by Diana Nixon
Double fuck. I felt like a maniac, waiting for his prey to stay alone in the dark room.
“What do you think about it?”
“What?” I unglued my eyes from the closed door and looked at Mr. Shand again.
“I was going to ask you for a small change in the contract. I’ll let Melissa keep one of the apartments in the city. The smallest one.”
“Great idea.” I didn’t even try to reason with him, because I couldn’t wait for him to disappear.
I made the needed correction and asked Olivia to come to my office.
She printed the final file and power-walked into the room, as if she owned it.
I couldn’t but stare at her.
Everything about the way she moved and talked called for me.
I was desperate to feel her body pressed to mine again. And no amount of time or space seemed to be able to lessen my need for her.
“Is that all, sir?” She asked after I signed the contract and gave it to the client.
“No. Stay, please. We need to discuss something very important.” Then I stood to walk Mr. Shand to the door. “Hope your wife doesn’t disappoint you,” I said, smiling.
“I didn’t want to sign any contracts, but…”
“You want to be prepared for everything,” I ended the line for him.
He nodded and thanked me for my work.
“You are welcome.”
I waited for him to leave, locked the door to my office, and turned to my beautiful assistant. “What was it that we didn’t get a chance to finish before the client arrived?”
She smiled and crossed her arms, watching me from across the room. “We finished everything that needed to be finished, sir.”
I started to walk closer, with my hands in my pockets. “Really? Then why does it feel like the room is too small for the two of us, Liv?” I stopped in front of her, leaving some distance between us.
“Maybe because you can’t stand the idea of working with a beautiful woman, and not fucking her on your desk?”
“Fuck you on my desk… Now, that’s the first great idea I’ve heard from you today.”
Her face stayed unreadable.
“What do you say?”
“Right now?”
“Why now?”
“Okay…” She reached for her blouse and started unbuttoning it. The look in her eyes was dangerous. When she got to the last button, she stopped and motioned for me to come closer.
I moved forward, catching every small change in her expression.
“How bad do you want this, Leo?” She asked softly.
“So bad I might need a new desk after I’m done with you.”
She chuckled. “What if someone hears us?”
“I don’t give a shit. I’m the boss here, remember? I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“And I guess ‘fuck’ is the keyword here.”
“I always knew you were too smart to be my assistant.”
“Why, you think I might want to take your place in this office one day?” She reached for my tie and pulled me closer, with her lips now being really close to mine.
“You can take anything you want in this office. Me included.”
My hands were still in my pockets, though I was dying to swipe all the things away from my desk and let her become its only decoration, with her back pressed to the wood.
“What if I want more than you can offer, Mr. Cohen?” Her face suddenly became very serious.
“What exactly do you want?” I asked cautiously.
“Marry me. And you will have everything you want so bad and even more.”
There was not a sign of a joke in her gaze.
“Are you being serious now?”
She didn’t hesitate with the answer. “As serious as never before.”
“Fine. Let’s get married.”
She didn’t believe me. “You are not being serious right now, are you?”
“I’m as serious as never before, Olivia. If to make you mine I need to put a ring on your finger, I’ll go for it.”
She let go of my tie and gave me a long, thoughtful look.
“Is that what you promised to all of your girlfriends, Mr. Cohen? That you would marry them if they opened their legs for you?”
Something about this whole conversation felt wrong. I could almost feel the cold radiating from Olivia’s every word.
“I have no idea what made you say that, but you are wrong. I never promise anything if I know I won’t be able to keep my word.”
“Really?” She walked around me, still watching me intently. “Then, I guess, it’s time to say – I’ll see you at the altar. Or were your words about the marriage just another lie after all?”
Chapter 11
Olivia
It was going to be my first visit to Winter since almost five months ago when she said she never wanted to see me again. I got used to her mood swings and never felt offended by what she said. But today she decided to be exceptionally hard to stand.
“To what do I owe the honor?” Was the first thing that she said to me.
I walked into her room and smiled. “Hello to you too, sis. How are you?”
She was sitting in a rocking chair near the window that faced the backyard.
“I always felt good. It wasn’t me who thought I was out of my mind, remember?”
I took a deep breath and sat down on her bed. “I just talked to your doctor and he said he might let you go home in a few weeks.”
“I know.” She didn’t even look at me.
“Don’t you want to go home?”
“Home…” She smirked. “I don’t even know where my home is anymore.”
“You are always welcome to live with me again.”
She laughed. “Right. I forgot. But no, thank you.”
“Why not? Bella likes my place.”
“Bella? How is she by the way?” Her gaze was still focused on the window in front of her.
“She’s fine. Now.”
“Now?”
I didn’t like the indifferent tone of her voice.
“She got sick last week, and I needed to take her to the hospital.”
