CHAPTER 16
DELLA
My hands caress the charcoal silk dress that falls just above my knees. I’ve never worn something so pretty. The black heels are luckily not too high, so it’s not too hard to walk in them.
I wish I knew how to do my make-up. It’s the only part of me that’s still lacking a bit. That and the haircut I need to give myself this weekend. But other than that, I actually look ready for work.
I feel more confident than yesterday, even though I’m not sure what today will bring.
Walking into Daniele’s room where the girls have been spending most of their time, I smile at the sight of them finger painting. Jamie seems to enjoy it just as much as Danny.
“I’m off to work. I won’t be late tonight.” I press a kiss to both Danny and Jamie’s heads.
“You look so pretty, Della.” Pride shines from my sister’s eyes and it’s times like this that she seems so much wiser than her mere fifteen years.
I give her a smile before walking to the kitchen. I’m just in time to see Carter slip on his jacket. The white shirt stretches tightly over his muscular chest and the sight makes my abdomen clench.
I have to admit that Carter has changed a lot over the past four years. It must be the responsibility of being a CEO. The younger version of him wouldn’t have negotiated with me.
“Morning, babe.” He’s been calling me babe since last night.
He takes hold of my chin and presses a lingering kiss to my lips. When he pulls back I let out a breathy sigh.
“So much for taking it slow,” I whisper.
He smirks at me and taking my hand we walk to the door. “By taking it slow I meant that I’ll at least wait a few days before I fuck you, Della.”
I gasp at his words as tingles race over my body. I should be upset with him but I can’t because I’m even more attracted to this domineering alpha-man than I was back in college.
When we get to the car, the driver opens the door with a smile.
“Morning, Peter.”
“Morning, Miss Truman.”
Last night I told him to call me Della, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
Once we’re seated, Carter takes my hand, and like yesterday, he places it on his powerful thigh. His thumb gently caresses my fingers as he sits deep in thought.
Before I can think of something to break the silence, he says, “It’s Daniele’s birthday next month. I actually missed four years of her life.”
I can’t even begin to imagine how he must feel and I have no words of comfort to offer. I really don’t think there are any.
He smiles at me. It’s not the reaction I expected. “I’m going to throw her a princess party.”
“She doesn’t have any friends here to invite. Maybe we should take her to the park, instead.”
“I’m not celebrating my daughter’s birthday in a park, Della. Besides, she has friends. I’ll invite the guys over. She needs to get to know her uncles.”
“At a princess party?”
“Yes, and they will fucking dress up for her.”
“If you say so.” I try to suppress the smile at the image of a bunch of men playing dress up.
***
CARTER
As we step inside the elevator, Della starts to play with her watch. I pull her hand away and interlace our fingers.
When the doors open she tries to free her hand but I only hold it tighter.
“Are you ashamed of being seen with me?” I ask as we walk past the offices.
“Of course not!” she snaps. “You know I don’t want people thinking I got this job because I’m sleeping with you.”
“Babe, if you were sleeping with me you wouldn’t be a graphic designer.” I grin seductively at her and it makes her face flush red. “You’d be head of the fucking department.”
“Good to know I can still sleep my way to the top,” she hisses.
As we round the corner, the asshole comes out of an office. When he sees me, he darts back inside the office.
I walk into Jaxson’s office and close the door behind us.
Jaxson gets up from his chair and walks around the desk.
“When are you going to redecorate this place?” I snap.
“When I grow tits and a pussy,” Jaxson snaps back before he turns his attention to Della. “Morning, Della. It’s good to see you again.”
He reaches for her and gives her a hug. She can only return it with one arm, seeing as I’m still holding her hand.
When he pulls back, he smiles down at her, “I’m really sorry I wasn’t here yesterday.”
“Morning, Jaxson. It really was nothing. Carter’s blowing it out of proportion.”
“The fucker had her make copies,” I say to Jaxson, wanting to deal with this so I can get back to my own work.
“I know,” Jaxson says. “He told me everything the second I got off the elevator.” Jaxson looks to Della. “Stew says he was just trying to make you feel welcome.”
“He’s not the fucking welcoming committee,” I bite out.
“I’m well aware of that,” Jaxson says. “I watched the security footage for yesterday.”
Della’s hand tenses in mine. My eyes dart from her pale face back to Jaxson’s. “What did you see?”
He looks to Della. “If you don’t tell him, he’ll just watch it.”
My eyes burn a path from Jaxson to Della. “Tell me what?”
“It really was nothing. He was just a little too friendly.”
My eyes flick back to Jaxson. “Show me.”
“Can’t we just fire him and get on with our day?” Jaxson asks but he’s already walking to his desk.
I let go of Della’s hand and follow him. “If it was up to me, I’d fire him. Della made me promise not to.”
Jaxson looks between us and a huge smile crosses his face. The smile vanishes the second he presses play on his laptop.
He proceeds to forward through a few hours of footage before he presses play.
I watch the fucker get up from behind his desk. When he shoves his hands in his pockets, Jaxson pauses the screen.
“Fuck,” I growl. The fucker actually had a hard on and he was practically shoving it in her face. He’s dead.
I turn around and stalk out of the office. When I slam his door open, he darts up from the chair. He’s pale and sweat is running down the sides of his face, even though the AC is set on cool.
“S-S-Sir,” he starts to stammer.
“Carter.” Della grabs my arm and I glare down at her. “You promised.”
Fuck.
Looking at her pleading face, I know there is no way I can go back on my word. I won’t win her trust if I lose my temper now.
I don’t even look in the direction of the fucker. I glare at Jaxson who is right behind us. “He packs all his shit now. I want this office cleaned out today. He can either report to Mr. Meyers, or he can hand in his resignation.”
“You’re demoting him to the mail room?” Jaxson asks.
“He either sorts mail or he leaves. He has a choice. He can be glad Della isn’t filing a sexual harassment suit against him.”
I stalk out the office and pull Della after me. “Which office is hers?”
“The empty one next to mine,” Jaxson says and then he closes the door behind him so he can deal with the fucker.
I walk into Della’s office and close the door behind us.
“I just need a second to calm down before I go upstairs,” I grind out as I take a seat in front of her desk.
I watch her as she places her bag on the table. She opens the blinds and looks out the window. A smile forms around her lips as she takes in the view.
“I can ask Charlotte to come see you about anything else you might need for your office,” I offer. I just want to make her comfortable now that the mess has been dealt with.
She shakes her head. “Thank you, but I want to decorate it. I’ve never had an office before. It will be fun.”
Feeling a little more in control of my emotions, I get up. Della walks over to me and standing on her toes, she presses a soft kiss to my mouth.
“Thank you, Carter,” she whispers.
“I made you a promise -”
“Not about him,” she says. She drops her eyes to my chest and starts to straighten my tie. “Thank you for everything. You’re going to be an amazing dad and … and friend.”
I lean down so I can catch her eyes again. “Just a friend?”
A shy smile forms around her mouth and it makes me want to kiss her until her lips are swollen.
“Fine, I’ll promote you to boyfriend status for now,” she says, but quickly adds, “Just remember, I won’t hesitate to demote you.”
I press a kiss to her lips and smile. “I’ll see you at five, babe.”