A Bossy Roommate (Next Door to a Billionaire #2)

27. Carter

27

CARTER

T wo weeks pass in the blink of an eye.

Eden still lives with me. It looks like the moving gods still aren’t on Hattie’s side—clearly, they’re on mine. Apparently, there have been “even more unexpected delays” at Hattie’s new place. I don’t ask what exactly has happened to cause the delay—I don’t want to tempt fate—and Hattie doesn’t bother getting into detail. I’m satisfied by reasoning with myself that it’s a common issue in the cutthroat world of the New York City real estate market.

Eden’s presence in my place has become a comfortable part of my life without me realizing it. I, for my part, can’t wait to see how our shared experiences will unfold. Now that Aunt Eleanor has left, Eden and I are continuing to share a bed and a room. She said it doesn’t make sense for her to move everything back to the guest suite only to have to pack it up and move it again when Hattie finally does leave, whenever that is. I’m one hundred percen t on board with that. Sleeping alone? Not when I could have this beauty curled up beside me. I enjoy having her lying next to me every night. Especially when she drapes herself with that soft hair and skin over my chest and clings on to me like there’s no tomorrow.

We haven’t discussed where things will go or what we’ll be. I’m in uncharted territory. Point is, I don’t want to overwhelm her. I know how much her heart has suffered, and that I need to tread carefully. I can’t risk hurting her by making a mistake, or driving her away by a boneheaded or worse, overhasty move.

Instead, I need to give us both time to figure out what we want.

While I’m at work, I receive a call from Vance, who provides me with the latest intel on “Eden’s case.” After concluding the conversation, I begin scrolling through my emails when suddenly my aunt calls me. As soon as I pick up, she says she has some news. I brace myself for the worst, but she quickly reassures me that everything is okay.

“I went to the doctor today, as promised,” she announces cheerfully, “and I’m happy to report I’m in excellent spirits…for now, at least, until the lab work reveals its verdict in a few days’ time…”

It has been worrying me, and I’m glad to hear her voice. “Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

“…the only downside is that the doc told me to put a cork on the bottle.”

“Looks like you’ll have to find other ways to have fun.”

With a sigh and a promise to stay in touch, she declares that she’ll do her best to keep her inner wild child in check.

As we hang up the phone, I can’t help but feel grateful that she’s under medical supervision, appears to be doing well, and taking care of herself—even if it means no more wild nights out on the town—and immediately get up to tell Eden about it. She always loves hearing about my aunt’s antics, and this time is no different.

Work goes from busy to insanely busy. We’re swamped, I’d even call it hectic. Between planning the details on the first Harbor View project and handling the other clients I’ve been assigned, it means late nights at the office.

Eden is right there with me the whole time.

Between work and home, we’re with each other almost all day every day. She starts to stay later to help keep me organized and, since we’re almost always the first ones to arrive and last ones to leave, she drives with me. Sometimes we drive in my car, sometimes we ride on my Ducati, sometimes we take the extra-long tour. I still remember her huge eyes when I surprised her with a pit stop at Ashford Motors to get her her own helmet and jacket.

Because: life isn’t all work.

But today has been a particularly rough day. I’m annoyed by a delay in materials that were supposed to be delivered two days prior. Eden has been on the phone for hours with the suppliers, trying to figure out where the hell the shipment is. I’m in my office, putting our backup plan into motion in case she can’t straighten things out.

I hear her swear—which she rarely does—and she marches into my office positively fuming. Before I can even get a word out, she hugs me. I’m not expecting it and sort of stand there shell-shocked. I’m not surprised that she touched me, no, I’m used to it by now. I’m surprised by her throwing her arms around me during work —she’s never done that before. At that specific moment, her in my arms, it doesn’t even occur to me that I should say something about touching in the office. All I do is hug her back and kiss the top of her head.

“Sorry,” she says, quickly pulling back. “I just… I needed a hug.”

Without a second thought, I pull her back in, and rumble, “You don’t have to be sorry about that.”

I hold her for a few moments before she takes a deep breath.

