Page 20 of A Man of Prestige

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “You seriously never considered this?”

“I…” He trails off and frowns. “Not in the way you are implying, no.”

I shake my head and pull on my ponytail. “You know what, Aid, for some really smart men, you all are pretty fucking stupid at times.”

He glares at me. “Watch it, star.”

I roll my eyes and throw my hands up in frustration. “Or what? Seriously, Aid. What? What can you possibly do to me that you haven’t already done?” I feel the tears threaten again. He has no idea what he’s done.

I don’t realize I’m shaking until his hands come to rest on my upper arms. “Breathe, star. Take a breath. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but you need to calm down. Please.”

I close my eyes because honestly, looking at him is too fucking painful right now. “When in the history of psychology has ‘calm down’ ever actually worked when spoken to someone upset?”

I open my eyes and find him fighting a grin. “Never.”

“Then, don’t fucking use it,” I say in a low voice through gritted teeth.

“Fair enough. I’m sorry…what you said makes sense. I guess I have a hard time accepting that all the hard work isn’t the reason I’m succeeding, but you’re not wrong, star.”

We look at each other, unspoken words passing between us as he lowers his hands and steps back.

“We can talk about us later. Get to work,” he says after a beat.

I raise an eyebrow at his order.

“Please, get to work?” he grumbles.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. “You sound like the beast,” I say, referencing one of my favorite love stories.

He glares at me. “Please tell me that you didn’t just refer to me as a cartoon character that’s not even a man.”

I press a finger to his chest. “He is a man. Remember?”

He leans down until his breath is hot against my earlobe. “I remember, star.” I feel goose bumps emerge on my skin. The last time we watched that film together was a very intimate night, to say the least.

“I’ll call you later,” I reply as I step around him and put my hand on the doorknob. His hand comes out and covers mine as he leans back down to speak into my ear.

“We will be talking later. No running away from it, star. Understood?”

I roll my eyes at his alpha persona. I turn around and give him a sugary smile. “Yes, daddy.”

His eyes darken and he presses his forehead back to mine. “Oh, star. Don’t play with fire. You’ll get burned.”

“Maybe I like to live dangerously,” I reply with a wink as I pull the door open. He steps back and slowly follows me down the empty hallway.

When we reach the door to the stairwell, I turn to him. “Be careful,” I say, meaning it.

“You too, star. You too,” he murmurs as he leans down and kisses me once more. This kiss is slower, his lips tracing over mine as if he’s memorizing them again. When he pulls away, he reaches out and twirls the end of my ponytail between his index finger and thumb. “I’ll talk to you later.”

With a nod, I head downstairs as he turns to go upstairs. I’m not sure how to process everything that just happened, but now my guarded heart is worried about what’s to come when we do talk again. It’s one thing to deal with heartbreak alone, it’s another to deal with it together.

Chapter11

Aiden

I walk into my office.For the first time in my career, I question the title on the placard under my name. Do I deserve it? Yes. Did I earn it? Maybe.

I can’t say her theory is bad. I also question why none of us have considered it before. I decide it’s time for the three of us to talk, alone.

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