Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mason
I t was the smile on my face when Hayden and I walked into the office on Monday morning, not bothering to stagger our arrivals so it didn’t look like we were together. That’s what did it.
And it didn’t help anything at all when, as we parted ways once Hayden reached his cube, which was right outside my office door, Hayden gave me a big, soppy, lust-filled smile and winked. It probably would have been better if I hadn’t blushed with pleasure and nearly growled out loud and pulled Hayden close for a kiss.
We’d spent the weekend blissfully absorbed in each other. I’d never made love to a very pregnant omega before, but as it turned out, it wasn’t as weird or awkward as I’d thought it would be. Exactly the opposite. Hayden’s body was amazing and delicious as he carried our child. My alpha couldn’t get enough of it.
I’d never really put much stock in the whole theory that we all had an inner voice that guided us, one that was linked to our primitive selves, back in the days when we could all apparently still shift into a wild form if we wanted to. I still didn’t actually believe that we’d ever had the ability to transform our entire bodies into another creature, but I couldn’t entirely discount the voice left within us now.
It was my alpha that absolutely insisted by Sunday morning that Hayden needed to move into the penthouse with me.
“It’s safer, it’s bigger, and let’s face it,” I told him as we lay in bed together, ignoring everything else in the world, especially the threats looming over us, “I have nicer stuff than you do.”
Hayden had hemmed and hawed about it until I convinced him to at least hang out in the penthouse with me for the morning. Once he’d sat down in the recliner and turned on the seventy-two-inch TV, he’d changed his mind.
He’d changed his mind so fast that I spent the rest of Sunday moving the baby furniture up to my apartment while Hayden fell asleep in the recliner with some ridiculous, modern-day gladiator competition playing.
It had been wonderful. Blissful. It had been everything I’d ever secretly wanted but thought I couldn’t have if I planned to make a name for myself in the tech world. In the evening, after we’d gone out for dinner, as Hayden took what he called a power nap so he would be ready to “sex it up all night”, I’d pulled out my laptop and pored through real estate websites, picking out houses suitable for large families and sending the listings to the agent I’d hired so she could set up viewings for me and Hayden.
All of that must have shown on my face once I set my satchel aside, unbuttoned my suit jacket, and sat staring at my turned-off computer, a doofy grin on my face.
A soft knock on the doorframe jolted me out of my swoony daydreams.
“Morning, Mr. Canton,” Lincoln said, stepping into my office with a small pile of folders. “I just have a couple things for you to sign.”
“Sure. Come in.” I cleared my throat and sat straighter, rolling my chair closer to my desk as Lincoln opened his folder and presented me with a few letters and requisitions that needed my signature.
Through the open office door, I noticed Hayden leaning way back in his chair, watching us with a curious look. The second I met his eyes, I smiled. I wondered if he was jealous of Lincoln. It would have been ridiculous, but also a little funny.
“Did you have a good weekend?” Lincoln asked slowly, twisting a little to look at Hayden, probably because I’d paused with my pen over the first document without signing it while taking the time to grin at Hayden.
We were so obvious. It didn’t matter that I was an alpha and serious about my business. Hayden and I had the weekend we’d just spent together written all over our faces.
I cleared my throat, frowned, and focused on what I was signing. It was something I definitely needed to pay attention to, since it was a response to Victory Holding’s lawsuit that needed to go to my lawyers.
“It was quiet and relaxing,” I said with a tight smile, handing the signed document back to Lincoln.
“Did you,” Lincoln paused, his mouth twitching and his eyes lighting with realization, “ do anything interesting?”
I glanced up and sent him a flat look as I handed him the second document. “I had a quiet and relaxing weekend,” I repeated.
Lincoln managed to keep his mouth shut and smileless as I signed the rest of the things he’d brought me, but that wasn’t the end of it.
An hour or so later, Rachel stepped into my office and asked, “So, do we have any sort of plan in place for if you’re unable to be in the office, or working at all, for a day, or two, or a couple weeks?”
The false innocence and badly hidden smile as she asked the question made it clear she was subtly asking if I would need to take paternity leave when Junior—I refused to let my son end up with that name—was born.
“If anything ever happens to me,” I told her with a frank look, “I can either work remotely, like I did when we started here, or I trust you to keep the lid on things here.”
“I see,” Rachel said with a nod. “So there’s nothing coming up in, say, three-ish weeks that might inspire you to take some time off?” She darted a look out through the window to Hayden’s back as he dealt with some sort of phone call at his desk. She was enjoying the secrecy game a little too much for someone who knew the truth.
I sighed. “The company is new and unproven. We’ve got half a dozen critically important contracts that could launch us and sustain us for years on the verge of being won. Colin and his new friends are suing us and most likely attempting to sabotage the work we’ve done so far, with the threat of actual violence hanging in the air. But by all means, speculate away on my personal life.”
Rachel lost her smile. “Sorry.” She turned to go, looking more chastised than I was comfortable with, but she paused and turned back to me. “We all just want you to be happy,” she added in a quiet voice. “A lot of us owe you for everything you’ve done for us. We could have ended up unemployed and blackballed because of Colin. You deserve happiness, too.”
