Alphahole Read online

  “When he’s here,” Alice says. “He usually works out of the New York City office, but he’s here while George is off.” She says this to Ally.

  I startle and look. I haven’t got a full view of the office from where I stand.

  No.

  “Aiden?” I double-check what Alice said.

  “Aiden Carmichael, Mr. C’s son.” She gives me a peculiar look, which makes sense, since she has to know he’s my roommate, so she probably figures we’ve had a conversation or two. She’d be right, but those convos were less than civil.

  I crane my neck and look and yep... nightmare at 1 o’clock in a three-piece suit. I see him through his glass walled office talking on his phone, pacing and looking angry. He’s in a chocolate brown suit today, vest, cream colored shirt, chocolate brown tie, still sporting that scruff on his face, and looking more delicious than ever. The asshole.

  I had wondered, this morning, if he’d left early for work or if he was still in bed. Or, if maybe he hadn’t come in the night before.

  How could his ass look so good in those suit trousers?

  I catch Ally eyeing him.

  “You’ve met Aiden, I assume,” Alice says.

  “I, uh… yes. I have.” I’m red in the face and I feel my knees wobble as Aiden’s eyes meet mine. After a beat, he smirks at me. The cocky bastard.

  “You work at Carmichael?”

  “I guess you could say that.”

  What an absolute jerk, purposely being vague. My God, he’s not just the son of the CEO; Alice said VP of Marketing. That means… yep, he’s my boss’s boss and since my boss is on medical leave, I report directly to the jerk.

  Ally looks at me with confusion.

  I spin around so my back is to Aiden.

  “He’s my roommate. I was going to ask about being moved.”

  Alice chuckles, leans in close, and asks in a low voice, “Too much man meat to be in close proximity to? We don’t have a non-fraternization policy, if that’s your worry.”

  “That’s not it,” I mutter.

  “You have a boyfriend?” Alice asks.

  I shake my head. “Freshly single. Boyfriend dumped me less than a week ago.”

  “So, you’re not gay?” Ally tries.

  “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Alice adds, giving Ally a disapproving look.

  “No. Not gay. He…um…” I stop. “Nevermind, it’s fine. I’ll make do.”

  “Make do? How could you be not gay and not absolutely drooling over that? I’ll switch if I can look at that on my off hours,” Ally offers.

  Alice snickers. “No one’s switching, ladies. Mr. C requested it this way so that’s how it is. If you want a change, you’ll have to ask him. I wouldn’t recommend it. When he makes a specific request, he’s generally got a reason and won’t be swayed.”

  What could be his reason?

  She continues. “Down there’s the coffee station.” I see a coffee cup sign suspended from the ceiling.

  “You can get yourselves juiced up and then boardroom with Mr. C, Aiden, and the rest of the marketing team in ten minutes. It’s right next to the coffee station. We keep a fridge stocked with juice for all and there’s always a bowl of fruit refreshed each morning, little boxes of cereal. Granola. Get your vitamins, girls. There’s coffee and tea and water there, as well. Fridays, one of the managers always takes turns bringing something yummy. Bagels. Donuts. Something like that. Cool?”

  I give Alice a nod, Ally makes some sort of verbal agreement, but I’m a bit dazed. I shake it off as Alice continues.

  “Your computers have been assigned and there are onboarding binders on your desks. Go through them for passwords, employee handbooks, some stuff you need to sign, and so forth. You’ve got personalized mugs and other company swag in a bag hanging from your coat hooks, too. My cubicle is over there in case you need anything.” She gestures to her right.

  She ensures we’re good and disappears, leaving me and Ally in my cubicle.

  Ally gives me a pointed look. “What? You’re like you’ve seen a ghost. Do you have a problem with your roommate and VP?”

  I don’t know Ally well enough to know how much I can trust her with private information yet. I’ve known her less than an hour, so I am not about to tell her I walked into a domestic argument with something about a sex video of some girl he’d hooked up with, about seeing him in his underwear, nor discuss cleaning up the filthy apartment, and him stealing my food and acting like an ogre. Not to mention that he was being a total asshole and not even forthright about who he is. So, I fib.

  “No, it’s fine. I’ve barely seen him. I just wanted a female roomie. That’s all.”

  She looks at me appraisingly, and I know she doesn’t believe a word out of my mouth. She confirms that with what comes out of her mouth.

  “I call bullshit. We just met, but we’re office besties, you and me.” She gestures between us. “So, that includes giving me the goods on the office hottie. I’ll get it outta you later. For now? Coffee and then marketing meeting. But know this. I’ve got your back, sister. You can trust me.”

  I give her a wobbly smile.

  Yeah, I thought I could trust Stephanie, too. Stephanie had been my bestie since training bras. I guess I’ve got trust issues what with my sister stealing from me, my bestie talking smack about me, and my boyfriend dumping me out of the blue and going out on a fucking date the very same day.

  I push away the foul taste that’s suddenly in my mouth.

  She rounds the half-wall separating our cubicles. I bend and shove my bags into a drawer of my new L-shaped desk and smooth out my tan pencil skirt, then reach into the bag and pull out a purple mug with the company logo and my name written on it.

