36. Alex
36
ALEX
I winced as I listened to Olivia hurl up yet another meal. I leaned against the wall beside the bathroom because she kicked me out again. The toilet flushed and then the faucet came on. Finally, she emerged, thankfully looking a little less pale than before.
“Are you okay?” I asked, pushing myself off the wall.
“A little better now.” She padded across the room and climbed back into bed… my bed, and I loved having her in it. She had been staying at my apartment since we hashed things out in my office last week.
She had refused when I first suggested she stay at my place. However, I’d insisted that she owed me big for keeping the baby from me for an entire month. It was a lame excuse, but she’d rolled her eyes and huffed, “Fine.”
And here we were, shacked up together… just like old times.
“You know, Liv, I have a suspicion that this kid is going to be just like me,” I declared as I followed her back to bed. “I mean, the kid is already giving you a shit ton of trouble with the morning sickness and the mood swings.”
She cried at the drop of a hat now, and I felt like I was in an alternate universe. I mean, she was the Ice Princess for Christ’s sake. She’d always had a firm grip on her emotions.
She scoffed. “And let’s not forget the dizziness and breast tenderness.” I received a withering glare, which only made me smirk. “Trust me, I already gathered that this kid is going to be everything like you… very troublesome.”
Chuckling, I dove onto the bed and rested my head on my hand. “Wait until I teach him or her how to be a master hacker.” We hadn’t found out the baby’s gender yet, but she had an appointment for an ultrasound in a few weeks.
“You will do nothing of the sort, Alex!” Olivia screeched.
I smirked. “Relax, Princess. I’m kidding.” I dropped my voice to a grumble. “I’ll wait until he or she is at least a teenager.”
“Alex,” she growled.
I reached for her, and she settled into my arms and instantly went pliant, which I loved. “Good thing one of us is a responsible adult, eh?” I joked.
She stuck her face between my neck and shoulders—she called it “the nook”—and groaned. “You’re nuts, Alex,” she mumbled. “And I love you.”
Grinning, I inhaled the sweet floral scent of her hair. “I love you too, Princess.”
Damn, it felt good to say that. It felt incredible having her in my arms, and most importantly, a part of my life again. We could be happy again… we would be. That meant I had to make everything right…
The issue of BioTech still hung over us like a heavy cloud. I saw how unhappy she was, especially when she caught a glimpse of something in the media about her beloved company being in new hands. I felt awful. I regretted my vengeful actions every day.
Releasing a long breath, I breached the subject again. “Liv?”
“Mhmm?” she answered from the safety of “the nook”.
“We need to talk about BioTech and how we’re going to proceed.”
She went rigid and then pulled away. Sitting up, she shoved her curtain of hair out of the way and sighed. “Why do we have to talk about it?”
“Because it’s the logical and adult thing to do…” I stared at her, utterly bewildered. “I’ve allowed you to put it off for a week. We’re talking about it… now.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits, and I got the Ice Princess stare. “You didn’t allow anything, and you can’t order me to do anything.”
“There she is,” I purred.
Her eyes got squintier. “Who?”
“My Ice Princess has come out to play. Thank God. You’ve been too quiet and not your confident-bordering-on-arrogant self lately.”
She let out a derisive snort. “My arrogance can never outshine yours, buddy.”
I grinned. “You might be right. Still, I hate seeing you like this. Maybe it’s my fault and I need to fix it. So, I’m giving you back your company.”
“I don’t want it,” she bit out as she glowered at me.
I gazed at her silently, trying to gauge if it was her hormones talking or if she really meant it. Since I couldn’t figure it out, I decided to ask. “Are you hormonal right now?” I realized my mistake in asking when I got socked in the head with a pillow. Biting back a smile, I said, “Sorry I asked. ”
“I’m hormonal every day,” she muttered. “Sorry about the pillow to the head.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
She glanced at me with a pout. “You’ve been patient with my mood swings.”
“Well, I knocked you up, so I owe you that much,” I joked.
Olivia laughed and then I practically saw her relax.
“Can we talk now?” I asked.
She sighed. “Sure.”
“Why don’t you want the company back?”
Her eyes darted around the room, and I waited patiently for her to gather her courage because I could see her embarrassment.
She shrugged. “I don’t know… Alright, it’s not that I don’t want it back. It’s just…” she sighed and ducked her head. “I feel like I don’t deserve to be CEO. I mean, I failed…”
My heart dropped into my ass. I caused this. I never should have gone through with the acquisitions out of sheer pettiness.
“You were right when you said I did well but not good enough. You were also right about BioTech maybe needing a new leader. All the board members—the ones with penises, in particular—who resented me for becoming CEO were right to doubt me.”
I gawked at her as my mind raced with what to say to fix this. “I was wrong, Liv. I was an idiot.” I spread my arms wide and reiterated, “I’m an idiot.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re not.”
“You kicked ass at being CEO.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“I looked into the company’s history.”
Her eyeballs did a complete rotation. “Of course, you did.”
Holding up a finger, I continued, “And I learned that your father ran things into the ground financially, and you came in and kept the company afloat for years. You’re smart, strong, and determined as hell. You were born to run the Brentwood empire. You’re fucking Princess Olivia.”
She laughed. “You sound like Elena.”
“Well, we know how incredible you are.”
Olivia nibbled on her lower lip. “You won our war fair and square. BioTech is yours. I don’t want you to give it back because I’m sleeping with you again and carrying your child.”
I snorted. “Princess, I may be your loyal servant…”
She giggled at that.
“...but the way I love to win… if I really didn’t think you were the best CEO for BioTech, I’d be rubbing my victory in your face at this very moment.”
She shook her head. “That would make you an asshole.”
“It would.” I laughed. “But that’s because I see you as a worthy opponent. You fought well, Liv. I’m proud of you, but I’m not right for the company. I don’t know shit about science or medicine. Besides, a lab coat would cramp my style.”
She scoffed, but there was a suspicious twitch at the corners of her mouth. “You take nothing seriously, do you?”
“I take the wellbeing of the general public seriously. BioTech doesn’t need someone who only pursued it for petty reasons running it. It needs someone passionate about science and helping people live longer, better lives.” I cupped her chin. “That’s you, gorgeous.”
Her eyes got misty as she held my gaze. Finally, she sniffed, “You’re damn right that’s me.”
I grinned with pure relief at the sound of the confidence in her voice. Crisis averted.
Her expression crumbled. “But… ”
Oh, no . “But what?” I asked warily. If I had broken her spirit for good, I’d never forgive myself.
“BioTech is still in financial trouble. What can I do about that?”
I mentally wiped the sweat from my forehead. “Princess, you have a rich baby daddy.”
She groaned. “Oh, my God, Alex…”
I smirked. “If you still need an investor or a silent partner… I’m in full support of BioTech’s mission.”
She peered at me through narrowed eyes in that way she did when she was weighing her options. To my satisfaction, she stuck out a hand and said, “In that case, I’m interested in a partnership.”
I chuckled and shook her hand.
“I’ll have to do a thorough background check on you before we sign anything, of course.”
I snorted my amusement. “Of course.” I then gently tugged her into my arms and she fell into them with an airy giggle.