The billionaire's sweet editor
Chapter 14: Lucas: Losing battles

Chapter 14: Lucas: Losing battles

"WHAT WAS that dad?" Pulling him into the lobby, I peek behind us to see if no one is following us.

"What was what?" Dad replies, the smirk on his face fading, tugging my hands off his shoulders.

"You were making Iris uncomfortable."

"She said she wasn’t," he retorts, shrugging. "If we’re done here can we go now? I want to see my daughter-in-law one last time before I go meet up with her grandparents."

Daughter-in-law my ass. He’s pressing my buttons, wanting to see how I react to his words. Knowing him, I’d say he has already done the math and figured something out between me and Iris. Dad is never the guy to rush with things unless it’s urgent, or unless he has a lesson to teach an unsuspecting motherfucker.

Right now, I’m that motherfucker.

Sighing, I rub my nose bridge. "Listen, Dad..."

"Yes?"

Shit. How do I go about this?

"Ummm—fuck—Ummm," I glance at him, searching for the right words to tell him the truth, but how do I tell my dad Iris and I were fucking because she was using her side of the contract without sounding like a manwhore? Especially when deadpan and uninterested are the only two words that come to mind when I see his eyes looking at me.

He’s losing patience.

"So umm...Iris and I aren’t—"

"You’re not a couple?" He finishes for me, glaring at me from beneath his lashes.

My rapidly beating heart immediately eases once the truth is out, and I let out a heavy sigh of relief. It feels nice not having to lie to him.

"Yes, we’re not yet exclusive."

"Not yet?" Rubbing his nose bridge and groaning, Dad supports himself on the cream walls. "She is your mother’s best friend..."

"Granddaughter. Yes, I know."

"And yet you go ahead and sleep with her?"

I rub the back of my neck, looking at the walls and avoiding his question.

Taking one long stride toward me, Dad slaps the hell out of my bicep. Twice. "If you know that then why are you sleeping around with her before making it official?" He whisper-shouts through gritted teeth.

"I couldn’t help it!" I huff, blocking his huge hands from reaching my face.

"What do you mean you couldn’t help it?"

"She is too beautiful to deny!"

Dad pauses, "So you like her?"

I pause. Do I like Iris? Sure I got annoyed when she nonchalantly talked about not giving a fuck about my sex life, and sure she made my heart race for a couple of days this week. But do I like her?

"You know what, don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but I’m going to tell her grandparents nonetheless."

Grabbing his shoulders again when he attempts to leave the lobby, I turn him around and look him in the eyes. "I thought you loved me," I mumble not able to hide the horror on my face. "why are you being difficult for no reason Dad?"

"Because you’re my son, and the person you’re sleeping around with happens to be closer to us than you think."

"Cut me some slack here. I promise I won’t do it again," I plead, knowing fully well I will do it again once the chance arises. He watches me for a moment, gauging my reaction until he’s satisfied with my fake sincerity.

"I won’t tell them."

The smile I give him is brighter than a summer sun, and I’m about to hug him when he pushes me away with his palm, looking me in the eyes like he has unfinished business. "But you need to fulfill one condition if you want me to seal my lips."

Of course, there’s going to be a condition. It’s my dad’s specialty after all. Bargaining.

Smiling at him, I extend my arms to the sides. "Hit me with your best shot."

I immediately regret saying that when a smirk shows on my dad’s lips. He has been waiting for me to say that this entire time. Placing his hands inside his pockets and rummaging for a millisecond, he produces an envelope. "Here," he says giving it to me.

I open the paper and take out the letter inside. "That is the confirmation letter being sent out to all departments about the charity event happening two months from now."

I nod at him as I read the letter. "You and the operations manager are in charge of this event," Dad adds and I nod again.

"So what’s the condition? Managing the event?"

"No," he replies, his smirk growing wider now that he’s reaching his favorite part. "I hadn’t planned to say this whilst on my way here, but how can I miss such a good opportunity like this?"

Rubbing his hands together, he peeks behind me, taking a step closer so he can whisper his condition to me. "Before the event happens, you need to become my Vice, or else I drop the bomb on your "girlfriend’s" grandparents." He says, producing air quotes.

