Kissing The New CEO

Chapter 3

Stella's POV

My hand is still flat against my stomach. I couldn't seem to move it.

Before I could say anything else, my phone rang.

"Is this Stella Cooper?" a woman's voice asked.

"I'm calling from Clover Health. There's been a hold placed on your brother's treatment account. Until it's resolved, we'll need to pause his medication by the end of the day."

"That account has never missed a payment—" I snapped.

"I understand this is distressing. I'd suggest contacting whoever manages the account directly."

She hung up. I stood there, phone still in my hand.

"Stella. What's wrong?" Julian asked softly.

"My brother's treatment—" My voice cracks the middle. "....... has to be put on hold. Now that your father's accounts are tied up in legal review."

"How soon does he need the next dose?"

"Tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning at the latest, but after that—"

"The marriage isn't signed for four more days. I'm not letting your brother miss a single dose because of paperwork."

"Julian, I can't ask you to—"

He's already speaking on the phone before I could argue further. "I need a wire sent to Clover Health General, Stella Cooper's brother's account. I want confirmation within an hour."

"Access is one of the numerous pecks of being a Castle, Stella." He turned to me and said with a little bit of arrogance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stella's POV

The marriage happened four days later, in a lawyer's office, with a photographer Julian hired for exactly six pictures.

"Do you, Julian Castle, take Stella Cooper—"

"I do."

"And do you, Stella Cooper, take Julian Castle—"

"I do," I say.

We signed document after document. My hand shook as I wrote my new name for the first time. "Stella Castle."

"You may kiss the bride," the officiant says, already gathering his files.

Julian steps toward me, and for one second I think a smile flashed on his face. Then it's gone, replaced by the same blank expression he wears into every meeting.

The kiss felt nothing like the night of the party.

That night, neither of us wanted it to end. It was hungry and desperate, we'd barely come up for air between kisses. This one felt rehearsed, like it was for the camera.

"Mrs. Castle," he says afterward, jolting me back to the present.

"Don't get used to it," he said, then turned back to the lawyer, already straightening his cuffs. "Let's finish the paperwork."

The lawyer slides a final folder across the table. "Hospital account transfers, cleared under Castle Holdings as of this morning. Your brother's treatment payments resume immediately."

"Thank you."

"It's in the contract, Mrs Castle." He responded coldly.

----------------

We're barely out of the elevator when I spot Drake waiting for us in the lobby, arms crossed, smiling.

Congratulations," he said.

"Quite the fast turnaround, brother. Almost like you had no other—."

"Drake," Julian cut in sharply.

"Does she know?" Drake's eyes slide to me.

"Does your wife know what it actually costs you to marry her?"

My stomach twists. "What is he talking about?"

Last week the board came to him with two options," Drake says.

"Hand over controlling interest in two subsidiaries, or step down as CEO. There was only one way around it. He had to prove you weren't a liability."

He had one card left to play."

"You. Or the company."

I turn to Julian, waiting for him to deny it, He doesn't.

"Julian." My voice, almost a whisper. "Is that true?"

"You had to choose," I said, flabbergasted.

"Between me and the company, and you're telling me now, through him?"

"It doesn't change anything," he said.

"The contract stands. You knew the terms when you signed them, Mrs. Castle."

"Julian—"

"Stick with the contract you signed," he said, already turning to walk away.

"That's all that matters going forward."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julian doesn't say a word as we step out of the elevator into the parking garage. He reaches the car first, opens my door, and crouches slightly to gather the hem of my dress in one hand.

"Watch your step," he said.

I froze for half a second, and stared at him.

I get in. He shuts the door gently behind me, and rounds the hood to the driver's side.

"Why me?"

"Out of every woman who would have said yes without blinking, he chosed me, his father's secretary? It should have been an easy decision."

"Was I ever a choice at all? Or just a chess piece between him and Drake?" The thoughts make my stomach churn.

Drake wanted me before Julian ever touched me. Maybe that's all this is, Julian taking the one thing his brother couldn't.

A sick kind of competition?

He gets in beside me, and for a second neither of us speaks.

I stare out the window and tell myself, three hundred and sixty-five days. That's all this is. I just have to survive it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My breathing hitched when his hands brushed past my shoulders."

"I'm just helping with the seatbelt."

"I got it—" I managed to say, jolting back into the present.

"He turned towards my face close enough that i felt the shift in the air."

He started speaking..... then stopped.

He tucks my hair behind my ears, and slowly tilts my chin up.

"Mrs Castle," he said, and a little smirk formed on his lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The streets started to look familiar. I sat up straighter, watching the buildings pass, and my stomach drops

"Why are we coming back here?" I asked.

"You don't ask the questions here."

He doesn't even glance at me.

"I do." He continued.

"This is sick," I say. "You know that, right? Whatever this is."

"It's a hotel, Stella. People stay in hotels."

"Don't." My voice cracks. "Don't pretend this is nothing. You chose this place. Out of every building in the city, you chose this one."

"I didn't choose it because of him," he says finally.

"I chose it because it's the only place we can stop pretending."

"That's not the answer to my question."

"It's the only one I have."

He pulled into the private entrance, the valet already moving toward the car before it's fully stopped. Julian gets out first, comes around, opens my door, his hand cupped under the hem of my dress.

"You don't have to come up," he said, quieter than before. "I'll have the driver take you home if that's what you want."

"Home," I asked

"Your apartment," he said, brushing the strands of hair off my face.

"This marriage is on paper, Stella. You keep your own place. You only come to the Castle house when it's necessary, press events, formalities, whatever the board needs to see."

"And if I need something?"

"Then you'll have it. Whatever you need, it's provided.

"If you want to go home tonight, I'll have a driver take you," he says.

"But it's our wedding night —" he added softly.

I had spent weeks pretending I wasn't replaying that first night in my head. The way his hands felt like they'd been waiting years to touch me. I told myself it was a mistake we'd never speak of again. But some nights I lay awake, and it's the only memory that doesn't feel heavy.

"What if I don't want to go home?" I ask.

"Stella—" He paused.

"If you stay," he said finally, "it's not because the contract says so."

"I know."

"Then I need to hear you say it."

"I want to stay, Julian."