She turned her head, but not enough to look at me. “But she’s fine now, right?”
“She is.”
“Good.” She stayed quiet for a few moments, and then she asked, “Does she ever…ask about me?”
“All the time.”
I couldn’t see her face, so I didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling at that moment.
“Does she ever ask about her father?”
It was an unexpected question.
“Sometimes.”
Now that caught her attention. She stood up, walked to the bed, and sat down next to me. “She looks so much like him…” Her gaze was lost, as if in the memories of Bella’s dad. “I will never be able to forget about him, because every time I look at her, I see his face.”
My heart sank. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Because every time I looked at Bella, I saw nothing but her father’s dark eyes staring back at me.
“You never told me anything about him,” I said, hoping she would break the vow of silence that complicated my life so much.
She gave me an angry look. “I’m not going to discuss my personal life with you.”
“You didn’t even give me his name. Don’t you think I deserve to know at least that little?”
She didn’t like it. “Did you come here to ask me questions I don’t want to answer?” She stood up again and started passing the room. “I intentionally never told you anything about him. Because I knew you would try to find him. And I don’t want you to find him. Leaving us was his choice. I respect it. He wasn’t ready for a family and kids. He’s a free spirit. He hates limits and rules. He always does what he wants to do. I can’t judge him for it. No one can. Because it’s his life, and it’s up to him how to live it.”
“What about your daughter? Doesn’t she deserve at least a little
attention from him?” I stood up too and walked up to Winter. “She deserves to have a real family, with both of her parents taking care of her.”
I could see that my words made her nervous. She wrapped both arms around herself, and rubbed her shoulders as if she were freezing.
“I can’t give her what she needs. If you say she likes living with you, then I think it’s better for her to stay with you.”
“Are you being serious now? Are you saying that you don’t want to be a mom anymore?” I couldn’t believe what she was saying. “Bella is not just a thing that you can buy and then take it back to the store. She’s a little girl! She’s missing you! She wants you to be near. She needs you, Winter!” I shook her by the shoulders, feeling tears burn my eyes. I felt so sorry for Bella who had no idea how little her parents cared about her or her future. It wasn’t her fault she was born!
“Let me go,” Winter said warningly. “Or I’ll scream. And the doctor will never let you bother me again.”
“Bother you?” I smirked. “Well, I’m really sorry I decided to bother you today.” I put down my hands and took a step back. “If you prefer living alone, go ahead. I won’t try to save you again. As for Bella, now I know it’s better if she stays with me. Forever. I’ll adopt her and I will always love her as if she were mine.”
She didn’t comment on that. Which only made my desire to protect Bella from her grow stronger.
I rushed out of the room, leaving the door wide open.
Tears ran down my face. I sped up and hurried to leave the building as if it were on fire.
I couldn’t believe my sister was that much of a monster mother. She had never been so cruel, or heartless. Or maybe I should have seen the signs of it when she decided to commit suicide. She didn’t think about her daughter at that moment. She thought about herself and her broken heart, and feelings that she still had for the man who didn’t give a damn about them.
Bella was destined to be alone.
But I couldn’t let it happen.
I got into my car and called Leonel. “I need you to do something for me.” I knew he wouldn’t say no to me. No matter how messed up our last night’s talk was.
The kiss that we shared was still too vivid in my head, as well as on my lips. Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel it, as if Leonel was with me now, kissing me over and over again. And even after hours of being away from him, I still had no idea how to pretend it never happened, or tell him I didn’t want to repeat it.
Last night, when I returned home, I felt like I didn’t deserve to have a sister like Winter – a person who always put me first, at least until she met Leonel, and everything changed.
We never quarreled because of a guy, not to mention because I let myself fall for the father of her child.
God, I knew I felt something for him. And the something was the strongest of feelings I had ever had for any other man.
This was how I also knew I was in major trouble. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I wasn’t supposed to fall for Leonel Cohen. But I did. And now I was going to punish him for my feelings for him. Because it felt like the easiest way to forget about him and start a new life, where he didn’t exist at all…
The first person I met in the waiting room was Molly. She was back much earlier than expected.
“Hey, aren’t you happy to see me?” She asked, smiling broadly.
“Sorry, I have had a terrible morning.”
“What happened? Hope it’s not because Leo did something stupid again.”
I chuckled. “No. Just a family drama.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really. I need to see Leonel.”
“He’s waiting for you. He said he wants to see you as soon as you are here.”
“Okay.” I took off my jacket and wished myself good luck. After all, it was going to be our first meeting since the unfortunate kiss, and I was not even close ready to discuss it.
“Good morning,” he said, standing to greet me.
“Don’t rush with conclusions.”
He chuckled. “It’s because I haven’t kissed you, yet.” He walked up to me and wrapped one arm around me, pulling me closer.