With the cutest smile, she says, “Thanks, all better,” and goes right back to her desk.

It’s the only line we ever cross at work and it’s so endearing and wholesome that I don’t care. My office doesn’t have security cameras. One hug won’t start rumors.

The sex we save for home. It becomes an unspoken ritual. We’ll get to the apartment after a long day, and one of us will shove the other against the wall, or we’ll fall into bed, hands eagerly tearing at each other’s clothes. The sex we have is dirty, filthy, always thorough, but on occasion, slow, loving, and mesmerizing.

And yes, sometimes we indulge in cupcake sex.

It never ends subtly.

Either way, it’s a good way to unwind and makes the days a hell of a lot better.

Legacy continues to expand, and we’re busier than we’ve been for the last few years since I’ve been COO. I like my work, and I like what I do. I run a tight ship and have a good relationship with my staff, our clients, and our distributors. Delegating tasks is essential to getting things done. Over the years, things have fallen into place and are running like a well-oiled machine.

And yet, all of a sudden, it’s like nothing can go right.

My staff tell me on several occasions that there’s a delay of sorts, or our contractors are calling us to ask where shipments and payments are.

Not only that, but rumors also start circulating in the office. Not normal office gossip and nothing about Eden or me. These are old rumors, rumors that have surfaced before, yet always die down. They’re the ones Bradley warned me about a few weeks ago, referring to them as “whispers.”

The major difference this time is, they’re not the good kind, and they’re not going away: It’s believed that someone at Legacy is talking to Ecclestone Construction, revealing company secrets and making it easy for them to swoop in and take clients right from under our noses. Granger Estates isn’t the only account we’ve lost recently. Two smaller clients have also started to opt out of renewing contracts, and another one is insisting on making changes to current projects.

One Friday morning, Eden knocks on my office door.

Normally, if my double doors are closed and she has something to tell me, she’ll either call, send a quick message, or wait until I come out.

I can tell by the look on her face that I’m not about to like our conversation. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry to interrupt. There’s something I think you should know. Rumors have been going around…”

I’m immediately annoyed.

“…about Huxley.”

I look up. “Do you think there’s any basis to it?”

“Well, normally I don’t, but I think this time it’s different.” She closes the door behind her and takes the seat across from my desk. “I’ve been talking to Gretchen, and Huxley is up to something.”

Yeah. No surprises there. Huxley is always up to something. He’s been on my radar since I’d first heard about the irregularities. “Any specifics?”

Eden bites her lip as she shakes her head. “Well, she mentioned that he’s been very secretive lately. Like, going out to have meetings that aren’t scheduled on his calendar or having a lot more phone calls go directly to his line instead of having Gretchen answer them like she normally does.”

A few months back, I would’ve instantly brushed it off. Eden’s words give me pause. Huxley is always one to rely on his assistant a little too much. Every little thing he can push onto her, he does. It’s a wonder Gretchen has stayed around as long as she has.

“What else do you know?” I ask.

Eden shrugs. “That’s it. I haven’t seen him in the last few days. But with your meeting coming up later, just…be careful.”

“Don’t worry. Thanks, Eden.”

Eden winks as she stands up. “I’ve got your back, boss.”

“And I’ve got yours.” I pause and throw her a wink back. “Especially when you wear that skirt.”

She snort-laughs. “Keep it in your pants, boss .”

Eden goes back to her desk, and I mull over what she told me. Ever since our meeting with Harbor View, Huxley has been suspiciously absent from my day. Normally, I can’t get rid of him. He’s always there breathing down my neck, second-guessing every decision I make. Therefore, him keeping his distance can only spell disaster. He’s not one to give up so easily.

Neither am I.

The main problem I have, however, is that everything I’ve heard sounds sloppy. Huxley is a lot of things. Sloppy isn’t one of them. If he’s the one talking to our competitors, he wouldn’t be so bold as to do it during office hours. Then again, maybe he’s that sure of himself and his position in the firm.

