Just Go (15 page)

No man has ever looked at me like Adam’s looking at me right now. And all I can think is
please don’t ruin this
. It’s too soon for feelings like that, isn’t it?

I feel my release building and know he can sense it too. His movements become more ragged and hard. His head lowers to the crook of my neck as he slams into me, releasing his orgasm at the same moment mine peaks and my world around me turns into a haze. I yell out, not caring who hears, and clutch on to him as my orgasm explodes and rips through me like never before.

“Dammit,” I hear him hiss as he continues thrusting into me, beads of sweat forming on his shoulders. “Shit,” he grunts.

I smile at him, too weak still from the mind-blowing orgasm to say anything. My toes are tingly, my arms are weak, and all I can do is smile. I’m fairly certain this man just stole the rest of my heart. The part that I was trying to keep locked up so when it is crushed, it’s not my entire heart being crushed. Once his eyes connected with mine, though, and I saw the raw need for me in them, I knew. I knew he’d be the one that those walls break for.

Just then, there’s banging on the wall by my TV and I hear Gabby screaming form the other side. “Quiet the fuck down, you two assholes! Some people have to work in the damn morning!” she yells and I laugh.

“Next time, we'll go to my place.” He smiles and leans down to kiss me before pulling out and disposing of the condom.

When he returns to bed, I have to hide my shock. Sure, he came here for me, but he also is a man who has round the clock business meetings and early mornings. There’s no way he’s going to stay here tonight, is he?

“My Sweet,” he whispers and pulls me into him. Wrapping his arms around my front, I can feel every hard inch of his body. We lay there for a while, lost in our thoughts.

He’s staying to be with me.

“Why’d you do this?” I ask, tracing his tattoos on his arm with my fingertips. He adjusts his head and clears his throat.

“I was young,” he replies. “I needed a way to be myself. A tattoo was the perfect solution.”

“Why so many, though?”

“I like the feeling of them, for so many reasons. Each one means something, or was inked at a certain point in my life that meant something to me. It’s a way of me showing the world that even though I may be rich and wear suits every damn day, I’m still a human that can think his own way.” He sighs and shifts to kiss the top of my head.

“That’s deep, Adam.”

“I’m a deep man, my Sweet,” he whispers.

We lay there in silence, just enjoying each other’s company. I don’t know when he falls asleep exactly, but I can tell he’s sleeping by the rhythmic and even, breathing, and relaxed arm that’s wrapped around me.

He’s nothing like I was taught to believe. I was told he was a ruthless businessman, who fucks women all day, every day, never the same woman twice. I was told he didn’t care about his ex-wife, and he cheated on her multiple times. All of this I was told, but what I’m learning from actually being with this man is that he’s nothing like the man my father makes him out to be.

He’s intense. He’s loving. And he’s all mine.

Chapter 14

Adam

It’s been three weeks of enjoying time with Annaliese. I never thought that I’d feel something so strong for someone in such a short amount of time, but when love hits, it hits hard. I had to leave Annaliese’s house early this morning due to a meeting with her father. One that I hate to have, but one that I know has to happen. Something’s going on with him and I’m not one sit back and let my money dwindle away. The fights have been slowing down. Benton hasn’t won but one fight in the last three weeks and I’m getting tired of not betting on fights. I miss the rush of winning, but I’m not stupid enough to throw away my own money. The phone calls and threats have slowed down to about three times a week, but they are still there, and the one time I did attempt to bet, Benton got the shit beaten out of him. Something’s going on, and I plan on getting to the bottom of it.

It’s almost seven when I get the call that he’s waiting for me in the conference room. I take my time, letting him know that he no longer has any control over me. I have so much dirt on him, that I could have him turned in and arrested in no time flat. He needs to fear me. He needs to know that I hold all the cards here.

“Reese, hold all my calls for the rest of the day,” I smile at her as I walk by her desk. I plan on taking a half day and surprising Annaliese at her work, maybe going out of the city for a while this evening. Something to help me feel connected to her. Being in this city sometimes makes me feel like it’s swallowing me whole, like I’m not the man I want to be because of it.

The day that Annaliese and I went to my grandparents' farm was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in a long time. I need to make it a point to get back there more often, and I need to make sure to bring her with me.

I open the door to the conference room and see Vick sitting at the table alone with a smirk on his face.

“Nice of you to meet with me, Adam.” He stands and shakes my hand, which I grip tighter than typical. I’m not going to let him intimidate me this time.

“Glad you could make it, Vick.”

“So what has you calling me in here on an off week?” He sits and smiles at me. It’s a creepy smile and when he leans back in his chair, relaxed yet still powerful, I start to feel like maybe I don’t hold all the cards.

