Page 37 of Bound to Him
When we arrived at the building that housed the Divine Conglomerate base of operations, I had to admit the glass-and-steel monument to money was an impressive lightning rod. The damned thing was taller than any other skyscraper in the city. Edison must’ve been tickled pink to lord his status over the rest of the business district. The mirrored windows gleamed all the way up the sloped sides that met at a point near the top. Even if Noah hated the place, I loved it because it was where I’d first laid eyes on him. I took a narrow alleyway along the side of the building and parked in a lot for the executives that had been carved out of the miniscule amount of space. I whistled as I shut off the engine and quickly hopped out. I went around to Noah’s side, opening his door. When I offered my hand to him, he sighed.
“What? I can’t help my husband out of the car?” I winked at him, and he gave me a smile just warm enough I didn’t think he hated me completely, which was good. He took my hand and stood. I walked him around the door and bumped it closed with my hip, then took a bracelet out of my jacket pocket. The rocks held together by platinum glimmered and reflected rainbows across his face. His mouth fell open as I put the jewelry around his right wrist and did up the clasp.
“I thought tennis bracelets were only for women,” he murmured. “Hell, this thing could blind me in direct sunlight.”
“Yes, indeed,” I said with a smirk.
“A little feminine, isn’t it?” He pouted his lips at me and all I could think about for a second was stuffing my cock between them.
“No more than your underwear,” I said, feeling smug when a pink stain crept across his face.
“My dick makes them masculine enough.”
I lifted his hand and kissed his thudding pulse. The cold diamonds brushed my lips. “This is a man’s bracelet, no matter who it was marketed toward, because it’s on you. Besides, it cost about half a million dollars.”
Noah’s mouth fell open and he glanced at the bracelet with furrowed brows. “Why do you want this on me? Are you using me to show off?”
Shrugging, I tried to think if I should tell him anything at all. It was difficult to put into words what seeing him draped in jewels did to me. My cock stirred and I drew in a calming breath that didn’t do much to keep warm tingles from sweeping through my insides. I wrapped an arm around Noah’s waist and dragged him close so I could push my growing problem against his hip.
“We’re going to go in there, and your father will be forced to watch you sign the company over to my management. My lawyers are already inside riling him up, which I would’ve paid to see in person but will relish hearing about later. Then, Edison Divine is going to smile and nod and act like it was his fuckin’ idea to have me take over. He’s going to have to acknowledge that it is me who will drag that company out of the financial pit he created. He will be embarrassed in front of all his subordinates. To top it all off with a big fuck-you cherry, he won’t be pleased to find out that paying back creditors is my first order of business. Namely me. I’m the creditors. All of them. Yesterday I finished buying up the last of his debt.”
Noah glanced at his wrist. “And these diamonds are going to blind the other company officers while I sign it all away. What if I was left-handed? Or ambidextrous?” He stuck out his tongue at me, and I chased after it with my mouth until I had my lips pressed against his. After a while I broke away to catch my breath and grinned.
“I would go buy another one that was even more expensive and slap it on your other wrist.”
He snorted and a wry smile twisted his lips. “My sister. Please—”
“She’s going to be fine, Noah. Your family is going to be okay. You’ve done everything I asked, and I assume you’re not going to give me trouble over signing this paperwork.”
“No, you don’t understand.” He took a deep breath and stared up at me, and I got lost in his gray eyes. There was something different on his face I hadn’t ever seen. “If you really want to mess with my dad? Take her under your wing. Invite her to come and learn about how to run the company. She loves business. It’s in her blood in a way it just isn’t in mine. Please?” My heart flipped at the hope that shined in his eyes.
“Okay,” I found myself agreeing, almost like I was in a trance.What is wrong with me?“She’ll get her shot.”
“Thank you,” he whispered and stepped in to kiss me softly on the mouth. I was stunned at the turn of events, and when he ducked his head with a flush on his face and stepped back, I grasped the nape of his neck and held him still to kiss him right. NoahBouchard, my husband, was officially the first man to have stunned me stupid, and I didn’t hate it.
“Anytime. See what being a good little mouse gets you?”
His smile soured. “You want me to punch you, don’t you?”
“If you can’t take what I dish out, it’s not my fault,” I said and slapped him on the ass. “Let’s move.” I took off walking and smirked as he cursed behind me.
11
NOAH
I didn’t knowwhat was more exciting—seeing the look on my dad’s face or watching the board members’ expressions as they realized what was happening. It was clear they knew Dad hadn’t been the real owner, and now that Alton stood in front of them with his team of lawyers, they had no cards of their own to play. I couldn’t remember the last time someone got one over on Dad. Maybe never, or at least not that I knew.
Lincoln DeMevius, one of my dad’s closest friends, shoved from the long wooden conference table to his feet, glaring at Alton. He was a tall man with reedy limbs and a receding hairline, and he’d always been the kind of person I avoided because he touched me too much and made jokes I didn’t find appropriate. I felt uncomfortable around him and he made my skin crawl. The cruel smile he usually wore only made his creepy vibe worse, but he wasn’t amused this morning.
“Is this how you want to play it, Bouchard?” He sneered, smoothing his hand over the gray hair he had left. He’d always thought of himself as above everyone else, and Dad had made him a lot of money, not that Lincoln needed it. He came from a wealthy family, and the DeMeviuses made a lot of dollars through oil.
“I’m not playing anything. Like I told Edison, I’ve won. Now, you can either go down with him or stick around.” Alton looked like a man at the top of his game, standing with his back straight. He dared them to make a move against him. I didn’t like business because it was a constant cock fight I had no interest in; Alton clearly excelled in the measuring competition, and he wasn’t compensating for anything, either. My hole still twinged from the way he’d fucked me last night.
“We won’t allow this,” Mason Bloomberg said in an uninterested voice, raising his chin as though needing to pretend he cared when he clearly didn’t. He was the youngest man on the board, and the only reason he was here was because he was Christian’s uncle. Dad and Carson Bloomberg, Christian’s father, were good friends, and when Mason had needed a job, Dad provided it. He was smart and handsome with a stern jaw and high blond eyebrows, but he’d never had any love for Dad. Every time I’d met him, he’d seemed bored out of his mind, agreeing to whatever would get him out of the room quickest.
Alton stared at Mason with curiosity and a strange sensation twisted in my gut, similar to jealousy—but it couldn’t be. This relationship was a deal Alton had struck with Dad, nothing more. What did it matter if he looked at other men? In six months he could fuck Mason, for all I cared.
Lincoln scoffed and directed his glare at Mason for a moment, who shrugged and grinned. He didn’t care what any of these men thought, and I liked him for that. Lincoln had never enjoyed his company, though, and swung his focus back to Alton. “You can’t get rid of us that easy, Bouchard.”
