“Yeah, you said that, and then you came back a day later.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have.”
“That’s bullshit.” She was losing him. Every wall that she’d managed to break down between the two of them seemed to be rebuilding themselves like magic, stronger and more resilient than ever. It sent her heart churning in the worst way, and she felt like she might throw up. “And you know what? Until you can man up and be honest with me, and yourself, you have no fucking right to get angry about who I may or may not be seeing. You’ve fucked every woman in Manhattan, but you don’t see me holding that over your head, do you?”
“It’s Reggie King,” Val seethed. “The man who’s been trying to take down my entire corporation, and is about to succeed. The one man who could destroy everything I’ve worked for, everything we’ve worked for, people that you call your brothers!”
“Oh, I see, so now you’re my brother, huh?”
Val reared back, but didn’t move. Before he knew it, he was in her face. “Do you really think he’s interested in you, Zoey? He’s using you to get to me, to get to Novsky. All he cares about is acquiring my company. That is all he cares about, and you’re just his pawn.”
“That’s not true. He didn’t even know who I was until the morning you guys bombarded your way into my apartment, and I was all but forced to tell him.”
Val smiled at her like she was a foolish little girl. “Zoey, hear me when I say this. Reggie King knows exactly who you are… and he’s known it longer, and more intimately, than you can even begin to imagine.”
Something about the way Val had just said those words made her skin crawl. “What does that mean? If he’s known me so intimately, for so long, why would he pretend he had no idea who I was the night we met?”
“To get close to you, Zoey, wake up,” Val cried.
She crossed her arms. “What aren’t you telling me about Reggie King?”
Val’s eyes searched hers frantically, then narrowed.
He was keeping something from her. Something big. It made her heart pick up to triple its pace. “Answer me,” she demanded.
Val snatched the door of the bathroom open without responding to that. “This was a mistake.”
Zoey followed him into the living room. “What does that mean?”
He fingered his jacket off the hook next to the door. “It means this is over.”
“Are you serious, Val?”
He suddenly turned to her. “I’m incompetent, Zo. Okay? I’m shooting blanks. Let’s stop deluding ourselves into believing some miracle child is going to fall down from the clouds and come to fruition just because you let me cum inside you a few times. I can’t have kids! That’s a fact of my life now, and it’s not like this was ever really about us having a kid, anyway.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Please enlighten me then, Val. What has this all really been about?” She knew what it had all been about, they both did, but neither of them had ever had the balls to vocalize it.
Until now. Val’s voice lowered and went deep with cruelty. “This was about you and I scratching a ten year itch. We’ve clearly been looking for any bullshit reason to get each other into bed, and this was it.”
She tried to swallow back the hurt his words made her feel. “That’s not it, Val. I really, truly, wanted to help you.”
He saw the look in her eye. “Well, I don’t want that. I don’t want your fucking pity.”
Tears finally came to her eyes. “It wasn’t pity.” She hated that she was crying. “And, you’re right, this is over. I think you should get the hell out of my apartment, right now.” She knew that if he said one more foul thing to her, she would slap the shit out of him.
He threw her front door open, stepped out without answering, and slammed it closed behind him.
Ten
Later that night, against all of his better judgment, Val found himself sitting outside of Drai’s Lounge in Midtown, watching the clock on his car’s dash with focused eyes. It was 8:45. Reggie had text Zoey to meet him there at nine. Everything in Val’s bones told him to turn the car around and go home. Forget about having kids. Forget about having a family. Forget about having Zoey.
You will never have her, Val.
He couldn’t accept it, not even after their blowout in her apartment. After years of torture, he finally understood that letting her go was something he’d never truly done, and never would. Looking out of his passenger side window, he caught sight of Reggie King making his way into the lounge, alone. Every dark cloud in the muggy sky that night seemed to swoop right down into Val’s car, choking him and rendering him motionless. Without giving himself another second to rethink, Val took his keys out of the ignition, climbed out of the car, and crossed the street to Drais.
