Chapter 3 #3
“Of course not!” I burst out indignantly. “Where would you even get that from?! He’s a part of my past. I’m worried about what he’s trying to do. I can’t figure out his intentions. ”
“I’m sorry!” She holds out her hands, palms outward. “I read a lot of romance novels. I just thought?—”
When I make a face at her, she says, “Wait and see. Or we can run away and change our identities. He can’t force you to work for him when he can’t find you.”
I chuckle lightly. “Another big brain moment for you. We should do that. In fact, my suitcase is already packed. Let’s just go now.”
“After we have pizza,” Sarah declares with finality. “I’m thinking of getting pepperoni. What about you?”
I exhale slowly, feeling worn out. “I’m fine. I’ll just take a slice from?—”
“I’ve seen you eat, Natalie. I don’t know where you pack all that food, but there’s some black hole inside your stomach. Either tell me what your brand of poison is, or you don’t get to share my pizza. I’ll hide in the shower to eat it if I have to.”
“Cheese,” I sigh, feeling thoroughly called out. “Get me a small one. I’m going to go shower and imagine scenarios where I get to sucker punch Ethan and not get fired.”
Sarah gives me a thumbs up as she dials the pizza place’s number.
I leave the kitchen, stepping past the sleek dining nook and into the living room.
Crossing into the narrow hallway, smooth hardwood cool under my feet, I slip inside my bedroom.
Instead of dropping my stuff and heading to the shower, I collapse facedown on the bed, wondering why the universe is out to get me today.
Iris is the first person I see the next morning. She looks pale, and from the bags under her eyes, it seems she hasn’t slept very well .
“You need coffee,” I tell her as I get into the elevator. “Why’re you here so early?”
“That expense report has been eating at me,” she yawns, pressing the button for both my floor and hers.
“I had nightmares that Mr. Wilder fired me, and I didn’t want to leave, so I grabbed the edge of the door frame, and he kept pulling at me.
And then the office became this strange vortex and started spewing out expense reports at me, and I was drowning. ”
I stare at her. “Forget the coffee, you need to see a shrink.”
“That’s what Richard said,” Iris chuckles before yawning once again.
“Richard? So it’s true then? You’re dating Richard Molex from the Finance Department?”
“Is that a problem?” Iris stiffens. “He’s not under me. He’s a manager over in Finance. There’s no conflict of interest. And we began dating around the same time I joined, so I wasn’t a department hea?—”
“Relax,” I assure her. “Employee relationships aren’t a problem as long as there is no conflict of interest. I was just going to ask how it’s going.”
Her shoulders loosen up, and she gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. HR, you know.”
I smile back. “No offense taken. So, how is it going?”
“We got an apartment together last month. So pretty good, I’d say.
” She sighs, her expression shifting back to work concerns.
“I’m going to talk to Charlotte about the report.
Maybe there was a mixup. I dropped an email to Robert.
As the head of finance, he should know what happened.
If he doesn’t reply before lunch, I’ll go to his office. ”
I have a feeling Ethan will beat her to it, but I don’t say anything.
Once Iris and I part ways, I head to my office.
I don’t expect Layla to be in yet, so when I open the door to find the lights turned on in my office, I frown.
Entering my office, I see Ethan sitting on my couch, one arm sprawled over the back, his legs extended casually as he looks at a piece of paper in his hand.
“What are you doing in my office?” I demand, setting down my bag with more force than necessary.
“Well, I called you?—”
“I’m only available via email during non-working hours. I turn off my office cell phone,” I inform him tightly.
“Then give me your private number,” Ethan replies shamelessly.
I give him a cool smile. “Mr. Wilder, you should consider investing in hearing aids. I just said I don’t answer the phone during non-working hours. That would mean I don’t like being contacted on my private cell phone either.”
“Considering I’m your boss?—”
“I don’t give my private number to just anybody.”
His eyes flash, his voice dropping to a soft whisper that sends an unwanted shiver down my spine. “Since when did I become ‘just anybody?’”
I give him a withering look. “You’re my boss during office hours. Outside of them, you are nobody to me.”
He doesn’t get angry. Instead, he returns his attention back to the paper in his hand. “I like my employees to be available to me around the clock.”
“I didn’t realize I signed a slave contract.” I take a seat behind my desk, grateful for the barrier it provides. Folding my hands, I lean forward, analyzing him. “Mr. Wilder, in the hours that have passed since I left work and came back, did the office catch fire?”
