Will gave her a lopsided smile. “Good morning. I made you breakfast but you were… I didn’t mean to…”
“I know. Don’t worry about it.” The events before she fell asleep on the couch came flooding back to her. She tucked the blanket around her and looked away.
“Your breakfast’s gotten cold.” Will pointed at the tray on the bedside table. He stood up, ran a hand through his hair, and yawned. “I’ll go and make fresh coffee for you before I leave for work.”
Una looked away when she saw the slight bulge in his pants. Will turned away and walked to the door when he noticed the instant color on her cheeks.
“Mr. Thomas, thank you.” He heard her mutter when he reached for the knob.
He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Anytime, Ms. Miller.”
Una cleared her throat. “And I’m sorry for what I said…and for lashing out on you.”
He turned to really look at her this time. “Don’t worry about, Ms. Miller. I got you.” He smiled once again before leaving the room.
***
“I can’t believe that this day has finally come.” Glen was grinning in Will’s chair, toying with a pen. “Our wonder boy, William Thomas, has finally came in late for work,” he announced.
“Yeah, buddy. Finally.” Will started towards his desk, ignoring the fact that he was four hours late.
“Sinclair’s been looking for you. He’s pissed,” Glen told him then burst out laughing when he got the somewhat panicky reaction he was aiming for from Will. “Kidding. He hasn’t showed up since this morning. Liezel said he’s off with his mother and will be coming in this afternoon.”
“Will, where have you been? You’re late.” Liezel passed by and stopped at his desk, a cup of coffee in her hand.
He inhaled and motioned for Glen to vacate his chair. “Yes, I’m late.” He sat down as his friend stood up.
Glen walked behind him and sat at his own desk. Without turning his computer on, he leaned forward, clasping his hands together in anticipation. “Why? What happened?”
“I had to take Una to a hospital last night. Came home late, slept really late, and woke up late.” It wasn’t a lie, just not the full version of the story.
Liezel walked closer to his desk, worry instantly written all over her face. “Oh my god. What happened, Will? Is she okay?”
“She had a little bathroom accident,” he answered.
Glen’s eyes widened. “In the bathroom?” he asked and gathered a disapproving look from the other two at once.
Liezel scowled at him, eyes flashed with indignation. “Don’t even think about it, Glen. Shush it!”
“What? I didn’t say anything stupid, did I?” Glen protested.
She shot him a disgusted look. “We already know how your mind works.”
“Whatever. You’ve been spending quite a lot of time with our hunk of a boss but did you guys hear me say stupid things about it?”
Her eyes narrowed at him as her body stiffened at once. She knew her friends at work had started to notice that she had been hanging out with Sinclair outside the office. When she had stopped bringing him coffee and they both started arriving at the office with barely a few seconds interval, people were bound to notice things.
“I’m his personal assistant, you idiot,” she reminded him sternly.
Will booted his computer up, leaned back in his swivel chair and let his eyes drift over. “She slipped, but she’s okay,” he said, ignoring Glen and eyeing Liezel, assuring her. “She’s at home, resting.”
With a sigh of relief, Liezel put a hand over her chest. “Oh, thank god. Una hates hospitals.” She fretted.
“You’re right about that.” Will actually smiled slightly at the recollection. “Ms. Miller was scowling the whole time and kept on asking everyone if she could go home.” He clicked the open file button on his monitor, ready for work.
Surprise and mockery transformed Glen’s face. “Dude! You still call her that? What’s wrong with you?”
Liezel rolled her eyes, although she sort of shared his reaction. She couldn’t verbally agree with him for the simple reason that she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of finally having her approval.
“I will drop by her place within the week. I’m just swamped with a lot of paper works after Sinclair―I mean… after Mr. Godfrey closed the Royce deal,” she told Will instead.
“By the way, dude, we should start our discussion about the coming party,” Glen said in a hushed tone, an attempt to sound cryptic to grab everyone’s interest, especially Will’s.
“What about it?”
Glen rolled his eyes and said in an exaggerated tone, “It’s about the Halloween party next week.” He then grinned. “Yes, dude. The party when drunken chicks loiter around in scanty costumes.”
Liezel instantly shot him an irritated look, obviously not amused. “It’s an office party. There won’t be drunken chicks because there won’t any booze available.”
Glen huffed. “You weren’t here last year, Liezel.”
“He tricked Maddy from HR and spiked the punch with enough bottles of vodka that got almost everyone sloshed,” Will filled her in.
“Thank you for throwing me under the bus, dude.”
Will smirked. “You’re welcome, buddy.”
“Well, I got a written warning for doing it. And it won’t happen again.” Glen winked at Liezel. “Anyway, back to our real agenda: last year we came as Lego characters, and you, dude,” he pointed at Will, “cheated when you had on a shirt with the Lego brand printed on it instead. Anyway, we still scored huge with the slutty Fruitties from the sales team.”
“No, you scored and had a blast with Amber, but remember how I ended up rushing you to the hospital with allergies, all thanks to your awesome costume that you probably rented from some weird orgy club.”.
Liezel shook her head, disgusted.
