Chapter Eight

Chapter EightLocking my car with the key fob, I gave Duke a brief smile. He’d tailed me to Danton’s apartment building, just as he’d closely followed me wherever I went over the past six days. He was a deliberately visible presence now—a warning to any potential threats.Duke wasn’t much of a talker. He mostly just grunted and nodded and busied himself looking scary. The latter wasn’t at all difficult for him. He had a real ‘Piss me off and I’ll bury you’ air going on that tended to make others move out of his way. Which was real helpful, since it meant that they also moved out of mine.It wasn’t so bad having him follow and escort me places. Maybe because, after what happened in my parking lot, I felt safer having him around. Especially since I didn’t trust that my father and Julian would leave me alone despite Danton’s warnings.Both had tried calling me until I’d blocked their numbers—though not before I’d received a voicemail from my brother, who’d pled his innocence and demanded that I ‘answer the fucking phone.’ Like his attitude would make me inclined to do anything other than continue to ignore his attempts to contact me. Idiot.I hadn’t had a single message or call from my mother to ask if I was okay after what had happened. And yeah, it stung that she clearly didn’t give a shit.Whatever.Duke took my duffel from me without a word and then, as per usual, escorted me into the building. Yes, it had become ‘usual’ for me to visit Danton during the week. I came by each day after work, and I spent each night in his bed—hence the overnight bag. As such, we also had both breakfast and dinner together.I’d offered for him to occasionally stay at my place so we could switch things up now and then. Mostly because I worried he’d get antsy about having me in his personal space so often. But he’d vetoed my suggestion on the basis that his apartment was safer. I didn’t mind. Not when he had a huge bed, a luxurious bath tub, and a walk-in shower that gave us plenty of space for shower sex.I smiled at the concierge manning the lobby’s desk, who then greeted me by name. Danton had apparently given it to him, making it clear that I was always welcome here. Something he’d also made clear to me.Danton might have initially danced around the idea of ‘more,’ but he wasn’t half-assing it now. It was both a relief and a surprise, since I’d originally worried that he’d continue to be somewhat closed off with me. It was the only dynamic we’d ever had before, and he wasn’t exactly open by nature. But he wasn’t keeping an emotional distance from me.More, he asked me questions. Real questions. He also answered mine. Unless I requested that he share the details of his not-so-above-board businesses. He was tight-lipped about that stuff, saying he didn’t want that side of his life to touch me.I was okay with that. Being in the dark when it came to such things didn’t make me feel like I wasn’t his partner or his equal. Especially when he easily answered any questions I had about his legal dealings.Duke led me to Danton’s private elevator and pressed the ‘up’ button. The metal doors slid open pretty much immediately. Satisfied that it was empty, he gestured for me to enter first and then followed.I watched as he leaned toward the operation panel and slid a key into the button for Danton’s suite. Duke twisted said key and then jabbed the button hard. It turned green just as the shiny doors slid closed. But it wasn’t until Duke pressed his thumb to a small screen beside the button that a ding filled the air and the elevator began to ascend.The first time I’d taken a ride in it, I hadn’t realized that it was a private elevator. Nor had I noted the security measures. I’d sensed Danton fumbling near the operational panel, but I’d been too out of it after the Cory incident to really register what he was doing. It turned out that only three people had a key for this elevator, and the thumbprints of those same three people were logged into the security system—Danton, Duke, and Vicente.I glanced up at the video camera bubble on the ceiling, knowing that Danton checked the footage via an app on his cell each time the same app notified him that someone had entered the private elevator.He’d told me that if anyone did somehow manage to bypass his security measures and get the elevator going, he could cause it to screech to a halt with a mere jab of his finger on his phone screen. He could also secure the metal doors closed so that they had no avenue of escape.Yeah, Danton took no chances.Still, he wasn’t as overbearing as I’d worried he’d be when it came to my safety. The bars of his gilded cage were unmovable, but not unbearable. There was no dictatorship, no demanding unfair things of me. He’d even compromised on certain things.Danton only really had three non-negotiable rules. One, I would never go out in public without a guard. Two, if I needed to venture out, I had to tell Danton both where I’d be going and who I’d be with. Three, I had to always answer his calls and respond to his texts, even if I was pissed at him so that he’d know I was okay.I was fine with those rules. I didn’t mind the protective measures so much, since they weren’t restrictive. He