by Bianca Cole
Filthy Boss
Bianca Cole
Filthy Boss Copyright © 2019 Bianca Cole
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Contents
Blurb
1. Tessa
2. Tessa
3. Bryson
4. Tessa
5. Bryson
6. Tessa
7. Bryson
8. Tessa
9. Bryson
10. Tessa
11. Bryson
12. Tessa
13. Tessa
14. Bryson
15. Tessa
16. Bryson
17. Tessa
18. Bryson
19. Tessa
20. Bryson
21. Tessa
22. Tessa
23. Tessa
24. Bryson
Epilogue
Also by Bianca Cole
About the Author
Blurb
Filthy Boss
I broke the number one rule within hours of accepting my position as acting CEO.
I slept with my employee.
I didn’t know she was my employee at the time. The next day she walks into my office and I'm shocked.
She has stumbled on evidence of an embezzlement scheme going on right under my nose. It's my first day on the job, and it’s not going well.
I panic and tell her to mind her own business and stick to work that’s meant for her.
So she quits.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, I need her help to figure out who is doing the skimming. It means I’ve got to do something I never do and beg her to come back and help me.
Problem is, anytime we’re in the same room I can’t focus on anything but making this woman mine.
And if feelings get involved?
Yeah right.
I'm Bryson Stafford and I don't let feelings get involved.
But Tessa has shown she’s the exception to every rule.
1
Tessa
It’s Friday evening, and I’m driving home early from work. Mrs. Davis gave me two hours off this afternoon to get away for my trip to celebrate our engagement. As I’m driving down the highway, my attention lands on the ring on my finger.
I can’t believe we’re engaged. It all feels like a dream still. Initially, I felt a little anxious as it’s such a grown-up step, but as the week wore on, it became more exciting.
The chiming of a text notification breaks my train of thought, but I don’t consider looking at it. Ever since my brother’s death, two years ago, even though it was a freak accident, I’m extra careful while driving.
I let out a long breath. It has been two years since Jack died in the head-on collision with a lorry, and two years since Ted and I got together. I could never have imagined back then I’d be engaged to Ted, my brother’s friend.
The text is probably from him telling me about our plans for the weekend. He’s taking me on a mini-break this weekend to celebrate. Apparently, where we are going is a surprise. I should be over the moon he’s arranging something for me, but I don’t like surprises. I’m used to being in control.
Finally, I pull up in the driveway of our quaint little house. I reach over to retrieve my phone and unlock the screen to see the notification is from Kirsten, Ted’s friend, and colleague. I open the message and gasp.
It’s a nude picture of her, which she clearly sent to the wrong person. I shut down the phone, stowing it away in my bag and get out of the car. Our house is on the outskirts of Wynton in a nice little cul-de-sac, which is expensive, but Ted insists we need to live somewhere nice. I head inside, shutting the door and walking into the hallway, setting my bag down by the door.
“Fuck me, Teddy Bear,” a woman’s voice echoes through the house, and I freeze.
I know that voice, and as I try to place it, I realize it’s Kirsten, Ted’s colleague. The noises echoing through the house toward the hallway are sickening.
“Fuck, yeah, baby. You feel so damn good,” Ted grunts.
Kirsten’s moans and Ted’s animalistic grunts fill the air, as I remain paralyzed in the hallway. My mind is a blank mess, and I’ve got no idea what to do. I don’t need to see to know what is happening, but I can’t stand here and wait for them to finish.
My heart aches as I listen to my fiancé fucking another woman. I can’t believe Ted would do this to me. Why did he even bother asking me to marry him last week?
I’m heartbroken. Ted has betrayed me and is balls deep in his colleague. Did we rush into this relationship too quickly after I lost my brother?
For a while now, I’ve doubted whether he truly loves me the way I love him. Then he turned it all around and proposed to me last week, making me believe he did. It feels like he has ripped my heart from my chest.
How can I even face him?
I force my trembling legs forward and move further into my house. The image of them at it like rabbits on my kitchen island imprints in my mind, and something snaps inside me.
I prepare my God damn lunch on that island. I bet this isn’t the first time they’ve fucked here. A shiver runs down my spine as I consider all the places in my house they may have. “What the hell are you doing?” I say, my voice trembling.
Ted scrambles away from Kirsten at the sound of my voice, and his face turns ghost white. He glances between me and Kirsten, who is sitting there with a smug smirk on her face. She doesn’t even look regretful at being caught. Perhaps she sent that photo to me on purpose.
Kirsten has been over for dinner countless times. I almost considered her a friend, but no friend would fuck another woman’s fiancé and then sit there looking like she’d won a prize. I can barely contain the hurt and rage mingling inside me.