My heart drops, a void of blackness filling the once full space that just became vacant after betrayal from the one person I thought understood me the most. I keep my gaze fixated on the man before me, hoping there is a slight chance he might be joking.

Jokes on me, he doesn’t waver at the eye contact. He means business.

"So what’s it gonna be?" He asks, shrugging.

"You can’t be fuckin serious."

"I am, that’s why I’m willing to give you one week to think this through. Until then, think about this thoroughly."

"But the bestsellers list-"

"Five years of waiting Lucas, and we’ve been stuck on number two. I’m not getting any younger son."

"I promised Mom that-"

"No, you didn’t. Your mother always wanted to be number one after being stuck in the top ten all her life, and after her death, you made it your goal to fulfill her wishes."

"I promised-"

Dad cuts me again. "You’ve made it to number two in two years Lucas, something your mother and I couldn’t in thirty years of business. Why can’t you be proud of that?"

Gritting my teeth, I do my best to try and hide the anger from my tone."Because it’s not number one. I can’t drop my position before I make it to number one, and nothing is going to stop me. Not even you, Dad."

"Suit yourself," Dad huffs, eyes dropping as he looks at me. Is it pity, or maybe defeat? I can’t make out what it is, but he doesn’t look like he wants this conversation to continue. "But for the record, I’m not letting you off the hook this time. I’ll play the villain if you need me to, but this is the best I can do for you before I retire. You might end up having two roles at once, so brace yourself."

Turning away before I reply, Dad makes his way back to my kitchen. I’m left standing alone in the lobby, wondering where the fuck my lovely old man went. On a normal day, I would have laid it off by talking about my goals and convincing him I’m about to accomplish them, but it seems that is all a thing of the past now.

It’s gotten old.

"I’ll see you around," he calls out to Iris, walking towards the foyer and passing by me with a nod.

Dad might be a sweet angel without wings regularly, but when he sets his focus on something—especially when that something has been on his mind for five years—he won’t be backing out until his wish is fulfilled.

"This is going to be a fucking pain in the ass," I groan to myself when the large front French door closes and Dad disappears from view.

Hitting the walls with my clenched fist, and letting out a defeated sigh, I decide to burn off some stress at the gym. Maybe I can brainstorm some ideas to elevate magazine sales during these two months and kill two birds with one stone.

Tim is nowhere to be found and Iris is sipping hot chocolate when I return to the kitchen. She shifts in her stool, turning to face the living room, and our eyes lock.

Visibly relaxing, she turns around to face me. "You’re back!"

"Yes, baby." It’s only been a day of calling her that, and I should stop after what just happened, but fuck, it sounds right calling her that. Maybe Dad was right about me liking her because I don’t want to stop calling her baby, well, unless she says otherwise—which, thankfully she hasn’t mentioned yet.

She stands, swinging her hips sideways as she sashays over to me.

"Did your dad say anything more about visiting my family?" Iris asks locking her arm into mine, eyes searching for mine when I glance down at her.

"No," I lie reaching for her head to stroke her hair. "He said he will give us time to process our relationship."

She lets out a huge sigh of relief, squeezing my bicep. "Oh thank God! That was scary...and embarrassing. I think I’ll be abstaining for a while."

I pause and look at her. She doesn’t look like she’s joking. "Is it because I wasn’t good enough, or because of my Dad? If it’s because of him then trust me, he won’t be returning here anytime soon."

Laughing and squeezing my arm harder, she glares at me. "Even if I do trust you, Lucas, It just doesn’t feel right sleeping around with you after what we just experienced, hence my point. I WILL be abstaining, and that’s final. Not even you or your beautiful dick can convince me otherwise."

I want to argue with her, but she’s right. It’d be unethical if we ignored what just happened and returned to being fake lovers with benefits, but I have to admit, it hurts to know I won’t be touching her anytime soon.

"If you’re abstaining, then I will too," I reply stroking her hair and smirking, guilt eating my insides as I think about my next step.

How am I going to make it to number one in two months when I failed to secure the spot for five years now? And how am I going to convince my dad not to tell Iris’ grandparents about us?

"That feels surprisingly good to hear," Iris blurts out, smiling to herself, and showing off the small cute dimples she possesses.

I kiss her forehead like my life depends on it. I can’t believe I have to restrict myself from touching her until further notice.

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