Possessive Boss

by Hamel, B. B.

  “Clearly, you’re working together. When did he turn you against us?”

  “I’m not against you, Charles. Hear him out. It’s a good offer.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Charles frowns at the two of us. “I wanted Darin. I wanted the company. But now it seems as though I’ve missed my chance. Or at least the window is rapidly closing. And my only asset has turned against me.” He sighs and shakes his head. “Why would I want to work out a deal?”

  “Because you want to walk away from this with a win,” I say.

  Charles at me then shrugs. “You’re not wrong.”

  “So hear him out.”

  “Okay then.” He looks at Jacob. “Let’s hear your pitch.”

  “Darin Ficino is beyond your reach. And my company is off limits. What I’m offering you is something that will benefit us both.”

  Charles merely nods his head to indicate that he’s listening.

  “I have certain documents pertaining to two men. Carmine Caro and Dino Morra.”

  “Mobsters,” Charles says.

  “That’s what I believe,” Jacob says. “But I don’t know that for sure. At any rate, I have some documents pertaining to their business. I have bank account information they used to route funds into my company and a few other things that may be of use.”

  “And you’ll give these to me in exchange for what?”

  “In exchange for you arresting them.”

  Charles looks genuinely surprised. “Really? That’s what you want?”

  “Yes,” Jacob says. “They made threats against me and Valerie. I want them out of my life completely.”

  Charles looks thoughtful. “I can see how this might benefit us both.”

  “I’ll give you some information to get you on their trail. After that, it’s up to you.”

  “I’ll admit, this is interesting.” He leans back in his seat. “What happens if I can’t make the arrest?”

  “Then I’ll deal with them some other way. But I want you to try first.”

  Charles lets out a laugh. He spreads his hands in front of him. “I am very interested, I’ll admit. My superiors will be much happier with two gangsters instead of some rich, spoiled boy.”

  “Part of the deal is you leave me alone, you leave Darin alone, and you leave the company alone.”

  “Very well,” Charles says. “Show me the documents.”

  “Not yet. I need your word.”

  He frowns for a moment. “Why do you think that matters?”

  “Because I like to think some people have honor left in this world.”

  He sighs and takes a sip of his latte. “What about her?”

  I lean back in my seat. “Excuse me?”

  “What about her?” he asks again.

  Jacob glances at me. “She can speak for herself.”

  Charles slowly looks over at me. “You’re a traitor. You turned your back on your job. You broke your word.”

  “I didn’t… I mean, you were going after him. And he didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “That wasn’t your call to make.” Charles stares at her. “Tell me why I should just let you go?”

  “Because I brought you this.” I lean toward him, anger flaring. “Without me, there’d be no deal, no gangster. Darin Ficino would keep on doing what he’s always done, or at least until Jacob caught him. Without me, you’d have nothing. Jacob would’ve kicked him out and you all would’ve been screwed.”

  He smiles a little. “Interesting. He taught you backbone.”

  “I always had backbone, you asshole. I came into the field, and it’s not even my job to be a field agent.”

  He nods a little. “You’re right. I was impressed you agreed.”

  “Give him what he wants. And get something for yourself from the deal.”

  Charles laughs. He seems genuinely delighted by the whole thing. He watches us both closely before grinning huge. “Okay then. I think we have a deal.”

  He shakes hands with Jacob then shakes my hand. I frown at him, angry at the way he spoke to me, but happy that this is nearly done at least.

  “Documents,” he says.

  Jacob produces them from under his jacket and hands them over. “That’s as much as I can give you. It’s everything I have.”

  “Let’s hope it’s enough.” Charles slips out from his chair and stands. “Let’s hope you don’t ever hear from me again, Jacob Lofthouse.”

  “For your sake,” Jacob says, staring Charles down.

  The older man smiles down at me. “And as for you, Valerie, well, I can clearly and honestly say that you were a very good decision.”

  I smile a little. “I know.”

  He pats my shoulder then walks off. He’s whistling to himself as he goes.

  I get up and slip around the table. I lean across it, looking at Jacob.

  He grins at me. “That worked,” he says.

  “Now we have to hope that was enough to get Carmine.”

  “I think it will be. I’m sure they’ve been looking at those two for a while now and just needed a little extra nudge in the right direction.”

  “I hope so.” I reach out and take his hands. “Otherwise, they’re going to come after us.”

  “Don’t worry.” He pulls me toward him and kisses me. “I’ll take care of you.”

  I nod once and kiss him again. I know it’s true.

  21

  Jacob

  “Darin’s father has been complaining around the club, you know.” My mother sounds bored as she leans back in her chair. She has a drink in her hand but she hasn’t taken a sip yet, and I bet she never does.

  “Is he?” I shrug. “I’m not sure why.”

  She laughs. The sound echoes in the porch. It’s a beautiful day at Lofthouse Manor, my family’s ancestral home.

  After Charles left that coffeehouse, I took Valerie back to my hotel room, fucked her until her legs were jelly and she couldn’t come again even if she wanted to, and packed up our bags. We left town the next morning. I put Larry in charge at the office temporarily until I could find someone else, although I might just promote him. I’m not completely sure just yet.

