Chapter 4 #2
My face forms a scowl so deep it hurts. The air in the car is thick with tension as Lucien pulls up to my building, and I can tell by the way he shifts toward us that he’s dying to say something, maybe try to defuse the situation, but it’s not his place, so he stays quiet.
“How dare you talk to me like that?” I ask with quiet astonishment.
“How dare you?” she replies. Her delicate little chin is held up, and it reminds me of a small child attempting to look more fearless than they are.
There’s no point in arguing with this girl, so I snatch the handle of the door and open it with anger. The sky has opened up again, and it’s coming down in sheets. Lightning cracks, illuminating the dim cloud-covered sky, and thunder roars shortly after.
“Mr. Kade,” Lucien says, pleading with an umbrella in his hand, but I ignore him.
I’m too angry. The audacity of this woman to speak to me this way…
I want to hurt her back, so I say the only thing in my power to say. “You can kiss that job goodbye.”
Her jaw drops, and sorrow flashes across her eyes.
I wish I could say it was satisfying to see the effects of my words, but it’s not. When I climb out of the car in a rush, I feel nothing but remorse.
Trying to run from it, I slam the door closed and walk through the downpour to the front of the building. The doorman is there to usher me inside, but I pause on the sidewalk instead. The water soaks me, my too-tight shirt, my designer shoes, and my perfectly styled hair.
“You all right?” a deep voice says from my right. Turning, I stare into the face of a handsome yet familiar man. He has brown curls and eyes like a rich chocolate cake or a forest of dark oak trees in the spring.
It takes me a moment to realize the rain is no longer drowning me. He’s holding an umbrella over my head as his eyes fix on mine.
“Mr. Kade, please come in,” the doorman pleads, and I snap myself out of my daze and rush into the building. Once in the lobby, the man with the umbrella closes it and hands it to the doorman, who stores it in a nearby rack.
I can’t take my eyes from his face. I swear I’ve never seen him in the building before, and yet…I feel like I just saw him recently.
He’s exquisitely dressed in tight black slacks, a white long-sleeved button-up, a long wool coat, and a plaid scarf.
The lights flicker in the lobby, and I force myself to look away again as we walk together toward the elevator.
He stands next to me as we wait for the doors of the lift to open, and I glance down at his hands as he reaches out to press the button.
My eyes narrow, noticing the broken skin and scabs on his knuckles, and everything comes rushing back.
Just as the doors open, I glance up to his face and recognize the criminal who rode up the elevator with me late last night.
“You,” I snarl as I take in his face.
“What’s wrong, gorgeous?” he quips back. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
He steps into the enclosed space first, and I quickly follow, scanning his appearance, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing.
This is the same guy who looked practically homeless last night.
He was covered in blood and reeked terribly.
There’s no way…this is the same person. Now he’s covered in Tom Ford and Italian leather.
“Don’t call me that,” I mutter as I turn away from him and hit the button for my floor. He makes a sound in his throat as he notices the highlighted penthouse floor. “Do you have a problem?”
He only laughs to himself, and I have to grind my molars. This is the day from hell. First, it was the stifling enclosed space of the car with Freya, and now it’s the stifling enclosed space of the lift with this guy.
The door doesn’t close right away, the lights flickering again, and I get a bad feeling in my stomach. Maybe I should take the stairs. It’s only six floors.
But then they start to close, and I breathe a sigh of relief. The sooner I get into my apartment, alone with my cat and a glass of Dalmore, the better. This day needs to end.
Only moments before the doors close, a hand is shoved between them, and they peel open slowly.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumble.
Freya is standing there, soaked to the bone with her thermal bag slung over one shoulder and a look of fierce tenacity on her face. I must be stuck in some nightmare, one where I’m forced to have uncomfortable conversations with everyone who hates me.
She marches onto the elevator and jabs a finger against my chest. “What is wrong with you?” she shrieks.
Behind her, the elevator doors close, and I shut my eyes in anguish.
“You’re not just going to leave me like that. I’m not going to let some spoiled little mama’s boy ruin the best job I’ve ever had, so I’m not leaving your side until you take it back!”
A snicker echoes in the small space, the guy laughing to himself as the elevator starts moving slowly.
Putting my hands up, I try to force Freya to give me some space. “Listen,” I start, but just then, the lights in the elevator flicker again, and the compartment shudders. We all brace ourselves on the mirrored walls, our eyes widening in panic.
“What was that?” she asks, looking around in fear.
“I think we’ve stopped,” the man says.
The buttons flicker on and off eerily. My heart picks up speed in my chest, and I stare at the doors, waiting for them to open.
Instead, the cabin goes dark.