Ted steps toward me. “Baby, it’s not what it looks like. I–”
I hold my hand up. “Don’t even bother, Ted. Get out of here now.” I glare at him. Then I turn to face Kirsten. “Both of you.”
Kirsten’s lips shift into a tight line. “Are you kicking us out?”
“Yes, get the fuck out of my house. I pay most of the rent for this damn place.” I glare at Ted, and he starts pulling his clothes on, dressing. He doesn’t seem to intend to fight for this or me, and that hurts.
Kirsten hasn’t moved. I turn my attention to her and cross my arms over my chest. “I’m waiting for you to get dressed and get out of my house.”
“Fine.” She moves and pulls her dress over her head. “You can be a real uptight bitch, Tessa. We thought you might be into this, sharing.”
That is the last straw. Is she joking? What the hell did she think I’d be into? Another woman fucking my fiancé. I grab a vase off the side and throw it at her. She ducks, and it smashes against the wall. Her eyes go wide, and she runs for the door, grabbing Ted’s hand as she goes.
Good riddan
ce.
As the door clicks shut, I stare at the wall of the empty kitchen for so long. I’m not sure my mind has processed what happened. I’m alone in my huge overpriced house, and everything hits me like a ton of bricks. They have turned my entire world upside down. I need a drink, but because Ted is teetotal, we have no alcohol in the house.
Before I know it, I’m in my car. I’m not even sure where I’m going or what I’m doing, as I pull onto the freeway and drive back into Wynton. I come upon the welcoming neon lights of a little hole in the wall dive bar. A place where no one will know me, and I don’t have to worry about looking like a fool. A place I wouldn’t be in danger of embarrassing myself in front of colleagues.
I walk into the bar and head straight for a free stool. A friendly face is beaming at me. Initially, she serves as a taunt with her fit, petite frame, and bright blonde hair—similar to Kirsten.
As the night wears on, I get to know more about Elena, the bartender. She works shifts at the bar to pay her way through Hendall University and get a degree in sports medicine. Her goal is to train an Olympic team after getting out of college.
She lives on her own and is vocal about the fact she is doing fine without a man in her life, without me even mentioning the subject. I desire to be as strong, independent, and in control of my destiny as this woman seems to be.
Elena listens to me rattle on about Ted cheating. She is so understanding for a woman I’ve just met. She makes me feel like everything will be okay, or perhaps that’s the alcohol.
By the end of the night, I’m drunk. Many of the older bikers offer to take me off Elena’s hands. She tells them no way in hell.
I couldn’t remember much else of the night. The rest of it is a blur as I leave the bar, while Elena is closing up.
She tells me to wait up because I’m in no condition to drive. I try to protest, only to discover that she took my keys without me noticing.
I wake the next morning to an awful hangover and the realization that I can’t afford to live in my house any longer since Ted helped pay the bills. There’s no use of me struggling through trying to pay for such a huge place for myself.
Elena enters, carrying a takeout bag and a box of aspirin. “Hey, Tessa, how are you feeling?”
Her voice is far too loud, and I grip my aching head. “Not great,” I grumble.
“Here, take these.” She hands me the aspirin and a bottle of water. I do as she says, taking the aspirin.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to–”
“Nonsense, you had an awful evening last night. I’m happy to help out.”
I force a smile at her before taking the aspirin and settling back down on the sofa. She rummages through the takeout bag and pulls out a burger and fries, passing them to me. “You need to eat. It will help with the hangover.”
My stomach rumbles as the smell of greasy fries fill my nostrils. “That is kind of you.”
She sits down next to me and pulls out her own burger and fries. We sit in comfortable silence, eating our burgers and fries. Once we’re both finished, she turns to face me. “Did you think any more about my proposal last night?”
I try to rack my brain over what proposal she is talking about. My brow furrows as I can’t remember what she’s talking about. “What proposal?”
“Wow, you were drunker than I thought.” She laughs. “You said you need to find a new place to live because your house is too expensive. I said I’ve got a spare room here and would welcome a roommate who can split the rent and bills with me.”
I couldn’t even remember mentioning I needed to find a new place. After talking it over for a little while, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
The house Ted and I had been living is is too expensive even for both of us. At least this way, I can save some money. Ted and I had been living beyond our means.
I agree and find myself with a new roommate and friend in the space of twenty-four hours.
2
Tessa
The blaring alarm wakes me from a terrible dream. I release my arm from under my duvet cover, searching for it. Finally, I grab the device, pulling it under the covers with me and hitting the snooze button.