I smiled, feeling suddenly both loved and sheepish for being such a hard-ass.
“Thanks, Rachel,” I said, nodding to her.
As Rachel left the office, my gaze landed on Hayden again. He was still on the phone, but he watched Rachel walk away from my office door, then pivoted in his chair to look at me, eyebrows raised.
I sent him what I hoped was a reassuring look, then got back to work.
That still wasn’t the end of it.
I had too much to do to go out to lunch, but Hayden left the office with some of the friends he’d made, and when he came back, he had a bag for me from the deli in the building next door.
“I didn’t think you should eat something out of the vending machine,” he explained, unpacking the thick, meaty sandwich he’d bought along with chips and a massive soda that I might drink half of.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I said, smiling at him.
Hayden held his belly so it wouldn’t unbalance him as he leaned over my desk and whispered, “Isn’t that what an omega is supposed to do? Take care of his alpha?”
I huffed a laugh. “If you’re now responsible for taking care of me, then God help us all.”
“You didn’t say that when I was bouncing on your cock last night,” Hayden said in a wry, teasing voice.
I flushed hot, particularly because one of the IT guys was walking past the open office door when Hayden spoke and nearly tripped over his own feet.
It occurred to me as I ate my sandwich that Hayden was pushing things on purpose. It also occurred to me that the entire office probably already knew about us, and if they didn’t already, they would find out soon. Hayden deserved better than to be the boss’s secret side-piece.
I was still anxious, though. Half my day was spent fielding calls and emails about the Victory Holdings lawsuit. They were coming in fast and hard, and it would take sharp focus and keen concentration to ward off their attack and the attempt to claim my intellectual property as their own.
I did have an unexpected stroke of luck halfway through the afternoon.
“Mason Canton?” the older-sounding man on the other end of the call Lincoln had put through to me asked in a no-nonsense tone.
“Mr. Harvey,” I replied, my heart racing. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I leaned back in my chair, pretending casualness, but wishing I had arms long enough to shut the office door for the call. The call could determine whether Canton Enterprises sank or swam.
I caught Hayden leaning back in his chair again, like he was listening for ways he could help. Or maybe just for hot gossip.
“You have me all confused now, Canton,” Mr. Harvey said. “First I thought your company was the best thing to hit the East Coast since soft pretzels with mustard. Then someone sends me all this information about shady dealings and pending lawsuits. But now I’ve just had a call from General Fitzpatrick himself, vouching for you and your integrity.”
Thank God! I nearly melted into my chair with relief. I hadn’t spoken to General Fitzpatrick myself, but my guess was that Alex had. Alex had been friends with the general for ages, and I’d been venting about the whole Colin, Victory Holdings fiasco to Alex via text conversations for the past few days.
“I apologize for the confusion, sir,” I said. “I’ll be frank with you. My ex business partner isn’t happy that I chose to set out on my own. He’s been attempting to undermine Canton Enterprises from the day I started it.”
Mr. Harvey hummed. “Professional jealousy is a bitch,” he said, sending my eyebrows skyrocketing.
Hayden was watching me like a hawk and sent me a questioning look, but I wasn’t able to address it.
“I’ll tell you what,” Mr. Harvey went on. “I know it’s short notice, but I’m hosting a fundraising dinner tomorrow night at the Grand Hotel. I’d like you to come so we can talk in person.”
Hope as big as the ocean swelled up in me. “I’d love to, sir.”
“Good,” Mr. Harvey said. “I’ll have my assistant speak to your assistant and set things up.”
It was perfect. We said our goodbyes, and I hung up with the first burst of confidence I’d had in weeks. Colin might be spiteful and Victory Holdings might be dangerous, but I had people on my side as well, and integrity still counted for something.”
Five minutes later, Lincoln was back in my office with the details.
“Happy Hour for the supper starts at five-thirty,” he said. “Attire is semi-formal. You’ll be expected to make a donation to Mr. Harvey’s chosen causes. Oh, and they want to know if you’re bringing a plus-one.”
“Thanks,” I said, not thinking anything of it. “No plus-one.”
A scrambling, thumping sound came from the area of Hayden’s desk. The next thing I knew, Hayden was stumbling into my office, pink-faced and holding his belly.
“What do you mean, no plus-one?” he demanded, his expression hurt.
Lincoln grinned.
Several heads popped up over cube walls nearby.
I closed my eyes and let out a breath. Hayden. God love him, but he was going to be the death of me.
“Do you really want to go to a stuffy fundraising supper for a hospital magnate on a Tuesday night?” I asked, wisely not adding, “In your condition.”
It was as much of an admission that Hayden and I were together as I could make without standing up and declaring it was so.
“Yes!” Hayden nearly shouted. “I love that sort of thing. The food usually sucks, but there’s no entertainment on earth as fun as watching people with money show off to each other. Don’t forget, my family is part of that crowd. I’ve been to dozens of these, and I?—”
I held up a hand to cut him off.
“Hayden, you know I l—” I cleared my throat over what I’d been about to say and shot a look to Lincoln.
