He relaxed and smiled back, a slow, calculating grin that made her arch a brow at him. “Good. I can’t wait to play dress-up with you. My treat, the entire weekend. Agreed?”
“Are you sure? Because once I have a taste of your high-style life I might never leave.”
He chuckled and drew her back down to snuggle against his side. “Oops, I guess you’re on to my grand scheme. I can’t wait to blow my fortune on you.”
“Exactly how much money do you have?”
“Enough,” he said smugly. “Morgan Industries isn’t the only big fish in my pond. In fact, for all Donnie’s arrogance, he’s not even a whale in my pond. But he’s the only one I’d actually call friend.” His voice sobered and he checked his watch. “My only friend. One hour to go.”
“That’s a lie, Jackson Montgomery Warring.”
“It is?”
She bit him on the chest, gripping him hard enough to leave teeth marks in his skin. He jumped a bit beneath her but didn’t pull away. Releasing him, she kissed the mark. “I’m your friend too, Angel. Now close your eyes and get a short nap before I take you to the airport.”
He sighed heavily but tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Yes, Priestess. Your wish is my command.”
His breathing evened out but she suspected he only dozed. He never relaxed his grip on her, as though he was afraid she’d get up and leave. Maybe it’d been a mistake to bring him to her place, to show him her tats and tell him her stories. Because now, she didn’t want to ever let him leave.
Chapter Twenty
Jackson paced back and forth in front of the counter defining his secretary’s space outside his own office. “What time is the Morgan jet landing?”
Ann didn’t even look up from her computer monitor and her fingers continued flying over the keyboard. “They landed at six o’clock, and yes, I’ve confirmed the car picked them up. They’re already at the Waldorf Astoria, where all of the gowns are ready and waiting for your beloved to make her selection.”
“And the—”
“Accessories were also delivered, as well as the jewelry. All she has to do is pick which one she wants to wear and then head downstairs to the party. Assuming, of course, that you make it over there on time. Because at this rate, I’m going to strangle you long before I can finish typing this brief. Most everyone else has already left to start the party early.”
He walked around the ledge and sat on the edge of her desk. Now that made her stop typing. She hated anything messing up the perfect organization of her office space, let alone for someone to deface her desk in such a way. Even him. “I’m sorry. I’m a basket case.”
“So things are going well with Diana?”
“As far as I know. I haven’t seen her for two weeks.”
“Yes, I know,” Ann replied dryly. “You’ve been an absolute bear these past days. Did you at least call her?”
“A few times, but honestly, it’s hard. I think about calling her when I can’t, every minute of the day it seems, and when I finally am in a position to have a private conversation, it’s one o’clock in the morning. I’ve kept in touch with her via text, but it’s not the same.”
Most of his frustration came from that lack of intimacy. Not the sex, but the physical touching, skin on skin, the whispered secrets, hearts laid bare. That weekend at her place had felt so real. They weren’t playing a game. She’d already seen him at his worst and was willing to see him again, enough to take him home with her. She’d told him all those stories about her past, so he really felt like he knew her. The real her. Sure, it’d only been two weekends…
But he knew more about her after those two short trips than any woman he’d dated in the past fifteen years. For him, that was damned near matrimony.
“Of course it’s not the same,” Ann said tartly, turning back to her computer. “You’ll make up for it tonight. She’s going to feel like a princess.”
No. Like a queen. As soon as I see her, I’m going to kiss that crown tattoo.
The idea of kissing her tats was too much to take after two weeks away from her. Changing the subject, he pushed the image of Diana covered head to toe in ink away. “So when are you going to tell me about your doctor’s appointment?”
Ann’s fingers froze on the keyboard but she didn’t look up at him. “Not until I must. It’s over. Don’t worry about it.”
“You must,” he insisted, reaching out to lay his hand on her shoulder. She still wouldn’t look at him. “Are you sick? God, it’s not cancer, is it?”
“Does Diana want kids?”
Confused by the seemingly random question, he squeezed her shoulder and turned her office chair around so she faced him. For the first time in a very long time, he took a good look at her as a woman and not his loyal employee. She’d saved his skin on more than one occasion with her thoroughness and attention to detail. She was a few years younger than him, but at least thirty-five. A sudden wave of horrified guilt washed over him because he didn’t know if she was married or not. They never had time to talk about much but work. He knew her favorite chocolates and wine, for bonuses, birthdays and the like. He always bought her designer purses and silk scarves for the holidays. Well, scratch that. He asked her to pick out a beautiful gift on his dime, while she was picking out his mother’s gift at the same time. Ann had impeccable taste. She wore elegant suits that highlighted her beauty, while still the height of professional class. She had an understated but classic beauty, not too tall but not short either, dark hair and eyes, and enough color in her skin to claim a diverse family tree.
Now he noticed the fine lines around her eyes, the strain around her mouth, the unusual pallor of her skin. Either she hadn’t slept much in days, or she wasn’t well at all.
I know more real information about Diana than my secretary of thirteen years, even though I depend on her absolutely.
“No,” he answered, trying to feel his way slowly. “We already agreed we weren’t parent material. I can’t even manage myself.”
