7. Sienna
7
SIENNA
W hy? Why do I let him get under my skin?
Noah was long gone, and I sat staring at the closed door with my fists clenched in my lap. I told myself I wouldn’t let him irk me and would keep it professional, no jabs, no barbs. Nothing about this had to be personal. It was a job.
I was good at my job.
I loved my job.
But when it came to him, all bets were off.
I released a shuddering breath and consciously let go of the tension that had tightened into a knot at the nape of my neck. All I needed was to end up with a migraine because of him. I kept that in mind as I took a few slow, deep breaths until, finally, my muscles loosened and the pounding in my head lessened.
At least he hadn’t fought me. He could bitch and moan all he wanted, but facts were facts. He was at the mercy of public opinion right now, which left him at my mercy. He may have been talented at some things. I hated him, but I wasn’t na?ve. Nobody built a business the size of his if they didn’t at least know a thing or two about how to earn trust and turn a profit. He wasn’t what anyone would call a people person, yet at the same time, he understood people. He knew what they needed to see and hear.
So why was he in this spot? He made a sarcastic joke about being unable to identify everybody he had fucked over, and I had to wonder how much of it was true. Because there was another side to the success coin. A man on his way to his first billion didn’t normally get there without having fucked over at least one or two people along the way. Undercutting them on a deal, maybe making a few sketchy investments.
I typed the word investment in the document I’d opened to compile thoughts and ideas, along with it was a mess of other notes I’d jotted down in the minutes and hours after Noah’s phone call. At the heart of it all was the question of who had planted the story and why.
Was it wrong that I almost felt sorry for whoever they were? Nobody went that route unless they had been good and thoroughly fucked by somebody. I knew the feeling too well. Hell, there was a part of me that wanted to shake their hand, whoever they were. At least they had tried to strike back. All I had been able to do was bear the humiliation, which I was unfortunately reminded of every time I came into contact with Noah in the years since that awful night.
I sat back in my chair with a sigh, my thoughts now on anything but the job at hand. Staring out the window, I no longer saw the striking high rises around me or the East River in the distance. I saw Penelope Schwartz’s snide smirk.
She hadn’t kicked my ass the way she’d threatened, probably because she knew better than to try. The school’s administration had looked the other way on a lot of things because there wasn’t a single student there whose parents didn’t wield influence. But even they knew where to draw a line and punish bad behavior. Besides, Penelope had practically been royalty around there, and she’d had a reputation to uphold as student body president along with half a dozen clubs. Beating up a freshman would have put an end to her shiny image.
Even years later, I shivered thinking about it. Going to school with my heart in my throat, expecting to be taunted and bullied. Shriveling under the weight of Penelope’s gaze whenever we passed in the halls. It was all thanks to that cruel, arrogant bastard. He had never even apologized. My brother’s best friend, someone I’d known my entire life, and he hadn’t apologized.
My jaw ached thanks to the way I ground my teeth. My dentist was going to have a few choice words for me at my next appointment if I wasn’t careful. I deliberately loosened my jaw, chiding myself. Noah did not deserve this power over me.
My phone buzzed with an alert, quickly followed by a soft ping from my computer—an appointment reminder. I was never so glad for a distraction to pull me out of my murderous thoughts. My cousin, Aria, had talked me into signing up for a spin class with Skye Worthington, one of the hottest instructors on the East Side. God knew I needed the endorphins, and Aria’s mom, Evelyn, swore by Skye’s classes. Considering she had the body of a woman my age and my Uncle Magnus still looked at her like he wanted to ravish her, I was sold.
I stood from my desk and crossed the room, ducking into the attached bathroom to change into my workout clothes before heading to the spin studio. I needed to get rid of this nasty energy wrapped around me like the thin, sticky strands of a spiderweb. The harder I fought, the more stuck I became. If I weren’t careful, I would end up paralyzed by the spider at the center of it all.
Marissa looked up from her work when I emerged from my office, now dressed in workout gear. “Spin class?” she asked, privy to my schedule.
I nodded, looking across the floor. The dozens of employees Jules managed were hard at work, typing up press releases, managing social media accounts, confirming reservations, and basically making the entire company run. I was under no illusions. I might have been the wizard behind the curtain, pulling levers and pushing buttons, but they kept the gears moving.
“I’ll oversee all communication on the Goldsmith account,” I announced to my assistant, whose eyes widened slightly with surprise. “This is one I would like to handle on my own.”
“That works,” she murmured in a way that told me she didn’t think it worked at all. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, with you two knowing each other. It’s personal.”
