Page 50 of Wildest Desire

“I had to come meet the man that took you away from me.” He looks at me with a smile then over at Ethan. “Mr. Knight,” he says, putting his hand out for Ethan to shake.

Ethan stands with his hands in his pocket, and I shake my head at him. “Mr. Williams,” he acknowledges before finally shaking his hand.

“So, before Ethan goes all crazy on us, let me tell you why Mr. Williams is here.” I walk over to stand next to Mr. Williams. “You need someone to help with the center, and he already owns three successful ones in New York. Two of them have teachers working with them. Now, I could go on and on about this, but I don’t know the business side of it. I’ve told him, and now I’m telling you. If you don’t want to work together, then don’t.” This is a business arrangement; it has nothing to do with me. “Now, I'll leave you two to talk,” I say, walking over to my bag.

“And where do you think you’re going?” I hear Ethan say from behind me.

“I thought I would go shopping while you two talk,” I tell him. Why would I want to be here while they talk about a business I’m not that interested in?

“You can sit that sexy ass back down. You’re not going out alone with that crazy asshole still out there.” Ethan points to the couch. Folding my arms across my chest, I look at him and huff. “You can look at me like that all you want. Sit the fuck down and shop online or whatever. I don’t give a shit, but you’re not leaving without me,” he says, leaning on the back of the couch with his eyes locked on mine.

Throwing my bag on the floor, I walk over to the couch and sit down, grabbing the magazine off the table. I look up and see Mr. Williams staring at me and shake my head at him because I know what he’s wondering, and the answer is no.

“Lexi, can—”

“No,” I look at Mr. Williams, and he looks between Ethan and me. “You’ve come to talk about business, nothing else,” I tell him.

“Am I missing something here?” Ethan asks, looking back at us both, but I don’t break eye contact with Mr. Williams.

“This man was willing to pay millions to go on a date with you, and knowing about Sam, he’s still standing next to you. Lexi, why you haven’t told him? Are you planning on leaving him, or are you just scared?” Mr. Williams sits on the couch next to me. “When you called to tell me that Sam found you, I told you then, and I’m telling you now. The condo in New York is yours.”

“So, have we found a new lady friend, yet?” I ask him, and he starts laughing.

Mr. Williams turns to Ethan. “I take it she’s still as stubborn as always.”

“Good to know she isn’t just a pain in my ass.” Ethan looks at me and gives me a wink, but I'm aware this conversation isn’t finished no matter how much I might want to avoid it.

They both spend ages going back and forth about the center. I heard a few words here and there, but nothing that interested me. Ethan called Selena to come over with all the paperwork for the new plans.

On top of that, Travis has been calling a lot today. He would call with good news, then turn around and call with something bad. Ethan would yell at him, telling him how useless he was. In the end, he told Travis to come over too, since talking to him over the phone was getting him nowhere.

“You two want some coffee?” I ask, walking over to the kitchen.

“Please,” Mr. Williams says.

“Yes,” Ethan says looking through the papers without looking up at me. I know when Ethan is in business mode, he’s not looking at things around him.

“Ethan, the word please means—”

“Mr. Williams, you’ve come to talk business,” I cut in. I’m not ready to tell Ethan why please is a word that has been drilled into me. It never got me anywhere—I still had to beg. To me, please is a word you should use and should get some respect for using it too.

“All I was going to say was, the word please means more than you can imagine,” Mr. Williams tells him. Ethan looks over at me, holding my eyes for a moment, and I can already see the questions running around in his head.

Breaking eye contact with him, I go back to making the coffee. Standing there for a moment, I bite my inner cheek, close my eyes, and take a deep breath in trying to forget the day I begged. Please didn’t help me that day.

Placing the coffee on the table for them, I hear the doorbell and turn to answer the door. “I can get it.” I walk away from them. “He’s pissed with you,” I say with a smile at Travis and Selena as they walk into the apartment.

“He’s angry all the time.” Travis kisses me on the cheek. There’s no fighting with that reasoning because he’s right—Ethan is pissed all the time.

"Travis, give me five minutes. Selena, give Mr. Williams the paperwork, and you…” Ethan points at me. “Follow me.” I look over at Mr. Williams because I already know what this is about. “Now, Lexi. I have work to do,” Ethan shouts from his room.

“Looks like someone is getting a spanking,” Travis says in a playful way that makes me laugh. Shaking my head at him, I walk over to Ethan’s bedroom.

Ethan closes the door behind me. “Why is it that Mr. Williams knows everything about you, and I know fucking nothing?” Ethan asks, putting his hands in his pockets and watching me.

“Well, you know more than you think. You know how to kiss my neck to make me—”

“Don’t. Don’t think you can talk sexy and I'll forget,” he snaps. Yes, that was the plan.

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