Walter Kendrick was talking, but for the life of me, I couldn’t hear a single word that was coming out of his mouth.

Well, except for one word.

“My son… he is… he has…”

Son.

Goddamn, son.

The shock reverberated in my body as I stared at him. He stared back, the same shock reflecting in his eyes. Up above, I could practically hear the gleeful voices that put us together in that elevator rejoicing. Mockingly, it looked like. I froze in place, not sure whether I should enter or leave.

But Walter was already calling my name.

Reluctantly, I went in, though none of the uncertainty showed on my face. I was calm as ice outside as I strode over to where they were and he shook my hand, greeting me a good morning and telling me he was glad I was here. We’d already met up a few days ago to discuss his stepping down and my role as their new CEO, and I was prepared for this moment with him.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for this moment with him.

Leo stood up from his seat, not meeting my gaze. He was still as short as ever, wearing a white shirt hidden beneath a black suit, which hugged his sexy, little omega body perfectly.

But it was his eyes I wanted to see.

Once Walter was done speaking, I turned to Leo.

“Nice to meet you, Leo,” I murmured, keeping my voice neutral, as if I’d never met him before. I held out my hand.

Finally, he looked up.

I wasn’t prepared for the potency of those green eyes in broad daylight. He took my hand in a firm handshake, a nervous smile on his lips. A flash of those lips, swollen and thoroughly kissed, made me hot under my collar.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Hiddleston,” he said, emphasizing the last name. So, it was going to be like that—pretending that we didn’t know each other.

“I guess we’ll be working together.”

The cool smile dimmed. “I guess so,” he murmured. Then he began walking ahead to the meeting room, where we would apparently be feeling each other out and discussing our plans.

For the company, of course.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Walter was with us for the first half hour, smoothing things out and telling me a little background history of the magazine and a rundown of its oldest employees—which, of course, included his son, who’d been working in the company for a few years now since after college, which put him younger than I’d expected. Damn it. This day just kept giving out surprises.

Once Walter was gone, an uncomfortable feeling settled in the air, mostly coming from Leo. But none of it showed on his face as he maintained the cool expression he had earlier.

The door closed with a click. Leo took out a folder and handed it to me.

“My father has collected these,” he said. “Some of our most popular articles. He’d like you to get acquainted with our segments so you can have a new business strategy ready on how can capitalize on these.”

I took the folder, but didn’t open it. “And what would you like, Leo?”

His eyes shot up again. I could get lost in those green eyes. Irritated at my inability to concentrate, I met his gaze and didn’t look away, accepting the challenge and even purposely trying to intimidate the omega with my gaze.

As expected, he didn’t back down, either. Most omegas would have crumbled under that sort of pressure from an alpha like me, but not this omega— Leo was different.

“I’d like for us to get this done and over quickly so we can get things in motion as soon as possible. We don’t have time to waste. You can start by reading those articles.”

“I’ve read Think Train’s articles,” I replied. “Yours are written by L.K. Most of your employees’ articles are good, though some can be weeded out.”

“Weeded out, Mr. Hiddleston?”

“Lucas.”

“Mr. Hiddleston—”

“Lucas.”

“Lucas,” he hissed. “When you say weeded out, are you trying to imply you’re going to eliminate some of our writers?”

In response, I placed the folder I brought on the table and slid it toward him. He stared at it for a few seconds before reluctantly opening it, taking out the papers and reading in silence.

“Not eliminate. Just reshuffle priorities.”

“Oh.”

“You’d certainly run away very fast last Friday,” I said, unable to help myself.

I saw his body stiffen, though he continued reading. “I had some errands.”

I scoffed. “At that time of the evening?”

“Fine. I just thought you’d have gotten back to your omega hot piece of ass at the bar, and wouldn’t need me. He was probably worried that his big, strapping stranger had ditched him.”

The answer made me stop in my tracks. His sarcasm was on point. “I checked. He wasn’t there anymore.”

His reaction was immediate. Leo’s head whipped up, his gaze clashing with mine. I smirked.

“These papers say you’re expecting a big surge in revenue within two months,” he said, refusing to acknowledge my response.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“How are you expecting to do that?”

