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He rocked back on his heels as he slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “You’ve made it clear that you don’t appreciate me judging you based on a few encounters, so I’m just trying to get to know you better.”
“You’re lying,” I accused, ready to lose my job.
Like a flipped switch, the next thing that I knew, Killian Warrick was looming over me, my back pressed up against the vending machine. “I’m not a liar, Ms. Tinley,” he bit out. “I may be a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them. Do not insult me again.”
Shame flooded my face for many different reasons.
Firstly, I was being a hypocrite, accusing him of things when I didn’t even know him, much like he’d been doing to me. Second, his aggressiveness should have put me off, but it didn’t. Instead of seeing my father or those sonsofbitches in the way that he had snapped down at me, I’d seen a glimpse of a protector, and I knew that it was because of the work that he did. Lastly, I couldn’t deny that he had me thinking about what it would feel like to know that I was safe in his arms.
“My apologies,” I mumbled. Glancing down at my watch, I added, “I need to get back to my calls, Mr. Warrick.” Refusing to be a coward, I looked back up at him. “Will that be all?”
He didn’t say anything for a bit, but when he finally did, it was to say, “I hope you have a good weekend, Ms. Tinley.”
I had no idea what possessed me, but I asked, “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”
“I’m a busy man, Ms. Tinley,” he replied coolly. “I always have plans.”
Shutting me down, I gave him a nod of acknowledgement, then walked around him to get the hell back to my workstation-without my goddamn snack.
Sitting down, I dropped my head in my hands and wondered what in the hell was I thinking????
I loved my job, so the last thing that I’d ever want is to be fired. However, Killian was provoking me in a way that I didn’t understand. I never wanted to go back to being that timid girl that had allowed Lennon to fight my battles, but I wasn’t even sure what kind of battle I was fighting right now.
What in the hell did Killian Warrick want from me?
Chapter 8
Killian~
I’d wanted nothing more than to kiss the fuck out of Posie Tinley as she glared at me in the breakroom, and that was a problem. I prided myself on my professionalism, and I had no thoughts of professionalism when it came to that woman. I could also see my entire life going up in flames because of her.
Knowing that I needed to get out of my own mind for a bit, I walked over to the phone console in my office, the setup located in the north-east corner.
My office was on the fifth floor, and I shared the floor with my administrative staff. Now, while Birdwing’s main offices were located up north in Calypso, each call center had their own administrative offices that reported to the main office. I had minimal administrative staff at the centers, but it worked out fine. Granted, I hadn’t had any issues since I’d started Birdwing, so it might not be working out, so much as I was just lucky.
My office was a decent size and looked like every other corporate office in America. The furniture was expensive, classy, and durable. Along with an oak desk, matching bookshelves, and free-standing bar, I also had a moderate-sized conference table on one side of the office, and huge bay windows that overlooked the city.
However, instead of having an adjoining private restroom, I had an entire loft-style apartment attached to my office. I had one for every office that I had, and I had them because I worked around the clock a lot. While my legal address was my condo, I spent more time in my office lofts than I did at home. I’d also never used any of them for anything other than sleeping and getting ready for work. My sexual conquests were restricted to hotels.
So, in addition to the rest of the office furniture, I also had a phone console that I used to monitor calls that came in. Though it could be argued that I was violating people’s confidences, listening in on random calls was the only way to ensure that my specialists weren’t fucking up. It was also the only way I could know when something needed to be handled.
Putting on the headset, I resisted the urge to pick up one of Posie’s calls and chose a line at random.
“I honestly don’t know what is worse,” the caller sobbed. “How could the judge let him off like that?”
“Human error is one of the hardest things to accept,” Perry Addison, one of my best specialists, replied.
“It wasn’t even that the police messed up,” the caller insisted. “It was that…that…everyone in that courtroom knew that he was guilty, yet no one said a word when he looked back at me and laughed after the judge told him that he was free to go.” I could feel my hands curling into fists. “How…how could they just let him laugh at me?”
“Because they were ashamed, Sarah,” Perry answered. “Their incompetence allowed a rapist to go free, and I imagine that it was easier for them to let him laugh at you than look you in the eye, knowing what they’d done.”
“Do you want to know the worst part?”
“Sure, hun.”
“It’s not even that I’m scared that he’ll come back for me,” Sarah explained. “I’m going crazy worrying about that nameless, faceless woman that he’s going to attack next. I…” Sarah let out a choked sob. “I want to warn her. I…I want to find her and warn her before it’s too late. I…I don’t wish this kind of violation on anyone, and…I feel…helpless. I…I know this is not my fault, but he’s free, Perry. He’s free to do this to someone else, so…how am I ever going to…to heal when…when he’s free to do as he pleases?”
“I can’t give you advice on how to heal because only you know what it takes for that to happen, but if you were strong enough to speak out and have him arrested, then I think that you’re strong enough to keep speaking out, Sarah,” Perry told her. “Use your voice to warn his next victim. Use your voice, social media, the news, the internet…use it all. Your rapist getting off on a technicality doesn’t have to be the end of it.”