I lay there with my hand against my forehead for a moment, staring at the ceiling fan above me. Despite loving my job, it’s a struggle to get out of bed early. I’ve never been a morning person.
I force my legs out first, placing them on the floor. The cold from the wood tingles up through the bottoms of my feet and through my legs, sending a shiver up my spine.
It’s only six in the morning, and I don’t have to be in until eight, but I need the time to get ready. This is the time to get my head on straight and have my full quota of caffeine. Then face the inevitable stampede on the streets outside.
I stand, stretching my arms above my head, before heading into the compact kitchen of our little apartment. Two months ago, I moved in with my friend, Elena. I’d been so used to living in a suburban area of Wynton. In a three-bedroom house with a spacious kitchen and all the amenities with my fiancé Ted—ex-fiancé Ted.
It’s been three months since our break up. There’s no denying it still stings. Elena likes to tell me constantly that he isn’t worth it. I’ve been avoiding going to the bar she works at lately since she lectures me about moving on and attempts to push me toward one of the patrons.
She is right. Ted isn’t worth it. He never was. In a sense, he saved me from making a huge mistake, but it’s not so easy to move on when you lose your fiancé and future all at once. We had plans to get married and have kids, and it’s hard to let that go. I pull down a mug from the cabinet above the coffee maker.
The shouts and screams of Ted’s colleague, Kirsten, still resonated through my mind even to this day. The image of them forever imprinted on my mind. It was like a double punch to the gut. Ted had proposed to me only a week before, and like an idiot, I’d said yes.
I haven’t seen him since, even though he begged for me to meet him so he could explain. There was no chance in hell I was letting him explain anything. It was simple. He fucked another woman—end of story.
I pour a mug of coffee and sit at the island, slowly sipping it. After I’ve drained every drop, I head for the bathroom, removing my well-worn sleep shirt and pajama shorts, throwing them into the small hamper in the corner. Since splitting with Ted, I’ve let myself go, and I need some new sleepwear.
I turn on the shower and get in, allowing the water to wash over me. I try not to think about Jack, my brother, but it’s impossible. I can’t shake the dream I’d had of standing in front of his grave, the rain falling around us as we stood there, saying goodbye.
Once showered, I wrap my towel around me and head back into the bedroom. I stare at the wall, lost in thought as I dry my hair.
“Hey, aren’t you going to be late for work?” Elena pops her head through the door to my room.
I glance at her and then at the clock on the wall.
Shit.
I have been so distracted in my own head. I have wasted time. “I’ll be leaving in a minute. Why are you up so early?”
She shrugs and then bounds into my room, flopping down onto my bed. “I couldn’t sleep.” She cocks her head to the side. “You were thinking about him again, weren’t you?”
I sigh heavily. “It’s hard not to. I had a bad dream about my brother, and it dredged everything back up.”
Her eyes soften. “I’m sorry. We’ll do something fun tonight to get your mind off things. Come by the bar.” She beams at me.
I nod, despite not feeling in the mood to do anything. I move to my wardrobe and pull out a gray double-breasted blazer, pulling it on over my white blouse.
I turn to Elena. “How do I look?”
Elena smiles. “Like a million bucks.”
I laugh. If it weren’t for Elena, I’m not sure what state of mind I’d be in right now. “Thanks, I best get going. I’ll see you later.”
She stands and pulls me into a
tight hug. “Don’t let anything get you down. You’re a strong, independent woman.”
I can’t help but smile. “Thanks, Elena, what would I do without you?”
She shakes her head. “I honestly don’t know.”
I grab my shoulder bag from the back of my door and head out of my apartment into the busy street. I’m never late and don’t intend to start now. I started as an intern at the Stafford Financial Group in my last year of college at Hendall University. They were impressed with my abilities as an analyst and hired me full time. I was promoted within six months of working there to an accounting analyst with my own office.
Anytime I feel my confidence slipping. I remind myself of my achievements. I don’t need a man like Ted in my life. All I need is myself. I’m pretty sure Elena is starting to rub off on me.
I make my way across the busy street and into the tube station. Hundreds of people rush down the stairs, surrounding me. I’ve made it with one minute to spare as the train rushes toward the platform, and everyone pushes onto it. I look over the sea of swaying faces on the subway, as the smell of body odor and greasy breakfast fill the air, making me wrinkle my nose.
I reach the end of the line and scramble to get off the train, heading up the steps, despite the crowd budging me. Everyone is in a hurry to get to work on time. I head back onto the ground level. The towering structures made of glass and steel rise up, blocking the nearly full morning sun.
