His Heart's Revenge (49th Floor Novels)

by Jenny Holiday

  Alexander stayed where he was as the aftershocks tore through him. He wasn’t sure what happened next. They were supposed to have had sex, and they had. Possibly the best sex of his life. But added to the long list of things he hadn’t banked on about this encounter was this strange, slightly uncomfortable…intimacy. That was the only word for it. He wasn’t sure how they were supposed to come back from that kind of intimacy. How did you look someone in the eyes like that while you were fucking them and then go back to…normal. Which for them was what? War?

  “You keep condoms in the living room?”

  Alexander laughed. Because it was funny, but also because he was relived. Cary was getting them over the awkwardness, injecting a little humor into the emotionally charged atmosphere swirling around them. “You’re saying you don’t keep condoms in the living room?” Alexander countered as he dealt with the condom they had just used and disentangled himself from Cary. Was he supposed to get dressed now? Should they shower? He would have thought the force of the orgasm he’d just experienced would have wiped him out for the next week, but the thought of Cary soaking wet in the shower was doing something to him. Suddenly, he wanted Cary’s dick in his mouth more than he wanted pretty much anything. As much as they’d joked about Cary blowing him, now that Alexander had seen Cary’s dick in action, had watched him spurt so violently and unreservedly, he wanted to fucking feast on it.

  “I do not keep condoms in my living room,” Cary said, sitting up and pulling on his underwear. “But then, I can kind of see the logic. Your place is so big, you’d have to embark on an epic journey to the bedroom, which could be kind of mood-killing.”

  “You want to…” Alexander trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence. Have a shower? Have a drink? Take that epic journey to the bedroom?

  “I should go, actually,” Cary said, continuing to pull on his clothing.

  Right. What had he expected? They could fuck again, sure, but eventually they’d still end up back here, facing reality. It wasn’t like they were going to sleep in each other’s arms all night and…

  “I’m fostering a dog.”

  Huh?

  “My cousin Marcus’s fiancée is crazy about animals. She’s into all these rescue charities. She’s always foisting animals on me. Cats are better than dogs because you don’t have to walk them.” He grinned. “Or come home at all.”

  Oh. Cary was saying he had to go because he had a dog at his house. A kind of lightness expanded through Alexander’s chest. “Pushover,” he said, smiling.

  “Yeah, well, you haven’t met Rose Verma. And you’d better hope you never do.” He looked around the huge living room. “Because you could fit a shit-ton of animals in here.” He pulled on his coat and started walking toward the door. “So,” he said, turning when he’d reached it. “This was…an interesting development. Does this mean the war is over?”

  Alexander wanted to ask what Cary meant by “this.” They’d had some spectacular sex. It had been weirdly emotional, at least on Alexander’s part. But it wasn’t like they were boyfriends now. He didn’t…want that. “Nope,” he said, grinning as he did so, but needing to establish some boundaries. It was also the simple truth. He wasn’t losing Liu. He just wasn’t.

  “Right.” Cary nodded, his hand on the doorknob. “War.”

  Alexander raised his eyebrows. “May the best man win.”

  Cary gave Alexander, who was still wearing only his underwear, a once over. “Until the next…battle, then.”

  Alexander watched as Cary shut the door behind him.

  He wasn’t at all sure he’d handled that properly, but the need not to lose the Liu account to an upstart was still burning inside him. He had just temporarily sublimated it. Totally and utterly. Which was itself quite alarming. But he had to win Liu. To begin with, the board would be decidedly unhappy with any other outcome now that they knew Dominion was courting the billionaire. His chat with Barbara the other night had made it seem like his job might even be on the line. But it was more than that. There was a shit ton at stake. You didn’t just walk away from that. No. You fought for that.

  So, as unsettling as the events of the last couple hours had been, they hadn’t really changed anything. In his heart, there was still war.

  So why the hell was he going to go back into the living room, get his phone, and call Johan to tell him not to send the court documents to Liu?

