Chapter 7 Wren #2
“Well,” I say, feeling Larry’s eyes still on me.
I tug my hair over my shoulder, exposing more of my neck to him, “I’m a hard worker and a fast learner.
I love helping people, but I’m just not sure what direction I want to go professionally yet.
This position feels like it checks all my boxes.
I’d get to learn and grow from the best in the world. ”
Cato narrows his eyes on me, and I feel my heart rate pick up.
Fuck. Maybe he’s not buying it.
“I see,” is all he says, and I swallow.
“Tell us a little about yourself, personally,” Larry finally adds in. “Where are you from? Married? Kids?”
I turn to him, forcing another smile.
“I’m from New York originally,” I say, “but I recently moved back, so to be honest, I’m still getting settled in. I’m not married, and I don’t have any kids. I don’t even have a boyfriend,” I laugh nervously.
Make sure they know you are fully available to them.
I see another glance exchanged between the two of them, and then Cato looks at me.
“Well,” he says, clapping his hands together then pressing himself up from his chair and walking around his desk, sitting on it directly in front of me. “I think we’ve heard all we need to hear.”
Fuck.
“We’d like to offer you the position, Ms. Wright,” he says. “With the caveat that we’d need you to start fairly quickly. We have a couple of big projects we are working on and need someone onboarded as quickly as possible.”
My mouth drops open. I am genuinely shocked.
It was so fast. So easy. There is literally a formula to it. I put a hand to my chest and stand up to shake his hand.
“Oh, my goodness,” I say, “I am so honored. I’d love to take it.”
Cato smiles as he holds onto my hand a little too long.
“Great,” he says, pulling me into him slightly. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”
“Rose will send your contract over to you, along with your itinerary and reporting instructions, within the next day,” Larry adds, sticking out a hand to shake.
“Just a reminder, Ms. Wright, a lot of the projects we work on are with confidential clients, so we will also be sending along an NDA. Standard business procedures.”
I nod slowly, feeling my chest tighten slightly.
“Right, of course,” I say.
We finish our goodbyes, and Rose comes back to escort me out. As she leads me to the elevators, I fumble with my phone, sending a text to Julian and Keaton.
Done, I say as I get on.
The doors close, and I feel a crushing weight land on my chest.
Holy fuck.
I can’t breathe. The combination of the looks they gave me, the way they sized me up and down, and the lies they told along with being in this fucking death box is making me feel lightheaded.
I hold onto the railing to brace myself, but it feels like I can’t get any oxygen in.
Finally, the doors open, albeit painfully slowly, and I rush out, gulping for air as I make it to the garage.
I dart out like a bat out of hell, unbutton my blazer, and try to calm myself down, but I can’t seem to get anything under control. A fuzzy feeling makes all my extremities tingle as I round the corner and run into what feels like a brick wall.
“Hey, hey,” I hear his voice say, and at first, I feel like my mind is playing tricks on me. Brooks holds me back, looking me up and down. “Are you okay?”
I stare up at him, confused, but I feel my breathing instantly slow down.
“Brooks?” I ask, confused. “How are you…how are you here?”
He shrugs.
“I decided I don’t give a shit about pleasing him,” he says matter-of-factly. “Not today. I’ve always been the disappointment. What else is new?” He forces a sad smile. I clutch onto his wrist as he holds me steady.
“I…I got the job,” I say, but I can feel my lip quivering.
He pulls me into him, squeezing me and kissing the top of my head.
“You’re amazing, Wren. So amazing,” he says, and I clutch onto him.
He leads me to his car, and we slide in the back. Eddie speeds out of the garage.
“I thought your brothers were going to be here?” I ask him.
“I told them I had this one. They weren’t too pleased about me risking blowing my cover. But today, I really just don’t care.”
I stare up at him, and he leans over to me. He reaches a hand out and lifts the strap of my tank top up. I hadn’t even noticed that it was sliding down my shoulder underneath my blazer.
“You look devastating in this outfit,” he whispers before leaning over and kissing my jawline. I feel another weight lift off me as I lean my head back and close my eyes. His hand never leaves mine.
The whole ride, I realize I hadn’t even asked where we were going.
But when we pull up to a massive apartment building, I realize he’s brought me back to his place.
Similar to Julian’s, we go in through a separate garage, a separate gate, and a separate penthouse elevator. When the doors open, I take it all in.
I follow him into the huge apartment, taking it all in. The modern architecture, the grand floating staircase, the massive flatscreen that’s bigger than my entire apartment.
But my brain is processing too much, and I feel like I can’t compute anything else. Without waiting to be invited, I plop down on the huge couch that basically swallows me whole. A moment later, he walks in with a glass of wine, putting it on the table in front of me.
Then, he gently lifts me up, sits down beneath me, and settles my head onto his lap.
I look up at him, and he gently starts to stroke my face. It feels so nice that I feel my eyes close.
“You did so good today, baby,” I hear him whisper. My body tingles. There is something about him praising me that makes me want to do more of whatever it is. His hand slides up to stroke my hair, and I let myself melt into him.
“They looked at me like I was a prize animal at the fair,” I mutter below my breath, and I feel my bottom lip start to quiver again. Sitting still for a few moments has let everything settle, including everything I was feeling in that room that had nowhere to go.
“Baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispers.
I don’t say anything. I just roll my lips together in an attempt not to cry in front of him. But it’s no use. Right here in this room, his skin on mine, I feel my body giving itself permission to release everything it’s been holding in.
“Wren,” he whispers, then I feel him reach down and pull me up toward him. He’s fully cradling me now, squeezing me tight to his chest. The tears roll out of my eyes involuntarily, and I don’t fight them. A few moments pass, and I jump when I hear a buzz at the door.
My eyes shoot open, and he looks down at me.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Someone is here for you.”
I cock an eyebrow.
“For me?”
He nods, sitting me up and sliding me out from underneath him.
“Wren,” he says before walking toward the elevator, “I need you to remember what I told you—no matter how far we get into this, okay?”
I tilt my head to the side.
“You can always say enough,” he says. “At any point, you can say it’s enough.”
I nod slowly, standing up to follow him.
He enters the room with an older woman carrying a massage table. He takes it from her like a gentleman then nods and walks down the hallway with her to a room at the end. I hear him set the table down, then he comes back out.
“That’s Marcella,” he says. “She’s my masseuse, and she’s amazing. She’s here for you today.”
My eyes widen.
“For me?”
“Yes,” he says. “You’ve had a long day.” Then, he crosses the floor between us and cups my face in his hand. He leans down so his lips are at my ear. “Now, go take your clothes off.”
When he pulls away, he has a playful grin on his mouth that makes my whole body warm. It feels good to smile. I shake my head and start walking down the hallway.
“Thank you, Brooks,” I call back to him. “For everything.”
“Wren, there aren’t enough thanks in the world for what my brothers and I will owe you after this is all said and done.”
Then he turns and walks back down the hallway to the living room.