AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I am not,” I said, blushing and pushing my chin out in defiance.
“Yes, you are.”
He came around the desk and pulled my chair away, turning it so I was facing him.
I went to protest, but he placed two fingers on my lips. “Relax. I think it’s cute. And maybe even a little sexy.” I flushed at his words and tried to look away. But he pulled my eyes back to him. “I only have eyes for you. Those girls have nothing on you. Trust me. It’s so much more fun to have you, and only you, in my bed.”
His words hit my heart and made me warm all over. “Okay,” I finally managed to get out. “I trust you. That’s not why I’m coming to the shoot tomorrow, I swear.”
“I know. It’s your company, and if we’re paying to reshoot something, you need to be there to check it all out. We wasted some money the first go-round, but tomorrow, there’s a new sheriff in town: me. And I’ll make sure the lighting is perfect and that you get the most beautiful pictures.”
“Thank you.”
He placed a kiss on my lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Be safe and please don’t stay too late.”
“I won’t,” I called to his retreating form. “Night.”
He gave one more wink before closing the door to my office and leaving the building.
I remained at the office a lot later than I had hoped. It was after ten o’clock when I left. But I had gotten so much accomplished that I wasn’t even mad about how long I had been there. My stomach growled—I was definitely hungry, but I also wanted to fall right into bed. As I walked swiftly toward my apartment building, I told myself I would eat a bowl of cereal and go straight to bed.
I almost made it to my door.
Almost.
I was almost ready to touch the door handle to my building and head inside the vestibule to slide my card through the slot to get into the main part of the building, when a hand caught my arm.
Chad. It had to be Chad. The familiar smell of cigars and scotch radiated off him. He turned me roughly so that my back was against the cool glass. I pinched my eyes closed. In that moment, I hoped the doorman would look over and see us, or another resident would come by.
No such luck.
“Open your eyes,” the voice gritted out. “I have waited so long. I have been so patient, and now I want to see your eyes.”
“Please,” I cried.
“Come on, Mia,” Chad sneered. “I just need you to open your eyes. It’s that simple. Please, just follow my simple instructions.”
I finally relented and opened them. There, staring back at me, were the coldest gray eyes I had ever seen. They weren’t warm and welcoming like Terry’s. They were dark orbs full of menace. Chad stood about a foot taller than me. I could tell by the broadness of his shoulders that he had been working out. It sent a chill down my spine to think he had been preparing for this moment. A ski hat was on his head, hiding his hair. I had almost forgotten he loved to wear those. I used to—when things were good—tease him about wearing a ski cap in LA. But he loved them. Still did, apparently.
Chad was putting pressure on my arms as he held onto me. I knew I was going to have bruises tomorrow. I would have to make an excuse for those. Luckily, I had been good at that in the past.
“Hey,” he said through gritted teeth. “Look me in the eye when I talk to you.”
“Please,” I cried out, willing someone to hear me.
“Shut up!” he roared. “For once in your damn life, do as you’re told.”
I nodded feverishly, hoping that if I did as he asked, he would go away. I just wanted to be inside the building and safe. It killed me how close I was. One pane of glass separated me from him and safety. When Terry and I had moved in here, we’d chosen this building because of the safety aspects. The irony wasn’t lost on me now.
“It took me so long to find you. I tried looking you up, but you were impossible to find. You left your old job, and they weren’t very helpful in telling me where you went. Then one day I got lucky. I got the best phone call of my life. A buddy of mine saw your face in the paper and even on the news. He called and told me that the bitch—well, that’s not what he called you—was on the news. He sent me the link, and I looked you up online, and sure enough, there you were.
“I gotta hand it to you, you did it. You started your own company. You managed to move on from me. You managed to survive me. But I was run out of this town. A job that I loved was taken from me. Those punks that you sent after me told my boss what you made me do to you. They fired me on the spot. I couldn’t get a job anywhere else in this fucking city because I was blackballed. All because of you, you stupid bitch. But hell, you got to live out your dream.”
“What do you want?” I asked. He was angry, I understood that much, but why was he here?
“I see you have a new man.”
“No,” I said, trying to deny it.
