Chapter 3 #2
When I reach the apartment and find Peter’s note on the kitchen counter, I smile and add a lopsided heart to the bottom of the paper before locking myself in my room for an hour or two of work.
In the comfort of my seclusion, the straps of my bra are too constricting and aggravate my scars, so I take it off and hang it in the bathroom to air out before settling in front of my desk.
I resist temptation and don’t open my hacking program despite wanting to snoop around and make the guy’s life miserable.
Instead, I complete orders and move through my queue before swapping over to work on a project I started almost six months ago.
Frustration simmers through me, but after deleting a few notes and scrolling through previous updates, I spot a potential workaround.
The project sucks me in and mutes the world. Nothing exists beyond the green numbers and letters on my black screen.
I jump when my phone alarm goes off. When I turn it off and hear my stomach rumbling, I roll my eyes and grab a packet of apple slices from my mini fridge.
Halfway through, my brain finally emerges from my project and catches up with the real world. I pause mid-chew and fight a wave of nerves as I recall why I set the alarm.
I can’t skip the wedding rehearsal even though I made myself into a laughingstock yesterday, but maybe I can avoid making it worse by limiting my time there.
With an uneasy swallow, I recalculate my mental schedule with the new information I gained yesterday and decide to leave ten minutes later than planned.
Maybe if I get there right as it begins, I can retrieve my ring from Sebastian with no fanfare and then bolt as soon as the rehearsal ends.
I force myself to finish my snack before rising and tossing the trash in the bin.
When I can’t stand even the sight of my bra, I know I won’t be able to force myself to wear it, so I fold it and put it in its drawer before considering my wardrobe options.
Deciding to change into a dark shirt to hide my lack of bra, I also choose a pair of high-waisted, wide-leg light-colored slacks and my white sneakers.
After refreshing my hair and applying a bit of makeup, I slip into my coat, grab my purse, and stand in the center of the room.
I search for things to do, but everything is exactly where I like it.
Waiting until my new departure time arrives is pure torture. Worst-case scenarios begin playing in my head, and I end up leaving about three minutes before I mean to. If something happens and I’m late, then my arrival will be too awkward after yesterday’s incidents.
I enter the building and sidestep out of the walkway as I catch both my bearings from the sudden change of surroundings and my breath from my normal breakneck speed through the crowd.
“Penelope.”
My heart leaps and brain screeches to a halt at the low, rich voice.
Sebastian stands from his slouched position against the wall and takes my wrist. Shocked at the contact, I stare in mute surprise as he gently pries open my fist and places the ring he took from me yesterday onto my palm.
The sight of my hand cradled in his with Terry’s ring at the center breaks something deep inside me.
If he had looked back even once after he left, maybe things wouldn’t have ended so tragically. If I hadn’t lost his protection the moment he graduated, maybe Terry and I wouldn’t have suffered so badly. If he had cared, maybe I would still have somewhere I belong.
I close my fist and yank my hand away.
“Don’t touch me,” I snarl.
He lifts his hands in the universal sign of surrender and steps back.
“Fuck, I’m sorry. That was stupid. I just keep defaulting to teenage idiocy around you.”
“So it’s my fault?” I snap.
His shoulders curl forward, and for half a heartbeat, my soul cries in misery.
He moves. I shuffle away in instinctual fear only to blink in confusion. The sight before me makes no sense.
Sebastian Sterling, a giant of a man with billions of dollars to prove his success, kneels at my feet with his long, callused fingers digging nervously into his jean-clad thighs and his pulse thrumming in his thick, corded neck as he aims eyes full of genuine regret into my soul.
Sitting back on his heels, his face is lower than mine, but if he kneels up, our gazes might be level.
Yearning fills me. I want to step forward, grab him by the nape, and pull our fronts tight together just to know what it feels like. The thought of having his strength tucked tight against my body enthralls me.
The ring’s gemstone digs into my palm as I clench my fist to stop myself from reaching for him. I squash my curiosity using the fear pounding through my chest.
“I’m sorry, Penelope. I’m sorry for not respecting your personal space—both just now and yesterday—and for blackmailing you with something I had no right to take from you, and for speaking to you like—”
“Stop. Please. I don’t…I can’t…”
I can’t breathe. Can’t think. Can’t process.
