Chapter Thirty
Andrew
I took a sip of my coffee as I watched the numbers in the elevator tick away until we reached the floor that my office was on. In the week since I'd briefed the board of executives that I was going to be putting in fewer hours at work, I'd managed to stay true to my promise. Of course, I could probably cut back on my hours slightly further, but there was no reason to cut back all at once, I reasoned. If I did a little better this week and a little better next week, things would be fine.
That morning, though, I'd allowed myself a bit of a lazy morning. I'd woken up next to Lexi and hadn't been able to drag myself out of bed. But finally, I hadn't been able to delay any longer. I had a couple meetings lined up at the office that day. So as much as I wanted to stay there, with Lexi tucked into my side, that wasn't an option. Not today, at least.
I whistled as I got off the elevator and headed towards my office.
“Mr. Goldwright!” my secretary chirped, standing up as I got nearer.
“Yes?” I asked, slowing my walk. Usually, she let me get through my coffee and my email before she gave me the rundown for my day. I had to assume that she had something important to tell me already, and it had to be truly dire. “Did one of my meetings cancel?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I just wanted to let you know, before you go in your office, that your girlfriend is in there. I asked her to wait out here before you arrived, but she wouldn't listen.”
The poor girl looked terrified, no doubt thinking that I would fire her for her inability to keep the woman out of my office. After all, there was sensitive information in there. But I smiled at her. “That's all right,” I said.
“Oh, of course, sir!” she said. She looked on the cusp of babbling more, but she settled with a short curtsy and then dropped back into her seat.
I nodded at her and headed into my office, wondering how Lexi had managed to beat me there. And wondering what she was doing there. Did she have it in mind to carry out some sexy office fantasy? The thought had my cock twitching in my pants, but this wasn't the day for it. I'd told her that I had meetings that I needed to get to that morning.
Then, I paused, my hand on the doorknob. The secretary hadn't told me that Lexi was in there. She'd just said that my girlfriend was in there. I'd automatically jumped to the conclusion that she meant Lexi, despite the fact that Lexi and I had never had that conversation.
I smiled a little to myself and headed inside.
But when I entered my office, it wasn't Lexi who sat there waiting for me. Instead, it was Renée.
I stared at her for a long moment, dumbstruck by the sight of her. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, unable to keep the annoyance from my voice as I moved behind my desk, hardly bothering to look at her.
“Oh, don't be like that,” Renée said, rolling her eyes. “I gave you some space. Now it's time to get over whatever it was you were thinking and fix our relationship.”
“That's not going to happen,” I said exasperatedly. “Renée, we broke up. You need to learn how to let things go.”
“You know the saying, everything worth having is worth fighting for?” Renée asked, shaking her head. She came around the desk towards me, putting her hand on my arm. “I know you weren't sure about us, but I know it's just because you were scared of the commitment. But I can help you with that. You don't need to run off with some new girl. You can be with me. We'll take things slowly, I promise.”
“Not going to happen,” I said, shaking her hand off my arm. “Renée, we had fun. But that's it. It was just sex and nice dinners, nothing more. I enjoyed them, and I'm sure that you did as well. But we aren't soulmates. There's nothing to fight for.”
“That's not true, and you know it,” Renée said. “You told me you loved me.”
“I told you that, but I don't think I meant it,” I sighed. “I'm sorry, Renée, but I didn't feel anything for you. And deep down, I don't think you felt anything for me, either. You might like the idea of loving me, but that's not the same as loving me. I don't regret the time we spent together, but I'm not going to pretend that we had some deeper connection.”
“That's not true!” Renée cried, looking like she wanted to stamp her foot and throw a proper tantrum.
I rolled my eyes. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave,” I said, already moving towards the door. “Whatever we had, whether we loved one another or not, it's over. I'm with someone else now.”
Renée snorted derisively. “That woman,” she said. “Darling, I'm just trying to protect you.”
“I'm not exactly the kind of man who needs protection from a woman,” I scoffed.
“Are you sure?” Renée asked. “Is that woman still living with you?”