The security guard at the door recognized Val’s face instantly, and pulled the velvet rope to the side without question. Val stepped into the lounge. It was busy, but not wall-to-wall packed. The lighting was dim, but he could still clearly see Reggie, sitting in a small booth in the farthest corner with a bottle of red wine and two glasses sitting in front of him. His glass was full, but the other glass, the one Val was sure was meant for Zoey, went empty.
Reggie’s dark brown eyes searched the lounge. To the untrained eye he appeared nonchalant, but Val could see the expectant gleam that was there, the hope as he watched the front door, hoping Zoey would come through.
Instead, Reggie’s eyes zeroed in on Val.
And Val was launched to a dark place, a horrible place, an ugly place that he’d been trying to forget for ten long years. The smirk that immediately came to Reggie’s face when their eyes met sent Val’s blood racing, and before he knew it he was making his way to the booth.
His chest heaved softly when he came face to face with Reggie while motioning to the seat he knew was meant for Zoey.
“Do you mind?” Val asked.
“Actually I do—” Reggie was cut short when Val went ahead and took the empty seat, anyway. “I’m actually waiting for someone.” Reggie said, smiling easily.
Reggie had just finished pitching a merger between his company, Zillow, and Novsky, just a few weeks ago. And, true to form, Val had told him in the most professional terms he could manage, to go fuck himself. They’d spent at least two hours in a hot debate that’d gone nowhere, with Val thoroughly explaining to Reggie why their companies were performing just fine on their own, and Reggie insisting that a merger was inevitable.
To the casual eye, the underlying issues the two men had between them read as two passionate businessmen fighting for their companies, but Val and Reggie knew the real truth.
Their rivalry went much deeper than Zillow and Novsky.
The words were out of Val’s mouth before he could stop himself. They weren’t in the boardroom, anymore. No coworkers to keep up appearances for. No bullshit facade to maintain.
“I’d like you to stay the fuck away from Zoey,” Val said, smoothly.
Reggie’s laugh was immediate.
“What’s funny about that?”
“Look, Val, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Val nodded, as if he understood, before leaning forward in the booth, looking around at the attractive, drunken patrons that surrounded them, just to be sure that no one was listening in. He looked back to Reggie. “You think I don’t know this empty glass is for her? Huh? You think I didn’t see that pathetic look in your eye when I walked in the door? You think she’s actually going to show up for your sorry ass tonight, don’t you? I got news for you, Reggie, she’s not. She’s done with you.”
“Is she?” Reggie asked, calmly.
Val almost leapt across the booth. “I saw the text you sent her, and I don’t appreciate that.”
“Look… Val… I understand how this must look, how it must make you feel. First I take Novsky from you, then I take your hot black sister, too, all right from under your nose.” Reggie sucked in the
air between his teeth. “It’s gotta sting. I get it. But try to rein in your ego for a minute, and hear me, okay? Zoey and I like each other, and it has nothing to do with you. Now, I know a man with an ego as big as yours might have a hard time comprehending that not everything is about him, so I’ll say that, again. Zoey and I like each other. And it has nothing to do with you.”
Val didn’t know how he was managing to stay composed, or why his hands hadn’t yet wrapped themselves around Reggie’s neck, but he was certainly on the verge.
“Reggie,” he warned, again. “Stay away from Zoey.” His voice rose. “Do you fucking hear me? Stay the fuck away from her.”
Reggie sat taller, adjusting his flawless grey suit—the perfect compliment to his dark brown skin—and smiled a perfect smile. He was a handsome bastard that put Morris Chestnut to shame. Val could see what Zoey saw in Reggie, at least physically, and that just made Val hate him all the more.
Reggie waved a cool hand in Val’s direction, speaking in the same calm, business like tone he’d been using for the entire exchange. “What is this really about, Val? Is this really about Zoey? Or about Zillow acquiring Novsky?” He wagged his head animatedly. “I just want to make sure I’m taking the correct angle as I choose my next words.”
