by Emelia Blair
I toss off my clothes and walk into the shower, but over the rushing of the water, I can still hear Kendall’s whimpers, her rough breathing, and I slam my fist into the tiled wall, ignoring the pain shooting up my arm.
The buzzing of the doorbell has me growling and I turn off the water and stepping out of the shower, I grab the towel hanging from the rack and tie it around my waist.
Striding over to the front door, I’m scowling, already knowing who it is. Opening the door, I growl, “Duke!” I halt. “Kendall?”
Kendall’s clutching the box I sent her in her arms and she’s far too pale for my comfort, her eyes dark and tired. They widen on seeing me in just a towel.
I don’t make any attempt to change when I see her unwillingly check me out. “Come in,” I say, stepping aside.
She wavers. “I just came to return this.” She holds out the box to me, her cheeks flushing prettily at my half-nakedness.
“Come in,” I repeat.
She gives my towel a meaningful look before meeting my gaze and her pupils dilate as she attempts to keep her voice steady. “I don’t think you’re in any state to be receiving guests.”
“Give me a minute and I will be. I want to have a word with you.” I raise a brow,
The command in my voice makes her fidget before she sighs and walks in, her shoulders stiff.
I leave her to her devices to go pull on a pair of jeans. I deliberately forego the shirt.
When I walk back into the living room, she’s still standing, her feet having taken her to the bookshelf and she’s studying the titles. “You have a lot of books on criminal law,” she says, her back to me.
I tuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans and make a small noise of agreement.
She turns around and her eyes narrow when she sees that I’m shirtless.
I silently dare her to comment on it, but she purses her lips together and chooses to ignore it, to my disappointment.
“I can’t accept this.” She points towards the box she’s put down. “Return it.”
I take a few steps towards her and to my utmost delight, she doesn’t back down, raising her chin instead, a defiant look in her eyes.
“I can’t. I removed the tags.” I smile, smugly.
“Well, then.” She gives me a steady look. “You’d better look good in red because I don’t plan on wearing that.”
A bark of laughter is forced from my throat at her deliberate insult.
She looks offended.
“Kendall, wear the dress.”
Her fists clench. “I can buy my own. I don’t need you buying me things.”
My smile slips at that, annoyance replacing amusement, as I demand, “Why the hell not?”
She looks so frustrated. “Because you’re my boss, Caleb! And I’m living in your building rent-free, and you got me an entire wardrobe, which by the way, isn’t commonplace, and now you’re making me go as your date to a very public event.”
I shake my head. “There’s nothing—”
“You’re making me feel cheap!” she cuts me off, the words ripped from her. “Like I’m some sort of kept woman!”
Fury encompasses me at her words, at the insult she tosses at both of us, and without knowing it, I’ve covered the distance between us, as I snarl, “I would never insult you like that!” I’m glaring down at her.
She doesn’t budge. “Well, you’re doing a piss poor job of showing that.”
I have the urge to kiss this frustrating woman, but I hold myself back, fighting with myself to calm down. “You have no idea what’s going on.”
Kendall grinds her teeth. “So, tell me! Tell me why you’re giving me all these things. You’re going over and beyond what you should be doing. This dress is worth more than a thousand dollars. I just checked. And those are real diamonds!” Now, she takes a step back, a flash of vulnerability on her face, her voice uncertain, “Whatever game you’re trying to play, I can’t afford it, Caleb. I have too much at stake.”
My hands curl into fists inside my pockets, and I suddenly want to come clean, to tell her everything but there’s a very good chance she might leave and never come back, and that’s the only thing holding me back. “It’s not what you think, Kendall.” I try to fix this situation, but I can see it isn’t working.
Her lower lip trembles before she firms it. “No. Look, what you did for me today, I appreciate it. But don’t do it, again. Please. And I don’t want all this. I’ll go to the Ball as your assistant if you want, but not as your date. I’ll wear a dress that suits my station, but I won’t let you cover me in thousand dollar dresses and real diamonds.” She seems to be trying to get control of her emotions. “That’s your world, not mine. I don’t want any of it.”
I can feel her slipping through my fingers, her rejection stinging me.
She shakes her head. “I’m your PA. Nothing more, nothing less. I don’t want anything further than that. I can’t afford to be an amusement to you, Mr. Starr.”
I see the regret in her eyes, and I see the way she’s putting up walls one by one, determined to protect herself and her small world from she perceives as a threat to her.
“It’s not what it seems, Kendall,” I murmur.
Without looking at me or uttering a word, she walks out.
Over the next few days, there is a rigidness in my everyday interactions with Kendall. She’s more polite, her temper reigned in, and while I know that there’s a way around this, my hurt and anger prevent me from doing anything.
“Miss West,” I buzz her intercom. When Kendall walks in, I tell her, “A Miss Reina Sheffield will be arriving in the afternoon. Please show her in.”
“I don’t have her on your schedule.” She frowns, studying the schedule on her notebook.
“It’s not business related,” I reply.
Her reaction doesn’t disappoint. A tightening around her mouth and a flash in her eyes, before she nods. “All right.”
When she leaves, I lean my head back against the headrest of the chair and close my eyes.
