Alpha CEO

My eyes bulged out of my head. “He told you that?!”

“I think you need to read the article.”

“I think you need to pray that I don’t find you and kick your ass!”

“Cherry—”

“Don’t you Cherry me! I’m so pissed at you I can barely see straight!”

“I didn’t mean to upset you, but he said you guys were back together.”

I rubbed my face. “I can’t believe you printed a bullshit article. If you would have sent it to me, I would have—”

“He said he wanted to surprise you.”

“Oh.” I paused, nodding. “He surprised me alright.”

“The good news is you’re trending across all social media platforms.”

“I’m done talking to you now.”

“Aut—”

I hung up on him, throwing the sheets off my body. I jumped in the shower and then got dressed, before I ran out of the hotel to meet Julian at his photoshoot with Vanity Fair, but the maid stopped me in the hall.

“Miss Troy.”

“Yes.”

“I’m so sorry to bother you.”

“I’m kind of in a hurry. Could we talk later?”

“This will only take a second. Mr. Locke insisted that I check your bed sheets yesterday morning. He said something about them being wet, and I told him they weren’t. They were perfectly dry. Was there a problem I need to know about?”

I scowled, the fury coursing through my veins making my face hot. The son of a bitch had the balls to confirm if I did or didn’t have sex.

The nerve of that man!

I bit my tongue. “There’s no problem. Thank you.” I rushed into the elevator, fuming on my way down.

My blood was boiling, and it didn’t simmer down the entire drive to the shoot. I walked into the building ready to spit fire, finding Julian in his dressing room.

Looking up from his phone, he smiled. “Good morning, Miss Troy.”

“Good morning my ass!” I slammed the door shut behind me.

“Is there a problem?”

“You bet your ass there’s a problem!”

“You need to watch your damn tone when you speak to me. You don’t have to yell. I’m sitting right here.”

“Julian, you’re lucky the only thing I’m doing is yelling at you and not punching you in the face!”

“Oh, so now I’m suddenly Julian again?”

“I’m going to fucking murder you.” I threw the article at him. “What the fuck is that?”

“It’s The New York Times interview I did for you,” he emphasized the last two words with a conniving grin. “You said you wanted me to be honest with the public. Share my past, my history, show them the man I used to be.”

“That is not what I meant, and you know it! You sharing your past has nothing to do with me.”

“But you’re such a big part of it.”

Ignoring his statement, I argued, “We’re not a couple, Mr. Locke. Why on earth would you lie about us?”

“Do I need a reason?” He nonchalantly placed his cell phone inside his suit jacket before leaning forward, setting his elbows on his knees. “I thought you wanted people talking? Rumors are the best publicity. Your words, kid.”

I glared at him. “Rumors for your announcement, not rumors for our relationship!”

“You didn’t specify, Miss Troy. But since you need a reason, how about this one? After your encounters with men yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands to prevent any future indiscretions playing out in front of me.”

My mouth dropped open. “You lied to the world because you were jealous? What kind of fucked up excuse is that?”

“The only one I have.”

“You can’t do this!”

“I already did.”

“Fine. I’ll just deny your allegations.”

“Making me look like a liar when I need people to trust me isn’t going to sit well with your promotion.”

He was right, and I wanted to claw his eyes out. “So what’s your plan now, huh? We pretend like we’re in love?”

“I’m not pretending.”

My stomach dropped, and my heart skipped a beat. Stupid fucking heart. Did he just tell me he loved me?

Shaking away the thought, I responded, “I don’t love you. In fact, right now it’s the complete opposite.”

He fell back against the couch, placing one arm over the back. How I could be furious with him, but still find him incredibly sexy and attractive only further incited my rage.

It wasn’t until he simply stated, “Well then, fuck me like you hate me, Miss Troy.”

That I truly lost my patience with him.

—Julian—

She grabbed the first thing in her sight and chucked it in my direction. “I wish I’d never met you!”

The vase crashed against the wall, shattering on the floor beside me.

“If you’re going to throw shit at me,” I snapped, further wanting to piss her off, “then I insist you start with your pussy.”

She gasped, and in three strides I was in her face, backing her into the wall. “Are you mad, Autumn? Angry? Seething from the inside out?”

“Yes! Yes! And Yes!”

“Welcome to my fucking life every time I had to push you away.”