Page 22 of Drunk on You

She raises a questioning brow. “Okay, so enlighten me.”

“The red widow spider is one of the most beautiful yet deadly spiders. Just like you—beautiful but filled with venom. The only difference is, at this point, I probably know your father better than you do, so I know what you’re capable of, and I won’t be dumb enough to let you lure me in and bite me. I see you, Red, and when I stomp on your venomous ass, you’re going to wish you’d stayed in London.”

chapter nine

ANASTASIA

“Good morning. My name is—”

“Anastasia! It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the woman behind the desk says in a tone that’s way too perky for nine in the morning. “My name is Josie. I’m your dad’s and Julian’s assistant.”

She extends her hand, and I shake it, taking her in. She looks to be in her late thirties, maybe early forties. She’s dressed professionally with cute, thick, black-framed glasses perched on her nose. I check out her left hand and notice she doesn’t have a ring on her fourth finger.

“Nice to meet you,” I tell her, mentally noting that I need to be careful with what I do and say around her.

She might work for my dad and Julian, but everyone knows the COO actually runs the show, which means she really works for Julian, and as we established last night when the line was redrawn, he’s the enemy. She looks nice enough, but looks can be deceiving—Julian is the perfect example of that.

I’m not supposed to meet my dad until nine thirty for him to show me around, but I left early, needing to get out of that icy house. Julian was sitting at the table, drinking his coffee and scrolling on his phone, making it a point to ignore me. He hasn’t said a word to me since he compared me to a venomous spider and threatened to stomp on me.

On the way to work, I stopped at the coffee shop across the street and enjoyed a latte and a muffin and then walked over here, hoping to check things out on my own before my dad arrived. Security got me set up with an employee ID and badge, and then I was taken to HR, who had me sign a million papers before welcoming me to Kingston Limited.

“Your dad should be in at any moment. If you want to have a seat in his office, you can head back.” She points down the hall. “His door is on the left.”

“Thank you,” I tell her.

I’m heading toward his office when my phone pings with a text. I glance down at it to make sure it’s not my dad, telling me he’s running late, when I run into a wall. Well, not actually a wall. More like the very hard chest of my fake fiancé.

“I know you think the world revolves around you, but maybe you could watch where you’re walking,” he says, his glare cold enough to prevent those ice caps in Antarctica from melting.

“Maybe you ran into me,” I volley.

“Except I was standing in the doorway, unmoving,” he says dryly.

“Well, why would you do that?”

“Because I heard you out there and I figured I should probably join you since we’re engaged and in love,” he says, sarcasm dripping with each word. “C’mon. I’ll show you around.”

He engulfs my hand with his, and warmth spreads through me, thawing the ice and making me worried once again for global warming. The man shouldn’t have this effect on my body, especially since I know he’d probably stand by and watch me choke to death without lifting a finger to help me, but my body has felt his warmth, my lips have tasted him, his scent is already ingrained in my brain, and it’s so damn hard to separate what my body feels and what my brain knows.

“Your dad never gets here on time,” he says as he guides me down the hall. “Selene makes him breakfast every morning, and he strolls in around ten.”

It’s so crazy to think about my dad strolling in, let alone so late. He always woke up before the sun came up and worked until late every night. Mom would have to practically pry him away from his desk just to have dinner with us.

We step into a room that I recognize from when I was younger, only it’s been painted and updated.

“This is the break room.” He points at each item. “Fridge, espresso machine, tables to eat at it if you don’t want to eat in your office.”

“I used to eat in here when I was younger, when the conference rooms were being used.”

Memories of my mom packing me my lunch surface, but I push them back, not wanting to get emotional in front of Julian. The last thing I need is to show him any weakness.

“That’s right. I forgot you grew up here.” He glances at me.

“Yeah, we probably ran into each other and didn’t know it.”

“Not unless you were chilling in the mailroom. I was down there for four years, then an errand boy for another three …”

His implication of me starting damn near at the top doesn’t go unnoticed, but I ignore it because I might be new to this company, but I’ve worked hard, and had I applied here without being blood related to the owner, I would’ve gotten the position I’m in with ease.