I knew she meant it.
And that was the biggest turn-on of all.
But, no, I didn’t feel the same way. I thought my silence confirmed that. It was the kindest way to reject her, to let her down easy. I was still rock hard between her legs and committed to what we had. A confession of love wouldn’t change that. But I didn’t want to talk about it either.
I assumed we could just move forward and forget it ever happened.
For her sake.
But then she threw all of my gestures in my face. She argued that I felt the same way, but I didn’t have the balls to say it.
I had bigger balls than anyone else in this world.
Trust me, if I loved her, I would say it.
I didn’t.
She was the only woman who had my fidelity, but that was because I enjoyed our chemistry so much. She was the only woman who slept beside me every night, but that was because it’d been one of her demands. She was the only woman who’d met my mother, but that was because it’d been out of my control. She tried to see the love in my actions, but in actuality, they meant nothing. I buried her father because it was the right thing to do. I shot Damien because that asshole shouldn’t have shot her in the first place. I bent over backward to take care of her because she was growing my daughter inside her. I could admit I felt something special for her that I felt for no one else. But that didn’t mean it was love. It was lust, friendship, respect, admiration…but not love.
I made it to my floor and headed to Bates’s office.
He was on the phone when I walked inside. “Hang up.”
His feet were on the desk, and he was smoking up a cloud. “I gotta go. Cato just walked in, and he looks like he’s gonna throw a hissy fit.” He hung up and tossed his phone on the table. “I’m surprised your little spy isn’t here.”
“She’s on her way home.”
“Thank god,” he barked. “If I had to look at her face every day, I would just head to another branch.”
Hopefully, his attitude was about to change. “After your little outburst in my office yesterday, Siena offered to do something.”
I tossed the folder at him, and it slid across his desk.
“She strikes me as a woman who offers to do a lot of things…” He grabbed the folder and opened it.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re suicidal.”
“I am when she’s around.” He flipped through the pages. “What the hell am I looking at?”
“Do you not know how to read, asshole?”
He lifted his gaze and glared at me.
“She offered to remove herself from any possibility of inheriting anything from me—in any shape or form.”
His finger slackened on the papers, and he almost dropped them on the floor.
“In regards to the document, if something happens to me, whether we’re married or not, my share of the business would be transferred back to you.”
He flipped through the pages until he found that clause and her signature.
“She also signed off on giving Martina all of my assets in the event something happens to me. The trust will hold on to it until she turns twenty-one.”
“Who’s Martina?” he blurted.
“My daughter, idiot. That’s what we decided to name her.”
“Martina Marino…it’s cute.”
“I know. On top of that, Siena removed herself from ever inheriting any of my personal assets in the event of my death. There’s no wiggle room around it. There’s never any possibility of Siena getting a dime from me personally or getting anything from the company. If I die, it’s all yours.”
He flipped through the pages and read the sections Siena had signed.
“She and I aren’t getting married, but that’s included in the unlikely event it happens, a glorified prenup. So will you calm the fuck down and give her a break? That woman doesn’t want anything from me but me.” As I said the words out loud, I thought about last night. I pictured the way her lips moved when she told me she loved me, the way her breath fell across my skin. Her sultry voice made my skin break out in goose bumps.
Bates finished reading it and returned the folder to the desk. His feet were still up on the surface, and his cigar had been abandoned. He picked it up again and took a few puffs, slowly letting the smoke release from his mouth.
“You have nothing to say?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I was wrong.”
“Maybe?” I asked. “No, asshole. You were wrong. I denied her access to my personal assets just to see what she would do. But she signed it anyway and didn’t blink an eye over it. No other woman would have done that, even if they weren’t a gold digger. It’s totally fucked up.”