Not less than an hour later, I get a phone call to my direct line. When I check the caller ID, I notice the call is coming from the conference room.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Bancroft, it’s Bernie. Can you come to the conference room?”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Good. And if you could bring your assistant with you, that’d be great.”

He hangs up before I can say anything else. What the hell is Bernie doing here? And what the hell does he want me in the conference room for?

With a sinking feeling in my stomach and my defenses up, I leave my office. The second I step into the lobby, Eden looks up from her work. Her eyebrows are knitted together. “Everything okay?”

“Bernie just called. He wants to see us in the conference room.”

Her face pales. “Is this a normal thing? Does the CEO often show up and call unannounced meetings?”

I shake my head. “No, he doesn’t. I either hear it from him or Bradley that they’re coming to New York. Let’s go.”

Eden nods and stands up. “Maybe it’s a good surprise. Of course! They are going to promote you to partner for having landed Harbor View.”

I doubt they would give me a promotion, but I don’t want to negate her hope.

As we walk out of the office, I can tell she’s nervous, despite the smile she gives me. I want to reach out to take her hand, to squeeze it and try to provide some kind of comfort, but all I can do is give her a reassuring look.

Bernie isn’t the only one in the conference room. Huxley sits at the table, as well as all the members of the board. Shit. This is bad. Very bad. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen them all in one room during my career at Legacy.

They never gather like this unless it’s pressing.

“Gentlemen,” I say.

I sit next to Eden. Her hands are on her lap, fidgeting with nerves. I place my foot against hers to let her know I’m there with her—she doesn’t need to worry. I don’t know what’s going on. However, there’s one thing I know for sure: if they try to drag Eden into whatever this is, I won’t sit idly by. I’ll fight tooth and nail to defend her.

“Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice, Bancroft,” Bernie says, avoiding direct eye contact for too long. “And you as well, Ms. Ryan.”

“What’s this about?” I ask, not wanting to fake pleasantries. I don’t like any of this, and I especially don’t like the way Huxley is smiling.

Bernie clears his throat and sits up in his seat. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be meeting under better circumstances, but there’s a serious discussion we need to have.”

“Let’s hear it,” I press, trying my best to not let my impatience show.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Huxley pipes up. “Slow down a bit, Bancroft. No need to be pushy.”

I regard him with a mask of indifference, fighting with my patience to deal with whatever bullshit he’s about to throw my way. “Maybe I don’t enjoy being kept in the dark or being summoned to a ‘serious meeting’ without any preparation or knowledge of it beforehand.”

“Then I guess we’ll cut right to the chase.” Bernie folds his hands. “We’re giving Harbor View to Huxley.”

My first instinct is to say nothing. Weeks ago, I would’ve exploded on them and demanded an explanation. After all, I’d worked my ass off to land that client, by putting most of my time into it and asserting myself against all naysayers. Judging by Bernie’s face, this isn’t the end of the unwelcome news. This is just preparing for the kill.

“All right, if that’s what you feel is best.” I lean back in my seat. “I don’t see why we had to have a whole meeting about it.”

“That’s not all we wanted to talk to you about.”

I remain silent.

“It has just come to our attention that a handful more of Legacy’s top clients have decided to end their contracts with us.” He mentions the two smaller clients that I’m already aware of, but then he goes on to name three of our larger and closest clients—Miller, Banks, Parker—who I hadn’t anticipated would terminate their association with us in the near future.

“Why?” I ask, this time unable to keep my voice cool.

It doesn’t make any sense. As far as I’m aware, those clients are happy with us. I’ve personally spoken to most of them myself, and they’ve never given an inkling that they were unsatisfied with the work we’re doing. The work I’m doing. The ones who have officially left (aside from Granger) are small fish in a big pond, hardly the kind to make a dent in our earnings.

“In a nutshell,” Bernie says, “it seems one of our main competitors, Ecclestone Construction, has offered them more for less.”

Huxley shakes his head in frustrated agreement, but he doesn’t say a word.

“That’s it? That doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to terminate year-long contracts with a company as trusted as we are.”