“Ah…. I’m not certain how to tell you this, Vick, so I’m just going to come out and say it. Someone in your ring is rigging the fights against me. I’ve received threats, my fighter has received threats, and I’ve lost thousands because of these threats and rigs. I’m about to pull my man out of the ring and find somewhere else to enjoy my hobby if this isn’t cleared.” I lean forward and clasp my hands on the table in front of me, watching his stone-faced expression.

He doesn’t look surprised at all.

“Adam, there’s something you need to know about me,” he starts, then sits up and leans forward, mimicking my position. “I’m a man of much more power than you think. Much more than you, son.”

I narrow my eyes at him, wondering where this conversation is going.

“It’s not about power, Vick,” I growl. “It’s about the safety of me and my fighter. It’s about the money—bottom line.”

He laughs and shakes his head at me. “I’m not stupid, Adam. You had one rule starting out. One measly rule that you couldn’t even follow.”

Shit.

“I’m certain you have to be mistaken, Vick.”

“Really? Because,” he pauses to pull out an envelope from his pocket and spread its contents across the table in front of me. “These prove me right.” The slimy grin on his face does nothing to help the sinking feeling in my gut.

Spread out on the table in front of me are photos, all black and white, most taken from far away, and all of me and Annaliese.

Son of a bitch.

“Vick, what the hell?” He’s been following me?

“I believe I should be asking you the same question, Adam. The one reason I brought you into this underground scene was because you promised to stay away from her. Now, three years later, and instead of staying true to your word, you go behind my back and do this?” His face is expressionless.

This meeting isn’t going anywhere like I thought it was going to go. Why the hell would he have his daughter followed? It’s either that, or he’s having me followed. Neither of those sit well with me. I feel like I’m going to hurl from the nerves running through me. I came in here so confident that I could scare him into getting the threats to stop, but instead here I sit, staring at pictures of me and his daughter, when I did promise him that I’d never touch her. To be fair, at the time, I’d also never laid eyes on her. How could someone like me promise to never touch someone like her in all honesty? She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.

“Vick—” I start, but he holds his hand up to stop me from going any further

“You listen to me. You stay away from her or this whole business game of yours is over. I have enough dirt to take you, and everyone that works here, down. You stay away from her, Callahan, for everyone’s safety.” His face is stern, his hands still clapped in front of him

What the hell kind of dirt could he possibly have on this business? I could see having the fighting info on me, and all of the bets, but that’s not enough to take down the company

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about Vick,” I growl, pissed that he’s threatening me in my own offices.

“Oh, Adam. You’re not that blind, are you? What do you think your ex-wife has been up to all this time? She’s not just being a good little vice president, ignoring that fact that the man she was married to screwed her over in the divorce?” His smile is so slimy I can barely contain may rage for the man. The only thing holding me back is my curiosity for that statement. That, and my love and respect for his daughter.

“What the hell do you mean by that statement, Vick?” I feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff and one wrong thing is going to make me jump. From knowing that he found out about Annaliese and me, to learning of this new development, my nerves are about shot.

“You might want to ask her. I’ve never liked to be a rat.” He stands and looks at me again before leaving. “And I mean what I said, Adam. Stay the hell away from her. Oh, and the fight tonight’s been cancelled,” he adds, then he walks out of the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving me in a complete daze.

What the hell just happened?

I give myself a minute to compose my emotions, things I didn’t even know I had until Annaliese came into play, and then I walk out to Reese.

“Get me Benton James. Now.” I growl, then walk into my office and slam the door, then darken all the glass around me. This whole day is going to shit, and it all started off so promising.

Last night with Annaliese was amazing. I almost told her I loved her before I made love to her, but the words got stuck. I saw the fear in her eyes, like she knew it was coming. I don’t want to see fear in her eyes when I tell her, but I will tell her. It’s insane, but I know already she’s the girl for me. She makes me feel things I never thought I’d be able to feel after my divorce. Things that I didn’t think I wanted to feel, and now I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

Minutes later, the door opens and Benton walks in without knocking.

“No chicks this week, A team. What gives?” Benton plops down on my office couch like he owns the place. I mean, he might own a portion of it, but not this office.

“Just haven’t felt the need,” I shrug and make myself look busy. These last three weeks with Annaliese have been so fucking amazing, and I want to scream to the world that she’s my girl, but she wants to keep things on the down low until she has a chance to talk to her father. Knowing now what I do, though, I’m not sure what the hell I’m going to do. I need her, but I need this business too.

