Boss (15 page)

“You’re Joshua Silverton,” Ezra looked shocked that he would be surprised, “of course you get an office. I want to keep you close by.”

As Ezra marched Joshua towards his new office, he looked down at the ID picture, wondering where that picture was from. It looked like a mug shot.

“Where’d you get this?” he flashed the card in Ezra’s face.

“Police database,” he winked, “I
Googled
you. Quite a naughty boy in your youth, weren’t you?”

Joshua felt a little pissed that Ezra had done that behind his back. If he had asked, he would have told him everything about his past but he doubted he was
Googling
purely for background checks. People looked up from their desks, some of them confused and some of them with knowledge in their eyes. Joshua knew it wouldn’t take long for word to start spreading.

The office was small but because it was in the corner of the tower, it benefited from floor to ceiling windows on both walls. There was a desk and a computer and not much else. He looked for some indication of his job title but there was nothing.

“I had to kick Becky, my assistant out,” Ezra leaned against the desk, “what do you think?”

“You didn’t have to kick anybody out,” somehow, he didn’t think pissing people off was the best way to kick things off.

“I wanted you next door,” Ezra smile was sweet and relaxed.

It put Joshua on edge.
He wants to keep an eye on you so you don’t cause any trouble.

“What do I do? What’s my official title?”

“Don’t rush into that,” Ezra gave a subtle shrug, “take things slow. Feel around the place. We’ll see where you fit in.”

It sounded relaxed and chilled out and not like a real job at all. He hadn’t been expecting to be running the place on the first day but he had expected something other than an empty office.

“What did Graham have to say for himself?” Ezra suddenly changed gears.

Would he tell him that he had practically been poached in his first ten minutes or did he keep it to himself? He looked deep into Ezra’s eyes and the twinkle told him that he wasn’t to be trusted, despite how quickly Joshua’s heart was pounding.
Listen to your head, not your cock.

“Not a lot, he barely recognised me,” he kept it simple.

“So, he didn’t mention me?”

“Nope.”

“Or the company?”

“Not that I can remember,” he walked over to the window to take in the view, “we just passed each other in the lift.”

“He told you his son was in prison in passing?” Ezra’s eyes darkened.

“You know what he’s like,” was all Joshua could say.

Ezra smiled and nodded in agreement but Joshua could tell he didn’t believe him. The longer they spent together in the tiny office, the smaller it became and the tighter his suit hugged his skin. He still didn’t understand what he was doing there.
Any second, I’ll wake up and I’ll really be on a plane out of here.

“I’ll leave you to get settled in,” Ezra looked at his watch, “I’m late for my next meeting.”

“That’s it?”

Ezra walked over to him to gently pat him on the arm, “Some of us have a company to run. I’ll catch you later.”

And just like that, he was gone. Ezra’s pat on the shoulder had been patronising and loaded with accusation. It made Joshua wonder why he had been so quick to drop the hatred towards Ezra.
Maybe it’s because he gave you the best blowjob of your life?

He settled into the comfy leather chair. He tried the computer but it was locked under ‘
Becky
’. He guessed she was the unlucky assistant who had been hoisted out of her office.
He better not think I’m his new assistant
. To be Ezra’s assistant would be the biggest insult but Joshua wouldn’t put it past Ezra to do something like that.

After an hour of staring at the walls, wondering what his next move would be, one of the maintenance men came and changed the sign on the door. When the drilling stopped, Joshua opened the door and there it was.

‘
Joshua Silverton
’.

No title or role, just a blank space below it, ready for whatever fake job title Ezra would pull out of his arse. Suddenly, none of it felt real. He didn’t belong at the company any more now than he did when he was a teenager. Staring at the silver plaque, it was all becoming too real. He officially existed in
Silverton Industries
and he now felt the weight of the past on his shoulders. The weight hurt and he didn’t really understand why but the urge to live up to his name was all that mattered.

Dad didn’t think I could do this and Ezra thinks I’m a toy, but I’m going to show them both what Joshua Silverton is really made of.

“What do you mean there are loopholes? I made sure this was watertight.”

“There are always loopholes, Ezra,” Charles Worthington, the lawyer who had sorted out everything when Bill was dying, spoke with sternness, “that’s how law works.”

Clenching the phone tightly to his ear, his knuckles turned white with frustration.

“You’re trying to tell me that this kid can take everything, aren’t you?”

Suddenly, he was questioning his decision to ever chase Joshua. He was stuck between the urge to protect his life and the urge to unlock Joshua. He was past just wanting to fuck him, it was much more complicated than that. If he said it was, he knew he would be lying to himself. He had never felt so intrigued and gripped by a guy before.
Why did it have to be him?

“It’s not that simple,” the lawyer sighed, “there are so many variables. Joshua would need to put forward a strong case and that’s assuming he even has reason to speculate or that he even has a lawyer.”

