34. Alex
34
ALEX
I did what I always did when I was in emotional turmoil. I overworked myself and then hit the town to maybe get myself into stupid shit. Perhaps tonight I’d pick up multiple women and get my picture taken by some nosey fucker who recognized me. I’d go back to being labeled “Boston’s most prolific playboy,” and my world would return to how it was before I reunited with Olivia… void of deeper connections and emotions but sexually active at least.
Unfortunately, the longer I sat at the bar, eyeing the semi-naked dancers, the more disgusted I felt with myself. I had no desire to be here. Throwing back my shot, I slammed the glass on the bar and signaled the bartender for another. This was my nightly routine for a week straight since I reached out to Olivia and heard the disdain in her voice. While I pathetically entertained thoughts about us even after that debacle in my apartment in Manhattan, she didn’t even want to talk to me. I felt so stupid and weak .
So, I decided to go back to who I was before getting involved with her again. The man who worked until his eyes damn near bled, hit the bar, got shitfaced, and picked up women. However, I never actually picked up any women. The thought of someone else in my bed made me want to hurl… or was that the excessive alcohol…? I released a long, agonizing groan as I massaged my forehead.
“Here’s a face I haven’t seen in a while.”
I looked up at the sound of the familiar drawl. “Candy…”
“Alex.” She smiled, and I returned it.
I took her in properly, noticing her buttoned-up blouse and loose slacks. “You’re dressed,” I blurted.
Her laughter swirled around us, and I couldn’t help chuckling along with her. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. I mean, this is the first time you’ve seen me in clothes. I guess it’s surprising.”
“How the hell are you, Candy?”
“Good.” She studied me. “Better than you it seems. You look like you’ve been through the wringer.”
I grunted an affirmative response.
“Where have you been, Alex? The girls miss you around here.”
I snorted my amusement. “I was busy sleeping with my ex and falling back in love with her.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Olivia?”
“You remembered.”
Candy canted her head. “You two are back together then?”
“If we were, do you think I’d still be sitting in a club like this?” I nodded to the women wiggling around on poles just ahead. “I’m an asshole, Candy, but I’m a faithful asshole.”
She laughed. “No doubt. I was just leaving. Do you want to get out of here?”
I lifted an eyebrow .
“I mean for a friendly drink,” she added. “It’s too loud in here, and you look like you could use a listening ear.”
I gazed at the woman for a moment and then decided to take her up on her offer. She was right. I’d been wallowing in misery with no one to talk to for days because I was too embarrassed to admit what happened with Olivia to my friends.
“So this is really your last week at the club?” I asked Candy who sat across from me in a little café in Cambridge. I was uneasy being in this town because it was Olivia’s territory. However, my companion had night classes nearby, so we settled on this joint.
“It is. I’m focusing on school.”
I studied her, noting that she looked a few years younger without the heavy makeup she wore at the club. “That’s good, Candy… I feel like I should call you Candace now.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I’m ditching the stripper name in a few days. However, back to you, Alex. You’re very good at diversion, you know that?”
My lips quirked into a wry smile. “I don’t like talking about the emotional stuff.”
“I know, but I’m a virtual stranger, so it should be easier.”
I blew out a breath as I lifted my cup of coffee and sipped. Talking about Olivia was never easy no matter who I chatted with.
“You really went through with grabbing her company, huh?” Candy peered at me through narrowed eyes. “That’s cold. I never took you for the cold type.”
“I’m not that type. I guess my bitterness got the better of me.” I tucked my chin into my chest. “I wasn’t going to do it. I mean, I changed my mind and then she just…”
Olivia broke my heart over and over again each time I reached out to her and she ignored me. She refused to talk to me, and I was pissed. After I told her about her brother, I thought she’d at least see that I wasn’t the bad guy anymore and fucking talk to me. I fell to a despicable level of pettiness and carried out my revenge.
I sighed heavily. “I’m not proud of my actions. I thought I would be, but I kinda hate myself. She broke my heart again, Candy, and I wanted to get her back. Other people yell and throw angry words when they lash out. When I lash out, I go through with hostile takeovers of companies.” I shrugged when Candy snorted. “So now I own my ex’s empire. I won, but…”
“You feel like you lost miserably?” she finished.
