The ball was in her court.
* * *
The following afternoon, I headed to tour another dilapidated building Addison had emailed me about that morning. I checked my email and spouted off the address to my driver and within twenty minutes, he dropped me off in front of an abandoned warehouse in China Town.
I headed inside, my heart squeezing tight with each step I took. I’d done a little research on the property when she told me about the listing, but it wasn’t the property I was interested in that day. I just wanted to see her again.
My mouth twitched into a smile as I thought about what she’d probably do. Knowing Addison, she’d act all professional and pretend like nothing happened, and then she’d nonchalantly slink her body a certain way or step into my space and quietly plead for me to take her again.
Fine. If that was what she wanted, that was what I’d give to her. I had no problem fucking her in secret and biding my time until our parents’ eventual divorce.
I yanked the door open to the warehouse office, clearing my throat before stepping inside.
“Mr. Van Cleef.” A young blonde with stacked tits spilling from her shirt and makeup-caked eyes sat perched on an abandoned desk. She rose and popped her hand out to offer a shake. If her top were any lower, the pink of her nipples would’ve been showing. “Hi, I’m Skylar. I’m Ms. Andrews’ assistant. She’s really sorry. She couldn’t make it, so she sent me. I hope that’s all right.”
A wide grin plastered across the lower half of her face as she tried to hide her attraction toward me. Young women like her were horrible at hiding that shit. She couldn’t take her eyes off me, walking a little too close as we left the office and rambling on like a nervous, giddy schoolgirl.
With an armful of paperwork about the listing, she blathered on about the property like a complete amateur, stumbling over certain real estate terms. If Addison didn’t want to see me, she could’ve at least sent someone with half a brain and a little bit of experience to fill in.
“I’m sorry, where did you say Addison was?” I interrupted her.
Skylar’s eyes flew to the left as her brows scrunched, almost as if she wasn’t expecting that question and had to search for an excuse on the spot. She swept her bleach blonde hair over her shoulder and popped her chest out. “I think she had another appointment? Maybe. I don’t know.”
“You’re her assistant,” I said, stepping back. “You don’t know her schedule?”
“I think something came up.” Skylar forced a nervous smile as she twirled her hair between two manicured fingers. Her big brown eyes looked me up and down as if I were some guy she was meeting for drinks and a casual fuck. She probably didn’t even realize she was doing it.
“Don’t bullshit me here.” I paced toward the door. “I’m sorry, Skylar. This isn’t about you. I have to go.”
“But wait,” she called, her heels clicking on the industrial floor as she followed me. “Don’t you want to see the rest of the building first?”
I shook my head and offered a single wave as I headed back out to my town car. My breath low and heavy, it took everything I had to maintain my composure. After what we did the day before, she should’ve at least had the decency to tell me herself that she wasn’t coming.
Angry, trembling fingers dialed her number, and just when I thought she was about to let it go to voicemail, she answered.
“Hi, Wilder.” She spoke slowly, her words a timid, quiet whisper.
“You sent your assistant? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Calm down. It’s not that big of a deal. I got caught up at work.”
“You couldn’t have told me yourself?”
“Something came up last minute and I didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal.”
“Bull-fucking-shit, Addison. You knew exactly what you were doing.” I raked my hand down across my face, pulling hard on the skin of my cheeks until it bounced back. I was sure I’d left marks, but I didn’t care. “By the way, your assistant is a terrible liar. And you should tell her it’s not professional to throw herself at your clients.”
“I hope you were nicer to her than you’re being to me.” Her words were quick and almost entitled, as if I owed it to be cordial after the fucking hack job she’d done on my heart.
“God, Addison,” I growled. “I was fucking balls deep in that uptight pussy of yours yesterday. The least you can do is be honest with me and not avoid me like some kind of coward.”
Her end of the phone was silent a little too long, though I heard her draw in a long, slow breath. “You want honesty? Fine. I need space.”
“Space?! Space from what? Yesterday was the first time I’d seen you in two weeks.”
“I need even more space so I can fall out of love with you.”
Her action that afternoon was like a knife to my heart, and her words were the final twist.
So that was it. She loved me, and she didn’t want to love me anymore. I couldn’t keep fighting a losing battle.
“You want space?” I seethed. “Fine. See you at Christmas, sis.”
I hung up on her. It wasn’t a classy move, but an angry Wilder was far from a classy Wilder.
My phone vibrated in my hand, and for a split second I hoped maybe it was her, calling to say she took it all back. That she didn’t give a fuck about what anyone else thought. She wanted to be with me.