29. Reid
Chapter twenty-nine
Reid
Genevieve fell asleep on the couch without meaning to. Curled on her side, knees drawn in, my suit jacket over her shoulders. The office lights were dimmed low, the night life of the city bleeding in through the windows, and she slept through all of it.
I stood by the window with a glass of scotch I hadn’t touched, not feeling remotely as tired as she was. Every muscle in my body was tight, wound too damn tight for a man who should’ve felt satisfied. I wasn’t.
She still loved me. It felt like the admission was something I’d pulled from her against her will. And she wanted my forgiveness. Her apology was messy but real. Still, I didn’t know how to give it to her.
What I gave her instead was something uglier.
Something I was not sure either of us would recover from cleanly.
And she took every last piece of it, of me.
I didn’t know how to stop wanting her. I thought I could ignore my need for her, my addiction and obsession for her…
but after the last few hours we spent in this room, after what we’d done? I knew I was wrong.
A knock at the door sounded, pulling me from my thoughts. Only one person would be here this late into the night, crazy enough to work his ass to death when he saw fit.
“Come in.”
Alexander entered the room, his strides long, his hands flipping through a file before he paused entirely, his gaze flickering to a covered Genevieve still curled up in the corner. He turned to look at me, eyebrows furrowing.
“You know,” he began, “we landed yesterday… You couldn’t have waited a few more business days to—”
“Talk,” I interrupted him, now annoyed he was here in the first place.
As if that flipped a switch, he shook his head. “The structure is finalized. Accounts are live. Investments are in place.”
“How clean?” I asked.
He exhaled through his nose. “Too clean,” he admitted. “First transfer cleared an hour ago. No delays or internal flags.”
That finally made me look at him. I was sure he was impressed with himself; he usually was more than me… but he was still gripping the folder, knuckles tight along the edges, eyes filled with adrenaline and… fear.
“So what’s the problem,” I said.
He stepped closer, glancing to the woman asleep on the couch before locking back onto me. “Reid,” he said quietly, “you just moved two hundred and fifty million dollars… and no one batted an eyelash.”
I didn’t react. “Good,” I said calmly.
Alexander stared at me like I’d misheard him. “Good?”
“If they’d noticed,” I said evenly, “someone would’ve tried to stop it.”
He paused. “And they didn’t,” he said.
“But eventually they will. Even when they do, we let them. The paper trail is clean. Traces back to Gregory’s mishap. It will just look like another bleed in the Newman Trust list of failures.”
The plan was foolproof, both he and I knew that. Which was why when he closed the folder, nodding silently, the tension in my shoulders dropped only slightly. I didn’t let him see the brief moment of relief though.
After a moment, his eyes drifted back to Genevieve once more before finding mine.
“You’re really going through with this?” I didn’t respond, and he shook his head.
“All right.” He tossed the folder to the side, crossing his arms with a shrug.
“You got everything you wanted, Reid. Newman Trust is bleeding out. The money’s moving clean into your accounts.
You found out your half brother’s son is actually yours and you fucked his fiancée as payback. ”
“Don’t start.”
“No. Truly, congratulations. Everything is happening exactly the way you planned. Gregory’s days are numbered, Raymond worships the ground you walk on.
Public image is soaring, approval ratings through the roof.
There isn’t a man in this country with the leverage to bring you down right now. You’re untouchable.”
“And what exactly is your point with this?”
“My point,” he said quietly, “is what happens when you’re not.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling.
“You went to New York for Newman Trust, for revenge, to leave them with just as little as they forced you out with…” He tilted his head slightly. “But you’re not planning on leaving, are you? Not without her or without the boy. You’re getting attached, Reid.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” he asked. “Because the Reid I know doesn’t lose sleep over a woman he’s supposed to be using. You came here with intent, every move calculated, making sure you were ahead every step… but at this point I’m not even sure you know what your next move is.”
My jaw clenched as I watched him grab the folder, eyes averted from me as he walked to the door. “I’ll be waiting outside,” he muttered before the door closed behind him, silence engulfing the space mixed in with Genevieve’s soft breathing.
Alexander wasn’t wrong. I knew that. I’d known it the second she walked back into my orbit like the last three years hadn’t happened. I had one objective. Take back what was mine, leave them with nothing, walk away untouched.
