Last night, I had called her penthouse to go over the details of today, but no one had answered. I had hoped she’d simply gone to bed after I had left, but my gut told me differently. My gut just so happened to be right when I showed up at her penthouse to find it empty. I had made her promise me on three separate occasions that she wasn’t going anywhere. Yet the moment I left, it seemed she had done exactly that.
It was easy to find her as she was with her friend, Alexandra, who had a horde of paparazzi following her wherever she went. It only took a few phone calls to track the two of them down.
When I found her drunk off her ass in the middle of the club’s dance floor, I was seconds away from blowing a gasket. She was vulnerable in that position. The idea of her getting hurt felt… unimaginable. I couldn’t let another person be hurt under my watch; I couldn’t fail… again.
I could admit I was taking great pleasure in her suffering this morning, though. She was as hungover as they come and still had a full workday ahead. I was mad, but working a full day with the headache she obviously had, and her complete exhaustion, was punishment enough.
I was exhausted too from the late night. Not that I usually got much more sleep than that. Since retiring from the Army, sleep hadn’t come easily. There was something about the late nights, alone with the thoughts that I did my best to ignore, that kept me up. It was easier than delving into all that had happened… all that I had failed.
A small knock sounded on my office door, and Andi popped her head in. She was a cute little thing with her red hair and huge green eyes hidden behind her glasses. I could see her blush every time I so much as looked at her. I almost felt guilty for making her so uncomfortable around me. The issue was that the nicer I was to her, the more she blushed. It made the few times we needed to work together extremely difficult.
“Mr. Cipriani, do you have a moment?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“Sure, what’s up, Andi?” I asked as I leaned back in my chair. It seemed even that was off limits around her as her cheeks flamed.
Her eyes grew curious, and she pointed to my desk, “What’s that?”
I looked down and wanted to groan, but held it back. I moved the sticky note in question into my desk drawer. “It’s nothing. What can I help you with?”
It was, in fact, my credit card PIN, but I wasn’t about to admit to that. I couldn’t admit to my lack of personal security when it came to my finances, especially when I was the head of security for the company. That would just be embarrassing. I also wanted to end this conversation with Andi as quickly as possible. Something about her crush made me uncomfortable.
She cleared her throat before answering. “Our head of public relations needs you in this meeting with Ms. Bly.”
I nodded and stood, racking my brain on why she would need me. Melissa, the head of PR, was the definition of a blonde bombshell—but she would kick me in the balls if I ever said it aloud. I had interacted with her a total of three times, all of which ended in searing glares on her end. I had a feeling she learned the move from Bec.
As Andi and I were entering Bec’s office, she shot me a surprised look while I took the seat across from her.
“What are you doing?” Bec asked, already annoyed with my presence.
I shrugged, just as confused as her.
“I invited him,” Melissa answered as she made her way into the office and took the seat next to me. Andi closed the door behind her as she quietly snuck out of the office.
“Care to explain why?” Bec asked.
Melissa didn’t say anything, but handed the two of us copies of a newspaper. I looked down at the front page and had to hold back the laugh that threatened to escape.
In big bold letters, the main news for the day was about us.
“Has CEO Rebecca Bly finally found a beau? Will he be able to melt her frozen heart? All the details on the notorious Ice Princess’s new lover below. ”
The headline was accompanied by a photo of me escorting Bec out of the club last night. I could understand how they drew the conclusion that we were together. She was tipsy enough that her usual murderous gaze, which was reserved for me, was nowhere to be seen. My arms were also wrapped around her in what could be misconstrued as a loving embrace. The large photo was accompanied by smaller photos of us over the last few months. They were all captured at rather convenient times. Our hands clasped as I helped her out of a car, or my hand on her lower back as I escorted her out of a building. I could admit that we looked like a couple based on these photos alone.
“Where do they even come up with these ideas?” Bec complained as she flipped to the article.
“Bec, you’re what’s hot right now. You come blazing into your father’s role despite board disapproval, and then you produce two of the most profitable quarters in company history. You’re also younger than any other prolific CEO on the scene right now,” Melissa explained. “Any news about you, even as mundane as leaving a club, is bound to make a few front pages.”
Bec groaned as she sat back into her chair, “We need to kill the story. This is going to ruin my image. I can’t be associated with… that,” she explained as she motioned my way.
“I amsoframing this,” I mumbled under my breath, amused. I weighed the likelihood of whether Bec would fire me if I gaveher a framed copy of the article for Christmas, though it would be worth it.
Bec shot me a glare, but ignored the comment. She turned back to Melissa, “Contact the publisher and have them print a retraction. Make an official statement debunking the whole story.”
Melissa sighed, “That’s why I wanted to meet with you. I think we need to run with this.”
“Excuse me?” Bec asked, mortified. “Rome is not my new beau, or lover, or whatever they want to call him.”
“You would be lucky to land a dynamite piece of ass like me,” I joked. My favorite pastime was making Bec mad… it was also herleastfavorite pastime.
