Obsession Read online

“It looks good,” he said simply.

  “It does?” Andrew grabbed the folder to go through it.

  “See, it does.” Eve rushed on to add, “We should admit that we were at fault. I’ll call a press conference and you can personally apologize-”

  “Me? You want me to apologize?” Andrew glared at her like she was crazy. “Why should I have to apologize?”

  “You’re the CEO. You’re ultimately responsible.” Eve couldn’t hide the smugness in her voice as she suggested, “While you’re doing the press conference, you should also announce that we’ll be having sensitivity training for our employees worldwide.”

  “Won’t that cost money?”

  “Not more than what we’d lose if we don’t do it,” Eve countered. “We might also have to do something for the homeless. Maybe a donation drive or something.”

  “Donating? Again?” Andrew glowered at her. “Don’t we give out enough?”

  “Do you want this to end or not?”

  Andrew kissed his teeth and tossed the folder. “This wouldn’t be happening if you’d just run a background check on the man first.”

  “Next time,” Eve promised.

  Personally, Lex thought that they were both missing the point. This whole thing hadn’t happened because they hadn’t done a proper background check. It had happened because their admission policies were discriminatory. Still, it wasn’t his business. Their company… their policies. He stood up.

  Andrew immediately looked up. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m meeting someone,” Lex answered shortly.

  “Now?” His father shot him a look of disbelief. “We still have things to discuss about the hotel.”

  “Sorry.” Lex shrugged. “I don’t work here.”

  With that, he walked out of the office, leaving his father gaping in open-mouthed disbelief. Truthfully, Lex felt no guilt about not doing much to help out the company. If he stuck his nose too far into the company’s business, his father would mistakenly assume that he was interested in taking over the company. And he wasn’t. He really wasn’t. Why would he be when he’d never even liked being a Bishop?

  Lex expected to find Freddie waiting for him at the receptionist’s desk. But she wasn’t there.

  Frowning, he asked the receptionist, “Has anyone asked to see me?”

  “No-” the receptionist started then paused. “Oh yes – the concierge’s desk called about ten minutes ago to say that a woman called Freddie was coming up to see you. But she’s not here yet.”

  Then where is she? Lex reached for his phone to check with her. Before he could even dial her number, the door to his father’s office opened and Eve walked out. As soon as Eve saw her brother, her mouth curled into a sneer. However, she didn’t say anything. She just walked past him and headed towards the elevators. Lex watched her for a moment before turning back to his phone. He dialed Freddie’s number. It rang once, twice, thrice… she didn’t pick up.

  Why wasn’t she picking up? Had she left? Had something happened?

  Lex started towards the elevator. As he walked towards them, he could see that the doors were closing. Eve, who was already inside the elevator, saw him coming but she didn’t hold it for him. In fact, she kept on pressing the close-doors button. With a smirk, she watched the doors close in his face.

  All Lex could do was shake his head and sigh. Petty much?

  He had to wait several more minutes for the elevator to come up again before he took it down to the lobby. However, he didn’t see Freddie there either. He stopped by the concierge’s desk to check if they’d seen her.

  “I did,” the concierge informed him. “She was going up but she met someone she knows and they moved to the lounge.”

  Relief shot through Lex. At least she was still around. He strode towards the lounge. There were several guests seated in the lounge but it took Lex less than five seconds to find Freddie. She was so unique that she always stood out in a crowd. Or maybe it was because he’d gotten so used to watching her whenever he could that his senses had trained themselves to find her whenever they were in the same room.

  Even now, seated as she was and dressed in a sedate black blazer over a white shirt and jeans, she was still the sexiest woman around. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. How could he when he loved everything about her? From the smell of her dark-chocolate skin to her soft curves, her sexy voice, her eyes… everything.

  It took a while for Lex to notice the man seated directly across from Freddie. At first he didn’t recognize the man, then he did. Wesley Drake, the R&B singer. Freddie’s boyfriend.