And I still let her back in, dismantling every wall I put up.
If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t know what was next for us.
I didn’t know if I could ever forgive her or if I wanted to destroy her life so I could finally have my revenge…
or finally have her to myself. And at this point…
I didn’t know if there was a difference anymore.
Genevieve
I woke up in crisp charcoal sheets, that faint hint of mahogany and cedar warming my insides. Sitting up, I brushed my hair out of my face, glancing around the bedroom that wasn’t the guest one I’d been forced into. I shifted, the fabric against my skin unfamiliar.
I glanced down to find I was in one of Reid’s shirts.
It was long on me, sleeves brushing my wrists, the collar loose where his hands must have pulled it over my head.
My pulse stuttered. The memories from the night before came back in fragments.
Our discussion, then my nervousness, his dominance…
his touch, guiding me, possessive in a way that hadn’t asked permission because it hadn’t needed to.
The way my body had followed before my mind caught up.
The room was dimmed, curtains half-drawn, early morning light spilling into the room. I was in his bedroom. I knew it without needing to look. Everything was too ordered to belong to anyone else, all dark and sharp edges of wood and marble.
The door opened behind me and I turned. Reid walked in barefoot and shirtless. Pants hanging low, a mug in each hand, steam curled into the air from both. He didn’t look surprised to see me awake.
“Morning,” he said.
My throat felt dry. “Morning,” I whispered.
He crossed the room and held one of the mugs out to me. Black coffee, exactly how we both liked it. I hesitated before I accepted it. Our fingers brushed as I grabbed it and I felt the small and unmistakable spark.
I took a sip. “How did I get here?” I asked quietly.
Reid leaned back against the dresser, watching me over the rim of his own mug. “You fell asleep on the couch.”
“And then?”
“I carried you… got you relatively comfortable before letting you get some rest.”
I nodded silently. He didn’t tell me if he slept beside me. Part of me wanted to know, but I didn’t press for those details.
“I-I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” I muttered, a hint of pink climbing my neck in embarrassment, and his jaw clenched, his eyes raking over me as the shirt fell down my shoulder.
“You needed it,” was all he answered.
I let out a small sigh. “Reid…” I lowered the mug to my lap. “About last night—”
He took another sip, unbothered. “We need to talk?”
“I mean…” My voice wavered despite my effort. “I think it’d be good… to discuss where to go from here… what we are now. What this even means now.”
He set his mug down, slow. Then he looked at me, his eyes deciding how much I could probably withstand this early in the morning.
“From this point forward,” he said calmly, “you are the mother of my son. And,” he continued, stepping closer, stopping just short of touching me, “until further notice…” My pulse thudded hard in my ears. “…you’re mine.”
The thought sent warmth through me, a feeling of relief at his words oddly pulling at me in the worst ways. But then—
“Until further notice?” I murmured.
He let out a sigh, grabbing my mug from me, my eyebrows furrowing as he set it on the nightstand.
Then without warning, he pushed me back on to the bed, a yelp escaping me as he pulled my ankle, yanking me closer to him with ease. And when I looked to the ceiling to see him hovering over me, his arms holding his body above me, the heat of his body seeping into my skin, I knew I was in trouble.
“The truth is, Vieve, I don’t know what to do with you. You’re a liar, a manipulator, a pretender—”
“Wonder who I learned that from…” I murmured.
His eyes hardened, his face drawing closer. “Quiet,” he reprimanded. “I’m speaking.” I could have rolled my eyes, but I was too busy trying to ignore the fluttering feeling climbing up my spine.
He continued, “And I don’t know how to push you away. I want nothing to do with the woman who left me… but everything to do with the woman before me now.”
His until further notice. Meaning this wasn’t permanent. I could lose him again and I didn’t even have him fully yet.
“You don’t get forgiveness yet,” he said quietly.
My chest tightened, face dropping in sadness as he caressed the side of my face. “Then what is this?”
“This is me deciding if you deserve another chance. Or if I even want to give you one.”
“What do you mean?”
His hand dropped from my face. “You’re still engaged to Gregory.
Even if you spent the night in my bed, you still belong to someone else.
” The way he said the words felt like a lie as he stared at me, because I was sure both of us didn’t believe that statement at all.
There was only one person, one man that owned me. And I was staring right at him.