Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
ASPEN
I leaned against my closed office door and sucked down a relieved breath after passing Emily in the hall after lunch. As if I needed any more reasons thrown in my face to hunt Lucian down and figure out a plan to announce our engagement. Or maybe she was a reason to keep hiding from announcing our engagement to avoid the impending doom.
When I passed her, I almost waved with my left hand before offering a nod instead and increased my pace to deter her from stopping to talk.
“You are Aspen fucking Quinn,” I whispered.
With that reminder, I peeled myself from my door and rounded my desk. With a deep breath, I rested my palms against the smooth white top and stared at the ring. The diamond sparkled beautifully, and some stupid girly part of me preened under the fact that such a stunning vintage ring was mine.
However, it also weighed on me.
Maybe…maybe if I just took it off for a bit. The idea filtered an ounce of extra space in my lungs and when I slid the jewel from my finger, it filtered a little more. When I placed it in the drawer of my desk, I took a deeper breath than I had all week. I closed my eyes and cherished the full expanse of my lungs before releasing it. Just as slow, I slid my eyes back open and looked up to find a message scribbled on a Post-it note stuck to my computer.
Turned out it didn’t matter what reason I saw Emily, because the note made the decision for me.
I scoffed at the please and wondered how much back and forth he had with himself before finally adding such a simple politeness.
Crumbling the note, I looked at the time. One-forty-five.
Now that I had a deadline, and the decision made for us to talk, waiting seemed impossible. Where moments ago, I told Shiloh I wanted to avoid him forever, now I didn’t want to wait another fifteen seconds—let alone fifteen minutes.
I paced two laps across my office, stretching my neck side to side and rolling my shoulders. I’d tried the same thing when my muscles pulled tight before heading out into the office with the ring on. Sometimes it worked, but it wasn’t helping now. If anything, each step twisted the knot in my back tighter.
Fuck it. I could be early. Maybe I’d even gain some upper ground by showing up before he planned.
Liking that idea, I smiled and headed back out.
I alternated between reminding myself that I was Aspen fucking Quinn and creating a list of topics we needed to discuss. By the time I reached his door, I couldn’t be stopped. I knocked once and walked in…
…on him in the middle of a meeting.
Or maybe the end of it, since they were all standing.
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” I quickly apologized, turning to head out.
“Aspen,” a familiar voice called jovially. Definitely not Lucian.
I turned back with a smile to find dirty blond hair and ocean blue eyes. “Parker.”
The list I created on my walk fell away with the tension at seeing one of my favorite people because he was one of the easiest to be around. Add in how hard he’d worked with me when I managed his band, boosting us both to the next level of success, and I owed him more than the hug I offered.
“I was hoping to see you today,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and hoisting me off the red soles of my shoes.
“I would have been pissed if I heard you were here, and I hadn’t seen you,” I returned with a mock glare.
Parker Callahan was one of the four guys who made up Haunted Obsession alongside Ash. While Ash played bass, Parker sang and played guitar. They were my first band to manage on my own when they signed with Quinn Music Group, and I’d more than busted my ass to make sure we both dominated our game.
“I would have hunted you down.” He winked. “But you know how it is. Meetings first, and Ezra yanked me into this one.”
I looked over his shoulder to find the other two men standing by the seating area.
Lucian, who stood amongst his own curated dark shadows, sucking up any ounce of joy with his ominous glare.
I refused to let Mr. Dark and Dickish ruin the moment, so I looked away, focusing my attention on Ezra Knowles, the man I personally selected to replace me as Haunted Obsession’s band manager, who smiled brightly.
“Hey, Ezra. How are the boys? Giving you any trouble?”
Parker snorted.
“Always,” Ezra laughed, coming over with his arms open.
“Typical,” I said, accepting his hug. “Well, if you need any hints to keep them in line, you have my number. Or you can always call Nova.”
“Don’t bring my wife into this,” Parker whined.
I rolled my eyes and laughed, loving the easy banter. As much as I loved progressing further at the company to reach my goal of owning it, part of me missed the bonds that came from working so closely with the band. Despite passing them on to someone new, I still checked in on the guys more than any other band I’d managed before.
“Psshh. Nova keeps me in line,” Ezra claimed.
I cocked a brow with a devious smile. “Good.”
A clearing throat cut into the light conversation, pulling my attention back to the glowering Lucian Daire, and reminding me of the impending conversation that brought me to his office in the first place.
