Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen
“Mr. Lange can see you now.”
“Thank you.” Trenton entered the office and Alan’s assistant, Macey, closed the door behind him. The scene going on across the room paused his stride forward. What in the world?
Alan lay stretched out upon a massage table, his face wedged within the cradle hole with a view of the carpeted floor. A white towel scarcely covered him at the hips. Silas Gerety’s tall Lurch-like frame hunched over his boss, long, spindly fingers kneading Lange from shoulders on down the length of his back.
“I see I caught you at a bad time.” Did he ever.
“No, come in.” Alan got up and secured the towel at his waist. “Have a seat.”
Trenton looked on as Silas held open a thick white cotton robe like a steward dressing his chief, and Alan easily slipped into it.
Does the guy hold Lange’s dick for him to piss too?
“I appreciate you meeting with me without an appointment.” Trenton approached and took a seat on the low-profile, white leather, armless chair stationed before the glass-topped desk. A matching couch and multi-patterned turquoise area rug dressed the moderate-size office. The vibrant contemporary décor was damn hideous.
“You’re lucky to catch me in the office before ten on a Monday. I usually start my day with a few laps in the pool. It’s being cleaned. The massage will have to do.” He took a seat behind the desk and casually perused through a stack of envelopes. “For you, Shaw, to personally grace my office instead of that attorney-slash-henchman of yours, it raised my curiosity.”
A jab. Trenton ignored it. “I’d like to talk to you about Kennedi Chase.” His head pivoted over to Silas at the sideboard spooning fresh fruit onto a plate. He then came forward and offered it to Alan who declined with a shoo of his hand. Add footman to the man’s list of duties.
“Kennedi Chase? What about her?”
“She and I have joined as partners in her father’s company, Chase Investments.” They were also lovers, though the term would be a bit of a stretch. He didn’t know what label to place on the complicated spectrum of their involvement. Aside from the spontaneous sex initiated by Kennedi, she kept a tightly sealed barrier erected between them. “I’ll be blunt. Any and all business decisions regarding Chase Investments would require my approval. Given the history you and I have, I thought I’d save you the trouble and make you aware that I’d stifle any consideration you wish to present to her.” Crystal clear; no need to drag the shit out.
Alan’s features pinched. He reared in the chair, fingers stabbing back through his thick blond strands. “What you’re really saying is you share her business and her bed.” At his cheap remark he chuckled and shook his head. “I think you delight in besting me at every turn.”
“That has never been my intention.”
“Oh, I highly doubt that. I think you make it your purpose to outshine me whenever possible.”
Trenton blinked. What the hell was he talking about? “Alan, I came here as a courtesy—”
“You came here to dictate. I have lunch plans with Kennedi tomorrow.” He reclined his chair, rocking. “I’ll forgo the business discussion and stick to getting to know her.” His grin stretched. “I find the woman intriguing. Evidently you do too.”
That’s not what Trenton wanted to hear. Slowly growing barbarically territorial over Kennedi, he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, holding tight to his irritation. “Kennedi’s her own woman. Her personal life is hers to do as she pleases. That said, again, given the history between you and me, I’d appreciate it if you’d call off your date. Cancel your plans with her.”
Alan laughed. “You’re setting orders now, is that it? What you’ve done is made me look forward to getting to know her. His head tilted, blue eyes probing. “She dumped you. That’s what this is about, what that tension was about the other night, am I right? She wasn’t impressed by you.” His sudden bout of laughter was near deafening before his features returned to apathetic curiosity. “The great Trenton Shaw was dumped by a beautiful woman. And you want her back. That’s your purpose here? No need to answer.” He laughed.
Trenton admitted nothing.
“As you said, you two are business associates. On the personal side of the coin, seems to me she’s made her decision where you’re concerned. And so have I.”
Trenton came to his feet. “Lange, I tried to come to you man to man.”
“Silas?” Alan summoned, and on beat, the man slithered behind the chair of his boss and fell to attention, his harsh countenance never wavering. “Shaw, I think we’re done here.”
Holding on to marginal restraint, Trenton headed for the door. There would be no taking Kennedi to lunch, no discovering that sensitive spot behind her ear, no touching the soft flesh of her neck, no kissing the delicate valley between her breasts. Nothing.
“You don’t own the world, Shaw,” Alan called out through a wicked laugh.
Exiting the building, Trenton crossed the pavement to Jackson waiting beside the idling car at the curb. He retrieved his cell phone and called his brother before folding himself within. The line connected in two short rings.
“Trent, what’s up?”
“Have we received any info back from William? I need to find out what Alan Lange has going. Any and every deal he has in the pipeline, I want to know about it, and I want the information yesterday.”
“As a matter of fact, I’m scheduled to meet with William at the office later this afternoon.”
“Good, I’m headed there now.”
“See you in a few.”
They disconnected.
He might not own the world, but his reach was wide. And Alan Lange would soon discover just how far.