  I turn around and see that Aiden’s still on the phone and he’s got eyes on me.

  He was checking out my ass, the ass! He has a perfect view of the opening into my cube from his office.

  I narrow my eyes on him and then remember he’s my boss.

  Well, technically my boss’s boss. Hopefully he’s not going to be here and in the same apartment as me for that whole three months.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  Wait. He’s the one staring at my ass. My boss’s boss is staring at my ass. And that’s gotta be a human resources violation. I tried to be nice, he didn’t. I cleaned his mess and he thanked me by eating my food and being rude to me. I’m the one with the clear conscience here. If I cow to him, I’m reinforcing my status as Carly the Doormat.

  No. Hell, no.

  I clear my expression and ignore him, then I step out of my cube, careful to not even look at him, though I feel like he’s looking at me, and get to Ally, who links arms with me again and we head to the coffee room.

  I’m not happy that my roommate situation isn’t going to be resolved. But, I can deal for now while I assess things.

  Maybe he’s only here for a week.

  Maybe I’ll only have to deal with him by email or something.

  Maybe I can just avoid him and spend most of my non-work time on the 14th floor at Ally and Meryl’s apartment.

  We’ll see.

  8

  AIDEN

  My father comes into my office, catching me eye the new girl while I’m still on the phone.

  “Mornin’, Aid.” He slaps me on the back. He’s got a smile on his face.

  “Gotta go. Get that email to me by lunchtime,” I say into my phone and end my call.

  My father undoes his blazer and sits in one of the two guest chairs in my office. I hate this office. I use it when I’m here at headquarters and it’s a fucking fishbowl with glass walls. There are blinds, but none of the other leadership team members use their blinds with my father’s preference for an ‘open door policy’.

  In the New York branch, I have an office with walls, not bullshit windows. Granted, I didn’t have much of a view, other than other office buildings and the view here via the exterior window is nothing to scoff at. I have views at home.
At the office, I prefer privacy.

  I don’t only have a nice view out the window looking at San Diego, I also have a nice internal view, too. Seeing that girl bent over in her cubicle in front of me with her tight skirt, her hair over one shoulder, her peach blouse giving me a peek of back cleavage; it made my dick twitch before my father strolled in. She’s a tiny thing but she’s got a great round ass with plenty to grab onto. Tiny waist. Luscious big tits. Wonder if they’re real. If they are, they’re fucking perfect. Perky. Big. If they’re not natural, her surgeon is an artist. If they’re hers, proof there’s a benevolent God.

  Yep, round ass like a perfect peach. Keep seein’ her wear that orange-peach color.

  My cock twitches at the idea of getting rammed between those tits or at sliding between those ass cheeks.

  The look on her face when she spotted me and realized who I am? She was surprised, obviously having no clue who I was until then. Wonder if she’ll keep up with the sass she showed me over the weekend or if she’ll fall in line now that she knows I’m her VP and the CEO’s son. I’m fully expecting her to start kissing my ass.

  I don’t ponder it for more than a beat, since my father is now blocking my view of her in her cubicle right outside my office.

  “Dinner was nice yesterday.” He’s got his eyes on me.

  “It was what it was,” I mutter.

  My father purses his lips. “Aiden.”

  Our eyes meet, and I see pain in his eyes. Does he not have a fucking clue how messed up his family is? The bullshit his wife has put on all of us?

  Is he ready to address it? Ten times that first month after I walked in on that, I tried to talk to him about it and he shut me down, like he knew what I was gonna say, and didn’t wanna hear it. As a result, it’s been a couple years since I even tried to have a conversation with him about anything that wasn’t work-related.

  I hold his gaze, mine hard.

  I’ve had enough of her shit to last a lifetime. As much as my father wasn’t a great Dad, he is a decent man. And he doesn’t deserve to have his heart crushed under the feet of his son. But, fuck. This game? This not talking about the elephant in the room?

  Audra Carmichael isn’t just a cheater. She’s also a shitty human being. And I have more than a strong suspicion that my and my younger brother’s paternity are big fat ugly question marks. And it has been a monkey on my back for more than a year.

  An early memory hit me like a truck after catching her being spit roasted by the two fucking landscaping guys, so I hired a PI to see what else she’d been up to. If suspicions are correct, my brother and maybe also me are both Carmichaels, but not fathered by the same Carmichael as we grew up calling Dad.

  “As nice as it was having all my children at the table for dinner, your attitude upset your mother yesterday,” he says to me.

  He doesn’t elaborate. He never does.

  “Doesn’t it always?” I finally return, giving him an arched brow.

  He stares a long moment until I break it by rising.

  “We have a meeting in five. No time for this now. And let’s leave family shit out of the office.”

  It wasn’t a true Carmichael dinner. We’ve never had one of those where Audra allows her whole family at the table since her grandson was born. She doesn’t want Braeden at the formal dinner table until he’s got manners. He’s fucking two.

  “You’re right. It was my rule to leave work at work, so we should leave home at home. Trouble is, I rarely see you. How about you and I go for dinner tonight. Just us two.”

  I shake my head, thinking too fucking little and way too fucking late. “Got plans.” I open the door and motion for him to leave.

