I steeple my fingers and stretch my neck. “I’m not sure what you want from me.”
His gaze scans my face and my body language. For a long moment, he’s silent. Then he leans forward, a smile playing about his lips.
“You got laid,” he says. He purses his lips. “I’m right, aren’t I? You got your dick wet and you forgot all about your real life.”
I shoot him a glare. “Fuck off.”
“Ah!” He claps his hands a few times, reclining in his seat. “It must have been good if you’re being secretive about it. Tell me, was it someone taboo? Maybe the daughter of a competitor?”
I stand up, giving him a look. “We should change the subject.”
Needing a cup of coffee, I head out of my office and down the hall toward the kitchen. Lucas is right on my heels and he’s not done guessing.
“Wait, I forgot. You haven’t been at work. You’ve spent all your free time training ballerinas.” He goes silent for a moment. “Oh, Calum. Please tell me it’s not one of the girls from your ballet.”
I walk into the kitchen and flick on my coffee grinder. It whirs to life, loud enough that it makes conversation impossible. As soon as it stops making noise, it starts brewing the grounds into a fresh pot of coffee.
When I turn around, Lucas is leaning against the kitchen island, a grin on his face. “Who is it? Did you finally woo Honor into fucking you?”
He raises his hand, rubbing his fingertips together to signal money. My neck heat and my hands clench into fists.
He’s not wrong about my method. I do like to snag girls with money. It’s just easier to pay them and know that our relationship is transactional. He just isn’t up to date about the whole Honor situation.
“Is there something that you want from me? Or can I get back to going about my business?”
He rolls his eyes. “You are no fun. I just came to say that I was at a board meeting this morning and your personal stock price is dropping like a fucking stone.”
I shoot him a glare. “If I make you acting CEO, will that embolden you to get the fuck out of my kitchen?”
The smile drops away from his expression. “Seriously?”
“If the company needs it? Yes. I’ve been on autopilot mode for weeks. Might as well make you the CEO…” I pin him in place with a glare. “I swear to god, Lucas. If you fuck this up, I’ll take it out of your hide.”
His hand flutters in the air between us. “No need for threatening me. IndicaTech is as much my baby as it is yours.”
I flap a dismissive hand at him. “Fine. I’ll step down while my attentions are divided between Indica and the NYB.”
He screws up his face. “Please tell me that you aren’t just going to dump the whole Jack Schwartz problem in my lap.”
I give him a thin smile. “No. I’ll keep working on that.”
“Good. I don’t know any other kind of blockchain technology that exists that is as powerful as Schwartz’s.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “If it were easy, I would have done it by now.”
He licks his lips, about to fire back his response. But luckily at that moment, a loud chime begins to sound.
I turn my head toward the panel on the wall, which is currently lit up. Walking over to it, it press the intercom button.
“Yes?”
A video screen turns on, Honor’s face smiling seductively to the camera. “It’s me, Cal. Let me up.”
Her shortening of my name — calling me Cal — sends an ugly shudder down my spine. The only person that has ever called me that is Anita.
“So it is Honor,” I hear my brother mutter behind me.
I glare back at him. “I told you, I’m not sleeping with her.”
I do need to talk to her, though. Pressing the intercom button again, I say, “Come up.”
I turn to find Lucas heading out.
“Wait,” I call to him. “I don’t want to be here alone with her. Honor has already filed three lawsuits against NYB for ageism and sexual harassment. It would be better if there was a witness here.”
Lucas turns to me, his eyebrows rising. “Uh… sure,” he says with a shrug. He squints. “It’s really not her, then.”
Shaking my head, I pour myself a cup of coffee. Lucas fixes himself one too.
Then we stand, sipping the steaming brew, and wait.
It doesn’t take long before the elevator chimes. I lean over and press a button, allowing the elevator doors to open. The sound of heels clicking on stone grows closer and closer.
I look at Lucas, nodding toward the living room. He follows me in, still sipping his coffee, his expression perfectly blank.
I swing open the front door. Honor gives me a sultry grin, her blonde hair falling in waves over the top of her black trench coat.
“Hey Cal,” she says playfully. She wrinkles her nose, stepping closer. Her lips are slicked with bright red gloss. “Are you going to invite me in?”
I squint. “Do I have a choice?”
She titters at that, reaching out a slender hand to push me back. Not interested in having any kind of contact with her, I step back before she touches me, turning and heading into the living room.
Honor follows, pulling up short when she sees Lucas. “Cal, you didn’t say that there was anyone else here.”
I clear my throat and sink into an armchair. “You can address me as Calum. And you didn’t ask if I was alone, Honor. Just like you didn’t ask if you could come to my private residence.”
Lucas sips his coffee stoically, giving her nothing when she looks to him for help. She glares at him.
“It would be better if we talked alone.”
I glance at my watch. “No. Do you want to go first? Or should we just speed things along here?”
She narrows her gaze on both of us. “I think we got started on the wrong foot, Cal—“
“Now it’s Mr. Fordham,” I say. I cross my arms and cock my head. “And you have two minutes to get to your point.”
“Well,” she says, smiling broadly. She glances at Lucas and then back to me. “I had hoped for this to be a matter between us. But since you don’t care, then I suppose I won’t either.” She pins me with a huge smile. “Marry me, Calum Fordham.”
I give her an incredulous look. “I’m sorry?”
She walks over to where I am sitting, touching my hand lightly. “You heard me. You’ve wanted me for years. Now here I am. Asking you to make me Mrs. Fordham.”
I gaze up at her, not quite understanding. “What on earth are you talking about?”
She looks over at Lucas, crinkling her nose as if I’d just made a joke. “Is he always so hard of hearing?”
I start to rise. “Listen up. I talked to Kaia. She told me about what you said to her. And I just want to make something crystal clear.” I pause, leaning forward. “There is never going to be anything between us, Honor. Not to mention the fact that I already know that you’re fucking pregnant with Mikhail’s child.”
Honor smirks a little, rubbing her hand over her stomach. “It doesn’t have to be his. It will be yours, if you marry me and put your name on the birth certificate.” She wrinkles her nose. “Just like that, an instant family. Plus you’ll get me, any and every way you want me.” Her lips quirk. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t masturbate to me a couple of hundred times over the years. Don’t act like I’m not offering you something you’ve coveted forever.”