Chapter 7
Denham
Damn if she doesn’t look fucking hot in my shirt.
She’s showered, so she smells edible, and after seeing her stick up for herself with Amy, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more than a little turned on right now.
The only thing stopping me from carrying her, cave man style, into the bedroom, and showing her just how sexy she is, is the fact that I have that crazy bitch to deal with in my office.
Seriously, could she fuck anything else up for me today?
I pull Arianna into me, feeling her soft, warm skin against my hands as I run them up her back under the cotton shirt. Her arms wrap around my waist, and she splays her fingers across my lower back before gently squeezing.
I nuzzle my head into hers and she sighs.
“I’m sorry, Ari.”
She pulls back abruptly. “Why are you sorry? You didn’t know she was coming up here. You came to rescue me like a knight in shining armor.” She stops suddenly and frowns. “How did you know she was here?”
I look sheepish and turn my head to look at the little black dome placed in the ceiling in the middle of the hallway.
“You had more CCTV installed? When? Why?” she asks.
“I’m not keeping tabs on you, I promise.
I just … I needed to do what I could to make sure you were safe.
” If I could install cameras everywhere I would.
But I know I can’t do that. I’ve been encouraging her to be independent, learn how to be herself, but she can’t do that if I’m stifling her.
But damn if it’s hard for me to find a balance between protective and obsessive.
It’s an underlying compulsion to make sure she’s safe when I can’t be with her.
“Den—”
“Wait,” I say, holding my index finger gently to her lips, “before you get all shouty, and insist that you are fine, and that you’ve managed well enough up until now with no one looking out for you … just hear me out, okay?”
She giggles. “I wasn’t going to say that, but okay …”
“Amy has been getting increasingly … difficult to work with. She was only ever supposed to be a silent investor, but I … I was stupid and blurred the lines. She’s crossed way over the lines, and now she’s hurt and angry.”
She moves her lips to speak, but I press against them to keep them closed.
“And … I know I’ve done everything I can to locate your ex, and I’m sure he’s not a problem anymore, but I want to be as safe as we can from crazy assed exes, okay? It makes sense to have one up here, anyway and I don’t really know why I didn’t do it before.”
I then lift my finger from her lips, so she can speak.
“Finished?” she asks, with a smirk.
“Yep.”
“Thank you,” she says and reaches up on her tiptoes to kiss me. I can’t help but reach down and cup her ass cheeks with my hands. I pull her closer to me, until she can’t tiptoe any higher.
“That was it?” I say against her lips. “That was all you wanted to say?”
“Yes,” she says simply, running her palm down my chest. “Thank you for looking after me. You’re right. I have looked after myself for as long as I can remember, and I don’t need you to look after me too, but I like that I want you to. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense.”
“Have you put any secret cameras anywhere else you want to tell me about?”
I chuckle. “No, nowhere else.”
“You haven’t snuck one in my bedroom and hooked it up in your office?” she jokes.
“No, but that’s a damn good idea.”
She smiles at me and drops down so her feet are flat on the ground.
“I have to go and sort this shit out,” I say reluctantly.
“Okay,” she whispers. I know she’s not happy about it, and neither am I.
It’s the last thing I want to do. I’ve been putting off this conversation, because I know Amy won’t go quietly.
There will be yelling, and she’ll probably try to throw something, or claw my eyes out.
That’s why I want the security there. Not because I can’t defend myself, but where Amy is concerned, I need witnesses in case she pulls an underhanded tactic, which I wouldn’t put past her.
Then I can’t be held responsible for my actions.
She seems to bring out the worst in me, and while I would never intentionally hurt a woman, Amy pushes every damn button, and consequently, pushes my patience too.
Watching her on the camera feed, saunter out of that elevator and across the hall to Arianna’s apartment, triggered a fury in me that hasn’t been there in a long time.
Seeing her touch my girl made the rage swirl in my stomach like a white heat that builds at the center of a volcano.