“Janice?” I asked, deliberately trying to be evasive. “Janice has never lived with me; she just comes over to work during the daytime.”
“Not Janice,” my ex said, rolling her eyes. “The other woman; Lexi.”
“That's none of your business,” I said.
“I looked into her background,” Renée told me. “She's bad news, Andy. She comes from a broken home, and she hasn't had a steady job in years. I'm surprised that she's even been able to feed that kid of hers. She probably has to steal to support them.”
She paused, looking expectantly at me, but I didn't say anything, figuring that it was best to let her get it all out of her system before I reiterated my request for her to get the fuck out of my office. Sure enough, she continued, sounding increasingly agitated.
“Now she doesn't even have to steal, though, does she? She's convinced you that her kid is yours, and you'll do anything for her now. But she's just some fucking gold digger chasing after your money. She's just trying to get her claws into you and to drain you of everything you have.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “A woman doesn't have to be from a broken home to be a gold digger,” I said. “Maybe you're just jealous because your skills as a gold digger were bested by hers.”
Renée gaped at me. “I'm not a gold digger!” she cried. “I'm not after your money! I love you. You know that.”
I shrugged. “You're a beast in the sack; I'll give you that,” I said. “But I'm sorry, Renée, I don't really find you all that interesting. Whether you're a gold digger or not, we won't work out. I'm not interested in trying anymore.”
“I can't believe you would say that,” Renée snapped. “I'm not a gold digger. You were the one who took me out to the fancy places and the new clubs. You were the one who bought me gifts when you traveled. I didn't ask for any of those things.”
“Right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And if I didn't take you out to nice restaurants and clubs on the weekends, you'd sulk and throw a hissy fit. If I didn't give you gifts when I came back from a business trip, you'd pout. You may not have asked for those things in so many words, but you wouldn't have dated me if I hadn't spent money on you. Don't go pretending that you're some saint.”
“And things are so much better with Lexi, are they?” Renée snarled. “You never buy her gifts or take her out places? You only let her live in your home and eat your food and have Janice take her brat to the park.”
“What's going on between Lexi and me is none of your business,” I told her, beginning to lose my patience. “Now, if you'll please leave.”
“That bitch!” Renée practically howled, and I was glad, not for the first time, that my office was soundproof and no one else could hear her ranting. “She's just some sort of office slut loser!” she shrieked, hardly making sense anymore. “The only thing that she's managed to do right in her life is get knocked up. She's a slimy, good-for-nothing con, and I can't believe that you're letting her get away with it!”
God, what I wouldn't give to be able to slap her for saying those things about Lexi. Unfortunately, I knew that if she walked out of my office with a bright red handprint on the side of her face, things were going to get awkward fast. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and my nails dug half-circles into my palms.
But Renée wasn't done yet.
“And that brat of hers! You don't like kids. You've never liked kids. I can't believe you're putting up with that thing living in your house. It probably makes a mess everywhere and bothers you when you're trying to work, doesn't it?”
“She,” I said, even though I knew that Renée was far from caring at this point. “And the only thing that you've ever managed to do right in your life was being born into a wealthy family.” I started to realize that part of what made the woman so fiery in bed was symptomatic of a more unstable personality than I'd ever noticed. “Renée, I want you the hell out of my office, and this time, I'm not asking nicely.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, a taunting note to her voice. “Everyone knows I'm your girlfriend. No one's going to want to intervene in a lover's quarrel.”
“I will call security, and regardless of what you seem to think, they will be on my side,” I threatened, my voice low and dangerous. “I am the owner of this company, and I pay those guys to remove unwanted disturbances, after all. I don't care if they have to drag you out kicking and screaming: they will make sure that you're no longer a nuisance here. And if you ever show up here again or show up at my house, I will have you arrested for trespassing. Do I make myself clear?”
Renée stared at me for a long moment, looking torn between disbelief and fury. Then, she spun on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind her hard enough that the glass rattled.
I massaged my temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. Already, my good mood from that morning had evaporated. And a glance at my watch showed me I had only five minutes until my first meeting.
I took a few deep breaths and then went to quickly glance over my notes before heading to the conference room.