  Lex immediately stopped walking. Something hot swept through him to settle in his chest. The hot feeling grew until it felt like he’d choke on it. He already knew what that feeling was… jealousy. He ached to stride forward and jerk Freddie out of her seat and away from Wesley. He wanted to steal her. But he couldn’t.

  Swallowing hard to ease some of the heat, Lex started to turn away from them, but just as he did, he saw Freddie swipe her palm over her cheek as if to wipe a tear. Was she crying? She couldn’t be, right? When she did it again, he was sure… she was crying. Hot anger shot through Lex. What the hell had that bastard done to make her cry?

  THE INSTAGRAM ‘MODEL’ was nowhere to be seen. She’d disappeared as soon as Wesley had gone after Freddie. However, her presence and the truth she’d brought to light still lingered like a dark cloud hanging over Freddie and Wesley as they sat facing each other.

  Freddie wasn’t even sure what she was still doing here or why she’d agreed to Wesley’s stupid request to talk. Maybe it was because she still couldn’t quite believe what she’d seen. This wasn’t really happening. Another errant tear slid down her cheek.

  “Stop crying,” Wesley soothed as he leaned forward and held out his hand as if to wipe the tear.

  “Don’t!” Freddie immediately slapped his hand away.

  She hated crying in front of him, hated showing him how much he’d hurt her. But her stupid tears kept falling. She roughly swiped her palm over her cheek before she turned her glare back on Wesley.

  “So…” she demanded, “explain.”

  Wesley looked down at his linked fingers. “There’s nothing to explain.”

  “What?” Hot anger seared through her. “What do you mean there’s nothing to explain? I just caught you with another woman.”

  “I mean there’s nothing to explain because she was nothing. Nothing at all.” Wesley looked up to offer a pleading look. “She was just a one-night stand. A one-time thing.”

  Freddie was surprised that she sounded so calm as she asked, “And that makes it all right?”

  “Of course not.” Wesley leaned forward and stretched his arm as if to touch her hand. However, the glare Freddie gave him was enough to make him tuck his dirty hands on his lap.

  He took a deep breath before continuing, “The important thing is that you’re the one I love, the one I want to be with. I might have made a little mistake but-”

  “Little?” Freddie couldn’t believe this man’s bullshit.

  “Okay. Not little,” Wesley corrected himself. “I might have made a big mistake but my feelings for you are just as strong as they’ve always been.”

  Though he looked sincere, Freddie didn’t believe a word he was saying. Why? Because he’d spent the last few weeks convincing her that he didn’t even know that ‘model’, that he’d never even met her. Yet here they were.

  She sat back in her seat, folded her arms over her chest and met his eyes. “How many times?”

  “Huh?” Wesley looked confused.

  “How many times have you slept with her?” Freddie asked curtly.

  He was taken aback by the question. His eyes widened then he swallowed. Hard. “Um… I don’t think-”

  “How many times?”

  Wesley brushed his face with his hand. He was silent for quite some time as if expecting that if he didn’t answer, Freddie would move on. Freddie didn’t move on. She jus
t stared at him and waited.

  He sighed. “Why are you asking when you know that the answer will hurt you?”

  “Ah! So that’s code for many times, huh?” Despite Freddie’s calm voice, another tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away.

  “Look, Freddie…” Wesley dragged in a deep breath as if to calm himself. He looked almost angry as he explained, “I’m a superstar. I’m young, wealthy and healthy. I can’t help it that women keep throwing themselves at me.”

  “That doesn’t give you the license to sleep with them.”

  “I know but… I’m just a man.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “You’re a doctor, Freddie.” He puffed out heavily. “You know men aren’t meant to be faithful, especially men in my position. It’s science.”

  She blinked then blinked again. “I’m sorry… what?”

  “I can’t help that I get turned on by other women,” Wesley tried to explain. “It’s just my male hormones acting up.”

  Freddie burst into laughter. What kind of quack-scientists had this man been hanging out with?

  Annoyance flashed in Wesley’s face. “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You’re funny,” Freddie retorted with a chuckle. “Do you hear yourself? You’re not making any damn sense.”