“We’ve already discussed Zillow acquiring Novsky, and it’s a no. This is about Zoey.” Val’s lip curled before he could help it. The thought of Reggie getting his crusty mitts on any part of the company Val had spent his entire life building made his stomach sick, but the idea of him getting his hands on Zoey made him feel capable of murder.
“Hm…” Reggie pretended to think on it. “No… I think I’m going to continue on seeing Zoey, and doing whatever the hell I want to do with my life, thanks though. Now about that merger…”
Val had played nice for long enough, but now that he’d shown where his real frustrations were, the ones that came alive when it came to Reggie’s relationship with Zoey, he was unable to reel it all in. “You will never have Novsky. The only way that’ll happen is over my dead fucking body, is that understood?”
“With 350 billion in cash and stocks on the table, I think it’s pretty adorable that you actually believe you have a choice, Val. Just adorable.” Reggie leaned forward. Like Val, he’d grown bored with the bullshit, and the smile vanished from his flawless face. “I’ve got news for you. Novsky is dead, whether you like it or not. Now you can work with me in resuscitating, restructuring, and rebranding it, or I can tear everything out from under you, and leave you in the dust. It’s your decision.”
Val’s nostrils flared, his stomach rumbled, it took everything he had not to leap across that table and choke Reggie to death.
Reggie leaned coolly back in his seat, and took a slow sip of his red wine. As he slowly set the glass back on the table by it’s delicate stem, he spoke. “You know… Zoey thinks that you hate me because we’re professional rivals.” He smiled again, while motioning between their bodies. “That’s why she thinks you hate me, Val.”
Val could feel his blood as it moved through his veins, and recognized the distinct urge to throw up. He managed to hold it back, just barely.
Another sip of wine, and Reggie got even more bold. “You know… you can sit across that booth with your shoulders squared, and you can puff your chest, and you can tell me to stay away from her like you’re the savior and the white knight in all this. You might even be fooling her with this bogus act you’ve got going, because it’s very clear that you’re already fooling yourself.” Reggie leaned forward. “But I don’t forget so easily, Val, and neither should you.” He pointed his finger. “Don’t you ever forget that I know who was behind the wheel of that car the night her parents were murdered. Don’t you ever forget that, my friend.”
Tears came to Val’s eyes, and he couldn’t tell if they were from pain or fury. He made himself count to ten, and it was a miracle that Reggie’s beating heart was still safely implanted in his chest, and not clutched between Val’s heavily clenched fists, when he spoke, again. “You want to threaten me, Reggie, that’s fine, because I remember a few things, too.” He braced himself with one arm on the table while pointing a trembling finger at Reggie with the other. “Don’t you ever forget that I know who was sitting in the passengers seat—that I know his father.”
Just as quickly as it was there, Reggie’s smile was gone. Val had just hit him with his only Achilles’ Heel emotionally.
Reggie’s father had always been his biggest weakness, and Val could see that now was no exception. “How is the good governor doing, anyway? I haven’t heard from him in a while.”
The smile had all but vanished from Reggie’s face, and he now looked just as close to lunging across that table for blood as Val.
“I can destroy you in Zoey’s eyes just as quickly and easily as you can destroy me,” Val seethed. “And I can take a lot of important people down with me while I do it, so don’t you dare threaten me, you son of a bitch. Stay the fuck away from her.”
Reggie scoffed, but didn’t say a word.
Val’s swallowed thickly before nodding to the door. “I think I’ll head out, I’m suddenly feeling sick to my fucking stomach.”
Reggie stood with Val, pressing his tie against his chest, and calling out to him as Val walked away. “I’ll call you about that merger.”
Val turned to him in the doorway, throwing him a look of disbelief.
“And, Val? Please pick up this time, huh?” Reggie’s smile grew. “Have a beautiful fucking night.”
