Chapter 18
From the balcony, Nicolas watched them. His mother and the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. He knew he liked this picture of them bonding far too much. So much that he’d been standing here for the past twenty minutes.
It was frustrating, not knowing what was being said.
As Emily’s crouched figure turned for him to catch her downcast expression, his mother stood and outed him.
Emily whirled around, the sun catching her. She was luminous. Her golden-brown eyes narrowed, spotting him.
She tilted her head, curious and feline.
How fucking cute.
Normally, Nicolas would suppress such a thought. Be embarrassed when it slipped through, but after she’d seen her poster in his old bedroom, what was the point?
He’d forgotten to tell his mother to get rid of it during their phone call. Still, part of him felt relieved. At least he’d finally expressed the feeling he’d been carrying for years. One he’d hoped had eased over time but as he looked at Emily, he knew that was far from the case.
Doing the most Emily-like thing ever, she skipped away from the garden and made her way to him.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly.
He’d liked to think it was from seeing him, not from the flight of stairs she’d just run up.
“Hi,” he replied, fighting the urge to smile.
“I didn’t know you’d come back so early.”
“We’ve only got one more day here. I didn’t want you spending it being held hostage by my family.”
“Your family is wonderful, Nicolas.”
His brows lifted.
“Well…maybe not all of them,” she corrected. “I can understand why your father has his reservations though.”
“Wait. Did…did my mother tell you about Antonio?”
He refused to call the man anything else.
“She did.”
That surprised him. His mother wasn’t the type to trust easily. Not as severe as his father but still guarded. Yet she’d opened up to Emily. There went that compulsion she had on people again, making them comfortable, causing them to fall for her.
“I’m sorry that happened in your family.” Her sweet voice cut through his thoughts.
His smile was tight. “It was a long time ago. I hardly remember unless someone brings it up.”
A lie.
“I’m sure it still caused a lot of issues for you. Emotionally and everything in between.”
He leaned against the railing. “It was the first thing people threw in our faces during business deals back then,” he shared.
“It caused so many rifts. ‘How can I respect and trust you when your own brother didn’t?’ Remember that confrontation between my father and me at the hotel where I first met you?
That’s what someone said to him. I lashed out, and he hates displays of emotion.
Considers them weaknesses. Hypocritical, if you ask me.
He wanted us to suppress everything to earn trust yet saw those who did the same as untrustworthy.
That’s why I did the opposite. Just as you’d said. ”
His eyes settled on her. “I drank the drinks. I shook the hands. I smiled. I built trust—respect my own way. I made sure they didn’t see us as the company with alleged mafia ties. I transitioned Royal into something with a cleaner reputation. Still powerful, but respectable.”
Since he’d stepped in, the company had become more known for its golden image. A dream company. Nothing but good things came from the inside.
“I actually got an offer from your agency back then,” she said bashfully.
“I know.”
Her pupils expanded in shock. “You did? How? I thought that was up to recruitment and—” She must have seen the look in his eyes. “Oh.”
He pushed himself off the railing and stood before her. “Do you want to know why?”
Her cheeks seeped with a pink tinge he anticipated. “N-No, I think I have an idea.”
He nearly laughed. Wasn’t he supposed to be the one embarrassed about his old crush? Or maybe the idea of him liking her made her flustered. That was almost too much for him to handle.
“It’s because I liked you, Emily.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
His hand lifted to touch her, aiming to calm her down at the sound. Or maybe he wanted to incite another out of her. Whatever the case, she didn’t pull away. If anything, she leaned into it. Cristo.
His thumb brushed her cheek gently. He watched the soft contact deepen her blush into a fine crimson.
“I liked you a little too much,” he aired, the words tumbling out effortlessly. “So when I found out the agency had you on their radar, I was thrilled. I wanted you to come in and sign the offer in person, an excuse to see you.