  “That’s because you’re not listening to me. You’re just angry-”

  “So you’re telling me,” she cut him off, “that since you’re a man, you have no control over yourself? You just have to cheat, and I just have to accept it?”

  “Um…” Wesley thought over it a moment then tentatively returned, “Yes?”

  “Yes?” Freddie stared at him in shocked disbelief for quite some time before she shot to her feet. “I can’t believe I stayed here for this mess.”

  Wesley immediately grabbed her arm to keep her from moving. “Where are you going?”

  “Let go.” She tugged at her arm.

  Wesley didn’t let go. Instead, he stood up too. “Are you breaking up with me?”

  “No. Not yet.” Freddie forced a smile. “Not until I’ve had my one-night stand too.”

  “What?” His eyes widened in shock.

  “Let’s make this fair.” She kept smiling. “If you can have a one-night stand, then I should too.”

  “What?” Anger replaced Wesley’s shock. “But you’re a woman.”

  “Yes, I know. So? I have hormones too. Didn’t your science books tell you that?” she asked him smugly. “Plus, I’m young, wealthy and healthy too. Why can’t I?”

  “Because… because…” Wesley stopped speaking, probably because he couldn’t come up with a counter response that made sense.

  “That’s what I thought.” Even though it felt like she was being ripped apart on the inside, Freddie continued, “While I was with you, I found other men attractive too. Some even threw themselves at me. But I held back because unlike you, I have self-control and I respected our relationship. But thanks to you, I now know that I was wasting my time. Why should I resist my hormones? We’re all just slaves to them anyway. Why even bother trying to hold back?”

  “Freddie!” Wesley’s voice was so loud that it drew the attention of people seated in the tables next to theirs.

  “What?” She raised her eyebrows. “Too much truth for you?”

  He stuttered, “How can… how can you-”

  “How can I what?” When he didn’t answer, she jerked her arm. “Let me go.”

  “No, Freddie-”

  “Let go.” She tried to get out of his grip again but he was holding on to her wrist too tightly, and it was beginning to hurt. “Wesley, let go.”

  “No, not until we discuss this properly,” he bit out as he started to drag her towards the door. “Somewhere we can have privacy.”

  “Wesley, let go.”

  Freddie was so busy trying to get out of his grip that she didn’t even notice Lex coming towards them. Not until he was right upon them. The moment she saw him, mortified heat flushed up her face. It was bad enough that she’d been cheated on, but having Lex as a witness to the whole show was embarrassing.

  However, when she saw his expression and the fury burning in his eyes, the alarms started to go off. Worse, his fingers were already curled in a fist. If she didn’t do something, he was going to kill Wesley.

  CHAPTER 3

  The moment Lex saw Wesley drag Freddie across the room, he saw red. The fury that flashed through him was akin to a tornado sweeping through his whole body and consuming him. Lex didn’t know what they were fighting over or why Freddie had been crying, but nothing gave the man the right to drag her around like that.

  Without conscious thought, he started moving. The closer he got to them, the tenser his muscles became as they prepared to take down Wesley. All he could think about was punching the lights out of the man. And he was going to do it too… but Freddie saw him coming.

  Her eyes widened as the knowledge of what he was about to do sunk in. Her gaze on Lex, she mouthed, “Lex, no.”

  By the time he got to them, she’d somehow maneuvered herself until she was in front of Wesley instead of trailing behind him.

  “No.” Her tone was as anxious as the light in her eyes. “Lex, no.”

  Was she protecting the bastard? Why? Lex’s furious gaze swept away from her to Wesley. The man looked confused as if he didn’t know what was going on here. Lex tried to sidestep Freddie so he could get to her boyfriend, but Freddie shifted too until she was right in front of him.

  “Lex, you can’t,” she pleaded desperately. “This is your dad’s hotel.”

