AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Crude? Crude is whispering naughty shit in my ear as you finger banged me in the kitchen, while your men were in the foyer. It's crude licking your fingers and saying shit about us.” I stood abruptly. “I can’t do this anymore, Miceli. Nor can I stand your heated glances or the way you touched me. I can’t stand seeing another woman in this house, knowing full well what you’re doing. As much as I need this job, I don’t think I can stay here anymore.”
“Here.” He slid his phone across the table. “This should answer your questions.” He had a video queued up, ready to be played. “Go on, touch the screen.”
I did as he asked.
There, in stunning 4k technology, were Robbie and Brooke in some hotel room. I had to admit, Robbie fucked her like a champ. I didn’t know if I should once again feel disappointed or jealous of the blonde bitch in six-inch heels. Her cries were annoying, but I wasn’t watching her. My gaze was divided between Robbie and Miceli while I tried to figure out what kind of game my boss was playing. The video was only about ten minutes long, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to Robbie being a short fuse or if there was more I wasn’t seeing there.
“Are you trying to hurt me?” I asked after several minutes had gone by. “Are you saying that Robbie is as big a douche as you are, and Brooke sleeps with everyone?”
“I deserved that.” Miceli scrubbed his cheek. “No, I specifically sent Robbie to Brooke’s hotel suite to do just what you saw him do.”
I pulled a face, confused by Miceli’s admission. I was in this weird amalgamation of emotions. Anger burned brighter than anything else. I felt slimy from watching them. A bit of me was disgusted that Miceli would go to those lengths to prove whatever it was he was trying to prove. I also felt as if he were trying to slut shame the both of them by showing me. Putting that into words, though, I didn’t think I could. I really didn’t like Miceli much at the moment either.
“Why would you spy on them? Why would you make an employee have sex with someone then video it? Like, you have to admit, Miceli, that’s fucked up.” I crossed my arms. “Really fucked up.”
He shrugged. “A guy shouldn’t have blue balls while on the job. It makes them a liability. This—” he pointed to his phone—“was me killing two birds with one stone.”
“That honestly doesn’t make the situation any better,” I muttered. “As much as I hate Brooke, I would never film her in such a vulnerable state. She did not know you did that.”
“You’re absolutely right,” he agreed. “She didn’t. She has been over stepping her bounds. I don’t do relationships, Collins. I have meet-cute fucks. Or whatever Rocca calls those things she likes to watch in those rom-com movies—minus the fucks, obviously.”
Oh. Shit.
“So, are you saying the video is an insurance policy of sorts?”
“If that makes you feel better about it, sure,” he replied with a lift of his shoulder. “I also haven’t had sex with her since you arrived here, Collins.”
Dumbfounded by his admission, I stared at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me perfectly fine.”
No, see, I didn’t. Because what I thought I heard him say was that he hadn’t had sex with Brooke since I arrived and started working for him. Which made little sense because I’d seen them go into the house together. “Liar. She followed you into the house one of the first nights I was here.”
“And she walked right out the front door and into a waiting Uber.” He didn’t blink. Nor did he move. Miceli stared at me, affording me time to mull over what he said.
“Why are you telling me this, Miceli?” He was fucking with my head, and he had to know it, too. He might not fire me, but he’d slowly torture me like he did his victimsifI believed the rumors about him.
“Because,” he murmured, “seeing the sadness in those beautiful grey eyes of yours last night, knowing I made you suffer for my stupidity and arrogance, wounded me. I might be a lot of things. I might have tons of bad fortune coming my way, but hurting innocent people isn’t my way. I should have held myself to a higher standard. Should have seen how lonely you were and realized the game I was playing with you would come at a price for you, not me.”
So, he wasn’t firing me, but he also didn’t want to have anything to do with me? Is that what I was getting for his statement? “My issues aren’t yours. Yes, I would love to have someone to take away the loneliness sometimes, but timing. You shouldn’t stop leading your life because there is another woman in your house. In fact, I believe in order to make this situation a little easier on both of us, I should be gone by four, so when you arrive home, you and Rocca can have a quiet night alone. We need to reestablish our boundaries.” Though, I don’t remember if we had any to begin with.
“Collins...”
“It’s cool. Maybe if I’d been ten years older than I am now, things could have been different.” I gave him a small smile before finishing my tea. Mrs. Petry was right. The tea hit the spot and left me feeling better. Nothing, unfortunately, cured a broken heart. “Since we still have an hour before Rocca’s studies begin, I’m going to run back to the cottage, have a small bite to eat and some coffee.” I started for the door to his office. “I appreciate you not firing me. For what it’s worth, your daughter is an amazing person. She’s smart and has a good head on her shoulders. She’s lucky to have you, and vice versa.”
Before he could say anything else, I exited the office and hurried back to the cottage before I got caught crying over himagain. No matter what happened after today, I would always be grateful to Miceli. By him not firing me, we survived another week without having to worry about whether we’d be back out on the streets making pocket change and starving.
When I opened the door to the cottage and stepped inside, I found a note on the counter from Kyle. He was at the gym with Benny and Antonio. My breakfast was in the warmer draw on the oven and the coffee was fresh.
I didn’t know what I’d do without my brother. In all of this, he’d been the one constant in my life. We could lean on each other when times were bad and when we were both scared. I missed, on the worst days, curling up together with him and sleeping. I had to stop focusing on everyone around us and get back to taking care of Kyle. He needed me more than my so-called love life.
After eating breakfast, I washed it all down with a piping hot cup of coffee, then made a second one to go. At lunch I would let Rocca know the new schedule, then I would come back here and make a proper meal for Kyle and me. As long as I kept going, I wouldn’t have the chance to think about what happened last night and how this morning felt like I was breaking up with a man I never truly had as a boyfriend.
Weird how shit like that happens.
The restof the week went by in a blur of classes, questions, and side-ways glances. Since our evening together, I also hadn’t seen Robbie. Miceli said Robbie had gone to Brooke because he requested it, so it made me wonder why he hadn’t been there at the house. Could he have been reassigned or suspended? I owed Robbie an apology too, for the way things went down. Yes, I used Robbie as a substitute for Miceli. How fucked up was that? After taking some time to think about the conversation I had with Miceli the other day, I realized, I would have gone through with having sex with Robbie, then regretted the whole situation, because my mind would have been on Miceli, not Robbie.
Fucked up, right?