Ethan bends his arm, leaning his temple against his forefinger and middle finger, observing me with that intense gaze that still makes my heart race. “No.”
“Did your business empire collapse?”
The corner of his lips tilts upward in amusement. “No.”
“Did Thalvyn Maritime fall apart? ”
“No,” he replies, clearly entertained by my line of questioning.
My voice hardens as I continue. “Then why did you feel the need to break into my office when a simple email would have sufficed?”
“I’m the CEO.” Ethan stretches his long legs before him, crossing them at the ankles, a half-smile playing on his lips now. “I can enter any office I want, including yours.”
Irritation flickers within me like a struck match. “So much for any expectation of privacy. So what can I help you with? I’m sure you have a good reason to bother me so early in the morning.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
His sudden question startles me. “Excuse me?”
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“I don’t eat breakfast.”
“Good.” He gets to his feet with fluid grace. “Follow me.”
I remain seated, crossing my arms. “Where?”
“We’re going to get breakfast.”
It’s not easy to keep my frustration in check when this man refuses to acknowledge the existence of any boundary I attempt to set. “Sorry. I would rather not go anywhere with you. If you have something to discuss, you can do it here, in my office. Or we can go to your office. But that is it.”
“I don’t remember giving you an option, Natalie.”
“It’s Miss Thorne to you.” I grit my teeth.
He gives me a half-smile. “Is it? Now come along.”
“Mr. Wilder.” I stand slowly, my blood boiling and my tone turning harsh. “I don’t think you seem to understand. I am not here for your amusement. I prefer to discuss office matters within the office. Not outside of it.”
“And what if it’s not office matters that I wish to discuss?” He makes no attempt to hide the intention behind his eyes as he runs them over my body with deliberate slowness .
“Then we have nothing to discuss,” I say flatly.
His gaze burns against my skin. “You’ve changed.”
“I have. Life does that to you.”
We stare at each other, and finally he says gently, “I’ve changed, too.”
All the fight leaves me. I’m so tired of this dance we’re doing.
Sitting back down, I sigh, covering my face with my hands to compose myself. “I can’t work like this.”
Removing my hands, I meet his gaze squarely.
“Look, if you want to use me again to try and extort some secrets out of me about my brother’s business, you should know that I have not seen or talked to Lucas in the past five years.
I’m just trying to do my job, Mr. Wilder.
Please, stop making it hard for me. You are my boss, and whether I like it or not, I’m clearly stuck in this position.
So, if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if you only approach me for work-related matters. ”
There. I said it.
Now if he wants, he can fire me. I hope he does. I can’t handle his presence. It’s resurfacing too many things I don’t want to remember.
Ethan just stares at me. “What happened between you and Lucas?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“There are other ways I can find out, you know.”
I gesture with my hand dismissively. “By all means. Do with your free time as you will. Maybe you’ll be able to confirm what I told you. Lucas doesn’t associate with me. But let me draw the line here: you’re wasting your time if you think there’s anything valuable I can offer you.”
His jaw clenches. “And what makes you think I’m after something?”
My shoulders move in an attempt at a careless gesture as I press down against the ache in my heart. “Experience, you could say. ”
He straightens, his hands sliding into his pockets in that familiar pose of his.
“Maybe you’re right. I am after something. And I already got it.”
I stiffen when he continues, “You are a rising talent in the human resources industry. I knew when I began the takeover that you would attempt to leave once you realized who I was. I wasn’t going to let one of the best assets of the company walk away.”
Ethan steps around the desk, leaning his hip against the edge of it.
His hand comes out, and he wraps the strand of hair that’s framing my face around his finger.
I’m frozen in place at his proximity, my breath catching despite myself.
He’s not looking at me but at the thick red lock of hair twirled around his finger.
“So, yes, I did make sure you can’t leave.
However, you overestimate the worth of your brother.
Lucas is just another businessman. Compared to what I have achieved, he can hardly be called a competitor.
There’s nothing I want from him.” His voice lowers to a dark whisper that makes my pulse quicken.
“But you? I have plans for you, Natalie. I have no intention of letting you go anywhere. But what I want from you has nothing to do with your brother.”
Finally, he looks at me, and holding my gaze with burning intensity, he presses his lips against the hair curled around his finger. I feel my face heat up, my heart beating at an uncomfortably fast pace. So much for remaining composed.
It was those amber eyes of his that did me in the first time around.
And I’m starting to realize they’re still just as lethal.