“Now imagine my disappointment when you turned us down to join Starz. I thought that was it. My sign to stop coveting something that doesn’t—shouldn’t—belong to me. You’ve always been too pure, Emily. I didn’t want to ruin that with my selfish desires.”
“Have I ruined it?” she asked softly.
His face twisted in confusion.
“Since you’ve gotten to know me, the real me, have I ruined that fantasy for you?”
He stared at her. “You have.”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
His hand journeyed down and lifted her chin. “You’ve shattered it. Took the pieces and made them into something better. Something that I’m starting to believe is attainable. You have no idea how much that fucks with me.”
He saw the way her lips parted, the way air moved through her body, raising her chest. Her face flashed hot. She looked ethereal as she gazed up at him through long lashes.
“It wasn’t just because of Jake or Starz that I turned down your offer,” she admitted meekly.
“Was it because of my father? You didn’t want to work for a man like him?”
She hesitated, but eventually admitted, “Yeah.”
He’d assumed that could have been a reason.
“First impressions tend to stick with me,” Emily continued. “I didn’t think I’d be able to work for him, even while not having to see him twenty-four seven, without being enraged about how he’d treated you.”
He felt his heart stir at her confession.
“Were you that upset at him?”
She looked at him as if he were stupid.
He smiled at the audacity.
“Yes,” she replied anyway. “And weren’t you the one who said to forget about everything? About your crush and that poster on your wall? Why are you bringing it up now?”
“I told you to forget about it, not me.”
“That makes no sense.” She huffed.
His lips twitched.
“It makes perfect sense to me.”
“Of course it does.” She rolled her eyes.
It went straight to his groin. As he felt himself becoming semi-hard, Nicolas shuffled away from her.
No surprise that his stupid cock spurred even in such a moment.
Then again, it did have a bias toward her.
Emily’s eyes took in the distance created, a frown marring her features. “You’re so confusing.”
He refocused. “Am I?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “One minute you’re hot. The next you’re cold.”
Right now, I’m anything but darling.
“I guess that’s something else to jot down,” he said with a half-smile. “You did say you were going to get to know me, whether I liked it or not.”
God, did that almost make me fall to my knees.
The way she’d been so forthright had him only managing to get out that she’d be the death of him.
Emily studied him for a beat. “I did.” Her shoulders sagged with a sigh. “I am.”
“And what have you learned so far?”
“That you’re a man shaped by everything good in spite of an unbearable father…yet somehow you credit that to my eighteen-year-old self.”
Nicolas’s heart plunged to the lowest depth possible, yet somehow it still managed to keep him alive. He could feel his desire becoming overpowered by a sensation that reminded him this attraction to her was more than physical.
“I’ve worked hard, Em. I won’t deny that. But your words worked harder.”
“I’m happy to hear that my presence has been of good influence,” she joked. “That’s all any celebrity wants.”
He watched her, his heart clinging to her playful smile that had broken free. “I wasn’t the only person, I’m certain.”
Saying that out loud was a reminder that he’d had to share her with the world. And he would have to again with her new work. But it was their blessing. They were lucky someone like her was willing to offer her talents to them.
She arched a brow impressively far back. “Oh, so you think I’ve been out there charming the masses? That’s more flattery than I know what to do with, Nicolas.”
He stepped closer, the scent of lavender and vanilla clouding his judgement. “Flattery? I’m just saying, if your words worked so well back then, I can imagine what they’re capable of now.”
His voice sounded husky even to his own ears.
“Mmm, why does it sound like you want to test that?”
Nicolas’s head tilted down, nose brushing against hers. It incited that little gasp out of her. “You’re right, I do. I’d say yes to any and everything involving your lips, Em.”
Her eyes became wider than he’d ever seen them.
He swore beneath his breath and tore himself away. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Had his control slipped away? He thought he’d been doing a good job.
She shook her head. “No, Nicolas, I—”
“Emily!” Anna pranced toward them from an open door. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Nicolas took the chance to slip past them and out of her air.