Baby Daddy, Everything I Want : (Billionaire Romance) Page 6

  “Who the fuck is Slate?”

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “We’re past what you can and can’t tell. This directly correlates to me now. Fill me the fuck in or I’m taking a vacation with my wife.”

  “Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” I said.

  “Why is that not a bad idea?” he asked. “So we are being watched. Shit, I have to call my wife.”

  “Slate doesn’t want your wife,” I said.

  “I don’t know that! You won’t reassure me of that! What the fuck is wrong with you, hiding something like this?”

  “I’ve dealt with worse in my life.”

  “The hell does that mean?” he asked. “You never should have kept this to yourself. This is serious, Rob.”

  “Do you know how many death threats I get on a daily basis? How many people call for my resignation from this company or tell me Horizon Technologies is somehow responsible for the earthquake that happened in South America or some shit? Death threats aren’t an issue. But this last letter is a little…”

  “A little nothing. This guy knows where you’ve been. He’s watching you, Robert. Do you get what that means?”

  “Believe it or not, I didn’t build Horizon Technologies from the ground out without getting a little smart in the process,” I said.

  “Who is this man?” James asked. “I’m assuming ‘Boulder’ is you. Hell of a nickname if you ask me.”

  “The less you know, the better at this point.”

  “Do we need to call the police? We need to call the police.”

  “No. No police are involved. I hire private security for reasons exactly like this. Death threats that rattle me are checked out by them, and this is no different. All the police are liable to do is leak this to the media, and the last thing we need is a stock plummet because people don’t trust us any longer.”

  “So what the hell are we supposed to do? Keep looking over our shoulder and carry a damn gun on us?”

  “Can you even shoot a gun?” I asked.

  “Not the damn point, Rob.”

  “Look. James. When I built this company, I wanted to get away from the life I had lived up until that point. And even though I had to claw my way out of the hole I’d dug for myself, I made it happen. I always make things happen. And this is no different. This needs to go away, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “What is this debt this guy thinks you owe him?” he asked.

  “I owe no one nothing,” I said.

  “The look on your face says otherwise. Do you own him money?”

  “No.”

  “Time?”

  “No.”

  “Did you kill his damn dog? What did you do, Robert? Talk to me. The more you tell me, the more I can relay to the security team.”

  “I’m doing all of that myself. The only thing I want you to do is progress forward with things,” I said.

  “Yeah, with someone conveniently watching my every move.”

  “He’s not watching you, he’s watching me. And if that’s the case, then all I have to do is get out of New York.”

  “Oh, so you’re going to jet off to some private island and wait him out? What if he comes for you?” he asked.

  “Then me and the personal security team will be ready. It’s what I pay them for.”

  “Give me something, Rob. This is serious.”

  “I know this is serious!”

  I felt the blood rushing through my ears as I drew in a deep breath.

  “I’m aware of the severity of the situation. And I already have a plan,” I said.

  “You need to tell me how you know Slate.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because I’ve been with you through thick and thin with this company and I think you’re an idiot. I think you're trying to compartmentalize this situation and act like this isn’t affecting the company. You know this man from your past, so you think you can keep it there. But you can’t. If something happens to you, I need to have something to tell the police. Because if something happens to you, I am involving the police. With or without your consent.”

  I raked my hand through my hair as I turned to look out the window. He was right. I had been trying to compartmentalize two parts of my life for far too long, and now they were merging. Coming together because of one stupid, idiotic night. A night that never should’ve happened and a night that never should’ve escalated to what it became.

  “You’re right,” I said.

  “Well, I don’t hear that often coming from you,” James said. “How is he, Rob?”

  “Slate is a guy I grew up with in the orphanage,” I said. “You know, after my family…”

  “Yeah, yeah. I got it. Were you two close?”

  “Very,” I said. “He lost his family, too. In a car accident. Him and his younger brother were in the same orphanage as me.”

  “Is that who gave you the nickname ‘Boulder’?”

  “Yeah. Though that came later on in my teenage years,” I said. “I made some bad decisions and fell in with some of the wrong people. My decision to leave wasn’t enjoyed by all involved, and it was pretty messy getting out of there.”

  “Define ‘messy’,” he said.

  “No thanks,” I said flatly.

  The silence that filled the room was tense. Filled with questions I knew James wanted to ask. But I wasn’t ready to answer them. I was ready to end this part of my life so I could get on with my destiny. It took me years to build what I had. It took my years to earn the skyline view from my office. It took me years of sleepless nights and failed business ventures and angry clients and shifting social and political tensions to climb to where I was.

  And Slate wasn’t going to fucking take that from me.

  None of them were.

  “I’m concerned these people aren’t to be messed with,” James said. “I’m concerned our security team won’t be enough to track them down.”

  “They aren’t to be messed with,” I said. “And what I do about it from here on out isn’t your concern. You said it yourself, if something happens to me you’re involving the police. You stick with that.”

