Page 24 of Boss Abroad

Part of the reason I bought this club was to piss him off. Unlike me, he didn’t switch sides out of spite and is still the Arsenal fan our father brought us up to be. Only now he’s an Arsenal FC co-owner, too.

“Come on, mate. You make it a rule never to fuck the same escort twice and now you want to go exclusive with this one?” he scoffs down the phone, and I swear I can feel his mocking breath on my face.

“I’m telling you. Our chemistry was just… I don’t even know how to begin explaining it. But I know I need another go. And fuck, one more won’t be enough, either.” I run a hand through my hair, messing it up to match the current state of my brain.

“Next you’ll tell me you’ll draw up a contract?” he barks in disbelief, giving me a great idea I adopt on the spot.

“Of course I’ll draw up a contract. I’m not stupid,” I say, feeling very much stupid. I can’t think straight or of anything else since I woke up this morning in that empty bed.

“You’re beyond stupid, Liam. Dad really fucked you up in the love department, didn’t he? Were you that brainwashed?” This again? I wish this was a video call so he could see my eyes rolling to the back of my head.

“Because you’re happily married yourself?” I invalidate his theory and carry on. “I’ll have Brooke find an arrangement that pleases April enough not to need another customer while she’s servicing me. I want her at my beck and call until I get my fill of her. Maybe a week? Two? I don’t know.”

I’m thinking out loud, pacing from one side of my office to the other, staring out of the large windows. One faces the field and the other, the parking lot. And that’s when I see April getting out of Max Sinclair’s fucking car.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

liam

Noah is saying some bollocks about the damage dad inflicted on me and how not all women are after my money and name, but his words become background noise, drowned out by the thought in my head screaming, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

I see red.

Max and April? He opens her door and now they’re talking—about something hilarious by the stupid smile on their faces—holding each other’s fucking hands. With an intimate kiss on her cheek and without letting go of her fingers, he leads her towards the locker room.

Did Max hire a hooker as his assistant? It wouldn’t be the first time, but fuck me if it isn’t going to be the last.

She’s good to go already? April has some fucking stamina, I’ll give her that.

I hang up on Noah and rip open the door from my office to Mia’s, almost pulling it free from its frame.

“Who’s the head of PR here?” I interrupt Mia’s babbling to George, my voice many decibels louder than needed inside close quarters.

“What the hell?” George squeals and slips from where he was leaning his ass at the edge of her table, stumbling to get back on his feet.

Mia, on the other hand, soars under pressure and is already getting me an answer. “Hmmmm, here. Melanie Groff.” And that’s why she gets away with running that smart mouth of hers. “What do you need?”

“Get her to call me now.” Mia nods, but I don’t see her typing or calling the damn woman, so I lose it. “I said now, Mia!”

“Jesus. Fine.”

“Come get me 10 minutes before the stakeholder’s meeting. Please clear the floor.”

It’s for her own benefit. Only Mia and I have offices on this floor and she should keep a safe distance when I’m this toxic. I slam the door and march to my chair.

April is a hooker. Why am I this enraged?

No amount of reasoning helps me process this madness I’m feeling. It’s not jealousy. It’s not.

A few minutes later, my desk phone rings.

“Hello, Mr Gunn. This is Melanie Groff. I’ve been told you needed my assistance.” Could she speak any slower? Is everyone out to test me today?

“Yes, thanks for getting in touch, Miss Groff. I’m in a bit of a rush, so I’ll cut straight to the point. Do you have a standard non disclosure agreement for visitors?”

“Yes, we do, in case—” I really don’t have time for this.

“Great,” I cut in. I’ll get Mia to write her an apology card later. Fuck, who’s going to write Mia’s apology card? “Send it to my email now, and I do mean now. This is an urgent matter. I’ll make some amends to it and get back to you.”