  Either way, the office is running smoothly, and we’re hiding out in Virginia. The country life seems to suit Valerie, and she’s already made friends with my brother’s new wife, Amber.

  My mother sighs and turns her face toward the sunlight. “He’ll make noise, but that’s all. He knows his son is a disgrace and his whole business is pathetic.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  She smiles at me. “Nothing, dear. Why would I ever say something?”

  “Please, Mother. I know you better than that.”

  Her eyes sparkle as her smile gets bigger. “Well. Maybe I did suggest that his son learned his awful ways from his father. And of course, Mr. Ficino did not like that suggestion, but what can he do?”

  I sigh and shake my head but I can’t help the smile that crosses my lips. “Poor Darin.”

  “He made his decisions, dear.”

  “I know. But he still treated me well.”

  She frowns at me slightly. “You’re a Lofthouse. You’ll always be a Lofthouse. It doesn’t matter if someone treats you like just another man on the street, that doesn’t change what you are. You have to learn to accept it, dear.”

  “I’m working on that, Mother.”

  “Good. Your new girl seems to be fitting in well.”

  I shift uncomfortably at the sudden change in direction. “Valerie is… she’s smart.”

  “Yes, she is. Very smart.”

  “I like her very much, Mother.”

  “Enough to keep her around?”

  I smile a little bit. “Ideally, yes.”

  “Good. I’m happy your brother settled and I’ll be happy when you settle. All my children need to pair off and multiply. Otherwise, this family will die out.”

  “Brent and Amber didn’t waste any time in that department.”

  �
�No, they didn’t. And I hope you don’t, either.”

  “I think I should worry about marrying her first.”

  “That’s a good idea, dear.” Mother stands up. “Oh, and I’d check the news. I think there’s something interesting you might like to hear.”

  She walks past me and squeezes my shoulder on the way.

  “What did you do?” I say after her.

  “Just made a few phone calls,” she says and laughs as she walks off.

  I sigh and get up. There’s a small television just inside. I turn it on and tune into the local station, which is playing the news.

  I don’t have to wait long to see what she’s talking about. It’s a big story, of course. Two gangsters arrested for tax fraud, money laundering, and a whole host of other financial crimes, along with several of their associates. Carmine and Dee both look good in handcuffs.

  FLFM isn’t involved and Darin’s name is nowhere to be seen.

  I head off with a light step. I find Valerie sitting out back with Amber. They’re talking and laughing with each other, and I love that they’re getting along.

  “Hey, you two,” I say.

  They look over. “Hey,” Valerie says, getting up.

  “We were just talking about how all you Lofthouse boys are the same,” Amber says. “You’re all so serious and intense.”

  “You mean, brilliant and charming?”

  “No,” Valerie says, kissing me. “She meant what she said.”

  Amber laughs and I put an arm casually around Valerie’s waist. “Can I borrow her for a second?” I ask. “I have something important to tell her.”

  “Go ahead,” Amber says. “Don’t hold back on my account.”

  I give her a look then steer Valerie away. I lead her back inside.

  “What’s up?” Val asks me.

  “Look.” I lead her to the TV and station her in front of it. We have to wait through the weather and traffic, and I have to keep reassuring her, but eventually the story comes back around.

  Carmine Caro and Dino Morra, arrested and going to jail.

  Val whistles and laughs. “They’re going to do some real time.”

  “Yep. They’ll get out eventually, though.”

  “And they’ll be pissed.”

  “But we’ll handle it. Hell, maybe I’ll just pay them the money I owe them.”

  She snorts. “Think they even know it was us?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. They might even think it was Darin.”

  She looks at me for a long moment. “I bet they do.”

  I grin and kiss her. “That’s his problem now.”

  She sighs and leans her head on my shoulder. “So does this mean we’re going back to Philly?”

  “Maybe,” I say. “Eventually. We can’t stay here forever.”

  “I like it here.”

  “You’re one of the few who do.”

  She gives me a look. “This place is amazing.”

  “You should try growing up here sometime.” I turn to her and look into her eyes. “Listen, we should talk about the future.”

  “Yeah?” She bites her lip.

  “What are you going to do about the SEC?”

  “I don’t know,” she admits. “I’m not even sure I have a job there still.”

  “If Charles hasn’t fired you yet, I think you probably do.” I hesitate for a moment. “But I want you to quit.”

  “Quit?”

  “Come work with me. Come stay with me at FLFM. I’ll let you run the Philly office. I’ll let you do whatever you want, really. Just quit and work with me.”

  She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. I hug her back and I can feel her heart racing. “That’s exactly what I wanted you to say,” she whispers.

  “One other thing.”

  She looks at me, eyes sparkling. “Yeah?”

  “I love you,” I say.

  She kisses me hard. “I love you too.”

  We kiss like that in my family’s formal living room in front of a TV playing the arrest of Carmine and Dee over and over again. The world around me disappears and there’s only Val, only my little Valerie.

