Wrecking the Homewrecker (BOOK 2) EDITING

6

Derek

"Can't be late for Santiago King," I sang, drumming my fingers against the steering wheel violently.

My GPS most definitely was not working.
"Big silver building that says King Corp on it," I said to myself, furrowing my brows together as I examined all the tall buildings in Seattle.

His stood out the most, though, all glass, reflecting the cloudy skies of Seattle.

I whipped into a parking spot because as of now, my meeting should've started already.

I grabbed my briefcase out of the front seat and quickly closed the door, slipping my phone into the pocket of my slacks. I jogged to the revolving door and walked in as soon as I made it through, stopping at the receptionist at the front desk. "Hey, Mr. King?"

"Very top floor, big silver doors. Can't miss them," she said, shooting me a grin.

I patted the top of the desk and ran to the elevators, pressing the button. I shifted from foot to foot, nervously, as I waited on the elevator to get to me.

When it did I jumped inside, pressing the close door button as many times as I could before the doors closed. I looked down at my watch, only to find I was exactly three minutes behind schedule now.

"Shit," I muttered to myself.

The ride up to the top floor wasn't long at all, simply because the elevators moved so quickly that you lost track of what floor you were on instantly.

I stepped out of the elevator and ran to the big silver doors, only to find them open. I straightened out my tie before swaggering in, making Santiago look up from his papers.

"Mr. Novak," he said, pulling off his glasses.

"Mr. King, I'm so sorry I'm late-"

"Please," he said, chuckling, "don't apologize."

He stood up and held out his hand, and I shook it.

"You know," he said, as I got myself settled in the comfortable chair across from his desk, "you do look exactly like your father."

I just smiled and nodded. "I get that a lot."

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. He was quite intimidating, just his presence.

I pulled my briefcase up onto my lap before he held out a hand.

"I don't need a big presentation," he said, "I already know that I want to invest, so that's unnecessary. I bet it would've saved you," he said, looking down at his watch, "about thirty seconds if you would've left the briefcase in the car."

I pursed my lips together.

He shot me a smile. "Tell me more about your organization. I've loved the idea since I started this."

"Well," I said, "homeless children, sick children, children in bad homes, I hopefully make their lives better."

He nodded.

His demeanor was so intimidating that I was feeling the pressure. The way his eyebrows were always in a furrow, just how generally bulky he was.

"Well, as a dad," he said, "you know I have such a heart for that, and when you become a dad, too, you'll also have an even bigger heart than you already do."

I just nodded. "Yeah, my fiancée and I really do want kids."

He nodded with a smile. "Well, like I said, I'm sold."

"Really?" I asked, probably the dumbest smile on my face as of now.

He nodded slowly. "Absolutely. You're here for a while, yeah?"

"Oh, absolutely," I said, "my fiancée and I just moved into a place."

"Well congratulations!" He said, "maybe I could take you two out for dinner one night."

"She'd love that," I said, standing up to shake his hand.

We stood in a silence for a few seconds while I packed up what I'd pulled out of my briefcase.

"You know," I said, "my fiancée knows you."

"Oh yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said, "she babysat for you before college."

The silence in the room was deafening.

I turned around to face him, only to see a blank look on his face.

"You mean Adora?" He asked, furrowed brows.

"Yeah, she's the one," I said, shooting him a smile.

He just slowly nodded, that same blank expression still on his face. "Well, she is a charmer, that's for sure."

He let out a chuckle and looked down, making me laugh. "That she is."

He looked down at his phone. "I'm so sorry to rush, but I just remembered I have a meeting and I have to get the conference room set up for it."

"No problem at all," I said, "thank you so much for your time, I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise," he said, shooting me a smile as I grabbed my briefcase to head out of his office.

And with that, I exited his office with an accomplished smile on my face.

~*~

Adora

I heard the door open and I just sighed. "If you're a robber, I don't have anything you want, I promise."

I heard Derek's chuckle, so I looked over my shoulder with a smile.

"Hi," I greeted, standing up as I wiped my hands off on my jeans.

He picked me up and spun me around, making me giggle and raise my eyebrows. "What was that for?"

"Guess who I got," he said, placing me back down on the ground.

I pursed my lips together. "Mr. Maali."

"Even better," he said, "Santiago King."

My eyebrows shot up and I just slowly nodded. "Wow."

"Come on," he said, "put your hate aside."

"It's not that I hate him," said.

That actually wasn't the case at all, it was quite the opposite but he couldn't ever find that out.

"Well be happy for me!" He exclaimed.

"I am so happy for you, baby," I said, grinning as I pressed a kiss to his neck, "let's celebrate tonight."

I smiled and pulled at his tie, biting down on my bottom lip.

"Could this day get any better," he muttered, pulling me into him.

I smiled and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Go change into some comfy clothes and let's unpack more boxes."

He pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Okay. I'll be right down."

I just smiled and watched as he ran upstairs, panic setting in.

How close would I have to be to Santiago King?

Maybe I wouldn't have to be near him at all. Maybe it was just going to stay up to them to have their meetings and stay apart, as normal investors did.

But I knew Santiago King, I knew he wasn't normal.

I flexed my jaw muscle and tried to rid my mind of all the thoughts going through it.

I braced my elbows on the counter, pursing my lips together.

I heard footsteps so I regained my composure, brushing my hair away from my face. I smiled as Derek came into my view, earning a grin from him.

"Oh," he said, wrapping his arms around me from the back, "Santiago asked if he could take us to dinner."

I looked over my shoulder at him. "What did you say?"

"I of course said yes, would you turn down dinner with Santiago King?"

I just tightly smiled. "Can't wait."

He pressed a kiss to my neck. "Which box is mine?"

"Any of them," I answered, biting down on my bottom lip.

I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to keep a distance from Santiago King, no matter how hard I tried.

~*~

Santiago

I turned off my car and got out, walking up to Alessandra's door. I knocked on it and she answered, a smile on her face.

"Hi," I greeted, smiling as I grabbed the baby's hand in her arms.

She'd had a baby with Mateo after they'd gotten married, and they were happy. As Mateo's brother, I could only wish him happiness, and he finally had it.

"Take her for a sec while I grab the boys' bags, please," she said, "go to uncle Santy!"

I grabbed Rose and walked inside, pressing kisses to her chubby cheeks.

"Hi, brother," Mateo greeted, smiling as he neared me.

"Hello hello," I said.

"Maybe you'll find a woman to carry your kid. You're cute as a dad to a baby."

"Shut up," I said, laughing.

He grabbed the baby from my arms but she reached out to me again, so I grabbed her again.

"Let's have dinner here," Mateo suggested, "is that cool?"

"I don't really care what we do," I said, "are the boys wanting to stay another night?"

I pressed another kiss to the baby's cheek, hugging her tightly to me.

"Are you wearing the sleeper uncle Santy gave you?" I asked her, making her shoot me her toothless smile.

I smiled and she tugged at my facial hair, making Mateo chuckle. "Come on, Rose, come to papa."

She went to Mateo and he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "So how did that meeting go today?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I invested in the company."

"That's nice, brother."

I nodded. "It's funny how things work, though."

He just cocked an eyebrow up at me.

I plopped down on a stool. "The guy," I said, "with the company, he's engaged to the old babysitter."

"How coincidental," Alessandra butted in, eyebrows raised as she sat the boys' backpacks down by the bar.

"I know," I said.

Alessandra helped herself. She'd gone to rehab and gotten her life back in order, and then her and Mateo got married and been happy ever since.

Alessandra and I got along almost as well as Mateo and I did. We put things aside and just realized that things happen for reasons.

"Sorry," Sandra said, shooting me a weak smile.

"And I offered to take them out to dinner before I knew she was his fiancée."

"Ouch."

I nodded and raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, tell me about it."

The boys came barreling into the kitchen before Alessandra stopped them, hands on their heads. "Chill out, guys!"

"Hey dad!" They yelled in unison, running over to my stool.

"Hey, how was school?" I asked.

"Good. I have a date."

My eyebrows shot up along with Alessandra's.

"Why didn't I hear about this before?"

Freddy shrugged. "I didn't think it was that important."

"A date is important, don't you think, Fred?" Mateo asked.

"Yeah," he said, "but I'm probably not going to go. I can't even drive!"

"You're a long way away from it, too, big shot," I said, rubbing the top of his head.

Josiah just laughed. "I had a good day. I took a quiz and I'm pretty sure I bombed it but I'll get back to you on if I did or not!"

"You better not have, Jo!" I yelled as he ran into the living room.

"Ah, take it easy on them," Mateo said, "puberty is going to come around soon and grades are going to be the last of their concerns."

"Don't remind me," I said.

"Oh," Mateo said, "trust me, dad would tell you, this is the easiest it's going to be so soak it up, buttercup."

And I just smiled as he patted my back, walking away.

~*~

hey guys!! how did you like this chapter?? I hope you did. I really enjoy how nice Mateo, Alessandra, and Santiago are acting around each other 😵

I hope you guys do understand that this book is 5 years later than the last one, and a lot of things change throughout five years! I hope throughout the chapters that you guys understand everyone has changed for the better.

Oh... and how did we like dad & Papi in the same room??? I loved it, I would've loved to have been in that room

Ok. I love you guys!! I hope you're ready for the next chapter🙈

oh and ps- I got a dm recently asking me if this book was along the lines of the 50 shades series. I promise in no way am I trying to copy those books/movies whatsoever but I do love them and they are my inspiration (halfway) for writing this,.., you'll understand later on in the book 😏😋😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