  Chapter Sixteen

  And so the next evening, Cary found himself sitting at the bar at Edward’s doing what could only be construed as sexting with Alex Evangelista.

  They’d been making arrangements to meet up, and Cary had suggested they meet for a drink, sending Alex the address of Edward’s. Alex’s return text made him blush.

  I’m not sure a drink is quite what I was imagining.

  It wasn’t really what he was imagining either, but he had no idea if last night had been a one off. It was hard to know where you stood with someone when they fucked you with breathtaking tenderness and then reminded you about how you were still at war with each other.

  What did you have in mind?

  Then, feeling brazen, he added:

  Specifically?

  His heart sped up. Had that been too forward?

  I’ve been thinking a lot about metaphors today.

  Holy shit. Was Alex saying what Cary thought he was saying? He was comfortable with the uncertainty surrounding their relationship. Well, if not comfortable exactly, he was willing to live with it, and if Alex was into it, to find a way for them to be at war but also fuck buddies. But he’d had it with dancing around the topic. So, screw it. His hands shook as he typed.

  Fuck metaphors. I told you I don’t do metaphors.

  He stared at his phone, willing the little bubbles indicating the other person was typing to appear, not even wanting to take his eyes off his phone long enough to take a much-needed swig of his Manhattan.

  All right. Allow me to be literal, then: I’ve been thinking a lot today about your dick in my mouth.

  “Cary!”

  He jumped about a foot and fumbled the phone off the bar as Rose came bounding up, followed by Marcus at a more sober pace. Rose took a stool on one side of him, Marcus the other. Cary’s cheek was on fire as Rose bent over to kiss it.

  She must have felt the heat emanating from him because she reared back and said, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He picked up his drink.

  “How goes the war with Alexander Evangelista?” Marcus asked.

  In the middle of a sip, Cary choked.

  Marcus clapped him on the back. “That bad, eh?”

  Rose raised her eyebrows. “Who is Alexander Evangelista?”

  “Alexander Evangelista,” said Marcus, “is the CEO of Dominion Bank, and he and Cary are going toe-to-toe over a huge client. And…”

  Cary glared at Marcus, silently willing him not to go any further.

  “And there he is,” finished Marcus, looking over Cary’s shoulder at front of the bar.

  Cary sneaked a look at his phone as Rose followed Marcus’s gaze.

  I’m two minutes away.

  …

  Alexander hoped he hadn’t made a mistake. He’d been a little nervous when his last two texts hadn’t garnered any response. But when he made his way toward the bar at Edward’s, he saw that Cary was flanked by his cousin, Marcus Rosemann, and what must be Marcus’s animal-loving fiancée Rose.

  And his face was red.

  Good. He appreciated the hell out the fact that he could affect Cary as much as Cary affected him. He smirked through introductions and ordered a glass of wine.

  “Alexander,” said Rose, “Marcus and I are getting married a week from Saturday.”

  “Congrats,” he said, lifting his glass.

  “Do you want to come?” she asked, drawing surprised looks from both Marcus and Cary.

  “Oh, that’s nice of you, but—”

  “Because I’ve been hassling Cary about his plus one,
and I’m thinking you’d be perfect.”

  “Yeah,” Cary said, looking supremely uncomfortable, “But Alexander and I are not…”

  “It’s just a date, Cary,” said Rose, rolling her eyes. “You don’t seem to be able to find one on your own, and I desperately need to bulk out the numbers on my team. Plus, you’re the only member of the wedding party without a date. Isn’t that going to seem odd?”

  “I’m pretty sure no one is going to be looking at me,” Cary said.

  “Ah, right, you do have a point. Everyone will be stunned by my beauty,” Rose said, nodding with mock seriousness.

  “No, everyone will be thinking about how you ruined our proper, genteel family,” Cary shot back, but he was smiling.

  “See?” Rose turned to Alexander. “I rest my case. I need you. I need to outnumber these sticks-up-their-asses Rosemanns and Bells.” She swatted Cary’s arm. “There are just so many of them.”

