HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Bianca

“Amanda”!” I said loudly, my whole face going hot all over again.

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“What?” she said, laughing, completely unbothered by my outburst. “It’s a valid question and I need details, Bianca. You can’t just drop a bomb like this on me and then expect me to not ask the important questions.”

“I am not answering that.” I said, turning to look pointedly out the window, though I could feel the smile tugging at my own mouth no matter how hard I tried to fight it down.

“Your face is already answering for you.” she said, smug now, eyes back on the road but her grin still firmly in place. “That’s a yes. That’s definitely a yes.”

“We are almost at work.” I said, deflecting completely, gesturing at the building coming into view ahead of us, tall and glass fronted, catching the early morning light.

“This conversation is not over.” Amanda said, pulling into the entrance and following the line of cars toward the parking area. I’m serious. Lunch today. You are telling me everything, every single detail. I don’t care how long it takes.”

“Fine.” I said, sighing, though there was no real irritation behind it.

She found a parking spot and pulled in, cutting the engine, and for a second we both just sat there.

“You know.” Amanda said, more quietly now, all the teasing gone from her voice, “whatever this is with you and him. Just be careful, okay? He’s still your boss. It’s still complicated.”

I know I said, and I meant it, the earlier lightness in my chest tightening slightly at the reminder. “I know it’s complicated, Amanda. I think about that every single day.”

She reached over and squeezed my hand once before pulling her keys out and grabbing her bag. “Come on. Let’s go before we’re both late”

We climbed out of the car together, and as we walked toward the entrance, my phone buzzed again in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting maybe another message from Adrian, but it wasn’t him this time.

It was an email notification, and the subject line alone made my footsteps slow down right there on the pavement.

“Board Meeting Today, 10am, Mandatory Attendance For All Department Heads, prepare the CEO files.”

The office was empty when I got there, just me and the soft hum of the air conditioning and the faint sound of the cleaners still wiping down the reception glass outside. I liked getting in this early sometimes. No phones ringing yet, no one popping their head over the partition to ask questions, just quiet enough to actually think.

I dropped my bag on my chair and pulled out my phone before I even sat down properly, because Emma had been on my mind since the moment I left the house.

“Send me a picture, let me see this place you’re enjoying so much.” I typed, my thumb moving fast across the screen.

I didn’t even get to put the phone down before it buzzed again. A photo loaded slowly, and when it finally came through fully. I actually laughed out loud, alone in that quiet office.

Emma was lounging on some kind of pool deck chair, sunglasses pushed up into her hair, a tall glass of something orange and fancy looking sitting on the little table beside her. Marble floors, glass railings, the kind of blue water that only existed in places that charged an arm and a leg per night.

“You must really be enjoying I sent, shaking my head at my screen like she could see me.

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Chapter 74

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“I think so.” she replied like she hadn’t just sent me a picture of a place that looked like it belonged on a travel magaziné

cover.

“You think so? You are so funny, Emma.” I typed back, my thumb hovering a second before I added, “I will ask when you’ll get back home, but I will appreciate it if it’s in the evening.”

There was a small pause before the reply came in.

“okay.”

I could tell she was ready to end that.conversation from that reply, I stared at the screen for a second longer, debating whether to push further, but I let it go. Emma was safe. Emma was fine, and honestly, after everything she has been through with her surgery and recovery, if she wanted one full day of pool side orange juice and marble floors, who was I to argue.

I slid the phone into my drawer and turned my attention properly to my desk, pulling up the files Adrian needed ready before the board meeting. My fingers moved fast over the keyboard, opening folder after folder, cross checking figures against the report Julian had sent over the week before, making sure every page was in order, every number matched, every signature line where it needed to be.

I printed the documents one by one, the printer humming steadily beside my desk, and started arranging them into a neat stack. tapping the edges against the table to straighten them.

I was almost done, just adding the final page to the pile, my mind half on the numbers and half still lingering on the memory of last night, when the door opened.

I looked up immediately, straightening in my seat the way I always did.

“Good morning, sir.” I said, giving a small nod, keeping my voice light and professional, the way I would greet him on any normal day, even though nothing about today felt normal after worse things that had happened between us in the last twenty four hours.

He didn’t answer, he walked straight past my desk without even glancing my way, his phone and a folder tucked under one arm, and dropped both onto his own desk with a soft thud that made me pause mid motion, my pen still hovering over the page in front of me.

He turned toward the window next, reaching up for the cord, and pulled the blinds shut in one smooth motion, blocking out the soft morning light that had been spilling across the floor a second ago. The room dimmed slightly, the overhead lights. taking over, and my confusion only grew.

Then he crossed to the door and I watched him check it, his hand testing the handle once, twice, making absolutely sure it was locked, before he finally turned back around to face the room. To face me.

“Do you need anything sir?” I said, my confusion was leaning towards concern now. I set my pen down carefully, glancing at the stack of files beside me like maybe I had missed something, gotten a figure wrong, forgotten a signature page.

“Is there a problem with the documents? I was just finishing the last one. I promise everything is ready, I just need a few ) more…” I didn’t get to finish.

He was already crossing the space between us, closing the distance with slow steps that somehow still managed to feel like they swallowed the whole room. My words trailed off completely as he came to stand right in front of my desk, close enough that I had to tilt my head back slightly just to keep looking at him properly, close enough that I could smell the same cologne from the night before, still clinging faintly to his collar.

“Stand up.” he said, there was something underneath it, something that made my whole body respond before my brain even had the chance to catch up. I felt my chair scrape back slightly as I rose to my feet, my heart already picking up speed, my hands suddenly unsure what to do with themselves.

The moment I was standing, his arm slid around my waist, and before I could ask a single question, he pulled me forward. and we were both moving, my back meeting the edge of my own desk, papers shifting slightly beneath us with a soft rustle

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Chapter 74

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but nothing falling.

He settled himself against the desk too, one leg braced on my empty chair, and pulled me down until I found myself sitting right there on his lap, my knees pressed against his side, my hands flying up to grip his shoulders just to steady myself.

“Sir? Really?” I whispered. glancing quickly toward the door even though I had literally just watched him lock it myself. We are in the office. It’s not even nine yet. Anyone could…”

The door is locked, Bianca.” he said simply, cutting me off.

I opened my mouth again, some half formed argument still trying to form on my tongue but then his eyes met mine properly, and every argument I had lined up just dissolved into nothing.

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