Chapter 24
Ian wanted me to quit my job. He had driven me to get my car, but then he’d had to go to work. I still recalled the apprehension on his face, even now as I approached the fifth floor of Channing Enterprises. He had pleaded with me not to go.
Gage Channing is a monster.
He’ll only hurt you again.
At least let me go with you.
I’d agreed with the first two statements, but I wouldn’t let him take time off from his job to deal with my problems. He’d been dragged into my life enough already.
A ding announced the fifth floor, and as the doors slid open, I wondered what Gage wanted.
After his non-reaction to the evidence I’d presented him with, I was more than curious.
Maybe he was going to fire me. A part of me hoped he would so I wouldn’t have to face the decision of whether or not to put in my resignation.
The idea of searching for a new job was a daunting one, though staying on as his personal assistant didn’t sit well either.
I exited the elevator, not at all recovered from Gage’s beating or my bar excursion, but at least no one would tell by looking at me.
I wore my usual heels and skirt ensemble, only the inches on my shoes were shorter and the hem of my skirt longer than his more recent requirements.
I looked like the put-together woman I wanted the world to see.
No one would know that every inch of my body still ached from the impact of his whip.
“Good morning, Kayla.” Katherine’s sing-song greeting iced my blood. I avoided her smug face and rushed into Gage’s office without knocking. The door slammed shut behind me, making him jump.
“I’ll have to call you back,” he said into his cell. He ended the call and leaned back in his chair, staring at me, though instead of his usual cocky air, his face was bathed in uncertainty.
I hadn’t expected uncertainty. “I was debating whether or not to put in my resignation, but I can’t work here with Katherine.” How interesting that his presence didn’t bother me half as much as hers did.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes, and I assumed he was suffering from the effects of his drinking binge. “I’ll have her transferred. I can’t fire her—she and I have an agreement.”
I bet. “Let me guess, her job back in exchange for destroying me?”
He ignored my scathing question and gestured to the seat in front of his desk. “Sit down. We have a few things to discuss.”
“I’ll stand, thank you. And you’re the one who needs to do the talking. Why is my ex blackmailing you? Is he doing it for money, or does it have something to do with me?”
“He thinks he can keep me away from you,” he said with a smirk. “Your ex is an ass.”
“A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”
His face darkened, and he rose and rounded the desk.
I took a step back, remembering how he’d kissed me last night. “Don’t come any closer.”
“What do you think I’m gonna do, Kayla? Bend you over my desk and put a belt to your ass?
” He had me against the door before I was able to blink.
“You made it clear the rules have changed, remember?” His eyes lowered to my trembling mouth.
“Only I’m a little unclear on what they are now.
Am I still allowed to touch you?” He feathered his fingers across my nipples, as if testing how far he could push me.
“Kiss you?” His words whispered across my lips, breath laced with the richness of coffee. “You didn’t seem to mind last night.”
“No, you don’t get to touch me.” I shoved him back a few inches, hating how he still had the power to make my pulse race. The bastard still turned me on; that out of everything pissed me off the most.
“I called you in here to negotiate my own terms.”
I raised a brow. “I didn’t realize you had anything left to negotiate with.”
He laughed. “You didn’t quite achieve checkmate yet—my king is still in the game, believe me.”
I flattened myself against the door, but it didn’t give me the distance I wanted. His chest felt like steel under my hands as I pushed against him. “I’ll scream.”
“Do it, then the cops can come and arrest you.” His grin was too triumphant, and I wondered how he’d so easily turned the tables on me.
“And you think the police will ignore your embezzlement? You’re not above the law, even though it’s clear you think otherwise.”
“You won’t turn me in.”
“Really? What makes you so certain?”
“Because upon further investigation, the Feds will discover that your friend Jody Palmer is also guilty. If I go down, she does too.”
My jaw went slack. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? Do you want to test me?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Why do you think she resigned?”
A chill traveled through my body. He was basically telling me I had no leverage. Oh my God…this wasn’t over yet. “Gage, don’t do this to me. I can’t take anymore.”
Something flickered in the depths of his eyes, something that gave me hope, but he dashed it with the words he whispered against my ear. “Doing the right thing isn’t in my nature. I want you.” He grabbed my ass and lifted, and his erection pushed against my opening.
Where I instantly throbbed for him.
“No!” I shoved him away. “Turn me in, if you want, but I can’t do this anymore.”
“You’d risk your daughter’s life?”
“No,” I choked out. “God, you’re despicable. The fact that you’d use her like this tells me everything I need to know about you.”
He frowned. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.” He returned to his chair, which shocked the heck out of me. Deep down, I’d expected him to take me right there in his office.
“Then do the right thing. Let me go.”
“So you want me to let you out of our contract, but I’m supposed to keep paying for Eve’s medical bills?”
“Haven’t I paid enough? You’ve put me through hell and you know it.”
“I’ll do it under one condition.”
His words stunned me, but then suspicion set in. “What do you want?”
The edge of his mouth turned up. “I already told you what I want.”
He wanted me. “Why, Gage? I don’t understand. You could have any woman you wanted.”
“Not any woman,” he said wryly.
And that was it. I was the forbidden fruit on the tree, though why he’d placed me into that category was unclear.
If he’d approached me like a decent human being, I might have liked him.
Now all he had going for him was my chemical reaction to him.
It was just sex—really fantastic sex mixed with really horrific pain.
“I’ll ask again, what do you want from me? ”
“I want your trust.”
“Are you kidding me?”
He shook his head and stared at the scattered papers on his desk. “I’m a jealous man, Kayla. I don’t like sharing. But I admit that I went too far with you.”
“Is this the part where I tell you it’s okay?
” I’d locked my anger away too long, and now it exploded in a rare display of fury.
I stalked across the room and swiped the papers from his desk.
Even his computer crashed to the floor, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“I don’t like being raped, but that didn’t matter to you. ”
He tensed, and for a moment I was sure he was going to explode. He stared at me for several long moments before speaking. “A part of you does like it, or you’d walk away right now.”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
“Eve is getting better,” he said. “I could stop paying for her care and she’d still recover.” He leaned forward. “So why are you still here, Kayla?”
My mouth hung open, a dozen replies forming on my tongue, but the truth gagged me.
I didn’t know why I was still there.
“Give me one more weekend. We’ll leave the contract behind.”
“And if I say no?”
He shrugged. “Well, if you’d rather carry out the rest of your six weeks, I guess I can punish you now for your blatant disobedience.”
I clenched my teeth. “One weekend, then I’m free?”
He nodded. “One weekend, and then you’re free.”