Page 12 of Strange Seduction (Strange #2)

There’s a Quiet Storm…

Day Two.

The box made the softest thud against the nightstand, but it was enough.

Carmen stirred, her hair a mess across my pillow, eyes fluttering open like I’d disturbed her spiritual hibernation. I smiled at the sight, happy to see the result of my work.

She blinked at me, still groggy. “What’s that?”

“Plan B,” I said, tugging my shirt over my head. “You’re welcome.”

She squinted at the nightstand, then back at me. “You brought me the morning-after pill like it was a croissant.”

“Would you prefer a croissant?” I walked to the closet, pulling out a clean pair of pants. “Because I can absolutely get you one. Pain au chocolate, almond, the works.”

“Shut up, Theodore.” She sat up slowly, wincing. “My hips hurt.”

“Yeah, that’ll happen when you try to ride out three years of sexual frustration in one night.” I tossed a wink over my shoulder. The thought of last night made my dick jump.

“Don’t act like you didn’t contribute,” she mumbled, picking up the box and inspecting it like she didn’t entirely trust my ability to follow directions. It didn’t matter anyway; she couldn’t even read Italian.

“I double-checked the dosage and the expiration date,” I said, fastening my belt. “We’re good. You’ll live.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that.” She narrowed her eyes. “That’s a low bar.”

I walked back to the bed and kissed her temple. “Sweetness. I love you so much. I swear to you I’ll never give you anything that would hurt you. Now, please take the pill before I change my mind. The thought of you pregnant is tempting me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She tore the packaging open. “I hope you picked up condoms, too.”

“Mm.” I grinned. No, I didn’t. “Hey, there’s a work thing tonight. Small party. Client side. I want you to come.”

She let out a very real groan. “Theodore, I’ve been here less than forty-eight hours and already had back-breaking sex, found out you’re trying to get me pregnant, possibly got pregnant, and took Plan B before coffee. Can I take some time to process this?”

“So, you’ll come?”

She threw a pillow at me, which I dodged, much to her annoyance. She groaned, “Will there be snacks, at least?”

“Yes.”

“Alcohol?”

“Definitely.”

“Then I’ll think about it.”

I walked over and leaned against the bedpost, looking down at her. “You should wear that black dress I got you for your birthday last year. I know you brought it.”

“Black? yuck.”

I scoffed. “You love black. And it loves your fine ass right back.”

She tilted her head, amused. “So this is about you showing me off?”

“Maybe a little,” I admitted. “But mostly, I just want you there. I like it when you’re around. You soften the edge on everything.”

Her expression flickered, but she covered it with a smirk. “You really wanna bring me to your fancy work party, all dressed up after catching feelings yesterday, cause your employee flirted with me?”

“Yes. Because I want him and everyone to know you’re mine.”

She hummed and flopped back onto the pillows. “Fine. But I’m not talking to anyone unless I’m tipsy.”

“Deal,” I said, already planning to have her favorite champagne sent up while she got ready.

She was quiet for a moment, watching me.

“I missed waking up to you,” she said softly.

I leaned down and kissed her once more. “I missed you, too. I’ll see you later, my love. Try not to traumatize housekeeping.”

She scoffed and pulled the sheets over her exposed body. “They better knock first.”

˙???˙

The last of the briefing cleared out, and I waited until the door clicked shut behind my assistant before speaking.

Vincent and Carter stayed seated, flipping through the financial report like they didn’t feel the heat rolling off me.

“I’m gonna ask you one time,” I said evenly. “What the fuck was that yesterday?”

Carter looked confused, and honestly, I wished he weren’t here for this. But knowing Vincent, he’d probably pretend we didn’t have this conversation, so it was best to have a witness.

“Wait, what happened yesterday?” Carter looked between us.

Vincent didn’t look up. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“With Carmen.”

That got his attention. He glanced up, casually setting the folder down. “Ah.”

Ah.

That one syllable stuck in my chest.

“What happened with Carmen?” Carter asked cluelessly.

“He flirted with her,” I stated. “Blatantly.”

Vincent leaned back in his chair, arms folded. “I had a conversation.”

“You asked her personal shit.”

“Which she answered.”

“Vincent…” Carter dragged. We all knew each other long and well enough to read between the lines of that. After all, Vince was a natural flirt, kinda like Carmen. Quite frankly, it was stupid of me to leave them in a room unsupervised.