  Alexander couldn’t help but smile. It was amusing to watch Cary banter with Rose. It was clearly a mutual admiration society, and the delight they took in sparring with each other was infectious. But he was saved from having to tell her that no, despite her charm, he wasn’t going to be attending her wedding with Cary, by the fact that his personal phone rang. He glanced down to make sure it wasn’t his mom. It wasn’t, but it was Johan. “I have to take this,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right back.”

  “What is it?” he said, picking up and walking quickly to the front of the restaurant, and then, for good measure, out the front door to where a few smokers were clustered.

  “I can’t get the documents back.”

  “What?”

  When they’d spoken last night, Johan told Alexander he had already sent the court documents to Liu’s office but assured him he had ways to intercept them. “Don’t worry,” he’d said. “What’s done can be undone.”

  Now, he said, “I have a guy on the ground in Hong Kong. I thought he’d be able to work some connections with the mail there, but it didn’t turn out as I’d hoped.”

  “Wait. You sent the documents to Liu in Hong Kong?” Alexander thought back to their earlier conversation. Johan had been anxious to get off the phone because Alexander had been pushing him to do something he wasn’t comfortable with. He had said he “knew where to find Liu.” But apparently he hadn’t known that the billionaire had moved continents. A huge gap in the usually connected investigator’s knowledge, but one that would work in Alexander’s favor.

  “Was that not right?”

  “He’s not there.” Relief flooded through Alexander. It might be a temporary reprieve, but at least it was one. A man with as much wealth and as many companies as Liu had many layers of bureaucracy between him and any given piece of mail. If a letter had gone to Asia, it would take time to actually make it to Liu. “He’s moved here.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Johan. “I’ll keep working on it. I’ll get it back.”

  Alexander hung up, his mind going in a million directions at once. This was probably why Johan usually didn’t get involved in using the information he dug up. He prayed Johan could live up to his reputation and somehow, magically, get the letter back. Or, barring that, maybe the delay would be long enough that Alexander could win the account fair and square before the letter turned up. He didn’t want to win Liu’s business because he cheated.

  Enough. He needed to rein this shit in. What was done was done, and hopefully it was on its way to being undone, but it was out of his hands. Anyway, why he did he care so much that the fight for Liu be fair all of a sudden? He had the “sex box” and the “war box,” and never the twain shall meet, right? That was how they’d set things up.

  “Hey.”

  He turned, startled by the familiar voice. Cary had come through the restaurant’s door, and he was carrying both his briefcase and Alexander’s. “I busted us out.”

  Alexander felt like he was sixteen again, both because it felt like he’d been caught in the act of doing something bad and because he was overcome with a wave of lust when he saw Cary moving toward him with such intent.

  Cary stopped in front of Alexander, flashing a half-smile. “I hope that was okay.”

  Alexander didn’t trust his voice, so he merely nodded.

  “It’ll have to be my place, though, because of the damn dog.”

  …

  Cary poured Alex, who was sitting on a stool at his kitchen island, a whiskey. “Sorry I don’t have any wine.” He’d noticed Alex’s red wine preference and had thought about getting some, earlier this evening, when they’d first started texting—when it became clear that last night wasn’t just a one-time thing. But that seemed a little presumptuous. It wasn’t like they were boyfriends. You stocked your boyfriend’s favorite wine. Your fuck buddy made do with whatever you had on hand, especially if you were at war with your fuck buddy when you weren’t actually fucking. “I’m also sorry about that,” he added, pointing to the cocker spaniel begging at Alex’s feet. “That dog is dumb as a post. She doesn’t understand that all you’ve got up there is booze.”

  “It sort of seems to me that your cousin’s fiancée has you wrapped around her little finger,” Alex said, staring back at the dog with no mercy.

  “That, I’m afraid, is a true statement.” It was just that Rose was such a good egg. She was so good for Marcus—for the whole fucked-up family, in fact.

  “Does this mean I need to iron my tux?”