“It isn’t just about the money,” Bernie explains, fixing his eyes on mine. “During the last month, several of our clients have had issues at building sites and complained about mismanagement. We’ve had contractors poached, shipments lost, projects delayed, and that’s just to name a few?—”

“All of those clients are yours,” Huxley jumps in, pointing his finger at me, “and were given to you to oversee. It has become apparent to us that you can no longer handle your position here with the company.”

I hear Eden inhale sharply, no doubt ready to say something. The quick glance I give her silences her.

“Gentlemen,” I say, keeping my cool. “You know me. You know that if I make a mistake, I’m upfront about it. Projects have snags all the time. None of these outside issues you mentioned were caused by mismanagement, and I don’t see how they fall onto my shoulders. Especially since I’ve spent those same weeks successfully fixing each of those matters. Which, you know, is my job. My team and I have been working around the clock putting out fires left and right.”

“Ah, yes, your team,” Huxley says, turning his attention to Eden. “Let’s talk about your lovely assistant. Or should we call her…your wife ?”

Eden stiffens, the tension radiating off her in waves. I press my leg against hers, so she remains focused. “Excuse me?”

“Yes.” Bernie nods, having the decency to appear uncomfortable. “Saul has brought it to our attention that the two of you are married.”

And there it is. The reason why Huxley has been avoiding me.

I’m not going to let them get a rise out of me. “I don’t see how that’s relevant to this meeting.”

“It’s a marriage that was arranged to fool a poor old lady battling a severe ailment,” Huxley adds. “Which, if I’m honest, is one of the most despicable things I’ve ever heard. And I’m sorry, dear board members, but do we really want to have such a ruthless, corrupt, lying individual on our staff? Let alone on our board ?”

Huxley looks like the cat that got the canary. The rest of the board members murmur to each other. Huxley’s expression is smug, giving me all the reasons to want to punch him in the face. So that’s what he’s been up to the last couple of weeks.

Someone must have told him that Aunt Eleanor had referred to Eden as my wife, and he had decided to investigate. How he learned of the other stuff—the reasoning behind it being to fool my aunt—I’m not sure. But the one slip-up had been enough for him to decide to dig deeper.

“That’s not true,” Eden speaks up, glaring daggers at Huxley.

I anticipate her response—however, I can’t allow her to go through with it. If faced with further questioning, I don’t want her to become entangled in a web of deceit. Despite having her sign a non-disclosure agreement, which, I admit, was a dick move on my part, considering that Eden is the epitome of trustworthiness and loyalty, it’s time for me to put an end to it.

Under the table, I take her hand, squeeze it. I feel hers stiffen, but only for a short moment before she squeezes back, holding my hand tightly. I’m not hiding how close we’ve become, not in the least. If circumstances were different, I would have raised our joined hands, shown them that we’re a team, but this isn’t the time. Huxley would use it against us, against her, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

“You’re only half-right, Huxley,” I say, turning back to the board. “Eden isn’t my wife. Yes, she is living with me until her own apartment becomes available, but we’re not married. The only reason we never said anything about the living arrangements is because I’m a private person and Eden didn’t wish for any special treatment. It hasn’t been easy for either of us, but we have maintained the utmost professionalism while in the office.”

“Please. You want us to believe you?” Huxley asks, leaning forward. “It’s obvious that you’re hiding something. If you’re not married, did all the rumors just come out of nowhere? Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire—and I’m seeing flames on all sides. Wait…” Huxley rises from his seat, “…unless you’re pretending to be married? To fool a poor old lady? Is that it? That’s even worse. It’s horrendous! Outright evil!”

“Is that what’s going on?” Bernie raises his eyebrows at me. “You’re pretending to be married to your assistant?”

“I have,” I say without pause, watching everybody’s jaw drop.

I sense Eden tensing up beside me.

“Do you have a reason?” Bernie asks.

“As far as the reason goes, since it’s not against company rules, I did not and do not feel I have to explain myself on why I made the decision to take certain actions.”

