Bred By the CEO

After folding up the paper, she placed it on top of the trash can by the side of the toilet and then sank her fingers into her hair, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. It wouldn’t be long before Darius was hunting for her. She just needed a few moments to collect her thoughts, to compose herself, and to completely understand her feelings about everything that was going on.

At the party, she had been shocked by the lengths his father would go. The media was also trying to get a quote or something from Darius’s father about their upcoming wedding. Nothing.

Darius had told her to stop thinking about his father—he had long ago. That the man meant nothing to him. She had also met his sister and had gotten to see Elliot again. She loved that little boy. With all the crazy things happening, the young boy was the only thing that made a lot of sense to her. He was the reason she met Darius at all.

While Darius and his sister were trying to protect her, she read between the lines and knew their father wouldn’t approve of her.

The sound of the bathroom door opening alerted her to the fact she wasn’t alone. Had Darius come to find her? She’d left him alone in a meeting. One that he’d wanted her to sit in, but he didn’t actually need her.

In the past few days, she had started to wonder if he even wanted her in this job as his PA, especially as she discovered an email to Ross. The man was on paternity leave but was still doing jobs for Darius on the side. What did that say about her?

“This diet is killing me,” one of the employees said.

Rose didn’t recognize the voice, but there were a whole lot of people she’d never actually met.

“Tell me about it. I hate dieting at the best of times, but now, I just, I’m so hungry. I was drooling as that guy in the booth down the aisle from me ate a burger. I don’t even like burgers.”

The two women chuckled and agreed.

Rose stayed completely silent.

The staff may have shown their support for Darius when she was with him, but when she was alone, everyone went silent, as if they didn’t exactly know what to say to her. It just reminded her how different she was from everyone.

No one was horrible to her, they just … she saw this judgment in their eyes.

When she asked Darius about it, he just told her she was imagining things. She doubted it.

“Did you read the paper this morning? Mr. Blackwood’s dad still hasn’t commented on the wedding.”

“Who cares what Daddy Blackwood thinks? That guy is an asshole.”

“How do you know?”

“I hear things.”

“What kind of things?”

There was a snort and a scoff. “You know, that he’s an old-fashioned man, and he doesn’t like … look, I don’t feel comfortable saying this.”

“Saying what?”

There were whispers, and then one of the women gasped. “No, you’re kidding.”

“I’m not. I wish I was, I think Rose is sweet.”

“Have you ever met her?”

“Not really, I mean, we did share an elevator, and we smiled, but I don’t think it’s fair to her, you know. I mean, the Blackwoods are like old money, and the dad is a bigot. I’ve even heard tales that at his company, they don’t even have any, any female employees because he also thinks a woman’s place is not in the workplace. That they’re just to be barefoot and pregnant. It’s disgusting.”

“Have you ever met his dad?”

“Not personally. I know a few years ago he came here, and things didn’t go well. Ross, the PA, you know, before Rose, well, he got a black eye or something. I’m not sure all the details, but it got ugly because the old man is so close-minded.”

“Shit, we’ve got to be heading back! We’ll talk more.”

“Yeah.”

Rose didn’t even know who was talking to whom, or who they were, but she got the sense from the guy she spoke to at the benefit that Darius’s dad wanted her out of the picture.

Ross got a black eye?

How?

After stepping out of the bathroom, she looked in the mirror, staring at her reflection.

On her wedding finger was an engagement ring, and yet, she didn’t feel … great. She loved Darius, but she felt there were so many different kinds of secrets between them.

The bathroom door suddenly opened, and there was Darius.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping into the bathroom and immediately going toward her, cupping her face. “Talk to me.”

She laughed. “I’m fine. I just needed a break. You know, to clear my head.”

“Why? Is something going on?”

“No, it’s nothing.” She didn’t want to worry him.

“I’ve told you not to read those damn papers. They’re full of bullshit. You don’t need to listen to any.”