Chapter Eighteen
Dominick
I woke at the same time every day, whether my alarm went off or not. For once, however, I didn’t jump out of bed immediately, rushing to check my messages and start my morning routine.
How could I? Not when Xavier was curled up against my chest.
His breath was slow and steady, and our bodies fit together naturally. I laid as still as I could for a few minutes, feeling the heat of him and the warm pressure of his body against mine.
It hadn’t taken much to convince Xavier to stay the night. After our explosive scene, he was so dazed and tired, he probably could have fallen asleep standing up in the middle of my living room. But after I brought him a glass of water and stroked his hair until he came back to reality, I was able to convince to come lay down in my bed.
After enough time passed, I lifted his arm and slid out from underneath from him. He was so exhausted, he didn’t seem to notice my movement at all. I could hardly blame him. The adrenaline high from the night before must have made him crash. And anyway, I didn’t mind having him there. It felt calming, in fact. Like there was more to my life than rushing to answer emails and put out fires.
A pair of boxers hanging off my hips, I padded into the kitchen and splashed some water on my face from the sink. Fumbling around in the cupboard, I ground some coffee and made myself a quick espresso, then threw it back in two quick swallows. I pulled a stool up at the counter and opened the laptop I used at home.
I liked to have a jump start on the work week, which meant forging ahead on Monday morning. After getting such an intense release the night before, I was glad that my ambition and hunger weren’t dampened any. But I couldn’t lie—having a guy like Xavier sleeping in my bed was a distraction, and my mind kept drifting away from my emails and considering different things I might make him for breakfast.
Which is when my screen filled with an incoming video call—Zachary, of course. I punched down the volume a few levels so as to not disturb Xavier, then accepted the call.
“Morning, sunshine,” Zachary said, a big mug of coffee in his hand. With New York being two hours ahead, he was already dressed for the office. “You ready to start your Monday with a crisis?”
“What other way is there to start a Monday?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
Apparently, too low to keep a secret. Zachary’s eyes lit up immediately, and he got that mischievous look on his face that told me I wasn’t getting away with anything. “What’s with the hush hush, Dominick? You got someone sleeping over?”
I rubbed my hand across my forehead. “You should have been a detective instead of a corporate executive,” I said. “Maybe then you wouldn’t have so many crises to deal with.”
Zachary crowed out a laugh. “So you do have someone sleeping over! I was half-joking. I’ve never seen you entertain guests for the night. What’s the story? You going to get engaged?”
I waved my hand in front of the screen to shush him and grabbed the laptop, carrying it over to the couch and further from the bedroom to be safe. “We had a late night,” I said. “What, are you getting jealous? Have I been gone too long?”
I knew that I was acting a bit defensive, but Zachary always had a way of finding my vulnerable spots and teasing them for me mercilessly. Usually, teasing me about the guys I dated was fair game, but Xavier felt different. After all, I’d been searching for someone who could take the heat of my kinks and still stick around.
And when I found what I was looking for, I tended to get pretty damn protective of it.
“You have been gone too long,” Zachary said, leaning back in his armchair. “That’s why I’m calling.”
“The crisis,” I said. “What is it now?”
“It’s the firm’s shareholders,” he said. “Or rather, a few key shareholders, a very resourced outside investor, and a loose assortment of global development firms, mainly located in Europe.”
I blinked, trying to process what he was saying despite the early hour. “Come one more time?”
“They’re trying to buy out the firm,” he said. “They nearly have the leverage, too.”
I rubbed my fingers against my temples, feeling a headache intruding. “Considering I’m on leave this year, what am I worried about? New owners? A different corporate board? I’m pretty sure they’re not allowed to gobble up my share of the pie while they’re at it, unless the rules have changed since I left.”
Zachary shrugged. “Sure, and some people in the office are happy about it. Probably bigger profits, when you get a load of the investors they’re trying to put together. Hell, I might be happy about it myself, once everything is said is done. I just didn’t think a guy who made his name doing green development and sustainable infrastructure would want to work for petroleum exporters and weapons manufacturers.”
“What!” I said, raising my voice louder than I intended. “It’s petroleum money?”
“The dirty kind, too.” Zachary leaned forward, and I heard his fingers flying across the keyboard of the laptop until my email dinged with a message. “Check out the list of investors I just sent your way. The ones you already know, you’re going to hate. The strangers?” He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “They’re worse. Mainly young upstarts, still trying to make a name for themselves. Likely to play reckless.”
I groaned, thinking of all the work I had to do in Denver that week. “This doesn’t make sense. The whole reason I’m with the firm is because of their focus on green innovations and low-impact building. Fucking hell. That’s how they built their name in the first place!”
“And as it turns out, a solid third of the voting shareholders actually care more about profits than the vision.”
“So what, you’re just calling to shit on my morning? Or are you trying to do anything to stop this?”
