Page 22 of Hidden Obsession

Chapter Ten

The meeting had started,and Cleo was at her desk regretting the way she had treated Mason that morning. He had been trying to look out for her. He wasn’t using the information she gave him for the wrong reasons, he was being thorough. Leaning back in her chair, she hit refresh on her emails waiting for the last of the receipts to come in so she could get the expenses done for the team.

The problem was she was terrified of dredging up her past. She had told Mason the truth, but that didn’t mean she wanted to stir things up and risk Spears rekindling old acquaintances. She had played down how dangerous the man was and feared what could happen if Mason got involved.

Cleo knew she would always look over her shoulder. Jeffrey Spears had seen to that. He was convinced she’d make the perfect wife for him. It was the real reason she had run. She remembered clearly hearing Spears discussing it with her parents, and them agreeing to it like she was cattle and not their only child, had sickened her. At that moment, her mother had ceased to exist.

Distraught, she had run to the only person she knew would help her—her grandmother. She had hidden her, lied to her only son until the time came when she couldn’t anymore, and then she had given Cleo everything she had and forced her away to start a new life, even at the risk of her own. What would Spears do if he knew her grandmother had helped her flee? Spears had seemed to forget about the older woman’s existence, and Cleo prayed it stayed that way. It was one of the reasons she’d left Mesa. The risk of bumping into Spears or his followers was too high, and it placed her nana in a dangerous position.

If Mason went looking for Jeffrey Spears, it would only help Spears find her. She loved this job and didn’t want to have to leave it to protect them and herself. There was a chance Spears had all but forgotten about her, but Cleo knew better.

The agency was the first place she’d felt she could be herself. She could dress how she liked, be who she was without fear, but more than that, for the first time she had real friends. People she could talk to, get drunk with, confide in, and if he found her, she would have to give all that up. Her stalker meant business she knew that, and she had no clue why he was targeting her. Her conscious mind was aware it was probably random, Jeffrey Spears would never go to these lengths. He would simply snatch her—he wouldn’t try and scare her.

Her email pinged, and she saw the last email from James come through. The man was a flirt, and a manwhore, it was no wonder he was nicknamed Romeo. He wasn’t only that, but also an absolute sweetheart as a friend. She couldn’t wait for the day some woman took him down. Her lips tipped into a grin at the thought as she got to work sorting the expenses for the team.

It wasn’t her job, but she found it easier to do it this way than try and go through a load of different reports and collate them. Her head was down as she concentrated, the door and outside gate were locked at Shane’s demand, and Killian was asleep across the doorway. The big, handsome brute looked terrifying but was a soft as a marshmallow.

She looked at the door to the conference room, wondering how long they would be inside. She had been avoiding Mason and was feeling bad for it. He was in an impossible position, put there by her. She should apologize, no scratch that, she should be honest with him, but she wasn’t quite ready to tell him her dirty truth.

What did it say about her worth as a person that her parents were willing to sell her like livestock? She could make it up to him, though.

As if by a twist of fate, she saw a UPS truck pull up just outside the gate and stop. She hadn’t ordered any office supplies so it must be her lingerie and she hit the button to open the gate and let him in. Half of her wanted to rush to the door and open it, accepting the delivery before the others could see it but the sane part, the part terrified of snakes, held back.

The last package she had gotten had been the snakes, and she wasn’t willing to risk it. Walking to the door, she recognized Stan, their usual driver, and waved. He grinned and returned her greeting as he stepped into the back of the van. Cleo hesitated unsure what to do until she saw him jump down with a Victoria’s Secret bag in his hand.

Her cheeks went pink, and she quickly unlocked the door to take the parcel from him. Killian slipped past her, and sniffed Stan before waggling his tail at him and bolting back inside.

“Thanks, Stan.” Stan stepped inside, handing her the form to sign. Once signed, she grabbed the bag, placing it behind her desk quickly before going back to him.

“No problem, Miss Cleo.” Stan tipped his hat as he left to get back in his truck. Stan was a retired long-haul driver, who couldn’t get retirement to stick. He enjoyed driving but not long journeys anymore. His job with UPS was perfect for him.

Closing the door on the Miami heat, Cleo bent to pick up a flyer that had dropped from the parcel. She stood and nearly screamed, her heart pounding in her chest as she laid a hand across her throat, feeling like an idiot. Rushing to the door, she smiled at the man on the other side of the glass who looked at her like she was one step down from the crazy farm. “Travis, you made me jump!” She ushered him in.

“Sorry, Cleo, being light on my feet is ingrained in me these days. I forget I do it until I make people jump.”

“No, it’s fine, you’d think I’d be used to it, working here. They are all, well mostly all, built like linebackers with the toes of ballerinas,” Cleo said making Travis laugh.

He was handsome, blond, blue eyes, trimmed beard, obviously physically fit. In another life, she would have been deeply attracted to him, but that was before Mason.

“You here to see Mason?” She moved back behind her desk as the door to the conference room opened.

“Yes, I just wanted to see if he had time to grab a drink. I have a case I could do with his advice on.”

“Well, here’s the man himself.” Cleo gestured as Mason walked toward her with a frown.

“Didn’t we talk about not opening the door?”

Mason was angry. Feeling her cheeks heat like a child at the reprimanded, Cleo bit her tongue on her response, knowing his concern came from a good place. “I’m aware of that, but as it was your friend, I figured it was okay.”

Mason ignored Travis as he moved toward her and slipped his arm around her waist, hauling her close. The air left her as she hit his hard chest and the arms around her tightened.

“That must have hurt?” His question made her frown as she looked up at him.

“What?”

“Biting your tongue and not ripping me a new one.”

Cleo felt the smile tinge her lips. “Jerk.” But she laughed.