AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glanced around the spacious living area, stopping at the two empty bottles of wine.
“Do those have anything to do with why you suddenly changed your mind?”
At first, Monica looked confused by his question. It made him wonder just how much she had to drink. Having a serious conversation, when she wouldn’t remember any of it in the morning, was pointless.
Luke could see the moment it clicked. Monica’s eyes widened even further.
“No. Well, maybe but not entirely.” She was babbling, and he had to say, it was kinda cute and a total opposite of the normally self-assured woman he first met. She let out a frustrated breath. “What I meant to say is, my friends were more the reason than the wine.”
Ah, yes. Ash and Trista. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to thank those two or shake his head at them. His first impression was to assume they were trouble.
“Interesting friends. I take it the giant is married to one of them?”
Monica moved to the couch and dropped onto the cushion. When she didn’t immediately invite him to join her, he took it upon himself to sit on the loveseat rather than crowd her on the sofa.
“Falcon is Trista’s husband, and before you say he treats her like an ass, just know that’s not his usual demeanor. Well, maybe it is, but honestly, he’s head over heels in love with her. He just doesn’t like strangers. His lack of communication was because of you.”
Good to know he didn’t let two women walk away with an asshole. It wouldn’t stop him from checking the guy out, but it made him feel marginally better.
“And Bentley?”
“Ash’s husband. Both he and Falcon work for the same company but on different teams. Bentley probably stayed at Trista’s apartment with the baby. She keeps it for when they come to visit which isn’t as often as it used to be. Trista was right when she said there was no way the guys would let them come hang out without watching my place. They’re overprotective like that.”
That was a relief, and judging by how quickly Falcon had shown up, he knew the man had been keeping a close eye. It made him feel better knowing someone was watching her while he had been with his own team.
“I’m sorry I ignored you.”
“What happened after we left Rome?”
He wanted to better understand how they had gone from talking about seeing each other when they got back to the States, to Monica declining all of his calls.
Monica toyed with the hem of her shirt and wouldn’t meet his eyes. He figured that didn’t bode well for him. If she was having second thoughts, that was fine. He wouldn’t like it, but he was man enough to walk away.
“Carmichael got into my head,” she finally whispered.
“The owner of the company?”
For some reason, that wasn’t what he expected her to say.
“Ash’s father, and yes, that particular Carmichael.”
“What could he have possibly said?”
Monica was no longer slurring, so he assumed she had sobered some and knew what she was talking about, but it still didn’t make any sense.
“You have to understand that Niles Carmichael is intense and that was before all the stuff went down with Silverstein. His company is everything to him. More so than his daughter, and I say that as her best friend. He was always more of a boss to Ash than an actual father.
“When Ash decided she didn’t want to take over, we all thought it would be the end of the world. It took her months to convince him to even give me a chance and I’m not even sure he ever really did. Sure, I’m the CEO, but sometimes he still treats me like an employee rather than an equal. For three years I’ve tried to prove myself and I finally thought I was making headway. Then I had the meeting with Fletcher, and I swear it did more damage than anything.”
Niles Carmichael sounded like an asshole. He was adding the guy's name to the list of ones that Caden would be looking further into. The initial workup he had wasn’t enough. He would turn the man's life upside down.
“Yesterday, when I got to the office, he asked to see me. Gave me a lecture about focusing on the company and knowing where my priorities lie. By the time he was done scolding me, I had convinced myself that spending any time with you would only hurt me, so yeah, when you called today, I ignored you. Then my friends found me and put me in my place, so when they left, I had every intention of calling you back.”
“And here I thought maybe it was something I did.” He smirked so that she knew he was joking with her. It got the desired reaction he was looking for.
“Definitely nothing you did.”
Her smile did something to him. It flooded his veins with so much warmth that he wanted to do everything he could to keep that smile forever on her lips.
