Propositioning Love

“Ariel, please have security come to HR. I want them to be there when Mr. Pennington cleans his office out,” I tell her then turn back to Chad.

His face is growing redder and redder as he tries to blubber his way through some sort of manly standoff. Fucking little bitch. I watch as his mouth flaps and flaps at me. In the background, Ariel is speaking into her phone, calling down to security.

I can’t touch this man. Physically, I would destroy his body if I didn’t think for a moment I wouldn’t end up in prison for it. But I can’t put myself at risk of losing any more time with Zoe. Never again.

Just wait for me, baby. I swear I’ll be with you soon as I fucking deal with this maggot.

I still have no clue what he’s raging on and on about. I know the words, but they’re not registering in my mind. All I can think of is how much I truly fucked up, more than I have ever fucked up in my life before. This is on the magnitude of accidentally dropping a nuke on a country. I’ve fucked up so royally I have no clue how the hell I’m going to fix this.

The hurt in Zoe’s eyes destroys me every time I think of how she looked into my soul and found me unworthy.

She laid her fucking heart bare in front of me, and I betrayed her the moment when it truly mattered. I didn’t fucking see any of this stupid shit. She’s not a damn prostitute. She said as much in the car, I just didn’t understand what the fuck she was saying. Again, I should have known when I bought her.

My fucking hubris knows no fucking bounds it seems.

The elevator lets out a quiet dinging sound as it reaches our floor. Only turning my head, I nod at the three security men that have come up.

Silence drops on the little group of us standing here before I nod in Chad’s direction. What a shit-headed name that is.

“This man has sexually assaulted a coworker.”

“I did no such thing!” Chad says and lunges at me, his fist flying up to my chin.

I don’t turn away quick enough to evade his punch, but thankfully it turns out to be only a glancing blow.

Snapping my head back to face Chad, I grin happily as I slam a fist into his stomach. When he curls up from the blow, I snap my knee forward and slam it into his face.

There’s a good, satisfying crunch as my knee connects solidly.

Chad flies back to land square on his ass. He’s dazed for a couple of seconds before getting to his feet.

I motion to the security guards. “Please restrain this man.”

“Holy shit!” Ariel says as she at Chad. “I’ll call Dylan, he should have a lawyer in the city we can use, though I doubt we’ll need it.”

“Me either.” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pull up the locate contacts app and select Zoe.

She’s moving towards our apartment, that’s good. She’ll be going to get Bella. She won’t stay at the apartment, but I know she’ll keep her phone on her. Phones are like security blankets. People don’t really realize how much comfort they give them.

Watching the guards yank Chad’s stunned ass off the floor, I lean in so I have his full, motherfucking attention. “Call the police, this man has assaulted me. I’ll have the security footage ready for them when they get here.”

Staring up at me, his eyes go wide.

I swear I can see the lights finally going on inside his head. “You…I…”.

“That’s right, Chad. No matter what you thought, you just assaulted me and you sexually assaulted Zoe. You’re fucked,” I say.

Leaning back, I nod to the guards. “Make sure he’s secured. The police should be here soon.”

“Bry—” Ariel starts to say before I raise my hand to stop her.

We’re standing in front of the building, watching the police put Chad in the back of a squad car.

“Every detail, I promise. But I need to go get Zoe first. Can you get the office back under control, and call New York? Let them know I’m on vacation for the next week. I need to get my life in fucking order,” I say as I lead her back into the building.

“Bryce, what the hell?” Ariel says, looking at me in shock.

“I’m in love, Ariel. One hundred percent in love, and I plan on knocking her up as soon as possible.”

I grin then wink at her.

“Ugh, that’s just gross.” She snickers.

“Yeah well… You’ll be babysitting soon enough,” I smirk while pulling out my phone.

Now that the adrenaline is out of my system, I can feel my hands shaking from the fight. Shaking from the possibility that I could lose Zoe for good.