  He looks over his shoulder briefly (for what reason, I have no clue) and then looks back at me with a smile. “Tomorrow then?”

  “I’ll have to let you know. Gotta make a quick call before our meeting.”

  He rises and gives me a look that might be interpreted as pain, and then he heads out, buttoning his blazer as he goes.

  Quinten Carmichael is the poster dad, the Carmichael kids the poster children in that song, Cats in the Cradle.

  He had no time for anything but work when I was a kid. Work and family were always separate, so I don’t typically get ‘my father’ at work. I’m not supposed to get ‘my CEO’ outside of work, but he’s so rarely outside of work that I’ve never gotten much of him at all.

  That said, I do have loyalty to him. This bullshit with my mother has been a cloud I’ve chosen to ignore. It was easier to ignore it from New York. Now that I’m here again, it’s hanging over me.

  Dad had a heart attack a couple months before I’d caught her. It did not wake his shit up and slow him down. His heart was just one of the list of threats my mother used in an effort to get me to keep my mouth shut about her escapades. Yet I tried to talk to my father repeatedly, thinking I could deliver the truth in a way that would soften the blow, but he blocked me at every turn. He has to know. Or maybe he knows without knowing the details, but it’s obvious he doesn’t wanna deal.

  When threatening me about his heart didn’t seem to work, she tried threatening me, saying she’d “eviscerate him” if he filed for divorce, suggesting she had secret ammunition. She plays dirty. I don’t doubt she would.

  But, if my suspicions about my paternity and Austin’s paternity are right, I could play even dirtier. I could wind up with more of my father’s estate than her. Way more if I play certain cards.

  She’s always been self-absorbed, preferring to leave the childrearing to nannies and teachers. Now, I tolerate her. I have limited relationships with my siblings, my nephew, but she’s another story.

  She’s gonna try to corral me into fake “family” shit for the time I’m here, but I’ll be pushing back.

  She’s the prime reason why I have but one use for the fairer sex. They’re not fair. They’re selfish bitches who only care about themselves. There’s one exception. Okay two.

  Adele, my sister. And Suki, the nanny who raised us. Suki retired a decade ago when my younger brother went off to college, rendering her useless. Suki moved to upstate New York a few years back and I’ve visited her half a dozen times since I’ve lived in New York City. She is more like a mother to me and she’s the only reason why Adele isn’t just like Audra.

  As for the women in my life other than my sister and my nanny? There’s no room in my life for a permanent female. Yeah, I’ve got commitment issues. Because, in my experience, 98% of the women out there can’t be trusted. I don’t have the inclination to sift through the remaining 2% to look for compatibility. Besides, there is no shortage of attractive women throwing themselves at me, so I never have to look for female company.

  I make my quick call and then head to the boardroom where the meeting is already underway.

  ***

  It’s our fiscal year end this week, so my father is going through slides on a PowerPoint, talking to the room about our goals for the upcoming quarter. The room is filled with my team and a few tech people. Me. Two designers, one of them a new girl with pink hair who has been ogling me (undressing me with her huge blue eyes the entire meeting. She must be from the Baltimore company we recently acquired), two IT people, the new chick who I’m sharing the apartment with. My father’s secretary, two marketing staff members, and two marketing interns are also here. The four marketing team members in our New York office have dialed in to the meeting and are on-screen.

  In New York we’ve got six salespeople and four marketing people, two admin team members and me.

  We’ve also got a Miami branch office with ten staff members, all sales.

  Normally, my marketing manager would head up a team meeting. George does weekly meetings at 9:30 on Monday mornings. My idea. My people hate it but there’s no excuse for laziness. I expect them to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Monday mornings. I only attend these meetings once a month, by video conference.

  Dad wouldn’t even be here, normally, but we have
the two new contract people and George is on medical leave. Since I don’t usually work out of this branch and we’ve got two newbs, it’s typical for him to do a meeting and make sure people know who he is. I’ll have to be the one doing these meetings until George is back.

  My father introduces Carly Adler and Ally Kingston again, for my benefit since I’m late, cracking a joke about it, then resumes talking about how Carly’s gonna be taking a lead on our internet marketing campaigns. Ally is aligned with her on our new campaigns and will be working with our team as well as the web developers on art for all the new company website properties as well as working on the art for our online courseware.

  We recently acquired a new franchising consultancy division in Buffalo, which I scouted because of their impressive online and social media presence and Dad closed the deal on it.

  This is where Carly came from and we’re ramping up marketing for another consultancy firm we’ve acquired, so it’s going to get busy. Dad’s intro tells me that this girl, my roommate, is the reason why that firm in Buffalo was doing as well as it was.

  Dad’s singing her praises, waxing lyrical about how she boosted the return on investment for Facebook and Google ads for the subsidiary singlehandedly. She got them ranking as top for many coveted search terms for our industry, which is why we bought them. They were small potatoes, but yet they were outranking us, taking their small regional firm from local to national.

  She had gotten them an online reputation and influencer reach that had been enviable. And that was why I punted the opportunity Dad’s way. If we can’t easily compete against someone and quickly outshine them, we try to buy them out.