Straightening my shoulders, I gave Lucian a glacial smile and turned back to the other two. “Sorry for interrupting your meeting.”
Parker waved his hand. “No worries at all.”
“We were just bullshitting with the new guy when you came in,” Ezra added. “Gotta admit, it’ll be wild to not have Mr. Quinn around, but this guy seems legit.” He smiled and tossed his thumb over his shoulder to Lucian like they were bros or something.
I hated it.
“I’m excited to work with you both and get to know more about how I can help this company grow,” Lucian said.
My smile dropped to a glare at the looming man in the background, and I prepared to remind him that we didn’t need his help.
Parker glanced my way and cut in before my growing agitation could release. “You know, we’re all in town this weekend. We should get together for dinner.”
I released a breath and returned my attention to Parker. “That would be great. I haven’t seen you guys in a while.”
“Yeah, Oren is all pissy because you’ve spent time with Ash, but not him,” he joked, talking about the drummer of the band who was like a puppy dog, always ready for attention. “And of course, Ash has been bragging about hanging out at your place and dinners.”
I laughed, already feeling lighter at the thought of a relaxed night with the guys. “That sounds?—”
“Unfortunately,” Lucian cut in. “Miss Quinn will be busy this weekend.”
The muscles in my chest froze.
The breath halted in my lungs.
My heart stuttered to a stop before galloping to a race.
My shoulders pulled tight, reforming the knot in my back.
My brows dropped at the same time Parker’s rose high.
His gaze bounced from me to Lucian to me to Ezra and back to me again.
Mine slid menacingly to Lucian, wondering what the fuck he was thinking.
“Excuse me?” My soft question might as well have been an anvil dropping in the stiff silence flooding the room.
Lucian met my gaze, imperious and unaffected. “You have responsibilities.”
Incredulity expanded beyond the tight space in my chest and bubbled up my throat. “I am completely awa?—”
“As well as responsibilities to your fiancé,” he cut in, evaporating every spare morsel of oxygen from the room. “We have things to discuss.”
Not a single sound permeated the room.
Not a breath.
Not a blink.
Not a single snap of a jaw falling open at the revelation.
And his casual stance let me know he basked in my wide-eyed shock.
I. Was. Going. To. Fucking. Kill. Him.
The past week of agony, waiting, and stressing over how we’d share the news, and this mother fucker dropped the information like it was on the menu for lunch.
The rumbles of the explosion I knew would come with the announcement shook the ground beneath my feet. It trembled up my legs and coiled around my chest until it was moments away from detonating beyond my lips.
Too much. Too much. Too much.
I hated him, but I couldn’t look away from him. I couldn’t face the chaos I knew waited beyond his eyes.
“Fiancé?” Parker asked.
Despite his question calling my attention, I still stared at Lucian.
Despite his long legs closing the distance between us, I couldn’t look anywhere else.
Despite my mind screaming at me to go anywhere to find some fucking oxygen, I stood still. Even when Lucian’s long fingers wrapped around my numb hand and glanced away to answer Parker.
“Yes,” he said with a smile I didn’t understand how he formed, before leveling cold eyes back at me. “Despite her decision to not wear my mother’s ring, we are, in fact, engaged.” If possible, ice coated his words more than his stare.
His thumb dragging across empty my ring finger served as a reminder that I’d jerked the diamond off moments before I saw he requested me to his office.
His words accused me of not having worn it at all.
But I had. All freaking week. I’d worn the ring and stressed over every encounter, and now he watched me with judgment like I’d done something wrong. Meanwhile, he showed up and announced our engagement without a single consideration to me.
How dare he.
The irritation sparked my muscles back into action.
I jerked my hand from his and forced a smile to a still shocked Parker. “Actually, whatever we need to discuss can wait.”
“ Actually, ” Lucian bit out. “It cannot. We need to discuss when the movers can bring your things to my place.”
I whipped my attention to him. The bombs I braced for around me detonated internally instead. Ringing resonated in my skull with the single statement bring your things to my place echoing through the barren waste left behind.
Parker, Ezra, and Lucian murmured words I couldn’t decipher beyond muffled sounds coming through the explosive chaos plugging my ears. They shook hands and patted my shoulder as they walked by with worried eyes before heading to the door.
I wanted to scream at them to not go because I wasn’t done with the conversation, but I couldn’t form the words. Even when Lucian walked them out, I stared at the empty place he stood in.
