The Billionaire’s Creed

ADLEY

“Not every day I’m being summoned to the principal office.” Blaze made an entrance as he entered my office.

“Have a seat.” No one knew his promotion aside from Mykel and Grandpa. I was still updating the document before the finalization.

“What is this all about?”

For a brief moment, I glanced at him.

“Let me guess. You’d say, thanks, Blaze, Mykel, and I made up, and I’m carrying a baby Creed.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re working in progress, but thanks for the pep talk. But that’s not why you’re here.”

His brows furrowed. “Okay.”

“Talk to me as your employer, not as your best friend. How happy are you with your job?”

“Is this an evaluation?” His brows furrowed.

“Nope. I want you to be honest with me.”

“Am I gonna be fired if I say bad things?”

I laughed. “For being honest? Nope. Rate your experience as COO.”

“You’re kidding?”

I shook my head. “I’m serious, Blaze.”

“Okay. I have loved the job since the beginning. You know that. It’s challenging, but all jobs are not easy. Where can I find a COO seat who would hire me?”

“Are you staying for another year? Or are you looking for another job for a change?”

“Before I became a COO, yeah, but I’m very well compensated. So, I’m staying for another year.”

I pulled a folder from my drawer and pushed it to him. “Think about it. I need your answer before Friday.”

“What is this?” He opened the folder. I watched his eyes widen before he stared at me. “I’m confused.”

“It’s about time. My grandfather needs me. You’re the only person I trust to run this company like your baby. You know how much I love what we do here, but I have to go with my calling. It breaks my heart, but I know K&B will be in good hands.”

“How did Mykel take your decision?”

“We did it together. He’s on board because he doesn’t want to buy my parents’ assets. But we’re still in the process of finalizing our plans. One thing we’re sure of is I have to step down as K&B’s CEO. That’s the first step.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll have my final decision on Friday.”

“Please, consider it?” I gave him a puppy eye look.

“You’re a terrible boss to me, anyway.”

I laughed at him. “That, I believe you.”

After the door closed behind him, I looked around my office. I would surely be going to miss this, Kaelie, the team, and everyone. I took a deep breath as I tried to let it all sink in.

I dialed Mykel.

“Baby?”

“It’s done.”

“How did he take it?”

“Surprisingly cool with it. I hope he will accept my offer because it’s hard for me to offer the position to someone I don’t fully trust.” My eyes became teary.

“I know how much you love K&B, but it won’t go anywhere. Different management would just handle it. And I know how personal is this for you, but it’s Blaze who would run it.”

“If he won’t turn down my offer.”

“He won’t. I can be persuasive if he plans on turning it down.”

“I don’t need your influence on this, Mykel. I want him to accept it from the bottom of his heart.”

“As you wish, baby.”

“I have to go.”

“Okay. Take care.”

***

We woke up in the middle of the night. This time, we made love. It was vanilla. We took it slow, and it felt unbelievably good, unlike after the gallery event. We didn’t make it to bed. We ended up hard banging against the door and on the stairs. We were like wild and starved animals. He rocked my world. When I thought I had come so hard, I was wrong. That night, I couldn’t see the word fuck the same ever again. It surprised Mykel as well. That was how good we were together.

I made a surprise visit to his office, but instead, I was the one who got the surprise in the end.

I almost bumped into the woman that I thought looked familiar. I just couldn’t point my finger at where I met her. At that point, I felt my chest constrict painfully, and my heart beat awfully hard.

I ignored the twist in my lower belly. I met Elise at her desk, yelling over the phone.

“Is everything okay?” I touched her shoulder, and she was giving me my back.

“Nothing is okay! I’m gonna be fired! What do you want?” She yelled at me.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I understand she was under much pressure working in a giant company like this.

She must have recognized my voice now as she froze in her seat. She spun her chair with wide eyes. Her hair was messy, and her face was flushed.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, Adley.” She looked embarrassed, covering her face with her hands.

“Are you okay? I heard you were yelling on the phone.”

“I’m not sure my job is still secure, but I’ll be fine. I was yelling at the reception and the security.”

“I won’t take much of your time, but is Mykel in the office?”