Huxley raises his arm, still standing, pointing directly at me. “Yet the fact is, you’re a two-faced schemer, are you not?”

“Yet again, I will state that I don’t see how my private matters have any relevance to this meeting. Yes, I asked Eden to fake being my wife in front of my aunt for the length of her visit. The cause pertains to a private family issue.” I take a momentary pause, steadying my tone. “I will only say this much: It was a decision of the heart—one I don’t regret and would do again.”

It’s so silent you can hear a pin drop.

I know I’ve taken some of the wind out of Huxley’s sails. Sitting down, he doesn’t seem as smug as he did a moment ago. From the look he gives me, he’d been prepared for me to argue and lie and to tell the board he was wrong so he could present some bullshit evidence and wave it in my face. Even if I had been able to convince everyone else Huxley was mistaken, the damage would’ve been done anyway.

I glance at Eden. Her eyes are wide, mouth slightly agape. I can see a tear starting to form. When it slides down her cheek, she quickly brushes it away before anybody can notice. I exchange a warm glance with her and gently brush my thumb against hers, eliciting a hidden smile from her in return. I turn back to the rest of the table, still holding her hand.

Looking at the board members, I say, “I’m confident you will make the decision you think is best. If the body of my work up until this point doesn’t speak for itself, then I have nothing else to say.”

I’ve given my life to this company. No one is more determined and loyal than I am. I don’t have regrets. I don’t yell or call Huxley names—funnily enough, the thought never occurs to me. I know my decisions are the right ones. In a way, I’m glad the secret about me and Eden is out, and we can stop hiding our relationship. Her hand is solid in mine, and it’s a bond I don’t intend to give up.

The board members talk among each other. After a moment, Bernie looks at the others while he shifts uncomfortably in his seat and runs his hand down his face. “While I appreciate your truthfulness, and can understand why you decided to keep all this a secret?—”

I know where this is going. No matter what I say, they’ve made their decision. I can’t save my job, but I can save Eden’s. I can’t make her pay for my involving her in private matters.

“Eden wasn’t my assistant when we first met,” I argue. “In case there are any questions about the validity of her hiring, you can speak with HR, and they will tell you that I wasn’t part of the process. Eden earned this position on her own. The successes we achieved were due to her involvement and dedication,” I say, refusing to let her suffer any consequences. “I took her lack of housing to my advantage. It’s important to note that she bears no responsibility for any of this.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her head swivel toward me.

“Regardless,” Bernie says, continuing as if I hadn’t said anything, “you can see how all of this puts us in a delicate position. Therefore, I’m sorry, Carter, but we are going to have to ask you to step down from your position.”

It’s not typical of him to address me by my first name. I can sense his inner turmoil, the weight of his regret. “No,” I say.

Huxley’s eyebrows shoot up and even Bernie looks surprised. “Excuse me?”

“I said, no.” Letting go of Eden’s hand, I stand and adjust my suit jacket. “If you no longer wish for me to work here, then you can fire me. I’m not going to step down when there’s no wrongdoing on my side.”

Silence once more.

Even if the mentioned incidents had happened on my watch, landing Harbor View more than makes up for any losses—it triples Legacy’s market value and will guarantee upwind for years to come.

I don’t break eye contact with Bernie, even though I know Huxley is staring at me, smirking at me.

Bernie sighs deeply, running a hand through his thinning hair. “I’m sorry, Carter. But my hands are tied.”

While Bernie is the CEO and thus the top executive with significant authority, the board holds the ultimate decision-making power. That’s what has just happened. The board has exercised its authority and overruled the CEO’s position.

I nod. Years of work, of giving myself to Legacy has amounted to nothing.

“I understand,” I say calmly. “Gentlemen. It was a pleasure working with you.” Next, I turn to Eden. “Let me express my gratitude for the assistance you have provided the company and me, Eden.”

She wants to get up and come with me, but I signal her to stay. Bernie, too, immediately motions for her to sit back down.

I walk out of the conference room without any regrets.