It wasn’t until the click of the door that I broke free from the shock. The snick of the latch slipping in place cut the tether keeping me from my senses. As soon as it did, I whirled on Lucian. “ What the fuck? ”
Lucian strolled back to where I still stood, appearing without a care in the world. His hands stuffed into his pockets and looking at me like I was the insane one asking a pointless question.
“Did you think we wouldn’t live together?”
My mouth opened and closed, trying to get my thoughts in line with his words. “I didn’t know what to think because we haven’t talked about it.”
“Just because we haven’t talk about it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t happen.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to tell people before we agree on it.”
“So, do you not agree that we would move in together?” He may as well have asked if I agreed clothes should be worn in public.
I sputtered. If I thought about it, I guessed it seemed to make sense to move in together, but I was still so pissed I couldn’t outright agree. “Yes, but that doe?—”
“Then it’s something we agree on and it’s no big deal to share.”
“It’s a huge deal,” I shrieked.
“How?”
“Because we’re getting married, and it’s going to raise a lot of questions because we hate each other.”
“It would raise more if we didn’t move in together.”
My fists clenched, and I barely choked back the need to scream in frustration. While he rebounded with easy answers, I wanted to stomp my feet and demand he listen to me. The problem was that I didn’t even know what I was saying.
Except I did. One thing stood out among the rest, and I latched onto the clarity. “Regardless, you do not get to turn down my friends. If I wanted to go to dinner, that was my choice, and you don’t control that.”
“Friends,” he scoffed.
“What does that mean?” I asked. I’d embraced his aloof reactions and his perturbance threw me for a loop.
“What it means,” he said, his eyes darkening under lowering brows. “Was that you seemed pretty intimate with your friends and overly eager to see Ash again after having him over to your place for dinner.”
I couldn’t help it—I laughed. I barely knew Ezra. Parker was madly in love with his wife, and Ash was…
Well, Ash was complicated, but not an issue. Besides our past, we were still friends above everything else.
Lucian’s jaw clenched, unappreciative of my laughing. “I’ll remind you of our no cheating clause in the prenup.” The warning was so useless, I rolled my eyes. “If I want someone else to touch you, then that will be up to me to allow.”
The laughter died in my throat. “You—you would let someone else touch me?” I asked softly. My irritation dimmed under the heavy weight of…of something I didn’t want to acknowledge, but something that sank low between my thighs.
“You marked it as an option,” he stated with his chin held high. “So, would I allow someone the honor of touching your body, knowing damn well it’s mine? Yes.”
My body heated at his sure answer, melting under his gaze, turning from the angry cool to seductively hot. I looked away to try to collect myself, trying to imagine a situation where the scene would play out.
He stepped closer, stroking his fingers down my cheek to grip my chin and bring my gaze to his. “Would you trust me to let someone else touch you under my control, princess?”
Part of me recoiled, remembering the past. Remembering being held down by the person I thought I trusted while his friend touched me.
But that was the past.
And my agreement with Lucian all began when I decided I wanted to let go of those memories—let go of their hold on me.
I agreed to be with Lucian to find release from everything.
And not once have I regretted it. Despite the unexpected turn to where we were, I didn’t regret it.
“Maybe,” I conceded, unwilling to completely give in. I was still pissed about how he acted with Parker.
“Hmmm…Interesting.” His lips quirked as his gaze dropped to my lips. Just as quick, they moved back to my eyes, and he dropped his hand. “Either way, no one touches you without an agreement between us. If they do, then everything is off, and I will make sure I gain majority of QMG only to break it apart and sell it piece by piece.” All warmth and playfulness vanished from his stare until the cold, hard businessman glared back. “Understood?”
I stepped back and leveled him with a cold glare of my own. With narrowed eyes, I reminded him of the words I said before. “I don’t cheat.”
He blinked, all hard, frozen edges gone, and smiled. “Good. So how does Sunday at noon sound for the movers to come collect your things?”
I blinked, struggling to recover from the number of times our conversation jerked me back and forth since I first walked into his office.
Had it only been fifteen minutes?
How had I experienced so many emotions in that small amount of time?
Being with Lucian was supposed to help me let go of the strong emotions controlling me.
However, he continued to be the one to hold me over the edge while simultaneously yanking me back.
Watching him round his desk without a care in the world, I had to wonder if that was part of his plan all along.