Chapter 56
HARPER
Iwake with a start.
Arms tighten around me, soothing, comforting.
“Hey,” a voice says close to my ear.
My muscles relax.
Alessandro.
His voice soothes me, and I sink back against the warmth of his skin with a soft hum.
Memories of the previous evening come flooding back.
I remember the things this man did to my body, how I rode his cock until we were both screaming.
I didn’t think it would be possible for us to pick up from the weekend before he left; I thought it would be awkward, stilted… how wrong can one woman be?
I burrow my head into his chest. His body vibrates as he chuckles beneath me.
“Don’t laugh,” I say.
“I’m not. It’s endearing. I can hear your brain whirring from here.”
I shift slightly until I can look up into his face. His eyes are twinkling, and he looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. I suppose that’s what orgasms do to a man. Apparently, they have the same effect on me, because I fell into a deep sleep straight afterwards.
He runs a hand over my hair, and I tilt my head, dropping a kiss onto his bare chest.
“If you do that, we won’t be talking. You said yesterday you wanted to talk,” he says with a groan.
I smile against the muscles beneath my lips. I did, but after last night, everything in my world is calmer.
“Talk is overrated,” I say, looking up, not wanting to think about the lies I’ve told him or why I’m really here.
Dan and Mitch say the team are struggling to gather information from the party and track down old, deleted accounts. Seven years on, people don’t want reminders of their misspent youth, so they’ve either set up new accounts or deleted past posts. The hunt continues.
“And we’ve done lots of talking, albeit over the telephone, for the past three weeks,” I add.
He quirks a brow, his arms wrapping around me. “Maybe, but we need to talk about us,” he says, breaking the silence with a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Especially after last night.”
I sigh. This man is addictive, but I know he’s right. It’s not as if he’s just anyone. He’s my boss, the CEO of an international company.
It’s just hard to stop, especially when everything this man knows about me is a lie. Even the little truths are semi-lies. But there’s nothing I can do about that now, or the fact that it’s not my name he calls when he comes hard inside me.
My chest constricts sharply.
Suck it up, buttercup! You’ve made your bed.
I have two options. I can enjoy this man and everything he offers until our time is up, however long that is. Or I can make an excuse and walk away. His arms tighten around me, as if sensing where my thoughts are going, and I’m not sure how easy that option would be. I hook a leg over his thigh.
“Talk,” I say, as he groans.
“You play dirty for someone new to this,” he says, his cock twitching and hardening between us.
I chuckle, then moan as his hand slides lower.
I bite my lip and suck in a sharp breath.
“Two can play at that game,” he chuckles.
“Fine. You wanted to talk, so talk,” I say with a grin, gently rocking my hips against him, loving the flush spreading over his cheeks.
His Adam’s apple bobs. “I know you want to keep our relationship out of the public eye.”
Ah, it’s that conversation. I stop, moving slightly, until I’m on my stomach, resting my hands and chin on his chest.
“I’m your PA. You’re Alessandro Bianchi, my boss and CEO of the St Clair Fashion House. People are going to have an opinion about us, and I don’t want us to become the latest office scandal.”
I repeat the words I’ve thought long and hard about over the past three weeks.
My mind returns to Daphne gossiping about Evelyn in the kitchen.
I can’t have that level of scrutiny, and if the press found out… my stomach sinks at the thought.
He chuckles, surprising me.
“It’s okay. I’ve no desire for us to become office gossip either.
I’m happy to keep our relationship private, and not because I’m ashamed of you.
” His arms tighten around me. “We don’t need the intrusion, especially from the media.
When we’re ready, we can come out as a couple.
Until then, we can keep our private lives private. ”
My heart rate picks up. Enzo warned me about the press and how they love to stick their noses into the Bianchi family’s private lives. I’m playing with fire with Alex, but I can’t seem to help myself.
As if sensing my distress, he pulls me closer.
“We can keep this between us, but I will need to let Sue know.”
“Sue know what?”
My stomach drops.
“About us. She’s the head of HR, and I’m your boss.
Relationships within the company must be disclosed, especially when there’s a power imbalance or a potential conflict of interest. It’s written in the guidelines.
If I fail to report us, I’d be breaking my company’s rules, something any other member of staff would face disciplinary action over. ”
I groan and drop my head because both are true. How could I have forgotten? I read and signed the bloody thing.
“But…”
He cups my face. “The rules are there to protect you.”
I pull back. “I don’t need protecting.”
I know I sound petulant, but the last thing I need is anyone knowing my business, our business, speculating about us. I like Sue, and as head of HR, I’m sure she’s watertight, but even so. How would she view a relationship between Alex and me?
Unprofessional, I’m sure!
My stomach tightens. I don’t need any additional scrutiny or anyone looking too closely at me, at us.
Alex sits up, his back to me. “This is non-negotiable, Brooke. I’m simply giving you a heads-up. It’s in the contract you signed. We can’t ignore our power imbalance. If I don’t declare this, then it makes a mockery of the whole policy.”
I stand up, grabbing my clothes as I go.
“Brooke,” he says, turning to face me, the throw he covered us with last night pooling around his waist.
Yanking my jumper over my head, I ignore the beautiful expanse of chest in front of me.
He sighs, following suit.
I stoop and pick up our discarded condom from the floor before making my way into the kitchen, wrapping it in tissue and disposing of it in the bin. I don’t want anyone else knowing our business.
Shit!
