’t. Her lips are parted, and her breathing has shifted.
Each breath she takes presses her breasts harder against my chest. I slip my hand up around her throat, gently wrapping my fingers around the soft skin, and push her chin upward with my thumb.
She doesn’t fight me—like a deer, she is caught in my stare.
I can feel her heart beating against my body, and my lips can almost feel the kiss as I lean in.
But the moment before our lips touches my phone rings.
The sound snaps Blair out of the trance, and she hurriedly pushes me away, gasping in surprise and quickly straightening herself, touching her fingers to her lips as though she’s confused by what just happened.
I reach for my phone to answer it as I take a step away from her.
“Bardil,” I say, in an agitated growl.
“I need your help, man, right now.”
His voice is tense. There is something wrong.
“Give me five minutes. I’ll call you from the car.”
As I slide my phone back into my pocket, I stare at her in silence. Fuck she is so fucking beautiful.
She bites at her lower lip as I walk backward, away from her. Neither of us says anything, both too caught up in what almost just happened.
Then I turn and hurry from her office. My brother needs me.