Page 42 of Big Bossy Billionaire

Over the past few weeks, battling my own securities regarding my qualifications for the role had been hard. Wanting to push Killian to the back of my mind and forget about him altogether. A part of me was thrilled to have him here, giving me some semblance of normalcy in a sea of unfamiliarity. The other part of me didn’t like how easily we fell into the same old patterns.

He was much better situated to be leading this task than I was.

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t.

Killian was, after all, a lot better than he wanted to admit.

But it didn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t be here, and I shouldn’t be pining after him.

Killian cleared his throat. “Meg, you moved out to a different city, so not only do you have to deal with that, but you also have to oversee an entire project that falls under McIntyre territory. That takes balls, so give yourself some credit.”

“I feel like there’s a but in that sentence.”

“Not yet.”

Another thrill raced through me, and I tucked his words away.

As much as I hated to admit it, having Killian acknowledge what a good job I was doing filled me with a lot more satisfaction than I wanted to admit. As we walked around the site, and I pointed out a few more things, I grew more and more distracted, my thoughts of him making a red-hot desire pool between my legs.

Each time I caught a whiff of his cologne, or he looked too closely at me, I was taken right back to our night in the elevator. If I squeezed my eyes shut, I could still feel him pressed against me and revel in how his smooth, taut skin felt underneath my fingertips. Killian, thankfully, gave nothing away and continued to behave as if everything between us was the same. As if he hadn't just offered to hop in the shower with me this morning. I shook my head.

Oh my god, I need to shake him off.

When we finished looking at the site, Killian offered me a ride back to the office, and I begrudgingly accepted.

Great more alone time with the devil.

I didn't know how much more self control I could exercise being this close to him.

On our way to Killian’s car, a silver car pulled up next to his engine revving loudly. Killian shot me a look as we approached his car. The door to the silver car creaked open, and Mr. Russo stepped out, dressed in a cheap suit, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. He lit it up, blew out a puff of smoke and flicked some of the ashes onto the hood of Killian’s car.

“Good to see you again, Ms. Gomez.”

Chills went up my spine seeing that asshole again. But I was feeling confident with Killian by my side. I folded my arms over my chest and drew to a halt directly in front of Killian’s car. “I can’t say I feel the same way, Mr. Russo.”

He blew out another puff of smoke and squinted at me. “I see you haven’t taken my advice.”

“I took it under consideration and decided against it.”

Mr. Russo let the cigarette fall to the ground and stubbed it out. “Mr. McIntyre isn’t going to be happy to hear about this, Ms. Gomez. I thought you were a smart woman.”

“If McIntyre were a smart man, he’d keep his nose out of Holt Enterprises business. You can tell Mr. McIntyre that Killian Holt said to kiss his ass.”

Mr. Russo gave Killian a withering look. “I would be careful of how I talk to Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Holt. He doesn’t respond well to threats.”

“Ask me if I give a shit.”

“Neither of us do.”

Mr. Russo bridged the distance between us and drew back his jacket, offering me another view of the sleek outline of his gun. He turned his gaze on me, and his eyes narrowed into slits. “You’re playing with fire here, so why don’t you back off and let the big boys talk?”

“Why don’t you get back in your car and fuck off?” Killian took a menacing step towards him and bared his teeth. “Otherwise, you’ll find out quickly this can go sideways.”

Mr. Russo glanced between the two of us and snorted. He spat at Killian’s feet before straightening his back. “You’ll regret this.”

“ I doubt that. You’re going to regret this when we report you -” I began.

“Yeah, yeah. Save the tired speech for someone else, princess. I’m not interested.”

---