  Her words sucked all the air out of his anger because it was then that he realized what she was doing. She was protecting him, not Wesley. And she was right to. Even though Lex wasn’t an active participant in the family business, news that he’d fought with someone while in his father’s hotel would have disastrous ramifications to both Bishop Worldwide Holdings Inc and his own company. Considering his family was already in the line of fire, this would only make things worse. The fist he’d unknowingly curled uncurled.

  Freddie pushed out a relieved breath and whispered, “Thanks.”

  “Who are you?” Wesley, who didn’t know how close he’d been to sweeping the floor with his body, demanded. “Who is he?”

  “Let go.” Freddie jerked her arm.

  This time he let her go. The moment she was free, she moved away to stand beside Lex. She looped her arm around Lex’s as if to hold him back in case he decided to punch Wesley anyway.

  Wesley immediately noticed her actions. His gaze flew from her face down to their linked arms. When his eyes came back to meet Lex’s, they were blazing with anger. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Let’s go,” Freddie urged Lex turning as she did. The two of them started walking towards the exit.

  But Wesley wouldn’t let them leave. He grabbed Freddie’s elbow. “Who the hell is he?”

  The amount of strength and self-control that it took for Lex not to punch the man could only be described as Herculean. His voice tight with anger and his teeth gritted, Lex ordered, “Let. Her. Go.”

  Wesley must’ve had a death wish because instead of letting go, he demanded, “Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”

  Freddie answered before Lex could, “He’s my one-night stand.”

  Her words were enough to shock both men, but only Wesley spoke. “What?”

  Lex could only stare at her.

  “He’s my one-night stand.” Freddie brought her other hand around Lex’s arm so that she was now clinging onto him with both arms. Her eyes on Wesley, she added, “I told you that while I was with you, I found other men attractive too. Well, say hello to the other man.”

  Me? Lex’s jaw dropped. Freddie was attracted to him?

  Wesley was just as shocked. His wide-eyed gaze swept to Lex. “Him?”

  “Him,” Freddie insisted firmly. She tugged at Lex’s arm. “Come on, Lex. Le
t’s go.”

  Lex was still so shocked that when she started to move towards the exit, he just followed.

  “Freddie, are you serious?” Wesley followed on their heels.

  Both Freddie and Lex ignored him.

  “You can’t be serious,” Wesley insisted. “You can’t do this, Freddie. I told you I was sorry. Why are you being like this? Just because I made a mistake, it doesn’t mean you have to do the same…” On and on he kept yapping as he followed them.

  Freddie’s steps were so fast-paced that within moments they ended up in the lobby. Once they were outside the hotel, she turned to Lex. “Where’s your car?”

  “Didn’t bring it,” he answered shortly.

  “You came on your bike?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Freddie, don’t do something you’ll regret,” Wesley pleaded behind them.

  Both Lex and Freddie ignored him. Lex pointed in the general direction of the parking lot. With a nod, Freddie strode towards the pointed direction. Wesley must’ve gotten tired of following them because he stayed at the entrance just watching them cross the driveway. It was very well too because Lex was getting tired of his constant whining.

  He and Freddie got to his motorcycle in a matter of minutes. It was then that worry replaced his shock. She’d never been on his machine before, and he wasn’t sure that she’d ever been on any bike before. Some people were terrified of motorcycles because they had no doors or roofs to protect them. Was Freddie one of those people?

  She didn’t look scared. In fact, she asked, “Do you have a helmet for me?”

  Lex nodded then grabbed the spare helmet. However, when she reached for it, he held it away from her. “You sure?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure.”

  Lex reluctantly handed her the helmet. Unfortunately, her box-braids were held up in a bun above her head. With a laugh, Freddie handed him the helmet back so she could unbind her braids. When they were down, he set the helmet over her head then helped her adjust it. After putting on his own helmet and gloves, he got on the bike. Freddie climbed in behind him.

  The moment he felt her body against his, tension immediately engulfed Lex and his heart leaped. When she circled his waist with her arms, he had to suck in a breath. They’d never been this close before. He’d never felt her warmth meet his, and the feeling was more exhilarating than anything he’d ever felt.