“I don’t want kids. Ever.”
“Okay.” He searched her face, trying to see why that warranted a doctor’s appointment. “There’s a pill for that, you know.”
“I was too far along for the morning after pill.”
He kept his face smooth. Pregnant? She hadn’t missed any time from work. Or had she? His schedule was crazy enough that he was only rarely in the office for two or three days in a row. Even though he’d been in town the last two weeks to help Ellen finalize everything before the next board meeting and all-crucial vote, he’d been physically away from his office most every single day. He wouldn’t have even been here to walk by and see if she was at her desk.
“I went to the doctor to see what my options were. Franklin was furious. He couldn’t believe I would consider terminating the pregnancy.”
“Franklin…?”
She blew out a vicious sigh. “You’re oblivious to everything, Jack.”
“I know. Forgive me. Who’s Franklin and how long were you seeing him? Because I might not know who you’re dating, but I do know you well enough to surmise that if he thought he could strong-arm you into something, you’d kick him in the balls and leave him sobbing on the curb.”
Her lips twitched. “No one you know. I didn’t kick him that hard, but yeah, he’s gone. We were only casually dating, and the pregnancy was a complete fluke. I’ve been on the pill most of my life because no way am I having kids. I’ve known that forever. I love my job, my life, exactly the way it is, and I’m not giving up anything to be a mother. That’s just not me. My doctor tracked down the issue to a generic substitution the pharmacy made. It wasn’t as effective and boom, my life is changed forever, or so I thought.”
He arched his brows, waiting for her to explain.
“I had a miscarriage that next weekend. It’s like my body couldn’t ev
en comprehend how it had betrayed itself like that.”
That next weekend. Ann had gone through a miscarriage and breaking up with her boyfriend, when he’d been partying with Diana in Minnesota. He took Ann’s hand in both of his and sighed. “I didn’t even know. I’m so sorry. Why on earth didn’t you tell me? Or at least take a few days off?”
“Thankfully, it was so early that it wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t have any reason to take off and I was relieved, not upset. I didn’t want or need time off, but I appreciate the sentiment.” She paused, searching his face. “You’ve been apologizing tonight. In fact, ever since you met Diana.”
“Yeah. Meeting her has changed my life.”
“I’m glad, Jack. Really.” She smiled and even though her eyes glimmered with tears, she managed to laugh. “I can’t wait to meet her. I bet it took one hell of a woman to bring you to heel.”
“You have no idea.” The thought of Ann, or someone from the firm, figuring out exactly what had happened at that lake house… Or worse, attending that party… His face might have caught fire, but his dick wasn’t shy about the thought. At all.
“Oh. My. God. Are you blushing? You? Okay, let’s go.” She jumped up, turned off the computer and grabbed her purse out of a drawer. “Right now. I need to meet my new BFF.”
Shaking his head and trying not to even think about being exposed in such a compromising position, he linked arms with her and headed for the elevator. “Are you going home to change?”
“No way. I intend to have a very good time. I’ve got a room booked at the hotel so I don’t have to try and find a cab later. Room 535. I’ve got your tux there too.”
He started to follow her onto the elevator when someone called out his name. Thankfully only Ann could see the expression of distaste on his face. The last person he’d care to have a chat with: Geoffrey Larsen, the elderly Larsen’s nearly sixty-year-old jerk of a son who still acted like he was a toddler who refused to share his toys.
“A word, son.”
Jackson clenched his jaws, swallowing down a retort. I’m not your fucking son.
Ann started to step off with him—a true sign of her loyalty, because she wasn’t going to leave him alone with Geoffrey. “In case I’m late, can you make sure Diana’s all right and knows I’m coming as quickly as I can?”
“Of course. I’ll find her as soon as I reach the hotel.”
The elevator closed and he turned slowly to face his nemesis. Geoffrey and his father were everything that Jackson fought not to become. Everything had been handed to Geoffrey thanks to his father’s position as senior partner and long-time managing partner of the firm. He’d been the visionary and commanding force from the beginning, and now that his retirement loomed, everyone had assumed Geoffrey would step in as managing partner. Especially Geoffrey. Even though he was a horrible attorney and an even worse human being. Win at all cost had been his motto, and without his father’s cleanup efforts, the man probably could have been disbarred half a dozen times. Just being in the same room as him made Jackson feel like he was a child again with his father looming over him, bellowing that his son had by God better be a winner or else.
Geoffrey had the rich silver fox look that a lot of women found attractive. He never lacked a beautiful woman half his age hanging on his arm, and tonight would be no different. He was already dressed for the evening in a dove-gray tux that made Jackson think of a wedding. All he needed was a flower stuck in a lapel.
“Step into my office. This won’t take but a minute.”
Of course that was a lie. In his plush corner office, Geoffrey took his time pouring them each a class of scotch, asking about his mother and business and whatever else struck his fancy. As if he really cared about anything. It was all Jackson could do not to seize him by his shoulders and scream at him to get to the point. Diana was waiting for him. She’d be forced to swim with the sharks of his firm without his protection at her side. At least Donovan, Lilly and Ann would be with her. But if anyone was mean to her… If anyone hurt her, like they had in high school…
So help me, I’m going to kill someone tonight.