  “And what are you going to do? Disappear?” he asked. “That’s not going to work.”

  “I’m not going to disappear, James. I’m not a pussy. I don’t back down from a fight, especially with Slate. I didn’t before and I won’t now. But you have to trust that I know what I’m doing. That I know how to handle people like this.”

  “How do you know that? How do you know how to deal with something like this? You’re a tech guy, Rob. Not a gang member.”

  I clenched my jaw as I bit down on the inside of my cheek.

  “Right?” James asked.

  “Go to the main security office and notify them of this newest letter. Then send Deckerson up here. I want to talk to him about something,” I said.

  I heard James sigh as my eyes locked onto his reflection in the window.

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  “Go home. Be with your wife,” I said.

  “What about you? Here? Alone?”

  I shook my head as I pinched the bridge of my nose. James was one of my most trusted allies, but sometimes he didn’t know when enough was enough.

  “Why the hell do you think I’m sending you for Deckerson?” I asked. “Tell them about the note, get his ass upstairs, then go home.”

  “But-”

  “Now, James.”

  I watched my friend and business partner retreat from my office before I turned my eyes back to the horizon. The skyline of New York City always calmed me in moments of stress. It reminded me of all I had accomplished despite my past. Despite the mistakes I had made and the people I had lost and the women I used to dull the anger that swelled in my chest.

  But today was different.

  Today, the skyline didn’t do shit.

  Joanne

  “One very full glass of wine and a hot green tea with honey, please.”

 
“Thanks,” I said quietly.

  “Sh, sh, sh. Rest that voice,” Lacey said. “Our performance tonight is a big one.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “Didn’t I just tell you to rest your voice?”

  “Then stop asking me questions,” I said.

  “Oh, well that’s not going to happen, so buckle in. It’s important because it’s coming right off the back of your performance at The Met. And that awesome review Blackstone gave you.”

  “I still can’t believe he gave me a good review. He never gives good reviews,” I said. “But that was three weeks ago. You think things haven’t died down yet?”

  “No. People will be looking forward to your performance at the Peabody tonight. They’re waiting for it.”

  “Great. Never too early to start with the worrying,” I said.

  “Stop worrying. Rest that voice, do your best, and give it your all like you did three weeks ago. I don’t know where the hell all that spunk came from, but it was your best performance yet.”

  “I don’t know. It just sort of… came out. I lost myself in that performance. The stage was massive and I thought it was going to swallow me whole if I didn’t.”

  “Then think that way for this performance tonight and you’ll kill it,” she said.

  I picked up the tea that was delivered to our table as I relaxed in my seat. I knew I needed to be focused on tonight, but it was hard. Over the past three weeks, Robert had been on my mind. A lot. In my dreams, lingering around the corner, in my thoughts while in the shower. I wondered how he was doing or where he was. I wondered if his work was going well and if he had gone to see another operatic performance. There were so many things I wanted to know about him still. About the mysterious man from my dressing room.

  But I didn’t know how to get in contact with him

  I didn’t even know if he would want to hear from me if I did.

  “Joanna? You okay?” Lacey asked.

  “Hmm?” I asked.

  “You seem a little distant,” she asked. “You’ve been that way for a couple of weeks now.”

  “Just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “Things,” I said.

  “How wonderful. I can relate to thinking about things,” she said.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Lacey.”

  “Is it bad things?”

  “Not really,” I said.

  “Good things?”

  “Lacey, I’m really not in the mood.”

  “All you have to do is answer.”

  “Or you could stop poking around,” I said.

  “What kind of best friend would I be if I stopped poking around in your life?”

  “A good one?” I asked with a grin.

  “Is it going to distract you from your performance tonight?”

  There were times where I zoned out brushing my teeth. So, there was a chance.

  “Maybe. I don’t know. It might,” I said.

  “Then we can’t have that,” Lacey said. “Spit it out.”

  “You’re going to judge me if I do.”

  “I promise you there’s nothing you could tell me that is any worse than things I’ve already done with my life. What happened? Did you meet someone?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Did you kiss someone?” she asked.

  “I did.”

  “Wait… you kissed someone? When? Where? How have you been keeping this from me? Was that your first kiss?”

  “Are you going to slow down so I can talk?” I asked.

  “You aren’t talking. You’re staring off into space and gripping a cup of tea way too tight for my liking. Be careful. That thing’s gonna shatter.”

  “It happened in New York,” I said.

  “I knew it!”

  “Knew what?”

  “I knew there was a reason you were late after that performance. I was standing at that back door for almost an hour waiting on your ass. And you told me you fell asleep. I didn’t believe that shit for a second.”

  “Yes you did. Otherwise you would’ve poked and prodded at dinner that night,” I said.

  “Okay, so I fell for it a little bit. But come on, now. Spill. You’ve been holding out on me.”

  “It wasn’t just a kiss, for starters.”

  I watched Lacey’s eyes narrow as she raked them up and down my body.