“Right,” Benton narrows his eyes at me. “Got something ya wanna tell me.” He crosses his arms and gives me a look like he knows what’s up, but I can’t tell him. I press my lips together and shake my head.

“Nope,” I clip. “Nothing, other than the fight tonight’s being cancelled.”

“What the fuck, man? What’s going on with him?” He leans forward and rests his arms on his knees. “Dude’s gone off the deep end,” he says shaking his head.

“You don’t need the money still, do you? I thought the adoption was almost finalized.”

“It is, but I wasn’t planning on stopping ‘til the baby comes. That gives me at least two more weeks.”

“Well, looks like you might just be going into early retirement,” I laugh at his face and stand from my chair. “Look, Vick’s going through some shit right now. Don’t worry yourself about it.” I’ll tell him if it comes down to it, but he’s got enough on his plate right now to worry about the company.

“He threatened you, A,” he growls and stands.

“Yeah… about that. Have you heard from Dianne lately?” I ask, feeling him out.

“Nope. She’s been working out of our Aurora offices lately, so I haven’t seen her. Good riddance,” he scoffs then looks at me. “Why? What’s up?”

“Nothing really, just curious how her projects are coming.” I lie. I need to talk to her, and as much as I don’t want to, it seems to be the only way to figure out what’s going on.

“Great. Then I’m out, dude, I’ve got shit to do today. Some of us actually work during the day,” he glances at me again. “What’re you gonna do about Vick, then?”

“I’ll take care of Vick, you just get that wife ready for the baby. I hear sex stops once you have a kid. Good luck with that, man.”

“Ha! And with your lack of sex lately, we’re both going to be horny old men pretty soon.”

“Very funny. Now get out, I have a meeting.”

He stands to leave and stops at the door. “Oh, I meant to tell you. The law firm is happy with their recent choice of assistants. They are thinking of moving her up to practicing lawyer once the test is passed and expanding their offices.” He smiles, knowing full well that was his deal originally, so that means more money in his pocket.

“Great, B. That’s good news. Now leave.”

He salutes me with a grin, and closes the office door behind him.

I sit back down at my desk, looking around, not able to focus on anything but the scene from last night playing through my head. Annaliese is a force to be reckoned with in the bedroom. She brought me things last night, let me do things to her that no other women have let me do to them. It was pure ecstasy, the feeling of filling her ass, hearing her moans and screams when she came around me. Shit. I’m getting hard just thinking about it. I look at the clock, and by now she should be on her way to work, so I decide to shoot her a text.

ME:
Morning my Sweet ;)

The winky face conversation has come up a few times now. I actually told her about the first time she sent me one, and now she won’t let me live it down, so I leave them everywhere I can. I know it makes her laugh, and I like to make her laugh.

SWEET
: Hey babe. How’s ur day?

ME:
Boring without you.

SWEET:
I know the feeling. We still on for tonight? ;)

ME:
Absolutely. I’ll see you after work.

S
WEET
: XOXO

I smile reading her response. My fingers itch to reply with those three words I’ve been waiting so long to say, but I don’t allow them to type it. It’s about damn time I tell her just exactly how I feel. I just want to show the world how amazing my girl is, but now I need to get this shit with her dad figured out before anything. How I’m going to do this without telling her about it is going to be tricky. I never informed her about the fighting because rules are rules:  don’t ever talk about it outside the fight ring. Obviously she didn’t know, or else that night she picked me up from the fight she wouldn’t have asked about it. I can’t tell her about the threats from her dad, because she would eventually find out about the fights, and the betting, and a part of me is worried that if she knows about all of that she won’t stay with me.

I’ve lied to her. I’ve kept things from her. I don’t want to do that anymore, but I’m not sure how to fix this without hurting her.

I know where to start, though. Once I figure out what Vick meant about Dianne, I can start trying to figure out why he seems hell bent on no one ever being with his daughter. One step at a time. Picking up the receiver, I call over to the Aurora office myself to try and get to the bottom of whatever’s going on with Dianne.

“Carson and Lewis, this is Audra,” the friendly voice answers. I remember hiring her a few years back and smile. I love a good company with low turnover.

“Audra, Adam Callahan here. I need to speak with Dianne, immediately.”

“Mr. Callahan, I… uh….” she stutters.

“Audra, is everything okay?” I ask, suddenly wishing I would have made a visit in person. I can read people so much better in person rather than over the phone.

“Yes. Fine, sorry. I’ll go get Dianne. I mean… um… Ms. Barkers.” She immediately clicks me to hold and I sit, listening to the terrible waiting music they have on loop. Making a mental note to update the company’s hold music, I wait for no longer than a minute before Dianne’s voice comes through the phone, making my anger rise just from hearing her.