Page 54 of Wanting What’s Wrong

Five

Cade

T he office noise around me is buzzing static as I barge past mindless drones and yes men. I have no time for bullshit. I have no time for any of them because Lennie is the only thing on my mind.

She’s my world and every minute away from her is a fucking waste of my time.

I left early this morning because we need to try to get ahead of this thing with Nolan and the yellow dress woman saying I assaulted her. Even as I stride past my secretary, my hard-on making my walk stiff and uncomfortable, I mutter, “No calls”.

I slam the office door and collapse into my chair, pulling out my phone as it buzzes in my back pocket.

Lennie: You’re gone already, Daddy. Sad face. I was hoping to give you a good morning…

Me: I left you a note, little bird. Daddy had to take care of some things but I’ll be back. I’ll always be back. What are you doing right now?

Lennie: Just getting out of bed. I’m sore.

Me: Yes, I’m sure. I left you two Ibuprofen with your meds and vitamins downstairs. You were a perfect girl taking it all for me. It will get easier. I’ve laid your clothes out. I know you like your Oxfords and khakis when you’re going out.

Lennie: I see them, but… There’s a bra but no panties.

Me: That’s right. That’s my choice from now on. I want to think about you walking around without them, and when I get home, I want quick access.

Lennie: Naughty…

Me: I want to see you dressing. FaceTime me right now.

I grip the phone, wondering, as my heartbeat counts the seconds if I might have pushed her too far. Is she going to tell me to back off? Is she going to…

Fuck, no. There she is.

I’ve never hit the button on the phone faster or harder, my cock engorging at the thought of seeing her.

“Hi, baby.”

“Hi…so, just get dressed?”

I nod. “Just get dressed. I want to see you do all the simple things too. I want all of you. Just pretend I’m not here.”

She screwed up her face, tugging her short hair back into a ponytail. “I never could do that before, so I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to now.”

“That’s okay. Do your best. Just always try your hardest for me. Now get dressed. I’ll watch while I work.”

She does as I ask, slipping her perfect naked body into her ironed clothes, then blowing me a kiss as I tell her to finish up and get downstairs for her breakfast, knowing I need to get to work.

“Daddy loves you.” I finish and click off as she waves and smiles .

I hit the button to start the computer, trying to find a comfortable position for working where my hard-on isn’t trying to poke me in the face. How am I supposed to concentrate on figuring out the media nightmare the company is in right now when all I can think about is what I just saw on my phone?

I want to call her back and order her to do it all over again. Or get my driver to run me home so I can bend her over the kitchen table and fuck her so hard she’ll feel it for the rest of her life.

As I start to open my email, my phone buzzes again. I almost don’t answer it because, shit, whoever it is, they can wait. But when I look at the screen and see that it’s another message from her, all work is forgotten.

Lennie: There’s way too much food here. The cook said she had strict orders to make it for me as soon as I came down, but it’s too much.

Me: There’s the right amount of food. You have to eat a decent breakfast. Avocado toast is great, and you’ve got some right there, but I want you to drink the orange juice, eat the eggs and bacon, and take your vitamins and meds.

You’ll be starting your period in a couple of days so there’s extra iron caps there.

I left her vitamins out on the counter, with her usual meds and the ibuprofen next to a glass of water.

Lennie always thought it was her mom’s idea for her to start the vitamins, but it was me.

It was all me. From the moment she became my daughter, I knew I had to protect her from everything, make her life as easy as possible, and ensure she’s taken care of every second of every day.

Lennie: You track my periods better than I do.

Me: Damn right. But that might be the last period you have for a while.

Lennie: Huh?

I hesitate, hovering over the keyboard. How much should I tell her? How much of a shock can she take right now ?

If I’ve done my job right, she won’t be having any periods for the next nine months.

Me: Never mind. When you’re done eating, I want you to come to the office. Mark and the driver are waiting outside. We need a debrief from last night.

Lennie: What? Are you sure I need to be there? What will people think?

Me: I’m the only person you need to worry about. You do as Daddy says and be a good girl. You know I’ll always look after you.

Lennie: But I don’t need to be there. I’m not even really an agent, am I?

