“Fuck, Alexa, now is not the time to be getting starry-eyed about Leandros Kaplan. You can’t, I mean it. You absolutely cannot keep working for him.”
I swallow hard against the crazy mix of joy and fear welling up inside me at the realization Natalie is right about Leo wanting me. Now that I know the idea of quitting is cruel. “Why?”
“Oh my god. You cannot be serious. Are you not listening to me? If Leo wants you, then he’s going to get you. Which I can see is a given by your reaction, and hey, I get it. If this wouldn’t end all kinds of fucked up for the both of us, I would be holding your clothes while you got naked and climbed up on his desk. But this will end fucked up, for the both of us if you don’t quit.”
“It can’t be that bad. If something happens between us, he wouldn’t be vindictive.”
Natalie’s jaw drops as she looks at me. “Are you insane? Tell me that you are not thinking of fucking him. Alexa, if Leo fucks you, then once it’s over he’ll know you lied to him. Leo prizes loyalty above everything, even money, it’s a fucking quote of his. You lying to him is the equivalent of knifing him in the back. He won’t be all happy and filled with joy you aren’t married. When Leo has been wronged, he takes on a scorched earth policy. He will burn your life to the ground with you in it.”
I want to accuse her of being overly dramatic except I’ve never been able to get what he did to his father out of my head.
“Then there’s you. Alexa, of all the guys to get involved with, Leo is not the one for you. He does not do relationships, it’s only about sex for him. Once he’s had you, he won’t give you another thought. He’ll hurt you without even trying.”
The truth of her words makes it hard to swallow. Leo just told me it’s only about sex for him. He won’t be happy to find out I’m a know-nothing virgin, my lack of skill would probably be another nail in my coffin. Then Leo’s words whisper in my ear, he never fucks employees. He was never going to fuck me, it was a statement of fact as much as a notice of his lack of intent. It didn’t matter if he wanted me, he wasn’t going to have me. Even as disappointment runs through me, I know it’s for the best. Natalie was right, Leo is so far out of my league we don’t even play the same game.
“I’m not quitting.”
“Alexa, can you please explain why you are willing to take my career and toss it into a bonfire?”
I flinch at her words, it isn’t just me at stake in this decision. It doesn’t change my mind though. It’s Leo I believe in more than myself. “Because even if Leo wants me, he won’t have me. Leo made it very clear he doesn’t fuck employees, ever. He’s not about to go back on that, especially for me. I have no doubt he’s been far more enticed in the past, and he’s never broken his rule. He sure as hell isn’t going to break it for me. I keep wearing the ring, and he’ll stay away from me.”
Closing her eyes, she shakes her head and leaves.
That night, Natalie doesn’t come over and doesn’t respond to my texts. She’s mad. I understand, it doesn’t change my mind. I’m not backing down. In my wildest dreams, I never thought Leo would want me. Even as I marvel at the knowledge, sadness runs through me to know I can’t have him. Because I believe Natalie, if he did break down and we...my body goes wet at the thought, once it was over Leo would demand a pound of flesh for my sins, and he wouldn’t stop until he had it.
11
Friday
Leo
Today is the day, I have to get rid of Alexa. I ignore the way my skin tightens all over as my mind flicks through the ways to make it happen. It has to happen, and it has to happen today. She is becoming an obsession. I had no idea how much I was talking about Alexa until Dmitri clapped me on the back and said he couldn’t wait to meet my Alexa.
Except she isn’t my Alexa, she belongs to someone else, she is married to another fucking man. Fuck her for not remembering that and making me be the one who had to. When the doors to the elevator open my eyes are drawn to her without my fucking permission. She is wearing an ice-blue blouse, thick, shiny silk in the bodice, the sleeves a sheer, lighter blue.
She is speaking into the microphone of the earbud she has in her ear. I draw on the anger thrashing within me. “Are you taking a personal fucking call?”
She blinks, she clenches her jaw as she pulls the earbud out. “No, I was dictating the report you wanted for the conference today.”
Dictating?
“It’s how I’m able to get the reports written so fast. I don’t have to type. I just dictate and when I’m done I clean it up and edit.”
“That’s cheating.” That’s how she was able to get the reports done so quickly.
Blue eyes flash, “It is not cheating. This is a way of getting my work done in a quick and efficient manner. I wouldn’t have been able to get them done without it...” She trails off. “You did it on purpose. You gave me reports to complete in time frames I wouldn’t have been able to get done if I hadn’t brought in my dictation.
“What a bastard you are. Screw you. I’m not doing it. I’m not quitting. If you want me gone, then you’re going to have to fire me. Act like a man and do the dirty work yourself. Stop bullying a woman, you’re two times bigger and stronger than.”
This bitch, the words fly out of my mouth. “Then you’re fired. I want you gone, now.”
Her eyes go wide as she stands, despite the desk between us we are only inches away from each other as she leans across it. The clean, sweet scent of her teases me, fucking with my head.
“You coward! I thought Natalie was wrong, a part of me couldn’t believe her, but it’s true. You want me but since you can’t have me, if you can’t fuck a woman then you don’t want anything to do with her. It’s beyond your tiny little mind and massive ego to interact with a woman without becoming an animal and succumbing to desire.
Well, tough, figure it out because I’m not leaving.”
Every breath I take is of her, her blue eyes are glittering with her anger sending my body into overdrive. Fuck. I want to get violent. I want to drag her into my arms and kiss her until she is breathless. Then the crystal around the rim of the frame catches my eye. It’s him, her fucking husband. It’s the same picture on his Facebook page. He is smiling, his own wedding ring glinting in the picture. God damn it. The picture is a dousing of cold water, I refuse to be that man. I swing away from her fighting for composure, I cannot find it. I slam into my office needing to get as far away from her as I can.