***
The next day in the Novsky offices, Val circled the desks of his employees, watching every move they made like a hawk, nostrils flared, ready to pounce. He wasn’t blind to the way every head immediately dropped the moment he came within biting distance. Val didn’t believe in separate offices and cubicles, not even for himself or his brothers. Everyone worked out in the open, together. No ideas were kept private. He believed in collaboration, and his business reflected that.
The huge open floor plan they utilized on the top floor of the office building was awash with sunlight, but darkness followed Val with every step he took.
He stopped behind the desk of a quiet Asian girl whose name he couldn’t remember, not missing the way her coworkers watched them clandestinely. Val leaned on her desk, pointing to the work on her screen.
“What is that?” he demanded.
“Um,” she went to answer, fumbling with some files on her desk.
“No. Don’t look at your files. You should know exactly what you’re doing when you’re at work. Otherwise, why are you here. Right? You are working, aren’t you? Or are you one of those employees that clicks over from Facebook to Excel the moment I walk in the room?”
“I—”
“Yes?” Val pushed.
Gary came up next to Val, taking his arm while smiling down at the quiet Asian girl. “Keep up the good work, Hing.” The smile on his face immediately fell when he looked to Val. “Let’s take a walk,” he said, tugging Val away. He pulled his older brother out onto the massive wrap around balcony where employees came to smoke and eat lunch. At the moment, it was completely empty. Once they were outside, Gary released him.
“Hey, Val? Take the rest of the day off.”
“No,” Val said, fixing his jacket. “Why would I do that?”
“I think you need the day off.”
“I don’t. I’m fine.”
“Okay, you never were good at reading subtleties, so I’ll be blunt.” Gary’s eyes went wide. “You’re acting like a Grade-A asshole in there, even for you. You’re breathing down our employees’ necks like Hitler for no good reason. They’re good employees, Val. They’re good to us. Loyal. They’ve been indispensable to this company, and you’re harassing them.”
“I’m not harassing anyone.”
“You are… and I think it’s high time you take yourself a nice day off, that’s all I’m saying.”
Val took a deep breath. “Look… I saw Reggie Ki
ng last night, all right? So you’ll have to forgive me if I’m feeling a certain way today.” Val didn’t mention that he couldn’t get the image of Reggie fucking Zoey out of his mind, and that was playing a bigger role in his piss poor attitude than anything else.
At the mention of the name Reggie King, everything about Gary changed.
Val nodded as he watched that change happen. “Yeah,” he said. “Reggie King. I’m sure you have a pretty good idea what we discussed. So you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little bit on edge right now.”
Gary swallowed heavily. “You don’t actually think that… he’d be able to take Novsky, do you? Do you really think he has a shot?”
Gary was the VP of Marketing for Novsky, but the truth was that he only held that position because Val was his brother, and everyone knew it. When it came down to the real business, when real money was on the line, Gary was all but useless.
“I don’t know,” Val lied.
Gary blinked rapidly, unable to speak. That name, Reggie King, always threw him for a complete loop. With a deep, trembling breath, he felt Val clap a hand on his shoulder.
“I think I will take the rest of the day off,” Val said, making his way to the door. He paused, and looked back to Gary. “You got this?” he asked.
Gary looked over his shoulder at Val, and managed an unsure nod.
As long as Gary didn’t burn the place to the ground, Val would handle everything else. He would take care of it on his own.
He always did.
***
The ride to dinner that Sunday had never been so long. Seeing Reggie had left Val perpetually sick to his stomach the whole weekend, the way he always was whenever Reggie made an unwelcome cameo in his life.
This time, however, had been different. Reggie had brought up Zoey’s parents, something he never did, and because of it that sick feeling was lingering longer than it ever had in Val’s gut. Since the beginning he’d been plagued by the fact that getting involved with Zoey was a mistake, but it had never been enough to stop him.
Taming Val Page 14