But hindsight was always 20/20, and while I knew Carmen wouldn’t cross any line with him, I wasn’t sure where Vince stood. I thought he’d have enough respect for me not to try to mess with the woman whom I’ve been talking so passionately about over the last three years.

Unfortunately, it seems that wasn’t the case.

My hand twitched the way it did when I needed to punch something. I swallowed hard before continuing, jaw tightening. “You overstepped.”

He studied me for a moment. “You really think I’d try something with your girl?”

“You tell me, Vince.”

The room got silent while Carter and I waited for the answer.

Vincent let out a slow exhale, then stood. “Look, capo . I wasn’t coming onto her. I was… curious.”

I stared.

“Curious?” Carter and I questioned together.

“Yeah,” he said, walking to the minibar and getting himself a bottle of water. “Her coming here was such a big deal that it had you acting differently. I wanted to see if she matched your stories.”

“Why?” Carter pushed, not satisfied with that answer.

“Like I said,” Vince raised the water to his lips while eyeing me, challenging me. “Just curious.”

Carter looked at me, seeing if I took the bait. Fuck knows I was trying not to. I was fighting against my body, which was adamant that I should break his jaw.

“You could’ve done that without mentally undressing her.”

Vincent lowered the bottle, brows lifted like he’d been caught. “She told you that?”

“She didn’t have to. I saw it.”

He didn’t deny it. Instead, he leaned against the desk like I wasn’t two seconds from dragging him across it.

“Come on,” Carter inserted himself, sensing the rapidly growing tension. “Let’s not start the pissing match. Theo has stated that he doesn’t want you talking to his girlfriend like that, Vince. And he said he was just curious, Theo. Though even I question if it was more to it than that.”

That earned a smirk from Vince, followed by another gulp of water.

“Is there any way to move forward now?” Carter pressed. Thank God I did this in front of him, cause I would have left this room in handcuffs otherwise.

I watched Vince. “Depends on him. Stay away from Carmen. I mean it.”

Vince tilted his head in amusement. “You ever think you’re a little territorial?”

“Yeah. You ever think you’re fucking reckless?”

We stared at each other for a long time, eyes fighting for dominance.

Of course, he backed down. “Fine. I won’t talk to her again.”

“No.” I finally stood. “You won’t go near her again. Because I don’t want you around her again.”

Vincent let out a short, humorless laugh. “You serious?”

“Dead fucking serious.”

The room went still again. Vincent’s mouth pressed into a thin line while Carter’s eyes ping-ponged between us.

Finally, Vince pushed off the desk. “Noted, capo . Message received.”

“Good. Dismissed,” I said with finality before returning to my seat.

He gathered his things and moved toward the door, but paused just before opening it.

“She’s impressive,” he said without looking back, “Don’t fuck it up.”

Then he was gone.

“Wow,” Carter whistled when the door closed. “I’ve never seen you two so worked up. She must be very special.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath before returning to my plans in front of me. “She is.”

“I wish I met her yesterday,” he commented. “Then I could understand the hype.”

I scoffed in a teasing tone, “I don’t need your curiosity in my girlfriend, too, Carter.”

He scoffed in return. “You know damn well my curiosity has never been women.”

I shook my head, still trying to calm down from what just happened. “Just get back to work.”

I hate this.

I missed the days were I could just beat the fuck out of people to make a point without worrying about a lawsuit or bad P.R.

I didn’t go back to my office right away.

I took the long way. Past the studio wing, through the atrium, into the quieter part of the building where the architects liked to sketch by hand, and I silently wished I could join them.

The glass in that part of the space had a different kind of tint—cooler and more industrial in appearance. I could see my reflection as I walked, the faint tightness in my jaw giving me away.

Vincent was right about one thing—Carmen did have me acting differently.

Not in some soft, romanticized way. In a way that dredged up parts of me I thought I had buried years ago.

Every word I’d said in that room with him came from the same place inside me that beat the shit out of Micah.

The same reckless part of me that bought the emergency pill for her, like we were still in Eden.

That part of me didn’t know how to sit still when she was involved. It moved fast, protected hard, and didn’t give a fuck about reason. And the truth was, I couldn’t just shut that part off now.

I felt it when I blocked Marcus without telling her, and didn’t say anything about it when she gave her reasoning last night. Honestly, I didn’t even care about whatever case they were working on. She didn’t work for him yet, so Marcus could handle it himself.

See what I mean?

This envious, protective, possessive instinct wasn’t something I could compartmentalize, and I knew that wasn’t sustainable. Not for the version of my life I’d spent years building, and I swore I wanted.