Me: You’ll be here, baby. We have nothing to hide. I want you here. Mark will bring you in from the back entrance, so you won’t have to see anyone else until you’re with me. Then you’ll sit next to me and nobody will so much as look at you the wrong way. You trust me?

Lennie: Yes, I trust you.

Me: Good girl. Finish up and get your hot little ass in the car. See you soon.

From the second she walked in the conference room door, I’ve been on edge. I know I have to let her pass by other people and get herself a coffee. But she’s been in the room now for a whole minute, and I don’t have her by my side.

I’m clenching and unclenching my fists, but it’s not helping.

She smiles at the barista as he makes her latte, and I want to punch him just for seeing that smile. Every smile belongs to me from now on.

When he smiles back, it’s all I can do to clutch the edge of the table like it’s a fucking anchor .

“Shall we start?” Davis murmurs from beside me. “I think everyone’s here.”

I growl. “Not everyone is seated.”

“It’s your call, brother, but I don’t see why Lennie had to be here. This is a company issue.”

“And she’s a part of this company.”

“I get that, but—”

“Just let her get her fucking coffee. Then we’ll…”

I trail off as I watch the barista turn while she’s distracted by something out of the window. And I don’t miss the way his eyes lock onto her ass.

Fucking disrespectful little shit.

I’m already on the move when his fingers graze hers passing the coffee. Oh, fuck, yeah, he’s making out it was an accident as she looks back and takes the cup from his hand, but that was no fucking accident. The room has gone silent around me as I storm their way.

He doesn’t even see me coming. Not until it’s too late.

His eyes go wide as I wrap my fingers in his collar. I don’t say a thing. I lift him off the floor, sending him crashing back into the coffee machine as I press him against the wall. His arms are raised, his head shaking as he tells me he didn’t mean it.

Which means he knows what he did.

Fucker. What is he? Nineteen? I should tear each of those fingers off that touched her.

“Cade, man, calm the fuck down.” Davis pulls at my arm, trying to release my fingers from the coffee boy.

I shake my head. “He’s fucking fired.” I glare. “You hear me? Get the fuck out.”

He nods, avoiding eye contact. But fuck if he doesn’t look at her again…dead man walking.

I cock back, but Davis is there, holding my wrist and doing his best to talk me down .

“He gets the idea, Cade. He’s gone. Let him go, and let’s start the meeting, yeah?”

I glance back and see Lennie staring at me with tears in her eyes. And that’s the only thing that stops me from twisting his head from his neck.

With a grunt, I drop the barista and turn away, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as I lead her to the table. She has her coffee, she’s next to me, the meeting can begin.

Davis sits on the other side of Lennie, which I appreciate. I know the other agents are all looking at her when they don’t think I notice. Well, let them look. I have nothing to hide.

“Start the video,” I say to Davis, and a click later, there it is.

This footage, shot by someone at the party, was on every news channel in the country this morning, including most of those worldwide.

It’s out of context, but it doesn’t look good.

Lennie starts tapping her foot beneath the desk as the footage shows me pummeling Ryan Nolan. Blood spurting from his nose.

No more than he deserved.

When Lennie starts to tap the underside of the table with her fingers, I reach for her hand, hook my foot around the leg of her chair and pull her closer.

I tug her hand into my lap. Which is a fucking mistake because the moment it’s there, my cock is straining to get at her, straining to slide between her fingers and rub itself to relief. And even I know that’s not a good idea in the middle of a fucking containment meeting.

“What’s the legal situation?” I ask as the video ends, glancing over at my head counsel.

I pay him enough that whatever this is should be over before it begins, but I also know I have to listen to his bullshit if he wants to tell me how stupid I’ve been. I look him up and down in his expensive suit and slicked-back hair and wonder if he’s trying to emulate me .

He draws a deep breath, then clears his throat before he begins. “No charges have been filed. Yet. If they are—”

“If they are, we’ll deal with them then,” Davis cuts him off, and I nod his way.

He always did have my back.

“The biggest problem is what he’s saying.” Alisha Taylor draws my attention. She’s nearly sixty, but what she doesn’t know about PR can be written on the back of a postage stamp. “Do we have the footage, Davis, Sir?”