Nodding, I lifted my cup in salute to her perceptiveness. “I’m a fool,” I said. “A hopeless, lovesick, vengeful fool.”
“No, you’re brave and more attractive than ever.”
I lifted my eyebrows.
“Guys—the ones I’ve dealt with anyway—don’t put themselves out there like that.” Candy shrugged. ”For you to open your heart again after getting hurt is courageous.”
Yeah… and look what it got me. However, in all fairness, I hadn’t outright told Olivia what I wanted. It wasn’t like I’d poured my heart out and she shut me down. I guess her rejection years ago made me react more dramatically than necessary this time around.
“So what are you going to do now, Alex?” Candy asked as she studied me intently. “Are you going to swear off love and sleep with all the women in Boston once again?”
“I think I’ve run out of women in this region, Candy,” I joked. “I might have to try the west coast.” We had a good chuckle and when I sobered, I said, “Seriously… I think I’m going to handle things differently this time.” My lips twisted into a wry smile. “Since I’m not twenty-one anymore, I’ll behave like a logical, mature adult.”
She laughed. “That’s good. You’ll be fine, and who knows? Maybe when you and Olivia cross paths, you’ll be calm enough to talk things out.”
I gave her a skeptical look, but still, I said, “Maybe… one day. I mean, I guess I’d like to tell her that I did find it in my heart to forgive her.”
As I got lost in thought, I caught a glimpse of the most luxurious chestnut mane in my periphery. Olivia had hair like that. I used to tell her she’d be perfect for those shampoo commercials. That always made her laugh. I swiped the café and saw her, but my mind told me it was somebody who looked like her because there was no way she’d really be here just as I was talking about her.
When I did a double take, Olivia was indeed standing in line at the cashier with another woman, Elena Martinez. I had gotten acquainted with the journalist while Olivia and I worked to get Don Weaver off the business scene.
They both stared at me as I stared at them… at Olivia, mostly. Her eyes darted to Candy and then back to Elena. She said something to her friend and then she was scurrying toward the door.
“Is everything okay?” Candy asked.
“Olivia…”
She gasped and followed my gaze. I was sure she was dying to meet the mysterious ex-girlfriend who had captured my heart twice . However, all she saw was a curtain of brown hair flying in the wind as Olivia practically sprinted through the door .
“Why are you still sitting here?” Candy hissed. “Go after her!”
“What…? No… ” I stubbornly stayed seated. “She’s been ignoring me.”
“You’re dying to go after her. I can see it.” She huffed. “Stop being a coward.”
I gave Candy an annoyed glance, but I was on my feet and moving toward the door without further encouragement. Call me crazy. Call me a fool, but I was going to apologize to her even though I was the one who felt slighted. Getting wrapped up in bitterness and heartbreak for another decade sounded like an utterly miserable life. I made it outside and went in the direction Olivia had fled. She was getting into a car further down the block, and I made a beeline for it.
However, I came to a halt when I almost collided with Elena who seemed to appear out of nowhere.
“Don’t you go anywhere near her,” she warned, wearing a no-nonsense scowl.
“This has nothing to do with you, Elena,” I bit out as I glanced around her at the car Olivia was in.
“Livy has been holed up in my apartment, crying her eyes out, and hiding from the press. I’ve been the one helping her keep it together, so this has something to do with me.”
My jaw tightened and guilt pricked me. The press was having a field day with the narrative that Olivia Brentwood ran her father’s empire into the ground and lost it. I knew more than anyone how she must have been torturing herself about her failure.
“I just want to talk to her.”
“No way, buddy.” She folded her arms and stood her ground.
When I tried to step around her, she shuffled to block my path. We went on to do an awkward dance in the middle of the sidewalk until I let out a growl. “What is wrong with you, woman? Get out of my way.”
“What’s wrong with me ?” Her eyes blazed with fury. “What’s wrong with you ? Olivia tells you she’s carrying your child, and you still cause her stress by taking her company—the thing she’s worked hard almost her entire life for. You are no white knight, Alex. You’re a ruthless demon who only cares about winning.”