Ezra knew Joshua had a lawyer. How else did he find out about any of this? He was so sure it was watertight. That had been one of Ezra’s conditions to taking on everything but they were springing more leaks than the
Titanic
and he felt as though he was about to go down with the ship.

“Sort this out,” he snarled, “I don’t care what you need to do, just sort it out.”

Slamming the phone into the handset, he collapsed back into his chair. He could sense Joshua on the other side of the wall but he didn’t know how to act with him around.
You wanted him close, this is what you get
.

He shouldn’t have cared for Joshua. He’d made it clear he wanted everything but that didn’t explain why he’d turned up at all. He could have stayed home. He could have fought Ezra in court and probably won.
Why is he here? What is he up to?

“Can I come in?” there was a knock at the door and Ezra knew who it was.

“You don’t have to knock,” firmly massaging his temples, he waited for Joshua to enter.

When he did, he remembered why he was so confused. He couldn’t look at Joshua and not feel his insides turn to mush. As he watched him walk confidently towards his desk, all he wanted to do was rip the tight fitting suit off and he knew that was the problem.

“Is this a good time? You look like you’re in the middle of something,” Joshua was already backing away.

“I’ve always got time for you,” and he meant it.

God, what is this man doing to me?

Closing the door behind him, Joshua walked towards the desk, dumping the thick chunk of bound paper on top of his closed laptop. A small title read ‘
Market Research For The Asian Deal by Joshua Silverton
’.

“What’s this?” Ezra poked it.

“Market research,” he crossed his arms, “you told me to find where I fit, so I did.”

He nodded to the file, letting Ezra know he should open it. He flicked through the pages, unsure of how to take it. It was filled with pictures of smartphones with detailed analysis. Ezra paused to read a couple of snippets on the popularity of flip phones in the Asian market.
This stuff is good
.

“You did all of this?” Ezra flicked through what must have been over thirty pages of images and text.

“Yeah,” he was somewhere between smug and proud, “I went downstairs to get a new login for my computer and then I wandered by development. This lovely girl, Ren, told me all about the new contract you’d got to design new products for an Asian phone company, so I thought I’d put my knowledge to use.”

He flicked through the pages again. He didn’t know whether to be proud or scared.
He’s no joke
.

“You did all of this in a couple of hours?” he glanced at his watch, “I left you two hours and forty-five minutes ago and you’ve put together a full market research pack. Are you for real?”

Joshua pursed his lips, lifted his brows and nodded. It was clear what he was doing. He was telling Ezra he wasn’t going to be put in the corner to ‘
find where he fit in
’.

“I’ve done six months in Japan, four in China and a couple of weeks in South Korea. You pick things up when you travel.”

Had he expected Joshua to sit in the empty office for a couple of weeks before he got bored? Ezra didn’t know what he was going to do with him because he never even expected him to show up. Bill had described an incompetent rebel who had no interest in ever working for his money but Joshua was proving that wrong.

If he gave Joshua a real role in the company, one of two things would happen. He would learn to love the working life and relish the challenge of it, or, he would get a taste for power and try to overthrow Ezra. That left Ezra with a difficult decision to make; did he encourage and push Joshua to prove his worth, or did he try to squash him?

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Ezra shrugged as he flicked through the pages again, “little rough around the edges. Could be better, but I guess it’s a good first effort.”

The deflated look on Joshua’s face practically stabbed Ezra in the gut.
It’s just survival
. He repeated that to himself over and over but he knew it wouldn’t drown out the guilt.

“You can’t say I didn’t try,” Joshua snatched up the paper, “I knew this was a bad idea.”

He headed straight for the shredder and switched it on, shredding his hard work to dust. Ezra knew he could have used the information in that pack but he was more bothered about how Joshua was taking the rejection.

It took a lot for him to come here and you’re acting just like his father.

“Joshua, wait -,”

“No,” Joshua tossed his hands out, “I don’t want to hear it, okay? This, this was a mistake. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think that this could work.”

Face burning, he headed straight for the door. Jumping up, Ezra ran ahead of him to block the door before Joshua had a chance to storm through it.

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” he cried, “get out of my fucking way, Ezra.”

“You think you can act like this in the real world, do you? Whenever somebody tells you to do better, you think you can flip out and leave? This is the real world of business. You’re competing against people with university degrees who will work for half what I’m going to pay you. I told you it was a good first attempt. You can’t take this world so personally or you’ll never survive.”

Standing face to face, the anger between them was so clear. The veins bulged out of Joshua’s neck as he panted through his flared nostrils, his tan darkening with every fleeting moment.

“You’re so full of yourself,” his lip quivered, “get out of my way.”

“No,” Ezra laughed, “you’re not leaving here.”