I lean my hands on the marble surface and drop my head forward, squeezing my eyes closed as I inhale and exhale.
He comes to stand next to me, his back resting against the unit.
“Want to talk about it?” he asks.
I shake my head.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” I say, my heartbeat thundering in my ears.
Way to go, Harps. Another royal fuck-up.
“What wasn’t a good idea? Sleeping with your boss, getting involved with me?”
I lift my head and turn to face him. His face is guarded.
He swivels towards me.
“Talk to me,” he says.
I move my hands to grip his waist and rest the top of my head against his chest, needing the warmth, the comfort only he seems able to give.
“I’m scared,” I whisper. “As you said yourself, you’re my boss. There’s a fifteen-year age gap between us. They’ll see me as a money-grabbing social climber. The idea of people whispering behind my back… I don’t need or want that.”
He runs a hand over my hair.
“It goes both ways, you know. People could see me as the sad divorcé who’s sleeping with his young nubile PA.”
I know he’s saying it to lighten the mood.
I raise my head and quirk an eyebrow. “Looking like you do, Alex, not a fucking chance. More like the guys in the office will be slapping you on the back.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “Well, at least you make me feel young.”
I shake my head as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me firmly against him, the feel of his lips against my hair soothing some of my inner turmoil.
“It’ll be all right. It would not be worth Sue’s job to tell anyone.”
“I know,” I sigh. “But she’s bound to look at me differently.”
“Why?”
“Because of everything we’ve discussed.”
“So, it does bother you?”
I shake my head. “That’s not what I mean.”
“Explain,” he says.
“It’s just you and me. We know what this is, how it’s grown and how we feel when we’re together. The outside world isn’t privy to that.”
“Who cares what the outside world thinks?”
“I do,” I say, spinning away, knowing my reaction is more than he’s expecting, but I can’t go through this again. The stares, the pointing. Not that I can tell him about any of that. They’d turn something beautiful into something ugly and twisted.
“Okay, there’s another option if HR is out,” he says. “Due to my position, I can let someone on the board know, but I’ll warn you, if they feel it needs to be disclosed, they will.”
I incline my head.
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Enzo,” he says.
“You want to tell your brother about us?” I stare at him wide-eyed, and it’s then that I notice the slight flush of colour across his cheekbones.
“He already knows,” he admits.
“You told him about us?” I stare at him, my heart rate increasing.
Enzo is lovely. We had a great time at Christmas, but being a family friend and dating his brother are two very different things.
“I did.”
“And?”
“He told me not to overthink it and to see where it goes.”
A warmth spreads through my chest.
He told his brother about us. Didn’t hide me away like some dirty little secret.
“Will telling Enzo be enough?”
“I’ll speak to him. If he feels HR needs to know, then he can pass it on. He may require that we both sign a consensual relationship agreement.”
“A what?” I ask. Then the penny drops. “I need to sign a document to say you’re not coercing me into sleeping with you?”
I chuckle.
“Something like that,” he hisses, as I palm his hardening dick through his trousers.
“Or vice versa,” I say, unbuttoning his bottoms and sliding my hand inside to encircle him.
“Most definitely.” He moans as I run my thumb over the swollen head, enjoying the dampness of the pre-cum.
Sliding them down, I’m pleased there are no boxers beneath, as he clearly abandoned them in his rush to follow me.
I lock our gaze and lower myself to my knees, licking my lips as I go.
He moans as my intention becomes clear.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” he hisses as I take him into my mouth, lapping at his slit.
His hands come up to cradle my head, his fingers sinking into my hair.
I slide my mouth up and down, using my tongue on the underside of his cock. His fingers tighten as I take him as far into my mouth as I can without gagging.
Looking up, I find him watching me, his pupils dilated.
“Brooke,” he whispers.
I slide my hands around his thighs and grip his arse. Unable to believe I’m sucking him off on my knees in his kitchen, but I can’t get enough of the man.
Moaning, I close my eyes, savouring his taste, the feel of him and the power in his body.
His hands slide beneath my arms, and he sweeps me up and onto the kitchen worktop, the cold marble a sharp contrast to my burning core.
He rips off my leggings and throws them to one side, grabbing a condom from his pocket and sheathing himself with expert precision before moving between my thighs and entering with one swift stroke.
I gasp at the sudden fullness, but after the sex earlier and how turned on I am from having him in my mouth, I’m more than prepared.
He stops.
“Shit, are you okay?”
“More than okay. Don’t stop,” I say, wrapping my heels around his backside and pulling him forward.
His mouth meets mine and our tongues duel. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, and he groans.
He pulls me forward, angling me as he slides in and out, his speed building up. Gone is the gentleness of before. This is more about us coming together, staking our claim. HR or not, I can’t give this man up. Not until I have to.
I lie back slightly, his cock driving into that special place deep inside. He hits it over and over, my orgasm building quickly.
“Shit, I’m going to come,” I say, another flood of arousal leaking out of me.
“Come with me,” he growls.
We both shudder as our release tears through us. My body clamps down on his jerking cock, as he continues to move in and out of me, my muscles loving the invasion, the fullness as they spasm around him.
“You’re turning me into a sex-mad hussy,” I say when I’ve finally caught my breath.
He pulls me forward and slams his mouth on mine, his cock still buried deep inside me.
When we finally part, his eyes lock on mine.
“We’ll sort this out. I promise, I’ll protect you.”
“I trust you,” I say, cupping his cheek, but knowing that what he has just promised is not something I can hold him to.