didn’t try telling me what to or not to do. He essentially only requested that he always be in the loop and that I gave him the room to ensure I was safe. I could agree to that.I cast my mostly silent guard a sideways glance. “Jesus, Duke, do you ever shut up?”He gave me a droll look, but there was a tiny gleam of humor in his eyes.I smiled. “Don’t think I don’t know that you like me.”He slightly shook his head, going for exasperated, but it was spoiled by how his mouth kicked up just a little.Finally, the elevator slowed to a smooth halt, and the doors then glided open. Duke handed me my duffel and then gave me a nod.Knowing from prior experience that he’d head off to do his own thing since I’d be staying with Danton overnight, I said, “Enjoy your evening.”He only grunted.I couldn’t help but grin. “Have you always been a social butterfly?”Another droll look and twitch of his lips.Snickering, I stepped out of the elevator and straight into the small entryway, my heels click-clacking on the wooden floor. The first time Danton had invited me over, I’d waited for him right here, not comfortable with the idea of casually breezing around an apartment that wasn’t mine in search of him.He’d gotten all stern and frowny about it, insisting I should feel at ease with treating it as if it were my own home. He didn’t quite get why I found it awkward. It was that whole empathy struggle at work.Walking into the living area, I saw no sign of him. But I could hear his muffled voice coming from somewhere within the apartment. Since I could hear no others, I guessed he was on the phone.I set my duffel down near the sofa and then followed the sound of his voice, strolling along what I’d learned was rare imported flooring. In an apartment this upscale, I would have expected to find antiques, paintings, and other artwork. Not in this case. Danton liked luxury—a lot of his furnishings were custom made—but he wouldn’t buy pretty stuff and collectibles for the sake of it.I found him in his home office, lounging in his leather desk chair while speaking into his phone. Like every other room, the office was spacious, neat, and smelled of the floral reed diffusers.His gaze snapped to me and instantly warmed. His eyes boldly did a swift, intense sweep of my entire body from head to toe, taking in every detail. Without pausing his conversation, he angled his chair to fully face me and crooked his finger.I had no idea how he managed to make such a move sexy, but he did. Then again, his alpha-laced arrogance was one of the qualities that upped his level of hotness. He just worked it.As I crossed to him, he patted one of his thighs. The moment I sat, his mouth took mine in a brief, quiet kiss before he went back to his conversation. His free hand slid up my back and settled on my nape, warm and possessive.I shifted slightly, making myself comfortable. He’d done this a couple of times before; urged me to sit with him while he finished a call. I guessed that he only did so when said call concerned his legal dealings, because I never heard anything that could be branded incriminating.The glass, executive desk wasn’t all that different from the one in the private room at the Vault. When I’d noted that, he’d said, “Why do you think I so often fucked you in that room? It was as close as I could get to taking you right here in my office. Until now.”Then he’d stripped me bare and fucked me on his desk. It had been glorious.We planned to go to the Vault tomorrow evening for the first time in over a month. I was looking forward to it. We didn’t need the added spice of it anymore. Playing right here in his home was just as pleasurable. But I suspected we’d always enjoy an evening at the club and make use of the private rooms there.My friends would also be at the Vault tomorrow night. Though they were somewhat miffed at Danton for taking his sweet time in making the jump from casual to more, they were supportive of our … God, it felt weird saying ‘relationship.’ It was something I never thought I’d have with him.Having finally finished his call, Danton placed his phone on the desk and then switched his full attention to me. His dark eyes locked with mine. “You’re late.”I blinked at the soft admonishment. “What a warm welcome. I’m charmed.”His mouth quirked. “What was with the hold-up?”“I was working. As were you, apparently, so I don’t see what difference it makes that I only just arrived.”He ghosted his hand over my knee up and my thigh. “Thirty minutes makes a big difference.”I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like you were sat here twiddling your thumbs, expecting me to walk through the door any second. I notified you by text that I’d be half an hour late.”“I had plans. Now I can’t follow through with them.”Intrigued by the wicked light in his eyes, I asked, “What plans?”“I was going to lay you on my desk and play with your pussy while I took my calls. There were lots of ways I planned to play with it.”I didn’t doubt that all the aforementioned ways would have been mightily enjoyable. Neither did my hormones—they sighed in disappointment. “We can put a pin in that.”He hummed, smoothing his hand back down my thigh to settle on my knee. “Did you hit your deadline?”