“You going to stop me?” Joshua looked him up and down, “I’ll fight you.”

“Fight me,” he laughed again, “go for it. Knock the shit out of me and run away. Is that all you’re good at?”

He knew he was hitting Joshua where it hurt. He wanted him to get angry. He wanted him to show Ezra how much he wanted it. He wanted to see in his eyes why he was really there.
Are you here to prove yourself or are you here to throw a spanner in the works?

“Maybe it is,” his eyes darkened, “so what? Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” he lied, “if you leave now, it won’t affect me. What about you? What will you do? Your trust fund must be running out at your age.”

Another blow below the belt.

“Move.”

The way Joshua said that almost made Ezra move. It was the voice of a man not to be messed with but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He knew it would be better if he left, because he probably wouldn’t come back. The way he was acting, he would probably go straight to the airport. He would leave London and he would leave Ezra’s life and things would get a whole lot easier.
What if I don’t want easy?

“Make me,” Ezra held his ground, “hit me if that’s what you need to do. It won’t change anything.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” he clenched his fists by his side.

“Do it,” Ezra whispered, “show me who’s the big man here.”

Ezra was running on pure adrenalin. He was pushing Joshua to the edge and he wanted to see if he would jump or fly.

“I hate you,” Joshua mumbled.

“Good.”

“You make my skin crawl.”

“Even better.”

“But -,” Joshua stopped talking.

His angry glare found Ezra’s lips.

“But what?”

Before Ezra had time to notice or process the signals, Joshua was pressed up against him, pushing his spine firmly into the wood door. Fingers dug deep into Ezra’s cheeks as Joshua forced his face still. His tongue pushed its way into Ezra’s mouth before Ezra even had time to open it.

His cock grew instantly and he could feel Joshua’s doing the same. Ezra had done so many things with many faceless twinks in his office, but this already topped them all.

Joshua bucked his hips against Ezra’s, grinding their erections together. Their tongues did the same, each touch driving them faster towards the edge.

He pulled away, still clutching Ezra’s face. The exposed skin around his mouth was raw from the contact with Ezra’s stubble but as the sun glowed through the grand windows and through Joshua’s fallen hair, Ezra couldn’t stop thinking about how he was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

“I fucking hate you,” Joshua stared down at Ezra’s lips.

“Shut up and kiss me again.”

Joshua’s breath trembled as he pressed his mouth against Ezra’s. He felt the anger turn to passion as the kiss grew more and more intense. His lips couldn’t keep up with the speed Joshua was trying to kiss him. It took every ounce of his strength not to rip Joshua’s trousers down to push his inches into Joshua.

“Why am I doing this,” Joshua muttered through the kiss, his forehead leaning on Ezra’s.

“Because you want to,” he whispered, “you want this as much as I do.”

With a pant, Joshua nodded in agreement as his fingers fumbled with the tricky buckle on Ezra’s trousers.

“This is your job interview.”

“You’re a dickhead,” Joshua growled, “you make me so angry. I could kill you.”

His fingers were still tugging at his belt. The more he told Ezra how much he hated him, the more his cock throbbed. If he kept talking, he was going to blow his load right there in his underwear.

Pushing Joshua’s fingers out of the way, Ezra took over and unbuckled his belt. He yanked it open and unhooked his trousers to let his cock spring forwards. Joshua’s hand quickly clasped it, jerking through the fabric. His touch was clumsy and raw but that only made it even hotter.

Joshua’s fingertips ripped into the elastic of his underwear to let Ezra’s cock fall out properly. It took him a couple of attempts to grip around his thick and rigid member but when he did, he started to tug it from base to tip, pulling back his foreskin as he did.

Not sure how long he could last, he grabbed a fist full of Joshua’s hair and yanked him down to his knees. With little resistance and pain in his eyes, Joshua let Ezra’s cock rest against his cheek. His blue eyes looked up to Ezra, an unsettling fear in the grown man’s eyes.

“Suck it,” Ezra demanded.

“I don’t think I know how,” Joshua suddenly looked vulnerable.

There was no way Ezra wasn’t getting his dick sucked by Joshua after he had just gotten them to that point. Using his hair like a handle, he pulled him back, grabbing his cock with his other hand. He lined it up with Joshua’s lips and after he applied a bit of pressure, Joshua’s mouth opened to him and his eyes closed.

Oh, fuck.

He wanted to take things slow, knowing that Joshua was an amateur at sucking dick but he couldn’t control himself. Grinding his hips into Joshua’s mouth, he felt the head hit the back of his throat as Joshua spluttered for breath.

Ezra may have been gripping his hair but Joshua was making no attempts to make it stop. After a minute, Joshua’s fist clenched around the base of Ezra’s heavy shaft. He worked the tip with his tongue and the rest with his tight grip, forcing the control away from Ezra.