“No.” I put both of my palms on his chest.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t I agree to marry you to get legal permission to kiss you whenever I want?”
I still didn’t know if he was joking or not.
“I’m not in the mood for this,” I said.
He frowned, probably trying to understand the reasons for my behavior, but he didn’t let me go. “Care to explain why you wanted me to prepare the documents for adoption?”
His closeness did terrible things to my ability to think straight. So I removed his hand and took a seat at his desk.
“I want Bella to be mine. Legally.”
“What about her parents?” He sat down across from me.
“They are unable to take care of her.”
“Can you prove it?”
“I lied to you. Her mother is…in the rehab. She doesn’t mind me adopting Bella. And her father is…nonexistent.” I lowered my eyes, knowing he would most likely see the lie in my eyes.
“You mean you don’t even have his name?”
I shook my head as a ‘no’.
“I will need to make a few calls. We need to be sure that Bella’s father, whoever he is, doesn’t want to take care of her. Maybe we can find his name somewhere…”
“No!” I stood up way too fast. “Whoever he is, he has no rights for Bella. She’s mine. Period.”
Leo stood up too. “I know you love her. But if you want to do everything legally, we need to prove that he can’t participate in her upbringing.”
Oh, no!
I knew Leonel was right. Of course, he was; he was a pro at what he did.
Still, I wanted to do it my way.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll try to find out who he is.” I didn’t know how to make the adoption happen, and for Leonel to never find out about his fatherhood. But I was going to come up with something.
I started to walk away when he stopped me. “Is there anything else that you wanted to tell me?” He blocked the door with his body, and I knew he wouldn’t let me out of the office until I answered his question.
I sighed. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
“Same here.” He moved forward and caressed my cheek with the back of his palm. “I’m sorry I didn’t kiss you earlier.”
“It was a mistake,” I hurried to say, trying to convince myself I believed what I was saying.
“A mistake? Really?” He stepped even closer and whispered into my ear, “Then why are you trembling when I touch you?”
“It’s because…I don’t want you to touch me.” His soft laughter tickled my earlobe. “Nice try.”
He wasn’t kissing me, or even trying to.
He was playing with me, teasing me, knowing perfectly well that every word that flew out of my mouth was a lie.
“I’ve got work to do,” I said, hoping he would finally let me go. Because standing this torture was getting harder with every second that we spent alone in his office.
“Of course.” He stepped back and gave me a long, longing look that made butterflies dance in my belly. “Now that Molly’s back, you won’t need to answer the calls anymore or bring me coffee. I think we need to move your desk to my office. What do you say?”
Oh, hell, no.
“It’s a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“It will distract you from work.”
“Great. Maybe that’s exactly what I need now - a beautiful distraction.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m staying in the waiting room.”
“I’m the boss here and it’s up to me to decide where you are going to work. And I want you in my office. In every meaning of the word ‘want’.”
“Fine. As you wish. May I take my things from the waiting room?”
“Sure.” He stepped away from the door. “You’ve got tw
o minutes. I hate waiting,” he said with a wink.
I rushed to leave the room that felt too small for the two of us.
“What is it?” Molly asked, seeing my troubled expression.
“I don’t think I can do this any longer.”
She chuckled. “Of course you can. It’s too early to give up girl.”
“Give up on what?”
She smiled gently and said, “On trying to see a different side of Leonel Cohen.”
“What if there’s no other side to see?”
“Oh, trust me – there is. You just need a little more time to find it. Keep digging.”
I laughed. “I think my shovel is about to break.”
It was the first time that morning that I laughed, not thinking about my life going down the drain.
What if Molly was right after all, and there was a part of Leonel Cohen that I still needed to see? What if what he did to my sister wasn’t his fault? Winter didn’t tell me anything about their break up. So maybe, just maybe there was a chance I could fix things without losing everything on the way. Including him…
I decided to call Parker. She was the only person in the world who could help me right now.
“How about an all-girl party?”
“When?”
“Tonight. My place.”
“I’m in.”
I smiled. “Great. I need to tell you something very important.”
“I knew it!”
“Knew what?” I asked, puzzled.
“You slept with your boss!” She screamed into the handset.
I looked at Molly who was on the phone too and couldn’t hear Parker’s words.
“No, I did not!” I hissed in response.
“Too bad. I hoped for a really good story.”
“Sorry to disappoint you. But it’s something else that I need to tell you.”
“Fine, see you later then.”
“Bye.”
“Olivia!” Leonel screamed from his office. “I’m waiting for the papers!” There were no papers that he wanted me to bring. But apparently, he couldn’t wait any longer for my move from the waiting room and into his office. The two minutes that he gave me, ended three minutes ago.
I took my laptop and told Molly our boss and I needed to discuss one of the cases that he was going to represent in court tomorrow.
