The Alpha King Call Boy – Chapter 81
Fiona
I heard Alexander’s key turning in the door and flipped the magazine I’d been reading upside down, so it wouldn’t be the first thing he saw when he walked in the room.
It was an old issue of a finance magazine I’d picked up months ago, before I started working at Crescent Ventures. The one in which they’d interviewed Conrad about his success there as CEO and owner of the company. There was a picture of Conrad on the cover, and if Alexander walked in and saw me reading the interview, he’d know right away what was on my mind.
d to earlier as “mistakes.” But the tenuous peace we’d reached in the afternoon had been a relief, and I didn’t want to just drop a grenade into it.
carrying a single long-stemmed white rose. It was very pretty, a huge flower in full bloom.
zing.”
h his desire flattered me.
ont of him and performing a small bow.
ging it up to my n
asked.
rows.
ve the red ones I sent to your office.”
to that “special delivery.” It had just irritated me severely, felt like such a superfi
more subtle.”
e petals. They felt like satin. “I do appreciate it.”
ite lovely, light and mildly sweet.
watching me sniff the flower. Then his eyes went to my hair, then to my neck. Then to my eyes.
But he didn’t know if he was welcome to just swoop me up and hold me like that anymore.
to break us out of the awkward moment.
urse,” he said, collecting his compo
the door and held it fo
h his elbow agreeably.
to surge way up the second that we touched.
ubject.
listening, really, when I realized that he was just prattling nervously. I found an opening when he finally returned his attention to his own meal, tak
something,” I said.
turned to look at me as he chewed.
from me that you own the company. I just want to know more about that. I want to know why you f
ped his lips with a napkin, shifted his weight in his chair and finally continued, “Well. It’s complicated.”
hed I could release the irritated growl that w
s very careful not to tinge the words with any trace of sarcasm, very much wanting to keep the conversation productive and non-adversarial.
the truth he was going to tell me, probably.
ownership share.”
iately. Scarlet would have gone after the company if she knew it belonged to me now, and I couldn’t let her do that. I couldn’t let her destroy my mother’s legacy. Conrad and I made a deal to keep my role in the company a secret. It was a calculated business strategy. Scarlet doesn’t have it out for my uncle the way she does for me.”
t I asked you why you kept this secret from me in particular. Keep your secrets from the world, fine. But I am your fiancée. I am carrying your child. I sleep beside you every night, and I work for you. You se
ecret.”
e very far. My chest began to tighten with frustration.
He folded his hands together and set them on the table
s a matter of trust.”
nodded.
l the time and I thought nothing of it. I thought that you were interested in my life, I guess. But then I found out you were my boss, and it just felt so… creepy. Like you’d been interviewing me without my knowledge. Taking advantage of my openness and vulnerability to get good intel
His eyes went wide. “Fiona, no. That’s not what I was doing at all. I ask about your day because
ere obvious.
project too, right?”
you.”
him down and arched an eyebrow, silently asking, Then what was it lik
sitated, closed it. Then did that again.
n do that.”
d pleading.
prove to you that you can?”
”
omise. I am so sorry for all of this, Fiona, and I wish that I could take it all back. Please believe me.”