Glen pouted indifferently. “I remember. Amber stopped talking to me for a month after I fell on her and almost crashed.” His face lit up. “So, this year I’m thinking of going all cutie patootie.”
“What the fuck is that?” When Liezel noticed everyone’s eyes were on her, she shrugged. “What? Sometimes, these words get bottled up around Una, and I gotta let it out from time to time.”
Will just smiled. He understood where she was coming from; although, he really had no problem with Una’s No Swearing Rule.
“Don’t worry, Liezel. You can say fuck for as many times as you want. You’re in the safe zone.” Glen beamed at her. “So…going back…I’m thinking we should come as the Smurfs.”
Will glared at him. Speechless.
“Come on. You gotta admit how cute the Smurfs are! The costume would boost up our hotness. We gotta do this!” Glen insisted.
Liezel giggled. “That is cute! You guys should really go for it.” She continued to giggle and was about to walk back to her desk when Glen called her. “Leave me out of your ridiculous plan, Glen.”
“Gosh, Liezel, you take the fun outta everything. But that’s not it. Look, I sent you a link to a game that I have been working on,” he said.
“Is this House of Terror again?”
“No. It’s different. It’s still a work-in-progress. It would be cool if you could give me an honest feedback on the gameplay before I submit it for beta testing.” Glen wiggled his eyebrows as he beamed in his chair. “It would be a lot cooler if you could mention it to Sinclair.” Glen wiggled his eyebrows as he beamed in his chair.
Liezel glanced at Will who blinked at his screen for a moment, then said to her, “It’s better than House of Terror, Liz. It’s more interactive and engaging. I know we have a process but it’s really worth checking.”
Her mouth twitched, as if giving it a thought, before she finally nodded. “I’ll check it out, and I’ll see what I can do.”
***
When Liezel saw Sinclair’s car in the basement car park, she couldn’t suppress the small smile on her face. It had been a busy
day, but she had turned in the reports and Sinclair’s next day agenda as fast as she could before she left her desk, making sure she’d be gone seconds before he got out of his office.
When Sinclair showed up at the office after lunch, he was on a call with someone for almost four hours straight and had only asked Liezel to come in once for a coffee refill. He only left his office twice when he needed to go to the men’s room. Liezel, on the other hand, couldn’t complain. She missed him that morning, but she knew since day one that her boss was a compulsive worker.
She opened the door to the passenger seat before sliding next to Sinclair. “Hello, Mr. Godfrey,” she greeted.
“Hello to you too, Ms. Blanco.” He stared at her for half a second before starting the car.
“Busy day…” Liezel hesitated and then added, “I missed you today.”
Sinclair smiled and drove out of the basement. “Me too.”
She bit her lower lip, crossing her legs. She decided to wear a flowy skirt that day and had it not been for Sinclair’s constant Skype call with their new clients, they would have surely taken advantage of it, she thought.
“I have a surprise for you,” Sinclair muttered when she didn’t say anything.
Her eyes lit up and her smiled brightened. Sinclair had secretly made her the happiest girl on the floor when he surprised her with the Cartier floral bracelet the day after she mentioned it to him. And she would again be very happy if he had brought her another jewelry.
“What is it?” she asked, her eyes glossy with excitement.
“It’s a surprise, baby.” Sinclair turned to her and reached for her exposed leg, giving it a quick squeeze.
Liezel smiled, satisfied. She asked for his day and suddenly remembered the game app Glen and Yohan shared to her. During the drive, she started talking about the game with Sinclair, explaining the mechanics of the app and how she was hooked on it right away while he made a few listening noises here and there. They continued to talk until they made their way into their destination, where Sinclair turned right onto a street, eventually leading them to a lane where several high-priced apartment complexes lined up the area.
Leizel’s heart started pounding wildly against her chest at the impressive display before them.
Southwind Tower. She craned her neck to see one of the lavish skyrise buildings through the windshield. She only knew one person who lived there.
Sinclair drove into the basement and threaded through several parked cars where he eventually pulled into the spot that was labeled with his name. He turned to her and planted a sloppy kiss on her lips. Before he could rip her clothes off her, he stopped and stepped out of the car. “Let’s go.”
Liezel got off the car; she still couldn’t believe that her boss had taken her to his place. Since college, she had always dreamed and wondered what it would be like to live in such a lavish place like Southwind Tower. And now, here she was, with one of the richest bachelors in the city.
They took the elevator to the top. When they arrived, Sinclair opened the door to his luxury penthouse apartment. “Surprise…” he whispered in her hair then gently brushed his lips against her neck in a teasing manner that had her groaning.
Liezel’s jaw dropped in sheer awe. The duplex penthouse in the lavish skyrise apartment reeked of excessive opulence, just how she imagined Sinclair would want and have. She looked down at the white oak wood covering the entire floor space and couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. This was how she would want to live her life too.
“Are you just gonna stand there?” Sinclair removed his coat and threw it on one of the huge couches in the sunken seating area to the right.