Any other time, I would have laughed at being called a “ruthless demon,” but I was still stuck on what she said before that. “She’s carrying my… what? ”
Elena went silent as she stared at me with widened eyes. “Wait… You don’t…?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. When she dropped it, she groaned. “Livy is going to kill me. But…” Her brows crinkled. “She said she told you…”
I felt the world tilt. “She’s…?” It was hard to even get the word out because I still couldn’t believe it.
Elena’s shoulders slumped with her deep sigh. “Yes, Alex, she’s pregnant. I guess she lied to me about telling you so I’d shut up about it… I don’t know…” Her eyes met mine and they burned with less fury. They were pleading now. “Look, she’s had a hell of a week… Thanks to you,” she added with a glare. “Just give me time to break it to her that I let the baby out of the bag, okay? She doesn’t even want to talk to you.”
“Well, now we have to talk, don’t we?” I practically growled.
“It doesn’t have to be now,” she snapped. “If she wanted to talk, then she wouldn’t be hiding in my car. You owe her time to compose herself before you confront her, Alex.” Looking skyward, she sighed. “I just got her to get out of the house to get some fresh air and you just had to be here and with another woman no less. ”
“She’s not… I’m just out with a friend .” I was pissed that I was in the middle of the sidewalk explaining myself to a woman I barely knew. However, I was willing to listen to her if she got Olivia to talk to me.
“Sure,” she drawled in the most skeptical tone I had heard yet.
Ignoring her, I said, “If you can get her to talk to me without running, I’ll give her a day.”
“Two days.”
“One day,” I ground out in my most ruthless demon tone. “Or I show up tonight and kick down your fucking apartment door.” People typically listen when I use that tone, and Elena was no exception.
She gave me a withering glare but huffed, “Fine.”
As she walked away, I didn’t even have time to be irritated by the dirty accusatory looks she gave me over her shoulder. I was too busy reeling from the shock that Olivia carried my child and had kept it a secret for only God knew how long. Guilt almost choked me to death as I thought about what I did to her by taking BioTech. My friends were right when they predicted that my stupid revenge scheme would end in disaster.
I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel any worse after what I discovered last night, but I was proved wrong when I visited Liam this afternoon. He and I finally had a chat about me taking over BioTech. It was hard for him to miss since it was all over the media. He was pissed at me, but surprisingly only because of his sister. I guess they hashed things out… good for them .
When I came clean about why I went after BioTech, he shocked me all the way to hell with his revelation. I’d spent almost a decade thinking that Olivia dumped me because she was… Well, like everyone else who thought I was “trailer trash” and wasn’t good enough for a blue-blood princess. To my shock, she was trying to protect me from her old man’s wrath.
All these years, I had harbored so much anger and resentment for nothing . Why didn’t she tell me the truth when I waltzed into her office months ago, ready to make her pay for a crime she wasn’t even guilty of?
Letting out a loud groan, I dropped my head into my hands. I’d been sitting in my office reeling, trying to process everything for hours now. I glanced at my phone, noting that it was getting late. As I got up to tell my assistant that she didn’t have to stay because I wasn’t actually working, there was a light knock on the door.
“Come in, Opal.”
My assistant stuck her head around the door. She gazed at me with concern, probably because I shuffled back into the office earlier with vacant eyes and had only grunted at her. My entrance must have resembled a zombie apocalypse survivor. However, she didn’t ask me if I was okay as I expected.
“Mr. Knight, Ms. Brentwood is here…”
She waited expectantly as I just stared at her.
I’d been prepared to talk to her last night, to really let her have it after she kept her pregnancy from me and ignored my existence for weeks. However, after the new piece of information, my brain was in a haze. I didn’t have my shit together.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I said, “Send her in.”
A moment later, Olivia hesitantly stepped inside and shut the door. We were face to face after three weeks and the myriad of emotions made the tension in the air extra heavy. Her posture was rigid and her shoulders tense as if bracing for the worst. She was trying to keep a calm exterior, but I could see the cracks in the ice princess’s armor.