Lincoln looked like Christmas had come early, he was so excited by the juicy gossip unfolding in front of him.
I focused on Hayden again. “You know things are dicey right now,” I said, knowing it wasn’t the best recovery. “You do remember that someone trashed my apartment just over a week ago. Colin is still pissed with me. He’s suing me, but I know him well enough to know he won’t stop there. It might be dangerous out there for anyone too attached to me right now.”
“Too attached to you?” Hayden’s voice rose an octave and gained enough volume to make me wince.
And then the floodgates opened, spilling everything all over the office.
“Too attached to you?” Hayden repeated, his tone sassier, one hand on his belly. “Is having your baby too attached to you? Is moving in with you too attached? Is having wild, freaky pregnancy sex with you all weekend too attached ?”
Lincoln made an explosive, snorting sound and clapped a hand over his face, murmuring, “Oh my God.”
I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe for a second. I loved Hayden. There didn’t seem to be any point in fighting off those feelings anymore. I’d known he was special from the moment I’d stuffed him in the trunk of my car—how many people could say that—and those feelings had only grown in the last couple weeks, since we’d been reunited. Hayden made be believe in fated mates and love that was meant to be.
But, good God, the man was going to drive me up a wall. He had zero sense of discretion, or the fact that corporate battles weren’t fought with paper and ink. Men like Colin had a way of making them very real, as his attack on my apartment showed. I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t turn to real, physical violence, and Hayden would be target number one once our relationship was made public.
But by the way everyone was standing up in their cubes, grins on their faces, murmurs riding through the air like a chorus of crickets in summer, that ship had sailed.
I stood, pushing my chair back and stepping out from behind my desk. Lincoln moved back as I approached Hayden. I hooked my arm around Hayden’s waist and escorted him out of my office.
“I’m going to have to tie you to the bed to keep you out of trouble, aren’t I,” I muttered to him.
“Yes, please,” he whispered in return with a shit-eating grin.
Once I stood outside my office with Hayden at my side, the entire staff looking on curiously, I cleared my throat and said, “Stop speculating. Yes, Hayden and I are together. Yes, I’m the sire of his baby. It’s a long, complicated, wildly unlikely story which neither of us will be sharing with you.”
Hayden opened his mouth.
“ Which we will not be sharing with you ,” I repeated, frowning at him.
Hayden shut his mouth again. “Yeah, I guess that’s probably for the best.”
“But how—” one of the admins started.
“No,” I said, holding up one hand. “Don’t. Trust me, you really don’t want to know. The only thing that matters to everyone in this office right now is that Hayden is my omega, I’m his alpha, and we’ve got a fledgling company to support with a lot of shit being thrown at us from people who want to see us fail right now. I need everyone to focus and work on what’s important, the research, the development, and fostering a stellar reputation for Canton Enterprises so that we can take our place as one of the top security tech firms in the industry.”
I hadn’t set out to do it, but by the shining faces and excited expressions of everyone in the office, I’d just delivered a locker room pep talk for the ages.
Hayden even called out, “Go team!” once I was finished.
I frowned at him. “You. Back in my office. Now.”
The rest of the office took the hint and went back to work, though I could feel the change in the air and the buzzing undercurrent of excitement.
I shifted Hayden back into my office, then shut the door behind us.
“Sorry,” he said right away. “Can I blame pregnancy hormones? I’m just feeling so good after this weekend, and I wanted everyone to know it.”
“Hayden,” I said, shaking my head and rubbing a hand over my face.
I then did something I never would have done under usual circumstances. I pulled Hayden into my arms and hugged him. It was inappropriate and the entire office could see us through the window, but I just really needed to hold my omega for a second.
“I know this feels like it’s all fun and games,” I told him while he was still in my arms, “but I am genuinely worried about you. I’m not sure if you realize what Colin is capable of.”
“I’m okay, Mace,” Hayden said, hugging me back. “I swear, I’m okay. I know I’m too much?—”
“You’re not too much, sweetheart,” I said, giving him a final squeeze, then stepping back. “The situation is too much. I don’t know what I’d do if Colin lashed out at you as a way to get to me.”
“He won’t though, right?” Hayden said, having the good sense to at least look concerned. “Det. Shirley is going to prove he was responsible for the break-in, Simon’s lawyers are going to help you defeat Victory Holdings, and you’re going to dazzle Mr. Harvey so much at this supper tomorrow that everyone in the industry will come flocking to your door, right?”
I drew in a breath, the love I felt for him was so powerful. Hayden might have been a handful, but he was one of the most positive and hopeful people I’d ever met.
“Sure,” I told him, holding the side of his face and brushing my thumb over his cheek. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
I leaned in and kissed his lips, despite the audience we had in the office, and breathed in his scent.
The threat Colin presented was there and arguably stronger than ever, but my resolve to fight and win was more powerful than anything he could throw at me. I wasn’t just fighting for my company and my ideas anymore. I was fighting for my omega, my child, and the life I wanted for us, and if Colin tried anything to hurt that, he would be the one in danger, not us.