Yes, it was definitely personal. “I know how to handle him,” I explained with a wink. Her concern softened thanks to that, which is why I had done it. I couldn’t have her questioning my motivation or wondering if my management of this client was a smart move. I already had Jules concerned over that as it was.
Passing Jules’ closed office door on my way to the elevator, I frowned when I remembered her wandering off at the club. Granted, it wasn’t like we had promised to stick close to each other, but I had felt hopelessly out of place and more than a little intimidated. I hadn’t seen her after slinking out of that little room with my panties shoved down the front of my dress, though, to be fair, I was in a hurry to get home after that. My whole world had turned on its head. I had needed time to decompress and figure out what the hell happened.
Hours later, I still had no idea.
Aria was waiting for me by the time I arrived. “There you are!” She waved me over to the machine next to hers. “I’ve been saving it for you,” she explained, tossing her long burgundy ponytail over her shoulder. Even dressed for spin class, she managed to look effortlessly chic. I had never mastered that skill, just as I never had the guts to dye my hair fun colors like she did.
“Hey,” I breathed out, giving her a quick hug. “Sorry, I got a little lost in my head after my last meeting.” I noticed how she shot a dirty look at a tall, sandy-haired guy on the bike behind mine.
What had I missed? When I arched an eyebrow, silently questioning, she rolled her eyes. Maybe he had wanted the bike she was saving for me.
“A meeting with Noah?” she asked with a giggle. I should’ve known she’d be aware of the whole drama by now. “How’s it looking? Is he completely screwed?”
I smirked, looking her up and down before pulling my hair into a bun. “I’m a little offended that you don’t trust my skills.”
“Girl, we both know you kick ass at what you do. But come on. This is Noah. He’s a goddamn mess.” She still managed to sound fond when she said it, but then she could. She didn’t know him like I did. No one did. I would have rather swallowed my tongue than tell the girls what happened back then. My brother knew, and he’d been smart enough or at least decent enough to keep it to himself in the years since.
“He’ll be fine,” I grunted out, arranging my towel and water bottle before climbing onto the bike. “So long as he stays out of my way and doesn’t shoot his mouth off to the wrong person.”
“It’s such bullshit, knowing somebody could just spread lies that easily.”
“Well, if he wants to run around with the big boys, he has to face the other side of being a big shot.” I caught Aria’s confused gaze from the corner of my eye, and it brought me up short. I sounded as angry as I felt. “That’s why there are people like me in the world to clean up the messes,” I added with a grin I didn’t feel.
The energy in the room shifted when Skye entered, her usual blonde hair pulled back in a slicked ponytail. She clapped her hands once to bring all of us to silence. “Are we ready, people? Let’s do this!” she called out, overflowing with bright, bubbly excitement we all needed to kickstart our motivation. Despite her willowy frame and platinum blonde hair, a major general couldn’t have brought their troops together any more efficiently. If anything, she scared me a little and could definitely kick my ass.
The strangest thought occurred to me as I got comfortable and ready to pedal. There was something close to relief in sitting back and letting somebody else tell me what to do—following the instructor’s commands, turning my brain off for a little while—like I had at the club. The way I would’ve liked to have kept doing if my mystery man hadn’t disappeared on me .
It was never far from my thoughts, the memory of how thrilling it was to let him use me. Never had I come like that before. Like my whole body was an instrument, and he was the master.
My legs pumped, and I leaned over the handlebars, gripping them tight, pushing myself through the warm-up. Each leg rotation was a reminder of how sore I was from last night. I had never taken a dick that big, and he hadn’t been gentle. What did it say about me that I loved it the way I did? That I craved more?
I could see myself getting hooked on the rush, and that was a dangerous thing.
The idea of living without it now that I knew what I’d been missing out on was enough to make my heart sink with disappointment. But who was I kidding? I had no business thinking about that, anyway.
It had been fun, but I didn’t have the first clue as to who exactly had used me. Just the thought of him made my heart flutter, and something told me that had nothing to do with the workout. What a shame I couldn’t find my mystery man again since I would be tense like this for as long as I worked with Noah.
I should’ve asked if I could keep him on retainer. Picturing Noah’s face in my head left me gritting my teeth and pedaling faster, completely focused on working my body until I was too exhausted to give a shit about him.
Like I could out-pedal him somehow.
Like I could run away from the shame that still ate me alive whenever I remembered his nasty little smirk and the empty excuses he gave for breaking my heart.
And I was supposed to help him? There wasn’t enough money in the world to make me want to do it.
But I had to .
And because I had to, I didn’t bother waiting until I returned to the office before making a few calls. I had barely caught my breath before I was on the phone, shaking a few trees and calling in a few favors.
The sooner I got Noah out of the public eye, the sooner this would all be over.