“Yup.” He often asked me about my job. It had felt strange at first to have him so invested in my personal business. After so long of us being distant toward each other, it still sometimes struck me that, wow, I was no longer on the outside of his world.“I sent my final round of edits to the author,” I went on. “She’s a happy bunny. The rest of my payment therefore came through. Then I had to change because, admittedly, I sit around in either my pjs or sweats while I work. One of the benefits of working from home is that I can wear whatever I’m most comfortable in.”He twisted his mouth. “I’d rather you worked from here.”I double-blinked, positively stunned. “What?”“My building has better security.”Recovering from my shock, I pointed out, “But mine doesn’t have shit security. I’m safe in my apartment.”“You’d be safer here.”I narrowed my eyes. “Is there something I don’t know?”He stared at me for a long moment. “Jorge has been pushing to see you, playing the role of the concerned father who wants to be sure his daughter is well and be certain she believes he didn’t sic Cory on her. He hasn’t made any threats to me or delivered anymore ‘messages’ for one reason only: his colleagues are distancing themselves from him in a gesture that they won’t back him if he and I should go to war. Jorge does not like to lose business or the support of his allies.”“So he’s being careful not to exacerbate the situation.”“Yes. But I can sense that he’s becoming increasingly pissed at me for denying him access to you.”That was only to be expected. Jorge would always regard me as something he owned. “You think he’ll approach me at some point,” I guessed.“I think he’ll try. Duke will step in, of course. But Jorge will be expecting that. He’ll take backup. I could put more guards on you, but something tells me you wouldn’t like that much. If you were here more often, it wouldn’t be necessary, and there’d be less reason for us to worry. It’s a good solution all round.” His eyes heating, he doodled a circle on the side of my knee with his thumb. “A bonus is that you’d be right there for me to fuck whenever I want.”“The latter is not a logical reason, since you’re hardly here.”“That’s not true. I come and go often. There are days when I work from my home office.” A wolfish gleam entered his eyes. “I like the idea of having my toy available to me at all times.”“That’s because you’re spoiled.”Sobering a little, he squeezed my nape. “Give me this, baby.” It was a soft coax.“Duke—”“Can monitor your building, can note who comes and goes. But he can’t know that you’re safely tucked up in your apartment alone. If you were here, I’d know if anyone tried getting to you.”I studied his face, suspicious. “It sounds more like you’re trying to convince me to move in with you as opposed to simply work from here.”“You had to know I’d push for it early.”I’d suspected that he’d suggest it fairly soon—Danton didn’t fuck around when he wanted something. He decided on a course of action and forged ahead. But still, I hadn’t expected him to ask it of me thisearly on in our relationship.“I want you living with me. I want this apartment to be our home. I’m not asking for an answer right this moment. I’m only asking that you think about it. Can you do that?”I sighed. “Yeah, I can do that.” Personally, I thought we needed more time as a couple before moving in together.“And in the meantime, you’ll work from here. Yes?”I squinted as it hit me. “Ah, I see what you did there. You threw the huge ‘we should live together thing’ at me so that I’d be more inclined to agree to work from here; that I’d think of it as a compromise.”His eyes lit with an unapologetic ‘busted’ smile.I huffed. “You’re unbelievable.” But I was too happy in that moment to be pissed, because him wanting to move quickly eased my fears that he’d one day soon discover relationships weren’t for him and subsequently choose to backtrack.“Compromising is important, according to you.”Smart ass. “I’ll work from here a few days a week. We’ll see how it goes. You never know, you might get annoyed having someone take up some of your space. This is pretty new for you.” I wanted us to ease into it.“I’d be annoyed if it was anyone but you.”“Do you accept my offer or not?”“Fine. But that’ll start from Monday morning. You’ll work from here Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from now on. Agreed?”“You’d better make it worth my while in orgasms.”A slow smile spread across his face. “Oh, I will.” He gave my knee a squeeze. “I booked a room for us at the Vault tomorrow.”I perked up. “Which room?”“You’ll find out then, won’t you? I also booked us a table at the lounge,” he added, referring to an area of the basement that was more or less a bar with a dining area. “We’ll eat before we play.”I lifted my brows, pleasantly surprised. That would be a first for us. Many couples did it, but we never had.“Hmm, maybe I’ll first make you come right there in the lounge. Or maybe I’ll just let you hang on the edge of an orgasm while we eat.”Neither option sounded all that appealing. “Why don’t you like me?”He chuckled. “I like you just fine.” He spread my legs wider and slid his hand up my inner thigh. “And I’m about to prove it.”