  “Holy shit.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “You lost your virginity,” she said.

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “I didn’t, but now I do! Joanna, what the fuck!? This is massive. How could you lose your virginity and not tell me? What was his name? What was he like? Joanna, do not tell me you fucked that… critic for a good review.”

  “Why are you whispering that? And no, I didn’t screw around with the critic,” I said, mumbling.

  “For the record, I whispered for the same reason you mumbled. Now I want all the details. What he looked like. How was he? Did he treat you with respect? What was his name? Did you even get his name? Oh girl, I’ve never fucked a stranger in my dressing room. This is great.”

  “Thanks,” I said flatly.

  “Oh, no. You’re not getting out of this without telling me every last detail.”

  “His name was Robert and he was… different,” I said.

  “Different how? Was he the strong, silent type? Or was he all mushy and ‘oh, let me pet your body because you were wonderful tonight and your high notes were glorious’?”

  “What kind of fantasies do you have?” I asked.

  “Way too many. Don’t make me start asking really embarrassing questions really loudly. Because I will.”

  “I have no doubt,” I said with a grin. “It was… different. All of it was different. He was very strong.”

  “Oh, did he have chiseled muscles? Throbbing thighs?”

  “I… don’t know?” I asked.

  “How do you not know?”

  “Not many clothes came off.”

  I watched Lacey’s lips pucker before she started laughing profusely. People were beginning to stare as my cheeks turned red, and I sipped on my tea as I looked out the window. What was so funny? I didn’t think this was funny. I couldn't get this man off my mind, and here my best friend was laughing at me in the middle of a coffee shop in St. Louis.

  “You had a quickie with a stranger in your dressing room, you little minx,” Lacey said.

  “Can we stop with this now?” I asked. “People are staring.”

  “Okay, okay, okay. Sorry. I’m sorry. Look, did he make you feel good?”

  “Very,” I said breathlessly.

  “Did he hurt you?” she asked.

  “In all the right ways.”

  I watched her eyes widen again as I pursed my lips shut.

  “I’ll… scoot on by that for now,” Lacey said. “Do you feel like you made a mistake?”

  “Not a mistake, really. I do feel… I don’t know. Like I’d enjoy seeing him again.”

  “That’s normal, and it’ll fade. But as long as you came away feeling good and don’t feel like it was a mistake, then that’s all you can ask for.”

  “I thought it would be more…”

  “Romantic? Filled with love? Not a stranger in your dressing room?” she asked.

  “You’re a jerk, one. And two, yes. A bit of all of those things. I don’t regret it, but I do feel… different.”

  “You gave your virginity away. It’s supposed to feel different.”

  “I mean, physically I don’t feel any different. But… I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “I get it. Believe it or not, I was a virgin once, too. Gave mine away at fifteen, but still. I felt the same surge of emotions you’ve been trying to wade through by yourself. I’m pissed at you for that, by the way. I could’ve helped you.”

  “The downtime between performances helped,” I said. “I got a lot of sleep and gave myself time to wrap
my mind around the things that happened.”

  “A couple of comments you made make me curious as to what did happen, but we’ll save those for a rainy day.”

  “I can’t get my mind off him, Lacey.”

  “His dick that big?” she asked with a grin.

  “Seriously? No, I mean yes, it was… shit, Lacey!”

  “Ha ha! Oh, man. I’m so jealous of you right now. You have no idea.”

  “Is it normal to want to know how he’s doing?” I asked. “To wonder what he’s up to and things like that?”

  “When you get good dick, yes.”

  I rolled my eyes as I brought my tea to my lips.

  “Joanna, here’s the truth. A lot of things could be causing that reaction, but yes. It’s normal. You gave your virginity away to a strange man who obviously rocked your socks off. Yes, you’re going to wonder how he’s doing. But it’ll fade. It always does.”

  “What if I don’t want it to fade?”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with some man you had a quickie with.”

  “Not love. Nothing like that. But I do enjoy this feeling. I wonder sometimes if he’s thinking about me like I am about him,” I said.

  “The hard truth of the matter is he’s probably not.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Men and women deal with this stuff differently. For men, quickies with strange women are a thing. They do if often, and if they’re hot, they do it very often. With women, it’s different. More intricate and more emotional.”

  “You don’t seem to get attached,” I said.

  “It takes practice to be like me,” she said with a wink. “Just give it time. It’ll die down, and as time passes he’ll fade into the background and you’ll be okay.”

  I cast my gaze back out the window as Robert rolled around in my mind. At least he didn’t have to worry about anything with me. I couldn’t have kids naturally, so the perk to being with me was men could make me their quickie all they wanted. I grimaced at the thought as I took another sip of my tea, watching as people passed by the coffee shop. I wondered what their lives were like. If they were in love or if their hearts were broken. Did they have someone at home who loved them, or did they open their door to an empty apartment? Were they headed to a date or a business meeting? Possibly a bit of both?