Chapter 16
Chase: How’s it going with Red, Papi?
Zeke: Don’t.
Logan: Papi???
Chase: Z’s new girl likes to call him The Big Columbian Daddy during sex.
Logan: So wrong.
Zeke: No, she doesn’t, and we aren’t having sex.
Mia: I like her, she’s a blast. Plus, I call Mason Daddy all the time.
Mason: To clarify, when she’s talking to our daughter.
Mia: Whatever you say, Daddy. ;)
Logan: This is why we don’t have wives and girlfriends in the chat, fellas.
ZEKE
A lick of flame red hair catches the corner of my eye from where I sit in the glass walled conference room.
It’s our monthly management meeting, and I find myself willfully bored as I listen to department heads drone on.
My head hasn't been in the game for the last few days, and what I suspect to be the reason is standing in the corridor talking to my head of development, Smith—who is frustratingly late to this fucking meeting.
It’s been three weeks since she moved into my home, and we’ve slipped into a measured iota of domesticity.
We eat dinner together most nights and she’s started to feel more comfortable relaxing in the living room instead of barricading herself in her bedroom.
Diego loves having her around, his face lights up when she enters the room like Christmas came early.
Which is worrying, considering it’s temporary.
Today she’s wearing a deep royal blue dress that makes her hair shine like the sun and tapers off at the knees where her shapely calves trail down into those fucking court heels she likes to wear.
My gut tightens in a way that makes me grit my teeth.
When my gaze reaches back up to those pillowy lips, a thousand dirty thoughts about what I want to do with them stream into my head like a deluge of rainwater. But then, I realize she’s frowning.
I sit forward in my chair, paying closer attention.
Smith’s hands move animatedly as he scowls down at her and something inside me growls to life, wanting nothing more than to leap over this table and throttle him for looking at her like that.
Chloe suddenly takes a step back, shock painted on her delicate features. Smith sneers.
That’s enough. I don’t abide my employees being mistreated, is what I tell myself as I shoot out of my chair and stride to the glass doors. But it’s not just that. It’s her.
“Mr. Guerra?” an alarmed voice calls out behind me, but I ignore it.
“How dare you say that to me? To anyone!” Chloe’s elevated voice is enough to send a shard of ice cleaving through my chest as I near.
“What’s going on?” Shocked, clear blue forget-me-not eyes jerk to mine, her hand half raised to her mouth.
“Nothing of note, I was just telling our new developer to get back to work.” Smith dismisses her, turning his steely eyes on mine. Clearly that’s not all that was said.
“You were telling me that I was vying for the opportunity to get on my knees for Mr. Guerra, simply because I thought you might like to know there is an error in some of your reporting figures before you present.” Chloe seethes, seeming to recover herself.
The words rattle around my chest, awakening fury with every reverberation.
She turns all of that fiery venom back on Smith, but I don’t miss the slight tremble in her fingers as she drops her hand.
“What?” My voice is like a clap of thunder through the otherwise silent corridor.
“She’s lying.” Smith snorts, doing an excellent impression of someone who is surprised at the allegation.
I’ve never liked this slimy fucker, but unfortunately, he’s one of the best development heads in the city.
That being said, something has changed in the last few months.
Instead of being arrogant and brilliant, he’s been sloppy and absent.
“My office. Now,” I snap at Smith. He still has his eyes pinned on Chloe, and I see a flash of a slimy smirk. “Not her, Smith. You,” I clarify, watching the penny drop as he rounds on me.
“You’re going to take this broad’s word over mine?” He snaps, scowling.
Fury toils beneath my skin, sending prickling heat down my spine.
That beast inside me that’s never quite absent rakes claws of anger down the inside of my flesh.
Since fucking when do any of my staff dare to speak to me like that?
I narrow my eyes, taking a step forward.
He’s a good head shorter than me and I’m pleased to see he shrinks back a few inches.
Taking a closer look, I spot constricted pupils and a light sheen of sweat by his hairline.
“That broad is my fiancée, which you would know if you were ever here. Office. Now.” I growl, feeling my muscles coil into tight knots.
His beady little eyes go wide and bounce between mine and where I know Chloe to be standing.
The seconds pass in shocked silence before he clamps his jaw shut and spins, marching toward my office at the far end.
I watch him rigidly until he’s inside the door, and then twist my jaw until my neck clicks and sends a morsel of relief down my spine.
I turn to Chloe, forcing in a deep breath through my nose to try and pull back whatever unevolved part of me wants to rip that man to shreds for upsetting this woman.
Her face is a little paler than usual, and she’s staring at my office doors.
“Hey,” I softly cup her cheek in my hand softly to draw her attention, noting that my own tremble slightly. “I’ll handle this.”
She’s looking at me with such unease that I want to carve my own heart out and offer it to her on a platter, just to smooth that delicate crease between her brows.
She lets out a deep breath and closes her eyes, her dainty fingers snaking around my wrist as she leans into my hand.
“He’s only voicing what I’m sure others are thinking. ”
It’s such a moment of raw honesty and vulnerability from her that it feels like a sucker punch.