“I don’t know if she ever told you, but I once proposed to your mother.”
Jackson jerked his attention back to the other man. “Excuse me?”
“Well, it was more of a business proposition than a true proposal. I always thought it’d be wonderful to make the Larsen & Montgomery association as tight and profitable for us all as possible. Ellen politely declined, claiming she’d already married for business once and wasn’t going to make that same mistake again. Do you think it’s a mistake to marry for business, Jackson?”
The thought of having to call this bastard stepfather turned his stomach. “Absolutely. I’d rather never marry at all.”
“Hmmmm.” Geoffrey sat down in one of the contemporary steel gray armchairs and waved him to sit adjacent him, facing a gas fireplace he lit with the press of a button.
Grinding his teeth, Jackson sat and stared into the flames. He couldn’t afford to engage in outright hostilities with any of the firm’s associates. Let alone with a Larsen, especially this one, the man running against his mother for managing partner. Even though everyone knew old man Larsen had stayed on so long out of an ill-fated hope his spoiled, useless son would finally someday grow up. When push came to shove, blood would stick together and Larsen would allow his son to inherit his responsibilities.
“Did you know that Ellen was our first female associate? Oh, we had secretaries, certainly, but not a single woman as an attorney. Even now, we only have a handful of female associates. They’re too busy making babies and shopping to put in the hours we do for the firm. I like to ask the new women to get me a cup of coffee, just to see how they react.”
Jackson smiled, a grim bearing of teeth. “Don’t let my mother hear you say something like that.”
“She had you, didn’t she? What was it like, growing up with a mother who was gone all the time?”
He took a sip of the smoky scotch, delaying as long as possible without being outright rude. “Hard, at times, but I always admired her dedication to the firm. When I needed her, she was there for me.”
“I always thought your father mostly raised you, at least until they divorced. When was that? You were a kid, weren’t you?”
Enough of this bullshit. Jackson started to set the glass aside and stand, but Geoffrey switched gears.
“What do you think of Sophia?”
Sophia Larsen, Geoffrey’s only child, had started at the firm around the same time Jackson had. They’d never really talked much—they were simply too busy. She’d seemed nice enough the few times the newer associates had gone out for drinks. Pretty, but toned down and somber, almost as if she was trying really hard not to show how beautiful she really was. With a father like Geoffrey and his old-world patriarchal preaching, maybe she’d been afraid of being accused of sleeping her way to the top. Jackson suddenly felt sorry for her. She’d probably been told all her life that she ought to have been a son to carry on the Larsen name.
Before he could answer, Geoffrey continued. “Ellen doesn’t have enough votes, you know. Oh, it’s going to be close and she’s certainly put on a good show. But in the end, my father’s going to support me, and that will sway the oldest associates to my side. It’ll be enough.”
Unfortunately, he was probably right. That good-old-boys mentality would make them stick together, and they’d rather see a crap male manager than a talented, competent woman step in, for fear she might show them up.
“Sophia’s mad at you, you know.”
Jackson didn’t bother answering. The slivers of ice dripping down his spine told him where this bizarre conversation was going. It shouldn’t have surprised him that the old man would play dirty, since that’s what had gotten him this far.
“Since you two started at the same time, and you haven’
t made partner, she can’t make partner without it being obvious that we’re favoring her. Ironic, isn’t it? She’s tried so hard to get ahead in the firm, not even dating or having a social life, but in the end, she still won’t get as far as she wants. Without you.”
“My success or lack thereof has nothing to do with her,” Jackson replied stiffly.
Geoffrey leaned forward, swirling his glass so the amber liquid caught the light of the flickering flames. “Oh, but it does, my boy.”
“I’m not your boy, your son, or even your friend.” He clamped his mouth shut, hoping he hadn’t gone too far.
Geoffrey chuckled. “You could be my son, though.”
There it was. The reason for this private chat. His fingers ached, clutched around the glass so he wasn’t tempted to chuck it against the wall.
“It’s the perfect merger. You and Sophia marry. You both become partners at the beginning of the year. She’s not too old to bear a son for you, and who knows, once she’s had a kid, she might get the fever and decide to stay home and have three or four, leaving you to step in and run the firm however you want after us old farts are gone. I agree to step aside and allow Ellen to become managing partner without a fight. I’ll even add my support to her, and also vote for your name to be added on the wall. Just think, son. Larsen, Montgomery & Warring. It does have a ring to it. You get what you’ve always wanted, and so does Sophia. Her name will still be attached to the firm. Someday sooner than later, I step out entirely, and eventually so does your mother. Then you can change the name of the firm to be Warring Associates. You and my daughter, continuing our family legacy. Everyone’s happy.”
Happy. Married to a woman he didn’t even know and certainly didn’t love. Bound to the firm for the rest of his life. He’d end up bitter and jaded and willing to play dirty pool to keep getting ahead, just like Geoffrey.
The Billionaire's Ink Mistress: Billionaires in Bondage, Book 2 Page 15