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“He has an assistant.” I moved closer to loom over her where she still sat on the coffee table, easy as pie. Not threatened by me in the least. To her, I was just a declawed kitten who would roll over with just the right stroke.
Like hell.
“And who the hell are you to try to scheme your way into my company? I fired you. That wasn’t a love note. It was a permanent decision. You’ll stay out until I deem otherwise. Right now? Not deeming.”
The bell chimed again, and she glanced pointedly over my shoulder, not appearing ruffled in the slightest. “You just said right now you weren’t deeming. Permanent, my ass.” She rose, sliding her body against mine as she gained her feet. “You want to waste time, go right ahead. I can always find another job. Jack said—”
“Stay away from Jack. I mean it.”
She crossed her arms, her body still pressed close. In another second, we’d be nose to nose again. “Jealous much?”
“I’m not fucking jealous, Grace. I just don’t know what he’s up to. If he’s up to anything.” There I went again with the diarrhea of the mouth in her direction. I might as well show her my goddamn nonexistent diary. Maybe I should start keeping one, if it would mean I could keep my trap shut around her.
“What he’s up to? Is that a euphemism?”
“Don’t push me right now. There are things you don’t know.”
“Color me stunned. What I do know is Jack has been a friend to me. I need a job, and it turns out that I have a talent for the administrative arts. Who would’ve thunk it?”
“You were paid for the angel. You have enough money to take care of your bills for a while. And your lodging.”
If she got my point, she didn’t show it. “You better get the door. It’s not nice to keep someone waiting while you try to lord it over me.”
“Oh, I’m not lording yet. You’ll know when I am. Consider it friendly advice.” I gave her a dismissive glance. “Go get dressed.”
“Sure thing. I’m having lunch with…” She trailed off and shot me a sunny smile. “A friend. Wouldn’t do to be the next thing to naked, would it?” She reached out and adjusted my tie, as she was wont to do. But it didn’t feel like an affectionate gesture so much as a demonstration of who’d won this round. “Have a good day, dear.”
I went to the door and opened it to a delivery person from Grace’s gallery. The woman smiled and chatted and complimented me on my “exquisite taste” as she set the carefully wrapped angel on a nearby end table. I answered by rote, my attention firmly on picturing Grace dressing for a meeting with a man I didn’t know if I could trust. I definitely wasn’t sure I could trust him with her. She was the most precious—
Christ. Even my thoughts were betraying me now.
How long had she and Jack been meeting like this? I hated that I was suspecting everyone around me of turning Judas, but how could I not? When you were a liar yourself, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect others to lie to you. There was no forgetting that cuff link, and no guarantee that a simple conversation with Jack would clear everything up. I didn’t see how it could. So I would wait. And watch.
That included watching the woman who’d just mindfucked me into next Tuesday.
“Have a good day, sir,” the woman said, stepping out and leaving me snarling at the angel I now wanted nothing more than to smash. It was too gorgeous, more so because it wasn’t perfect. The piece depicted a beautiful woman falling from grace, and her tarnish only increased her desirability.
Last night, I’d thought it was particularly fitting. I wasn’t female, and I certainly was no angel. But I’d seen something of myself in the piece. That choice to go right or left, to decide to do good or…not.
Now I was wondering if there was more than one fallen angel in my life.
In my house.
In my bed.
Five
Grace and I avoided each other for the rest of the weekend. I spoke to the police; she went to her private lunch with my CEO. She sequestered herself upstairs; I spent more time on the first level than I had since I’d owned the house. Work, as always, was my salvation. I also went for several runs. Turns out I couldn’t run far enough to evade the thoughts dogging my heels. Memories of Grace opened to me as I rammed into her, her pale skin marked from my tie. Her blond hair bouncing over her shoulders as she chased her own pleasure so shamelessly.
The way she’d held me over a barrel in my own house and tried to demand I rehire her.
I might’ve been blinded by lust at times, but even I could see that her behavior since the break-in had been odd. I’d deliberately insulted our affair and indicated I liked to bang people in my employ for sport. Yet she’d stuck around. If that wasn’t enough, she wanted to work for me again. I’d driven her crazy when she’d been my assistant, and she hadn’t truly wanted the position anyway. She’d admitted that herself. It had all just been part of her attempt to somehow finagle a way to get her house back. But that was all on the table, and she was still angling.
Now she was in seclusion, behind my own walls.
It was too much. I couldn’t sleep with her there. Never mind the fact she’d driven me out of my own bedroom, though I didn’t know where she was even sleeping in the house. I’d couched it last night, and probably would again tonight. It was bad enough risking seeing her in the bathroom or the kitchen. The place was large enough that we didn’t bump into each other all that much, but it still took effort to stay out of her realm.
For fuck’s sake, it was my home. Even if it had never been in the strict usage of the word, my name was still on the deed. She’d taken it over like she had Annabelle’s house. Wanting to keep an eye on her to reassure myself she was safe could only go so far. Us being in the same space wasn’t healthy. We were too angry and frustrated with each other.