  I’m devoted, I’m in love. She’s everything to me, everything I didn’t even know I wanted or needed. But now I feel like I can finally breathe clean air, finally walk upright. I feel like things have clicked into place.

  All because of her, my love, my girl.

  And I’ll never, ever let go of her.

  22

  Val

  Two Years Later

  I look out my office window and smile to myself. I give a little wave to Aimee who smiles and waves back before hurrying to her desk.

  “God, that girl hates me.”

  Jacob chuckles as he joins me at the window. “It’s been two years since all that Darin crap. I can’t believe she still holds a grudge.”

  I turn to him and quickly kiss his lips. I feel that spark, the same spark I always feel when my man is around.

  “I know, but she really liked him, I guess.”

  I walk over to my desk and sit down behind it. Jacob drifts over to the chair in front and sits down, crossing his legs. “Yeah, well, last I heard Darin’s in the Bahamas hiding from the mafia.”

  “If you know where he is, I’m sure he’s doing a bad job at hiding.”

  He laughs a little and shrugs. “Not our problem.”

  “You know, I always meant to ask. Do we still have all those… accounts?”

  He gives me a sly look. “Do you really want to know?”

  “I’m honestly not sure.”

  “Then don’t ask.”

  I sigh and rub my temples. “Yeah, okay, you’re right.”

  He laughs and stretches. “Don’t fret, my darling wife. All will be fine.”

  “I know it will.” I look down at the ring on my finger, the enormous diamond next to the simple gold band, and I can’t help but smile.

  We got married a month ago. It was on the grounds of Lofthouse Manor, and it was the mostly absurdly expensive thing I’ve ever seen. Every rich person in the freaking country was there, including a shocking number of famous movie stars. I basically walked around starstruck at my own wedding while total strangers congratulated me.

  But it was fine. It was amazing, really, because I had Jacob. We got through the mess together, since there was really no other way to get married, not if I was going to join into the illustrative Lofthouse family.

  “You know, your mom texted me yesterday,” I tell him.

  “What did she want?”

  “She reminded me that I need to produce a child for the family.”

  He sighs and then grins. “She’s not wrong.”

  “We’re working on it.”

  “Working very hard.”

  I can’t help but blush and laugh. Jacob is as insatiable now as he was when we first met.

  “Anyway, how are things here?” he asks.

  “Things are good,” I admit. “We’re growing a lot. Just hired someone new last week.”

  “I saw that. You’re amazing, you know that?”

  “Of course. Nepotism is the best.”

  He laughs and just shrugs like he doesn’t care.

  We moved to Philly basically as soon as we could. We have a beautiful townhouse in Old City and my commute to work is a ten-minute walk through the nicest part of the whole city. I love it, love it so much. I was promoted to the head of the office a year ago, and things have been going great ever since. There were some grumblings about it at first, but we’re not a publicly traded company, and so Jacob can do whatever he wants.

  He’s the only one in charge these days. Well, except for me. I’m slightly in charge, too.

  He splits his time between this office and the main office. He goes down there for a few days at a time and travels back. I can tell the travel is hard on him, and when we do have a baby, it might have to stop. He’s already talking about setting someone up down there he trusts and focusing his time up in Philly.


  He stands up and yawns. He just got in this morning and I know he’s running ragged. We’ve been hiring new account managers to do what Darin used to do, but he still has to be on them all the time, and he’s constantly going to new client meetings.

  “We’ll work it out,” I say to him softly.

  He looks at me. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine. You’re exhausted.”

  “We don’t have to keep having this fight.”

  “It’s not a fight. It’s a discussion.”

  “Valerie—”

  “Don’t be a pain in my ass,” I say.

  He sighs and smiles. “Okay. I’ll try.”

  “Good. Now, we need more account managers. You can’t keep going to half these meetings yourself.”

  “I know. There are applicants, I just have to go through them.”

  “We’ll do it together today. How about that?”

  “Oh, joy. I was hoping I’d go home and nap for a few hours.”

  “Nope. You’re doing this. Then you can nap. And when you wake up, I’ll come home and fuck your brains out.”

  He laughs and sits back down. “I think it’s the other way around, my love, but I’m interested.”

  I laugh and blush a little bit then motion for him to join me. He comes around the desk and I pull up the HR portal, finding the applicants, and together we start to go through them.

  It doesn’t last long. He kisses my neck, my lips, and eventually I have to push him away. “You’re on your own if you keep doing that.”

  “Can’t help it. You know me.”

  “I do. But you need to learn to leave it at home.”

  “Never going to happen. What’s the point of having my hot wife run this office if I can’t fuck her in the supply room?”

  “Well… it does lock.” I shrug a little.

  He leans and sits back down in his seat. “Look, I’m beat. I’m going home. I’ll go over them in bed and when I’m done, I’ll email you the best ones. Okay, does that work?”

  “As long as I get them in a few hours.”

  “Fine.”

  “Don’t fall asleep first.”

  “I won’t.” He gets up and comes around the desk. We kiss again and my hand lingers on his cheek.