Best of 2017

Me: Everything still a go?

Despite it being close to midnight, he responds.

Sean: I thought you’d changed your mind. You know, after all that happened. Then you never responded. Is everything okay?

My mind has been distracted the past week, but I didn’t think I’d ignored any of his messages.

Me: Everything is fine. Looking forward to starting up soon.

He responds back immediately.

Sean: Oh good! I’m counting down. If you want to drop by one day on your lunch, I’ll show you where your office will be. We can have lunch in my office.

Me: I’ll let you know a day I’m free. Talk soon.

I try not to watch the clock but seconds turn into minutes and then minutes turn into hours. Gray hasn’t returned. I’m just drifting off when I hear the lamp being turned off and the bed sinking down with his weight. He curls his massive body around mine and hugs me to him. I feel like we’ve just had our first fight. It’s not hard to see his point. He’s promoted me and fired several employees because of how they treated me. We’re sleeping together and spend every waking moment with one another. I can see how he’d assume I was staying.

But…

I can’t risk everything on a week’s worth of his attention.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs against my ear, his thumb running circles around my belly button.

When I pretend to be asleep, he relaxes and kisses me softly on my head. Tears well in my eyes because Vaughn was never affectionate like this. It makes me feel guilty for even comparing him to my psycho ex.

His breathing evens out. As warm as he feels curled up against me, I think we need space. I’m losing sight of myself by getting swept up in him. I can’t go through what I went through with Vaughn again. I’m not mentally capable.

Tomorrow I’m going to try and untangle myself from Grayson Maxwell.

Until then, I’ll stay warm in his arms for one more night.

“CONGRATULATIONS,” a lady named Deb chirps when she passes by my desk. “What an achievement.”

I smile until she walks off. What the hell is everyone congratulating me for? She’s at least the fifth person to do so today. I thought my promotion was old news. My eyes skip over to Gray’s door, but it’s closed. After the weirdness of Saturday at the resort, he brought me home Sunday where he dropped me off. I didn’t invite him inside to stay. The drive home was polite but mostly quiet. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, but he was careful not to say anything to spook me further.

And, boy, am I spooked.

I’ve made one horrible decision after the other since I put my notice in.

My phone buzzes and I’m surprised to see it’s Gwen.

Gwen: Hey girl! We should do lunch one day. I wanted to apologize in person for how I behaved last week.

When I think of Gwen and Gray’s mom’s house, I shudder. She was a nice woman but she was definitely a little spacey. I was glad when Gray told me he’d arranged for her to go to an assisted living home. It was Gwen who went with her and got it all set up, but he’s the one who found the top of the line facility and shelled out the money for it. Once she’s settled, he said he’s going to pay some people to come in and go through the house. He’d confided in me that he hoped he could get Gwen to clean up her mess too but he was only dealing with one problem at a time.

Me: It was fine. You were stressed. Lunch sounds great.

“Congratulations, Letty,” another person chirps as they pass by my desk. “Front page. Unbelievable.”

This grabs my attention. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

The guy slaps the New York Times down on my desk. On the front page is my face. I blink once in shock. Then, I blink once more as horror sets in. My age. My location. My entire damn name. All splashed across the front page. The article goes on to not only talk about my promotion for one of the biggest acquisition firms in the country but also talks about my overcoming sexual harassment and breaking through the glass ceiling. But it’s what’s at the end of the article that has my blood running cold.

Maxwell Subsidiaries bought Slante Mortgages.

One simple sentence, stuck in at the end.

But it has me seeing red. So much so, that it overshadows for the moment that my anonymity is gone. I snatch the paper up and stalk over to Gray’s door. When I charge inside and slam the door behind me, I find him sitting at his desk with his fingers steepled as if he was waiting for me. Even Jeff wears an expectant look.

“How could you?” I seethe, my tone low and deadly.

His gaze is sharp as he skims over my blouse and skirt before roaming back up to my eyes. “How could I what?”

I slam the newspaper down on his desk. “Do you know what you’ve done?” My voice is shrill.

“That was me, actually,” Jeff pipes up. “I contacted my buddy at The Times and told him the story.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done,” I tell him, a slight quiver in my voice. When I think of Vaughn seeing the paper and knowing where I am, my knees buckle and I crash up against the desk. Jeff tries to right me but Gray has already come around the desk. I’m dragged into his powerful grip.

His scent.

His touch.

His overpowering presence.

I fall victim to his gentle touch for a moment and let him protect me from the repercussions. But just for a moment. Then, the fury sets in.

“You didn’t want me to leave so you bought Slante Mortgages?” I screech.

He rubs my back. “There’s more to the story that you don’t know.”

“So. Tell. Me.” I lift my chin and glare at him.

His jaw ticks and he nods at Jeff who slips out of the office without another word. Then, his features soften as he regards me. I try to wriggle away but his grip tightens.

“Sean has a bad history,” he grits out, anger morphing his features.

“A bad history for what?!”

“For fucking his employees.” His words are snarled out, jealousy clinging to each one.

I scoff. “You fuck your employees.”

This earns me a growl. “No, I just fuck you.”

Embarrassment causes my neck to heat. This poor guy just lost his company because my new boyfriend is jealous and doesn’t want me to quit? Unbelievable.

“That was his company,” I mutter, disgust seeping in my tone. “You just made a few phone calls and bought his company out from under him?”

“I hardly call twenty million a bad deal. I doubled his asking price.” His voice is smug and it irritates me.

“When?” I hiss. “When did you do this? After our fight on Saturday?”

His features harden. “He was pleased with my offer. After I dropped you off, I met with him and our lawyers. Everything went smoothly. This morning, the wire transfer went through. He’s staying on to manage, though. But…”

He doesn’t have to say it.

I know.

“But the caveat was he couldn’t have me.”

He has the sense to look shameful. “Violet.”

“No,” I murmur. “All of that is horrible, and I’m furious with you. But splashing my face and name all over the front page of the country’s biggest paper when you know I’m hiding from my psychotic and abusive ex? That’s unforgivable.” This time when I push away, he releases me. He looks wounded.

“You don’t understand—”

“Apparently not.” I choke back tears. “I’m taking the day off. I’m not feeling well.”

He sees through my lie but gives me a clipped nod. “Let me drive you home at least.”

I shake my head and hold my hands up. “You’ve done enough.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

GRAYSON

I HATE HAVING to bite my tongue but I can’t tell her the truth. I can’t let her know that I had Jeff run that article so that Vaughn would come out of his hiding place. Dusty is still trying to find the slippery motherfucker. Using Violet a

s bait seemed like the quickest way to draw him out.

I’ve been unable to work all day. Not without Violet nearby. Instead, I’ve sat in my car across the street from her building watching for creepy assholes that might be casing the place. When it’s well past midnight, I climb out of my car and stretch my legs. I haven’t eaten or moved in hours.

Once I’m on her floor and my forehead is pressed against her door, I listen. The apartment is quiet. She’s probably sleeping but I need to talk to her.

Me: I’m sorry.

She responds immediately which makes my heart rate quicken.

Violet: Me too.

Me: Can I see you?

Violet: I’m a mess.

Me: What if I told you I was waiting at your front door?

Violet: I’ve been watching you from the window all day. I’ll let you in.

I straighten my body and slide my phone into my pocket. A few minutes later, I hear the bolt locks disengaging. The moment she opens the door, I can’t wait any longer. I tug her into my arms where she belongs and kiss the top of her head.