Chapter 10 #3
“They won the first round, okay?” I wanted to touch him and didn’t. “But I’m a fast learner, and you’re fucking good at this—remember? They’re done messing with us.”
They’re done messing with you.
Something relaxed around Stellan’s mouth, just by a fraction. “You always sound like that when you’re trying to calm people down?”
“Nah. Usually there’s more swearing.”
One corner of his mouth hitched up further. I held his eyes for a moment, serious, until he blinked and ducked his head. “Okay,” he said softly. “I’m… not entirely ready for this, to be honest. But I know this needs to happen, and I trust you.”
My chest went briefly wide with that, as if some reckless part of me had turned his words into a promise that I meant to keep.
And then, later—later, once this was over and we were back at my place, I’d get to kiss him until all the tension drained right out of him, until he clung to me like there was nothing else.
Now, I settled for bumping the back of his hand with mine. “Good. Then let’s go.”
Aster Private occupied the eighteenth floor, doors opening on a hallway lined with frosted glass and tasteful art that could hang in any damn luxury hotel room around the country. So far, so unimpressive.
“Mr. Harkins.” A woman in a dark sheath dress greeted us, her smile giving no hint that we were late. “Mr. Vale. Thanks for coming.”
Aww. Like this was a pleasure visit.
“Jessica,” Stellan said with a nod, a hint pointed on her first name, and yes. There you are. I bit down on a smile.
She chanced him a look and didn’t offer to take his coat, just turned to lead us into a conference room with one wall of windows and a table long enough for ten. What did they usually do here—plan the downfall of modern civilization, all hands on deck? Well, not today.
Jessica stepped back out and closed the door behind her, leaving us with two people already seated inside: a man in a navy suit, maybe fifty, with neatly trimmed hair, silver at the temples, and a younger woman with a legal pad in front of her.
They took in my dark sweater and jeans, put together without making an effort, and Stellan’s much more polished work outfit.
No one stood to shake hands, and I considered pushing the point just to throw them off, then couldn’t be bothered to get anywhere near them.
I sat across from them without waiting for their invitation, Stellan draping his coat over the back of another chair before he lowered himself into the one right next to me. Us versus them. Good. Under the table, I knocked our knees together as if by accident.
“My name is Patrick Leland,” the guy said. “I oversee operations.”
He had the face of a man who’d described shady maneuvers as a billable service twice a week for the past fifteen years. Too bad for him that I habitually faced off against assholes on the ice, had grown up getting bumped onto teams with boys a year or two older and half a head taller.
“I’m Matt Harkins,” I said. “This is Stellan Vale. But you know that already, so let’s skip the warmup.”
The woman blinked, face impassive, while Leland gave me a patient little smile, as if he’d expected no better from an athlete. Ah, brutes, but what can you do?
“This is a courtesy conversation,” he said. “There seems to have been some confusion around prior obligations and continued contact that could compromise confidentiality.”
Did they pay him based on how much legal bullshit he could squeeze into one sentence? Next to me, Stellan stiffened, and no. They didn’t get to do that. Not to him. Not on my watch.
“No one’s confused.” I gave Leland a sharp smile. “You want him scared, quiet, and away from me. Did I miss anything?”
Leland’s expression went a notch blanker. Sweet. “Mr. Harkins,” he said. “With all due respect.” Ha. “You were not party to the agreements in question.”
“True.” I leaned forward just a hint. “I was the target. But I’m sure you have a much fancier term for it.”
Stellan glanced at me, then straightened just the slightest hint in his chair while the woman made a note.
Leland folded his hands on the table. “We are not here to debate anyone’s characterization of past events,” he said.
“We are here because Mr. Vale’s recent conduct suggests a willingness to compromise sensitive client matters. ”
Yep. Definitely angling for a legal-bullshit-per-second record. Well, I wasn’t about to play this on his ice.
“Mr. Leland.” I sank just a hint of derision into the name.
“Here’s the thing: Stellan and I met again by chance, and he’s told me enough to understand just what it is you people do.
There will be no further contact with him regarding me, my former relationship, or any materials or methods that were part of that job. ”
Leland’s eyebrows lifted. The woman’s pen paused.
Next to me, Stellan took a quick, quiet breath. I stopped myself from looking at him, from reaching out even just to touch his elbow—nothing that would hand these people so much as a shred of information they didn’t deserve.