She could barely nod. “Yes. Maybe you can calm him down. I’d never seen him pissed off like this since I worked for him.”

“I’ll check up on him. Thanks.”

I drew a long breath before I pushed the door open.

“What the fuck do you want? How many times have I told you I don’t fucking wanna be disturbed right now, even if it’s the president of the United States of America.” He was facing the window. The view was spectacular. It would completely ease my headache if I sat in his position.

“Even your wife?”

He froze a moment before he spun his chair. “Adley?”

“Tough day for a tough guy, huh?” I strolled toward his desk. “Nice view.”

“Sorry about that.” He looked guilty, but I could still feel the rage vibrating in him, and the tension was all over the room.

“What happened?”

“Can I get a hug for a second?”

I smiled sympathetically. “Remember when you told me the only one missing in your office is me.” I sat on his desk. He pulled me closer, lifting me so I could sit on his lap.

“How could I forget? You look gorgeous while you’re offended at what I said. I wanted to cup your head and kiss you hard and breathless that day.” He wrapped his arms around me, pressed his nose on my back, and breathed deeply.

I turned my head to kiss him. It was quick and sweet. “Did you threaten to fire Elise?”

“Not exactly. I might have said that she has only one job and can’t do it right.”

“You’re a mean boss, you know.” I covered his hands with mine. “You should apologize later. I know your job needs a lot of focus and critical thinking, but when did Elise let you down and fail to do her job? You might as well evaluate yourself and not just your employees.”

“You’re right, baby,” he muttered. His voice was still shaky.

“Now tell me what happened?”

“Remember-”

It suddenly came back to me like flashes. “The woman I almost bumped in the elevator. I was getting in, and she was getting out.”

“Yeah. She came here after creating chaos down when our security didn’t allow her to come up without an appointment. She threatened to ruin me-”

“How?” I held my breath, hoping his answer wouldn’t be terrible as I thought.

“Sexual assault.”

I gasped in shock. My hand flew to my chest, and my heart just stopped in momentum. A chill ran through my body at the thought of Mykel facing that kind of charge.

“That’s not what happened, baby. You have to trust me.” He held my hands, squeezing them.

“I believe you.”

“Before you walked in, I was just done talking to my lawyers. I told them what had happened. It was just one time and mutual. I also told them about her comments on my post.”

I rose from his lap when I regained my balance. I looked outside the window. It was beautiful and peaceful, unlike how I felt, and my brain was also chaotic. I couldn’t say another word, but many scenarios kept popping in my head, and it broke my already broken heart into a million more pieces.

“Maybe she wants money.” That was all I could think of.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“If I offer her, she can use that against me. And I would never do that because I’m not guilty. Did you ever doubt my words?”

I instantly looked at Mykel, who looked about to break down. “Never. I trust you with all my heart. You could have done it with me if you ever sexually assaulted that woman or if you were ever that kind of person. May I ask you something personal?”

“Do you really have to ask me?”

I slowly shook my head. “Was she drunk when it happened?”

“No. She drove the car. I would have known if she was drunk. She came to me and invited me to her apartment.”

“Did it turn physical, or did you both do some, you know, kinks?”

“It was just sex in bed.” He shut his eyes closed. They filled with apologies, guilt, and regrets when he cracked them open. “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t wanna hurt you-”

“I need to know, Mykel.”I need to know what happened, even if it breaks my heart.

“Sex in bed. Once. I swear. When I put my clothes on, she grabbed my hand. She wanted me to spend the night, but that’s not how I do it. I have rules-one woman, one time in one night. I don’t want to make it complicated. She told me, you’re not fun, Mykel. Then I left.”

“If you did nothing wrong, no one would believe her.”

“She said she would go to the tv station or post on Twitter. She would expose me on social media.”

“You’re not a sexual predator. The truth will always prevail, babe. You’re gonna be okay.”

“I’m sorry if I dragged you into my mess. You’re about to execute the major change in your life, then this happened.” He threw his hands in the air, frustrated.

“I don’t care. That can wait.” I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Be strong for me. For us. It’s just a bump in the road.”

“I don’t know what would I do without you, Adley.”