  “No, no,” Cary said quickly, though the prospect of seeing Alex in formal ware was certainly compelling. “She’s just trying to buffer against my crappy family. It’s just her and her mom and brother and a handful of friends versus the mighty Rosemann clan, and, well, things have been kind of…fraught lately, what with me leaving the company and this big showdown Marcus had with his father. Rose is trying to get everyone who isn’t a Rosemann to bring a guest to the wedding. It’s like she thinks if my family is outnumbered, they’ll behave.” Cary huffed a bitter sigh. “They should have eloped. In addition to way less shit hitting the fan, I would be spared best-man duties. You know what I have to do this coming Friday?”

  Alex shook his head.

  “Host a bachelor party for fifteen straight guys, including a bunch of my cousins. Can you imagine anything more unpleasant than watching your cousins ogle a stripper?”

  Alex laughed. “I thought Marcus was estranged from the family.”

  “Just from my uncle, technically. But I wouldn’t say he’s particularly tight with any of them.” Cary rolled his eyes. “Marcus and I are kind of the Rosemann black sheep.”

  “Did everyone lose their minds when you left the firm?”

  Cary wondered if they were skating too close to a topic they shouldn’t be discussing, what with the war and all, but he answered anyway. “They did, indeed. But my uncle is truly a prick. Not having him in my life is no great loss.”

  “He’s good with money,” Alex said.

  “But there’s more to life than money,” Cary said.

  Alex was looking at him strangely. He didn’t care if he sounded like a Pollyanna. There was more to life than money. Marcus and Rose had taught him that. Hell, sixteen-year-old Alex Evangelista had taught him that. “My parents, though. I knew they’d be mad, but…” He trailed off, not wanting to verbalize how hurt he actually was. Whining about how his parents didn’t love him was not going to be an aphrodisiac.

  “You’d think they’d understand the need to do something on your own.”

  “Well, I quit in somewhat spectacular fashion. My uncle pulled this stunt with Marcus, trying to sabotage his relationship with Rose. I just…couldn’t do it anymore.” He topped up Alex’s drink. “They’ll come around eventually, just like they did when I came out. They’ll stew for a while, and then we’ll sublimate everything and carry on like we always do.”

  “Still,” Alex said, “You guys were pretty successful, to hear it told. It took some balls to walk away from the firm.”

  In th
e end, it actually hadn’t taken balls. It had been the easiest thing Cary had ever done. “Not really. It was pretty toxic there.”

  “Why? Were there…HR issues?” Alex asked.

  What the hell was going on? Was Alex trying to fish for information, somehow? The prospect annoyed Cary. This was going to be the problem with whatever it was that was unfolding between them—remembering the boundaries. If they were just fucking, Cary wasn’t about to trot out his problems with his uncle. Or talk about his parents, for that matter. There was no need. “What’s going on here?” Cary asked, suddenly not okay with the ambiguity.

  “What do you mean?”

  Cary, standing on the other side of the island from Alex, waved his hand back and forth in the space between them. “Us. What is this?”

  “This is sex,” Alex said without hesitating.

  Okay, then. Cary wasn’t sure what he expected. Certainly not Alex to proclaim his love. But he thought maybe there would be some more discussion beyond their brief exchange about the “sex” and “war” boxes, some negotiation of boundaries. And, shit, if he was being honest with himself, he had to admit that he’d wondered if last night had turned into something more than sex. If the laughter, the intense emotional connection arcing between them as they’d looked into each other’s eyes as Alex fucked him slow and dirty, had meant something beyond simply sex. But fine. He wasn’t going to complain. He was here because Alex Evangelista wanted to blow him, right? “So what are you waiting for then?” he asked, his voice gruff as he walked around the island with his eyebrows raised.

  Alex raised his in return and took a step toward Cary. “I’m waiting for you to take out your cock.” His voice was as rough as Cary’s had been a moment ago.

  The cock in question jumped to attention as Alex, apparently not waiting for Cary to follow his instructions, licked his lips, unbuttoned Cary’s pants, and sank to his knees on the hardwood floor of the kitchen.