Suddenly, I’m wondering if hidden behind all of that fire isn’t something else, something a little softer.
I slip my grip to the back of her neck and pull her into my chest without even thinking.
If someone had told me a few weeks back I would be embracing a woman in the hallway of my company in the middle of the day, I would have laughed them out of the building.
But holding her feels right. Wholly and totally right.
Surprisingly, she allows it. I trail my free hand down her arm and tangle my fingers with hers, lifting them to my chest so that she can see.
“See this?” I brush my thumb over her engagement ring.
She nods, her cheek sliding against my shirt. “Hard to miss.”
I smile, planting a kiss on the top of her head, taking a hit of her sweet scent.
“This is why you shouldn’t let that bother you.
Because as far as they know, I intend to marry you and that sets you aside from every other woman.
” I slide my hand down her spine but note that she stiffens slightly in my grip.
She’s about to pull away, I can sense it.
“Just let me hold you, woman.” I tsk, caging her in with both arms.
She laughs, her hand landing on my chest. “Did you just woman me?”
I roll my eyes and meet her gaze when she shifts her head to look up.
The result is that we’re almost nose to nose and the air between us suddenly feels weighted, dense with tension.
“Why is it so hard for you to accept comfort from me? You were clearly upset,” I challenge, keeping one hand at her back and using the other to smooth her hair back from her face.
She nibbles on her bottom lip as I get lost in her azure, blue pools.
She’s so close it really wouldn’t take much to lean down and kiss her.
And god, I want to. I really fucking want to.
My dick leaps to attention, as though he’s only just realized I have a woman pressed to me.
She shifts on her feet, and I’m so distracted it takes me a second to realize she’s trying to extricate herself.
I drop my arms reluctantly, watching her take a step back. Literally and emotionally.
“Thanks for the weird corridor cuddle, same time tomorrow?” She’s deflecting with humor and we both know it. I let out a low chuckle and shake my head. Of all the women to be drawn to, it’s this complicated, fiery, confusing little creature that’s entirely off limits.
“Get back to work, I’ll handle Smith.” My fingers itch to reach out and touch her again, but I don’t.
She nods. “Yes, boss. I’ll see you at six.”
I grunt my agreement, sliding my hands into my pockets as she turns and walks away.
I’m very aware that the entire boardroom full of my management team probably just gawped at the whole thing, but even that doesn’t stop me from watching her until she reaches the elevators at the other end of the hallway.
We’re leaving for Ohio tonight to visit her parents, and I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a taxing trip.
It’s only as I’m walking back to my office that I realize the prickling rage has drained from me entirely.
Which is a new experience, especially so soon after it’s been called to action.
Smith is sitting in one of the cream leather chairs opposite my desk, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He lifts it to look at me as I close the door. “I didn’t know she was your fiancée, I—”
“That shouldn’t matter. You don’t speak to anyone like that here,” I cut across curtly, striding around to my chair. I fold myself down into it and undo the button on my suit jacket.
“It won’t happen again.” He swallows, his eyes darting nervously around the room.
“No, it won’t. Because you no longer work here,” I say matter-of-factly, leaning back in my chair.
The soft leather creaks quietly. I watch his face turn from red, to purple, to pale and clammy, all in the space of a few seconds.
He moves to stand, but I stop him. “Sit,” I order quietly, the command slicing the air as a small kernel of that rage flickers back to life.
The man obeys, meeting my gaze with a guarded confusion.
“What are you on?” I lean forward, placing both of my elbows on my desk, my hands laced on the ebony-stained mahogany top.
“What? I’m not—”
“Don’t even fucking think of lying to me,” I growl, clenching my teeth together. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, his eyes wide.
“Fuck!” he curses, running a hand through his thinning blonde hair and tugging at the strands.
“Start talking, Smith,” I warn. He only has my attention for a short period of time, and if he doesn’t come through with an explanation, he’ll regret it.
“I injured my shoulder in college playing football, had to have surgery. I pulled it a few months ago in a fender bender, started taking the pills my doctor gave me for the pain and now…” He trails off, swallowing audibly.
“Now I’m hooked on that shit. I tried to get off it, but it’s fucking impossible.
” He digs his fingers into his eye sockets so hard it must hurt.
I nod, contemplating. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. You hand your resignation in, and I’ll make sure you get into the best rehabilitation center the city has to offer. But if you duck out, I’ll make sure you never work in the tech space again. Understood?”
He lowers his hands and blinks at me. “Why would you do that for me?”
I laugh coldly, sinking back into my chair once more.
What people never understand about me is that I’ve cultivated a reputation for being an asshole on purpose.
No one fucks with me lightly. But my ethos has always been firm but fair.
Life happens. Shit happens. And here is a man who desperately needs help to get back on his feet.
I have more money than I can spend in a lifetime, so why wouldn’t I?
I’m human, just like everyone else. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Smith. But there is one more condition.”
His brows knit together and his shoulders sag. He looks fucking exhausted. “Anything,” he agrees.
“On your way out, you’re going to trot back downstairs and offer Chloe a very sincere and very public apology.”