“In fact,” I continued, as if it had only just occurred to me, “you won’t contact him at all. Not by email, not by phone, not through some veiled reminder dressed up in corporate language. Do I make myself clear?”
Your fucking play.
Leland gave me another version of his patient smile. “I’m not sure you’re in a position to dictate terms.”
“Try me.”
Silence stretched. Beyond the windows, the city was dipping into an evening glimmer, ferries like small, bright dots on the water.
Leland leaned back. “You’ve been advised incorrectly if you think this company lacks options.”
So—the pictures. Maybe they still had them, or maybe he was bluffing to goad me into saying something stupid and emotional. I inhaled through the brief, instinctive flutter of unease and shrugged.
“Actually,” I said, “no. I think it’s you who doesn’t really understand the situation.”
He held my gaze. “Enlighten us.”
“Happy to.” I kept my voice flat and even. “If you still have any image of me, it’s worthless now.”
His expression didn’t change. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do.” I leaned back slightly, my elbow on the back of Stellan’s chair, controlled and easy. “The second you try to use anything, Stellan explains exactly how it was set up. How your people operate. It stops being leverage and starts being evidence.”
Stellan looked at me, still silent in a way that wasn’t him.
But his gaze was steadier now, shoulders a little looser than when we’d walked into this room, his attention bright like a spotlight—as if some part of him enjoyed watching me here, like this.
I fought the way it made me feel warm all over and kept going.
“You sell discretion, right? Rich people’s messes handled quietly. Great business model.” I tagged on a sarcastic smile. “But only as long as you stay invisible.”
Leland’s eyes were as cool as his tone. “Former employees sign agreements for a reason.”
“And people like me pay managers for a reason.” I offered another shrug. “Mine has counsel fully briefed. So if you’re dumb enough to push this, go ahead. I’m sure there’s more than one judge in this city who’d be very happy to look into every little detail of this case and your business.”
Not a muscle moved in Leland’s face, but the woman finally looked up from her legal pad, pen gone still. My home was the rink, not conference tables and legal posturing. But, fuck, there was a certain satisfaction in watching their strategy wobble.
A pause.
For the first time since we’d sat down, Leland shifted his full attention to Stellan. “Mr. Vale,” he said, a shade softer than before. Let’s all be reasonable here. “You understand that unnecessary escalation helps no one. Whatever grievances you may have, discretion remains the wiser course.”
Oh, fuck him. He didn’t get to tell Stellan what to do. In fact, as far as I was concerned, he didn’t even get to look at Stellan. He needed to pack up his bullshit and get the hell away from Stellan because I protected what was mine.
I—Jesus.
Before I could get my act together, Stellan rolled back his shoulders and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Quiet but sure. Something in me jolted awake.
Leland paused. “I’m sorry?”
Stellan sat up, hands flat on the table. “No,” he said, clearer now. “I’m done with this. You found me when I was young and desperate, but I’m not anymore. So stop acting like you own me.”
God, yes. Beautiful.
He was. Not just hot, not just a pretty face and a good body. But beautiful. The kind of word I’d learned to attach to women and still did—Naomi, Talia. Men, though? I’d never let myself think like that before. Turned out Stellan was my exception—in so many ways.
Leland’s face tightened just very, very slightly. “I think you’re being emotional.”
I watched Stellan smile—confident now, sharp like the edge of a blade. “Maybe. Still done with you, though.”
The woman looked from him to me, then at Leland. He didn’t immediately react, and that, right there, felt like victory.
“You heard him.” I leaned forward, elbows propped on the table. “Any further contact goes through counsel. If you try anything covert, try pulling strings behind the scenes to make his life difficult in any way—you will regret it. I’ll make personally sure of that. So, piece of advice? Don’t.”
Leland looked at me for a long second, then at Stellan. Another pause. When he spoke again, it was just a fraction less polished than before. “This company has no interest in prolonging a misunderstanding.”
A misunderstanding. Right, and he was probably billing this hour as community outreach.
“Good,” was all I said. “Then I believe we’re finished here.”
I stood. Stellan did, too, and for one dizzy instant, he seemed off-balance, like he wasn’t sure just where to turn. I shot him a smile, barely more than a twitch to the corners of my mouth, and he steadied, chin tipping up.