I couldn’t get up here fast enough. So, it’s better to have other people in the room with us if she kicks off.
Witnesses that will not only observe anything underhand she might try, but will also serve as a reminder to me to not lose my shit.
“Let me carry you in,” I say, realizing that we are still standing in the doorway.
“I can walk, there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“I know. But I like carrying you. Just humor me, okay?”
“Okay.” She giggles, and it’s the sweetest sound to hear her so carefree.
She wraps her hands around my neck, and with a little jump, her legs are wrapped around my waist. I get to hold on to her butt, which I’m not displeased about, at all.
“I feel like a baby chimp,” she remarks, as I walk through the apartment with her.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m all for unleashing the animal in you, Stunner. But I’m not thinking primates …”
“Oh?”
“No,” I say, laying her down on the bed gently. “I think there’s a tigress in you, and I plan to find it …”
“Carry on talking like that, Mr. King, and I might just show you.”
I’m not sure if it’s the sultry tone in her voice, the fact that she called me Mr. King, or that she’s coming out of her shell and discovering the sexy as sin woman that’s inside, which makes my dick twitch every time.
But, fuck, the thought that Amy is in my office, is interrupting my thoughts.
And I refuse to think of her while I’m with my girl.
I’ve gotta get it sorted, then I’m taking the rest of the day off.
“Hold that thought, Stunner. Wait here, sketch, eat, whatever you like. I have to get this sorted.”
She sighs. “Okay, go, deal with that woman. I’ll be right here when you’re done.
” She stretches up, sliding her hands above her head, and into the mass of waves that fan around her.
It pulls the shirt she’s wearing a little higher up her body, which exposes her creamy skin and scant white lace underwear that I just want to pull off with my teeth.
“Right there. Stay right there, like that.” I tear myself away with a groan because I know that if I don’t, this thing with Amy won’t get sorted today and my mind will be partly occupied knowing that I have to deal with it all another time.
“You’re not making it easy for me,” I grumble, adjusting myself through my jeans.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll make it better when you come back.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Yeah.” She laughs. “It’s a promise.”
***
I descend in the elevator, and walk with purpose across the foyer, but when I reach the hallway that leads to my office, my legs seem to slow as I get closer. I stop outside the heavy wood door and take a deep breath before pushing it open.
There are two members of my security team standing on either side of the door, and they nod their acknowledgment of my presence as I enter.
Then my attention turns to Amy. The smug bitch is sitting in my chair, with her long legs propped up on my desk.
I can taste my dislike for her, it sticks in the back of my throad, and momentarily I wonder when we crossed the line.
Has it been a long time coming or am I only just starting to realize what I’ve been putting up with?
The thought makes me equally sad and frustrated.
“Let’s get this over and done with, shall we?” I ask, crossing the room and pushing her legs so they drop from the desk. She doesn’t take any notice of me, she just sits up straighter and laughs.
“Denham King,” she drawls. “What is this display for? There are no other women to impress with your display of dominance. Just me, and I already know how dominant you like to be.”
She stands to her full height, right in front of me. Her body doesn’t touch mine, but she’s so damn close. There was a time, when her body, her smell, would turn me on. Now I’m repulsed. She found me at my weakest point and used it to her full advantage. She doesn’t actually know the real me.
“You know nothing about me, Amy. I’m not going to spend any more time with you than I have to. This isn’t about reminiscing. What’s it going to take to buy you out?”
“You can’t.”
“I can. And I will. It was a short term investment, and it’s no longer needed.”
“Well, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about that, King. You can’t buy me out.”
I rub my temples through sheer frustration. This is not a fun game she’s playing.
“Oh, King. You really have taken your eye off the ball, haven’t you?
” She laughs and rakes one of her talons down my chest, stopping when she gets to my abs.
It’s a move that would have once had me bending her over my desk and taking her hard and fast. But now, it disgusts me.
She disgusts me. What kind of a state must I have been in over the last three years, to have thought she was any good for me?