The door opens beside me.
Mortification joins the storm of emotions whipping through me.
Sebastian moves before I can react, placing his massive body between me and the newcomer in the blink of an eye.
His deep voice vibrates into my bones as he speaks with the stranger, but my brain refuses to make sense of his words.
I startle when he squats beside me and instinctually meet his eyes.
“Penelope, will you sit with me for a few minutes?”
Sit? With him?
I should say no, but my dumbfounded brain refuses to take control of my body, so it moves according to its own agenda and nods.
His smile brightens his entire face.
Ushered into the dining room by a behemoth as though I’m made of glass, I sit as soon as he pulls out a chair for me and force myself to take a full breath before I pass out.
He lowers his gigantic frame into the chair beside mine—which was already pushed back from the table—and leans down to take something out of the bag underneath. I blink as he slips a fancy black folder in front of me.
Skepticism roars through me, and my mental processes shift into overdrive.
“What’s this?” I ask with my hands firmly in my lap.
“It’s a job offer. Before you say no—” he reads me too well, but I can’t prevent my shoulders from tensing, “read the terms. Comb the fine print. Take it home and mull it over for a few days. I may die from anticipation but…”
He stops when I meet his gaze. I don’t know what emotion my face displays, but whatever he reads there halts him in his tracks.
“I’m expanding my company and need a computer programmer. You’re the only one I trust for the job.”
I lift my brow in disbelief. The two vertical curved barbells in my right eyebrow shift underneath my skin.
We haven’t met in ages. He hasn’t reached out to me once in fifteen years. Not a single update. He doesn’t know anything about me.
He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs before dropping his elbow to the table.
“Everything is negotiable. Look it over before you give me an answer.”
I barely resist the urge to pull my lip ring into my mouth as curiosity rises in me.
Reading whatever is on the document won’t hurt me.
I am not in danger. If I flip it open and it isn’t a job offer, I’ll slam it closed and walk away without ever looking back.
If it is, I’ll glance over it, pretend to consider, then decline.
Before reaching for the folder, I slip my ring onto my finger and inhale a long, full breath as relief washes over me.
Sebastian leans back in his chair, but his bulk beside me is still intimidating.
The document steals my attention.
I make enough money from patents and royalties to cover my living expenses every month, but my father’s medical bills and the money my parents need to survive come from my freelancing, and I’ve hit an unexpected ceiling while working for myself.
There are only so many hours in a day and only so much I can ask clients to pay for my services while limiting myself to legal tasks, and I can’t offer myself the benefits of a large company.
The thought of walking into an office as an employee—with other workers as peers and competition—curdles my insides, but I remind myself this isn’t high school. I’m not a child. Surely other people in the workforce are younger than I am. There’ll be no reason for anyone to single me out.
If I take Sebastian’s offer, I can pay off my father’s debts in two years instead of ten, while simultaneously improving his level of care.
My mom can quit her second part-time job and stay at the house with my dad for more hours during the day.
If they both weren’t so proud, maybe I could convince her to quit working altogether, but my hard work would be too much of a burden for them.
I swallow my trepidation and fill my lungs until my ribs hurt. My nipple piercings rub against my shirt. Warmth pulses between my legs as wetness coats my labia piercings.
I look up from the document and meet Sebastian’s deep brown eyes. My heart lurches in my chest, but I twist my ring and curl my hand into a fist to use the sharp edge of the gemstone to center myself.
I should stay as far away from Sebastian Sterling as I possibly can, but he’s offering me a deal I can’t refuse.
His eyes dip to my mouth. My stomach bottoms out at the hunger in his gaze. I release my lip ring—uncertain when I sucked it between my teeth—and know with every fiber of my being that I’m about to make the biggest mistake of my life.
But I do it anyway for the two beautiful souls who tried to be my place of belonging but fell painfully short because of the cruelty of the world.
I’ll work for Sebastian, but only until I clear my father’s debts and ensure his long-term care is funded.
My throbbing body and fluttering heart as he lifts his mesmerizingly intense brown eyes to mine say otherwise.
Curses. I suck at lying even to myself.