Page 192 of Pure Recklessness

‘Oh my God!’ Ellie squeaked once we were safely away from Pandora. ‘You handled that brilliantly! But what are we going to do, now that she knows?’

‘I have to tell my brothers. I can’t let her have this kind of leverage. She’ll use it against me.’

‘Shit.’ She winced. ‘But if your brothers find out they’ll go crazy, won’t they? And report you to the board?’

‘Probably.’

‘When will you do it?’

‘They’re all travelling today for a big meeting tomorrow morning in New York, so I can’t risk distracting them before then. They’ll be in London for the event on Tuesday, so I’ll do it straight after that. At least Pandora will be busy partying in Ibiza, which gives us time to get ahead of whatever blackmail she’ll cook up when she returns to work.’

‘Oh, thank God.’ Ellie exhaled. ‘For a second I thought you were going to suggest telling them before the event.’

‘No. I don’t want any tension on the day,’ I continued. ‘The guests will pick up on a bad vibe. Our family needs to be a united front. We need to show the world that Sated is still a force to be reckoned with. And I want everyone to see for themselves how hard you’ve worked and what an asset you are to the company.’

‘Thanks!’ Pride flashed across her face.

‘If my brothers want to try beating the shit out of me behind closed doors afterwards, so be it.’

‘They’ll have to fight me first.’ Ellie crossed her arms across her chest and I planted a soft, grateful kiss on her forehead.

‘Thanks, Doc,’ I said, using one of the nicknames I now had for her.

I’d started calling her Doc because Ellie had fixed me.

I was no longer broken or empty inside.

Ellie was more than just a relaxation therapist who eradicated my stress and calmed my mind. She made me feel better about everything. Myself. My abilities. Life and all of its possibilities.

Whenever I was with Ellie, I was happy. I was home.

She made me feel whole.

‘You’re welcome, Percy Bear. No one’s beating the shit out of my gorgeous boyfriend on my watch.’

A wide grin spread across my face. Not so much because of the cheesy Percy Bear moniker she’d given me (because apparently, I was more addictive than her favourite Percy Pig sweets and, in her words, ‘cuddlier and more comforting than the cutest giant teddy bear’), but at the use of the other word.

Boyfriend.

As childish as it seemed, I loved the sound of Ellie using it.

In the earlier days, I liked the CEO – Chief Executive of Orgasms – nickname. But that just related to my prowess in the bedroom. Whereas boyfriend (and admittedly, Percy Bear) told me I was more than just a good fuck.

There were layers and a deeper meaning to those titles.

We’d never formally discussed a label for what we were, but it was obvious. I was hers and she was mine.

I wouldn’t have asked Ellie to move in with me if I wasn’t serious about her.

The truth was, I wanted her to stay.

Permanently.

Ellie was the woman for me.

And no one, not my brothers, the board and especially not my duplicitous ex, would get in the way of that.

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