Chapter Four
I could have wrapped my hands around Banks’s throat this morning and choked the life out of him. For years, every time a man attempted to pursue Jillian, I’d hit the gym, letting the jealous rage out. Shit, I added an extra twenty pounds of muscle with all the fuckers that vied for her attention. Banks was lucky that I didn’t put him on his ass right in my office for trespassing, and then he had to make a pass at the one person in the world who was untouchable to all men. Jillian is mine.
I thought I could contain myself, act civilized for at least a day, but no, that wasn’t going to work. Lennox and I were going to spar. How could he have hired the one person I want underneath me?
We have kept our noses clean in every damn way, and he had to hire the only person who I dream of as my wife. Now it looks as if I planned to fuck my new assistant. If word spreads to the companies that we attempt to buy out, my reputation will be ruined.
Also, the thought of firing her isn’t appealing either. Still, the past four years have been unbearable. I let her grow, become an even more incredibly talented, amazing woman than the one I remembered, and I’m obsessed.
Jillian has no idea how much time I’ve devoted to watching her, stalking my sweet Jilly Bean. The amount of money and manpower that has gone into protecting her at all hours of the day was for nothing because Lennox has fucked up my plan.
I expected to go after her when I closed the last deal with Banks. I wanted to claim my little Jillian and get her to marry me.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I dig it out, hoping it’s Thorne, but it’s Lennox. I need that asshole, too. “Hey, what’s going on? What’s up with Banks?”
“I’m dropping the contract.”
“What? Are you sure you want to do that?”
He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. Dropping the contract is the least I can do. “Yes, he fucking came to the building and flirted with Jillian.”
“So are you ever going to ask her to marry you?” he teases.
“If you didn’t fucking hire her, I would have.”
“What? I was kidding.” His surprise would almost be laughable if I were in a better mood, but I’ve been waiting for way too long, and I’ve been foiled at the last damn moment.
“I wasn’t. I don’t need a scandal, Nox. We’ve kept ourselves completely clean all these years, only for you to hire my future wife as my assistant. How is that going to look?”
“Like favoritism.” I can see him just shrugging it off like it’s no big deal, but it is to me. “If you marry her right away, it will look like it’s been in the works since she graduated.”
“Yeah, but how is it going to look when they learn that we’ve known her for years?”
“Calm down. You’re not a fucking pedo, Sawyer. You didn’t groom her. Hell, we went to college before she even turned fourteen. Now she’s an adult, and you haven’t touched her. Hell, you haven’t touched any woman. Give it a break. She’s twenty-two now, and you’re twenty-six. Maybe if you finally give in, you won’t be such an asshole.”
“But others won’t see it that way.”
“Who gives a fuck? We’re billionaires, and we won’t go bankrupt over it. I promise you that there are pricks twice our age out there dating girls her age or younger, and they’re making deals left and right. Calm down. This isn’t the start of our career anymore. We’re established. So tomorrow, you take care of business and settle this nonsense between you and Jillian. Trust me, the years apart haven’t changed a damn thing for her.” So he’d been lying to me earlier. Asshole was just trying to piss me off. Although I know she still has feelings for me, I’m not sure they’re more than lustful ones.
I hope he’s right, but I might have pushed her a little too hard this morning. “I don’t deserve her.”
“Fuck. She’s a great girl, Sawyer, but you’re a fantastic man, even if you’ve been stalking her since she turned eighteen.”
“You know?”
“Come on. I knew we set up a security team for her because you cared, but I know you kept track too. We’re twins—we share a condo, a business, and see each other almost all damn day. You might have been able to hide it from others, but not from me. I’m happy for you, bro. Still, if you don’t move soon, I might give it a crack. She tried to kiss me a long time ago.”
“You touch her, and I’ll kill you.” He chuckles before hanging up. If he was in front of me, I’d punch him in the gut.
“Are you okay, sir?” I was passing a police officer as I said that.
Shit. “Yes. Sorry, Officer. My brother thinks he’s funny.” Nothing like threatening someone’s life in front of a cop.
He chuckles. “Siblings. I understand. I have four of them.”
“Yeah. I only have one, and he’s a twin. He’s enjoying busting my balls today.”
“It never ends, no matter how old you get.”
“Well, one day when he gets a woman, I’ll give it back to him. Have a good one.”
“You, too.” All the way back, I consider my brother’s words. Tomorrow isn’t soon enough. If Nox is right, and I’m sure he is, then there’s no sense in waiting a moment more. Jillian has always been mine. Maybe not the way I want her to be now, but she’s meant to be my wife, the mother of my children, and it’s about time I told her.
Unable to wait another minute, I return to the office. She and I must get some things straight before I lose my fucking mind, although I’m sure it’s probably already too late. I fucked up and waited too long, and then made an ass of myself more times than I care to admit today.
I jab the damn elevator button multiple times as if it will make the fucker come faster, but it’s useless, so I bounce on the balls of my feet, growing more impatient by the second. The doors open, and I slide in. I press the close button repeatedly, only to hear someone shout, “Hold the elevator.” I could swear that it’s Cynthia, but that’s good because I don’t want her interrupting me while I speak to Jillian alone.
Then it strikes me—they went to lunch together since she’s still training Jillian. Fuck. The damn doors open, and the office is empty. Shit. I wait for them to come up on the next elevator.
As soon as the doors open, there she is looking pissed and twice as gorgeous. With my body heated, I command, “In my office now, Ms. Krieger.”
“Yes, Mr. Masterson,” she answers, teeth clenched, mood unreadable. She dips her head and walks my way.
“Watch where you’re walking, Jilly Bean.”
She lifts her gaze with a light hint of a smile. That’s my girl. “Enough. Get inside.” Jillian drops her smile and walks into my office.
I lock the door the second she’s past the wooden barrier that separates everyone from us. “Why did you come to work for us?” I grit out.
“Because your brother offered me a job.”
“Why did you take it?”
She scoffs, twirls on her heel, and looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Hello—what kind of fool turns down an executive-level position straight out of college, even if…”
My Jilly Bean stops herself from saying what she truly means, and I want to hear it. “Even if what?”
“Nothing.”
“You were going to say something.”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit, Jillian. Tell me what you were going to say.”
“Despite the fact that you don’t want me here. Okay? Is that good enough?” It’s not exactly what I expected. I expected her to call me every name in the book and call me an asshole.
“You have a mouth on you.”
“If you don’t like my mouth, I’ll quit.” Stepping closer, I eat up the space between us until I’m nearly on top of her.
“What did you say?”
“Are you getting deaf in your old age?”
“That shit is going to get you punished.”
“I’m not worried about getting fired. I totally see that coming. It’s clear as day that you want nothing to do with me because I had a stupid crush on you as a little girl. Don’t worry about me drooling over you anymore.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Good, because Cynthia reminded me that there are gorgeous men that come to this building all the time.”
“Don’t push me, woman,” I grunt, my temper growing more heated by the second. The idea of her mentioning other men sets my teeth on edge. She has no concept of how dangerous I’ve gotten when it comes to her.
“That’s right. I’m a woman now, Mr. Masterson. Not a little girl. I have needs, and if you won’t satisfy them, eventually someone else will.” I wrap my fingers around her throat.
“I warned you what would happen to them if they did.”
She lets out a gasp. She shakes her head ever so softly, confusion laced in her eyes. “It wasn’t a dream.”