Page 30 of Weathering the Storm of the Century

“I’m not fucking around, Aelix,” I bit out, not caring about the receptionist’s wide-eyed gaze.

“Fine,” she snapped before hanging up on me.

Not two seconds later, the receptionist was picking up her phone, her blue gaze still staring up at me like I was about to burn the building to the ground with everyone inside it. Luckily for me, she was a professional and doing her best to handle the situation. Had she been one of those idiots that recorded everything with their phones, I would have lost it.

As soon as she hung up with Aelix, she said, “Uhm…Aelix’s office is located on the fourth floor. She…uhm…it’s the second office on your right as you exit the elevators.”

“Thank you,” I said as civilly as I could before making my way to the elevators. My only hope was that I didn’t run into Kent on my way to Aelix’s office. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to know how I’d react to seeing him right now.

Though the elevator ride hadn’t been a long one, when the doors opened, it’d felt like it’d been an eternity before it finally reached Aelix’s floor. Looking at the layout, it was clear to see that we’d have no privacy if I started yelling, so I was going to have to do my best to keep that in mind. Granted, my reaction depended on what Aelix had to say, but I could still do my best not to ruin her career.

When I came upon a door with her name on it, I didn’t even bother knocking. I turned the doorknob, then walked in like I owned the building, and if that made me a dick, then so be it. Never having been in this kind of position before, I was winging it with the full expectation of getting some of it wrong. Still, I didn’t give a fuck.

Aelix stood up from her chair as soon as she saw me. “Cotter.”

“A text, Aelix?” I bit out. “Really?”

Her chin lifted just a bit. “Since that’s how we’ve always communicated, I didn’t see anything wrong with sending a text.”

Ignoring that, I asked, “And you’re seriously telling me that you actually have feelings for that sonofabitch?”

“I…” Aelix licked her lips nervously. “I don’t know…I…he asked me to dinner, and I realized that dinner…dinner sounded like it might be a nice time.”

“Then why in the fuck didn’t you call me and tell me that you wanted to go to dinner?” I snapped unreasonably. “I would have made time to take you to fucking dinner, Aelix.”

Her beautiful amber eyes widened. “I didn’t call you because I made a deal, and I do my best to honor my word, Cotter,” she shot back. “A sexual relationship with complete transparency, remember that? No feelings, no drama, no false promises, no blindsiding, no anything.”

She was right, of course.

Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to let her use facts to dump me.

“You still could have said something,” I argued.

Aelix shook her head. “I didn’t feel like anything was missing until Kent asked me to dinner,” she replied before letting out a deep breath, obviously trying to remain calm. “And while I don’t have any real feelings for him right now, I saw nothing wrong with giving him a chance, Cotter. Sooner or later, I’m going to want a husband and children.”

I could feel my jaw clench at how badly I had fucked this up. “And I never crossed your mind.”

Credit to the woman for not being a liar, she said, “No. Not once.”

I gave her a terse nod since I deserved that. “And now?”

“Now what?”

That had me straightening to my full height. “You’re not going to dinner with that prick or any other man, Aelix,” I told her. “If you want to go to dinner, then you’re going with me.”

Her face softened, and that seemed worse than her fiery temper earlier. “Look, I get that you might be feeling upset that…that your toy is being taken away-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I practically roared. “My toy? My fucking toy?”

“You know what I mean,” she bit out.

I stormed over to her desk, rounding it until I was in her face. “Let’s get something very clear, Aelix. You have never been my toy. I have never seen you as my toy. No matter our arrangement, I’ve always seen you as a strong, successful, confident, beautiful woman. Toys are discardable, and that’s the last thing that you are.”

Her eyes widened again. “Cotter-”

Cutting her off, I said, “I’ll be at your house this evening to discuss this further, and I swear to God, if I show up to find out that you’ve gone to dinner with that motherfucker, things will get ugly, Aelix.”

“You can’t do this, Cotter,” she argued. “Where do you get off? You’re not my boyfriend and never have been. You’re overstepping.”

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