Liezel looked around and instantly admired the gas fireplace clad with basalt stone. She had always wanted have a fireplace for some weird reason. She walked a little further to the left and saw an open-plan kitchen with an eat-in island and a bar table long enough to seat at least ten people. She took tentative steps over to the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Her breath hitched at the incredible and impressive view of the city outside which resembled lit-up fireflies from where she stood. It was the focal point of the place, and it reminded her of the glass wall in the office. The Godfreys must really love their glass walls.
She looked around and momentarily stared at the setback terrace outside. Of course, he had to have a terrace!
“Awesome view you got here,” she said and made her way back to the living room to sit on the couch.
“I know.” Sinclair grabbed one bottle from the wine rack under the countertop and two glasses from the top cabinet and joined her. He poured them each a generous glass.
Liezel moved closer to him and took a small sip. “Is this really your little surprise?”
“Yes.” Sinclair stood up. “I’m hungry. Do you want to eat something else before you eat me?”
She giggled at his candor which she actually found both refreshing and stimulating. “Sure.”
He kissed her one more time, squeezing her buttocks. “You better eat because we will be fucking all night long.”
She shook her head at that and kept herself busy with the glass of wine while Sinclair made something in the kitchen. And as she waited, she finally took notice of the several paintings hanging on the walls on the right. She never particularly thought of Sinclair as the artistic kind of guy. There was not even a single piece of art in his office. Smiling to herself, she already had something in mind to give him on his birthday; if he was, after all, artistic. The thought of her and Sinclair celebrating his birthday today stirred something in Liezel for the celebration would be, no doubt, an extravagant one. She couldn’t wait.
Getting a little too excited at the thought of her with Sinclair, she followed him into the kitchen with a glass of wine in hand. “I love your kitchen,” she said, all of a sudden appreciating how the granite countertops and grey walls went well with the stainless-steel appliances. It was her dream kitchen after all.
Sinclair gave her a look, his blue eyes glaring. “I decorated the entire place myself.” He took several steps toward her, closing the distance between them and pressing her against the countertop.
Liezel bit her lower lip, staring at his lips that were inches away from hers. “Sinclair?”
“You’ve been giving my dick a hard time concentrating with your sexy little skirt, Liezel.” His voice was low. “Do you think you deserve this little surprise?”
Liezel’s suddenly ached with need. “Ver―”
But Sinclair’s mouth was on hers before she could even finish her word. In seconds, his hands were on her body, groping her breasts and thighs.
“You’re naughty, Liezel…” Sinclair said against her neck. “How do you like to be fucked in my kitchen? Since you just told me you love it.” He lifted her, and she automatically wrapped her arms and legs around him.
They kissed some more, moaning every time her core thrusted against his hard-on. When they pulled away for air, he set her on the counter.
“Sex in the kitchen…ooohhh, naughty…” Liezel’s fingers came around and started undoing the buttons on his white shirt. “You just ticked another box on my list, boss.” She laid her palm flat on Sinclair’s bare chest. “You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“How I love your dirty little mouth.” He tugged at the hem of her top and discarded it on the floor. He nipped at her neck as his hands slid down, drawing a gasp from her throat. Urged to move further up, one of his hands slid inwards until it was between her thighs, slowly inching higher until…
His phone rang.
Damn.
They both stopped from what they were doing, and it didn’t take long for another ring to vibrate before Sinclair walked away from Liezel and grabbed his phone next to the bottle of wine.
“Sinclair…” Liezel called, her voice was raspy and a little frustrated.
Her boss signaled her to stop and pressed the phone to his ear. “Mr. Crowne, good evening…” he trailed off as he continued the call in living room, l
eaving a slightly annoyed Liezel.
But it didn’t take long for him to come back, buttoning his shirt. “I have to go. I’m meeting Mr. Crowne in twenty minutes.”
Liezel glanced at her watch. “But it’s half past eight.”
Sinclair briefly caressed her cheek. “This is why I’m a fucking CEO, Liezel.” He snatched his pants. “You may stay a little longer if you want. Like an hour.”
“An hour?” Her eyes narrowed at him.
He shook his head. “My friends just messaged me. They’re coming over a little later.”
Liezel jumped from the counter and picked up her top. “Maybe I’ll have another glass of wine and I’ll leave.”
Sinclair smiled. “Do what you want.” When he was ready to leave, he kissed her hard on the lips. “We’ll have to tick that box on the list some other time.” He headed for the door, and Liezel followed him with the bottle of wine in her hand.
“That won’t be a problem. You go get ‘em, boss.” She dragged on the word boss, teasing him.
“And, by the way, send me the prototype. Tell Glen I like the idea.”
“I will.”
II
Avarice
No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Avarice―
I was no stranger to nightclubs for I had visited a few underground nightclubs in New York, Las Vegas, and California where I had stalked and studied some of my previous projects. I had perfected the template of luring my prey in places like these.
And tonight wasn’t any different.
The place was dark with disco lights moving around the room. The walls were vibrating from the loud music blasting throughout the club. Everyone was dancing, getting drunk, and being physical with each other. Two floors were opened for the club goers to explore. Both floors had bars while the DJ’s booth was on the stage at the ground floor. The crowd below the stage and on the other floors were dancing sexually, dry humping each other.
Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance Page 9