Davis nods, clicks a couple of buttons on his laptop, then points at the video screen. An interviewer sits opposite Ryan, looking sympathetic as he talks about what happened.

Shit . I have to admit. He looks good in an interview especially all beat to shit. Everyone here knows I suck at interviews, so they didn’t suggest I get ahead of it that way I usually end up walking off or telling someone to go fuck themselves.

“Obviously, Mr. Jamison is a big deal,” the interviewer says, frowning dramatically. “A lot of people won’t know his name, because he tends to stay out of the limelight. But they’ve probably heard of his late wife, Lilith Sparrow.”

Nolan nods. “I have a lot of sympathy for his situation, Claire. But it’s been years since his wife passed, and just randomly attacking people like he did—”

“You say randomly attacking . Do you have any idea why he went after you like that?”

“None at all.” He shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “I think maybe drugs were involved. It’s an unfortunate fact of this business.”

“Indeed. What about that young girl in the video? Isn’t she Mr. Jamison’s stepdaughter? How is she involved? Was her shirt torn there?”

"She is his stepdaughter. I’m just going to say I feel sorry for her. Her shirt must have gotten that way in the chaos. I have no further comment. ”

I grunt. “I’ve heard enough. Turn it the fuck off before I smash it.”

I reach across to press the stop button on Davis’s laptop, but before I can, he grabs my wrist, shaking his head. On the screen, the interviewer takes a sip of water before continuing.

“Can you give us any insight into the situation before that video begins? What were you doing in that room in the first place, can you tell us that?”

“That’s the ironic thing, Claire. I was there because I was thinking of signing with his agency.

I’m glad I never put my signature to any sort of contract because if this is the behavior of the CEO, can you imagine what chaos I’d be in?

” Nolan sighs. “I will add one thing, about the young woman, the agent . I should have had some idea when she tried to put her hand on… Well, on a private part of my anatomy…”

“Really?”

“It happens. I’m a celebrity. People think they’re entitled—”

The video cuts off as I slam the laptop shut. “Enough. Meeting’s over.”

“I know you have to fire me. I get it—”

Jesus. Fire her? For what? For Nolan being an asshole?

“Nobody is firing you.” I glare at Lennie but my anger is at the situation, not at her.

“Look, this isn’t good.” Davis paces on the other side of my office.

The three of us retreated here after the meeting to discuss next steps.

“I think the best thing we can do right now is lay low. You know how these things are. Hollywood loves some drama, but by next week, if there’s nothing new, you guys disappear, it will be stale. They’ll move on to something else.”

“So what? I just lock up at the house--” That’s not a half bad idea …

He shakes his head. “You need to get away, man.” With a glance over at Lennie, he adds, “Both of you.”

“Get away? By the time I get back—”

“Everything will be fine because I’ll be here.

” He pulls out a seat and drops into it next to Lennie.

“Look, I can tell things have changed between you two. I’m not going to ask any questions, but if I can see it, others will as well; and that’s a story that would run for weeks .

Maybe months. Get out of here. Go see your mom. Let everything blow over.”

I hear what he’s saying, but it’s fucking madness. Things aren’t about to change between me and Lennie. This story is going to come out sometime.

I shake my head. “Better to—”

“Lennie, can you give us the room a moment, sweetheart?”

She looks from me to him, but when I nod, she retreats with a sigh of relief.

“Go sit with Darlene. I gave her raspberry chocolate cupcakes this morning. Go get one.” Darlene is my assistant and as loyal as Davis.

She loves her paycheck, but I think she loves cupcakes more and I’ve made it a habit to make sure she’s got her cupcake fix, especially when I see a challenging day ahead.

She’ll watch Lennie and not ask questions.

Davis sighs as soon as she’s out of the room.

“Look, man, I get it. But Lennie doesn’t.

She’ll be chum in the water as soon as this story comes out.

You need to get her out of here, for her fucking sake.

Make a plan the way you always do and come back as the conquering hero. You hear what I’m saying?“

I get it. He’s right. It’s time Lennie and I took a trip.

From the bright lights of the big city to the crickets in the cornfields. Sounds about perfect to me.