“That’s sort of what I do. Show me the ropes around the office, and I’ll let you know after that,” I said, with a confident smirk.

Silence.

Then Leo reluctantly nodded.

* * *

Despite the omega obviously not liking me or the fact that I was taking over the business, he was keeping a pretty good professional front.

Sure, there were the occasional shooting glances and muttering under his breath, but for the most part, Leo was everything you could ever want in an employee—level-headed, smart and knowledgeable in everything to do with the business. It was going to make my job easier, especially since I wanted to just get this done and over with so I could return to New York to work on my next deal.

Two months wasn’t a workable deadline for most of the companies Andrew and I bought. We normally needed a lot longer, but I was going to do everything in my power to make it work—and if that meant being ruthless, dropping any dead weight, then I was going to be the most ruthless bastard there was.

I didn’t care about being a nice guy. I only cared about results.

Of course, Leo and his father didn’t need to know that.

I kept my pleasant face on. I kept my smile to a minimum. I was polite to everyone that Leo introduced me to, remembering his story about his cheating workmate-slash-ex and trying very hard to resist asking him. Not my business. Not my problem.

It only took a few minutes to make the rounds until we were back in my office, where he began to brief me of their weekly process, the monthly process and the likes. Things were obviously very organized when Walter was holding the reins, and I had a feeling Leo was one of the first to always fall in line. That old alpha had an aura and an air of power—which, all of a sudden, made it easier to understand why Leo was so prim, proper and always so organized. All due to his upbringing.

Walter basically had the perfect son, one who could do no wrong.

Except when he’s kissing strangers in a dark elevator.

I inwardly cursed myself for going back to that thought. But for the life of me, it wouldn’t leave. I could still picture the wanton omega who’d kissed me like there was no tomorrow. His body had been tight, and his skin had been soft all over.

My hands itched.

My cock swelled uncomfortably at the thought of claiming him.

Leo looked at me expectantly after his explanation of the print processes, waiting for my response.

I shifted in my seat. Then I gave him a smile, one that started slow as I gathered my thoughts.

“Thank you, Leo. I’ll call you back to my office when I have my final thoughts in order.”

I didn’t want to stand up and let him see that my cock was as stiff as stone in my pants, so I remained seated, which I knew made me seem very rude and arrogant, but I had no choice.

Leo raised a brow. Then he nodded his head and turned around, walking away quietly. I watched his tight, round butt, reminding myself that he was just part of the business. A writer. A co-worker. An employee.

That little omega I’d wanted to fuck? Was off-limits now.

It was a thought I’d best keep in mind if things were going to be business as usual.

* * *

As much as I tried to focus on the task at hand, I couldn’t top thinking about Leo and his hot little body, especially his perfect round ass that I wanted to bury my cock inside. The thought of fucking that omega was on my mind every other minute of the day, and I had done hardly any work in my office.

I knew it was wrong, but if I wasn’t physically touching him and nobody knew, it would be okay, right? Okay to rub one out? I didn’t need to ask myself twice. I pressed the button I had installed on my desk, which locked my door—something a lot of CEOs had installed in order to prevent people from barging in unannounced. I opened my desk drawer and pulled out my small travel bottle of lube, which I always kept with me for times just like this.

I quickly unbuckled my belt and unzipped my pants, pulling them down to my ankles while I reclined my executive leather seat and slathered the lube onto my hard cock and began stroking myself. I closed my eyes and thought about fucking Leo in every way I could imagine. I knew this was just a fantasy and not as good as the real thing, but it would have to do for now. I began to pick up speed and rub my balls with my left hand while I gripped my shaft with my right, using a twisting action as my hand went up and down. The water activated lube began to dry, so I spat in my hand and began beating my alpha meat again, while I pictured it going deep into Leo’s tight omega-hole. With a few more strokes I had reached the pinnacle and couldn’t hold back from climaxing any longer. I did my best to keep my groaning to a minimum as I shot globs of thick spunk all over my computer screen, keyboard and desk. It went everywhere, and I was spent.

Totally worth it.