I haven’t rescinded my invitation for the ball and Kendall knows it. Maybe she’s wondering if I’m looking for another date.
The smile on my lips is of savage satisfaction.
Good.
Reina is tall, beautiful, her every movement, her every step, graceful, to highlight her best feature.
When Kendall shows her in, her face is carefully blank.
Reina’s lips curve into a smile as she greets me, “Darling, I thought you’d never call.” She steps towards me.
I stand in greeting, letting her snake her arms around my neck, reaching out to brush her lips against my right cheek. From the corner of my eyes, I see Kendall turn her head to the side as if the very sight was unbearable to her.
A clenching twist in my chest as I look back at the stunning Reina who’s as vicious as the queen of snakes, and smile. “Would you like something to drink?”
She runs a finger over the side of my face, her words husky, “Maybe in a while.”
The implication in her words is clear.
Kendall says quietly, “Is that all, Mr. Starr?”
I turn my head to meet her gaze, and I see nothing, a careful blankness, her back ramrod straight, as she holds on to her tattered pride, and I can’t help the gentleness in my voice, “That’ll be all, Miss West. Thank you.”
She’s out the door in the next heartbeat.
I stare longingly after her, cursing myself for doing this to her. I turn my attention back to the simpering Reina, whose beauty means nothing but a means to an end. I disentangle her from me and let my lips curve. “Let’s talk, Reina.”
The surprise in her eyes is followed by swift calculation as she purrs, “Yes, lets.”
When I exit the office a few hours later, with Reina right behind me, I see a familiar woman whom I recognize as Jane Starling; she had conducted an interview for Voyd magazine a few days ago.
She’s involved in a heated discussion with Kendal
l who’s looking stern and disapproving. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. The terms of the contract were quite clear. Whatever you publish has to be approved by me. Otherwise, Lucas Black will sue you, your company, and your pet dog, while he’s at it.”
I then see Lucas standing behind Kendall’s chair, his arms folded, looking more like hired muscle than the company lawyer.
Jane snarls, “The public has a right to—”
“I don’t give a shit what the public thinks it has a right to. Which is why I wrote out a contract for you which both you and your publishing house signed,” Kendall says calmly, rage concealed in her eyes. “The article comes out on Monday. I expect to receive the final draft by email on Saturday night.”
“Darling, your little PA is absolutely vicious,” Reina murmurs in my ear.
Our presence is finally registered.
Lucas looks surprised to see Reina with me. He casts an uneasy glance towards Kendall.
She just blinks in my direction, as if she can’t see the way the woman by my side is playing with my hair.
“Mr. Starr,” its Jane who speaks up, taking in Reina’s body language, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Am I to assume Miss Sheffield is to be your date for the Heimans Ball?”
My eyes flick towards Kendall before I say, “You’re allowed to assume whatever you may like, Miss Starling.”
Kendall’s hand is on the desk and she removes it, lowering it to her lap, before she glares at Jane. “Your interview is over and done with, Miss Starling. I’ll wait for your email.”
Jane turns to look at her and there’s a sharp look in her eyes as she bends down and murmurs something so soft that no one else can overhear.
Kendall’s eyes flash with pain and stiffens, her body trembling.
Wanting to protect her and yet knowing I’m also hurting her, I say in a cold voice, “I think it’s time you left, Miss Starling. Lucas, can you please escort Miss Starling out?”
Kendall’s eyes are trained on her laptop whiles she’s blink furiously.
I cough to get her attention, “Miss West, I need you to reserve a table at Zenos. I’m taking Reina out to dinner.”
Kendall nods and I see her shoulders slump a little as if she’s taken blow after blow today.
Lucas returns as I’m walking out and he stops me with a hand on my arm, his voice unusually harsh, “A word?”
“Reina, I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Lucas waits for the elevator doors to close around the model, before he turns to me. We are well out of hearing range of Kendall, and he scowls. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I raise a brow at him. “Excuse me?”
“With that girl, inside? You’re all ‘Kendall this’ and ‘Kendall that’, and suddenly you’re throwing other women in her face, calling her ‘Miss West’ in that snobby tone of yours. She’s not a plaything.”
Anger surges in me and I want to strike out at the man who’s also sort of a friend. My voice is chilly as I reply, “No, she’s not. She’s my assistant. How I treat her is none of your business.”
Luca’s lips thin and he steps forward. “Fine, if she’s nothing to you, maybe I should have a go at her. Elise is clearly not interested in me, and Kendall is smart, pretty, funny. Maybe I should just ask her out.”
I don’t anticipate my reaction to his words. My eyes see red and I’m snarling, as my fist swings, clipping Lucas in the eye.
He falls back a step or two with a groan, and then glares at me, one palm over his injured eye. “Fuck you, asshole. What the hell was that for?”
My hands are gripping him by the shirt as I shove my face in his, baring teeth, letting him see the animal that lurked inside me, “Stay the fuck away from my woman!”
“Caleb!” Kendall is staring at us from the doorway of her office, horrified.
I don’t know how much she’s heard of the conversation and I grit my teeth as I meet her gaze. There’s something lurking behind her eyes, but I can’t identify it. We stare at each other for a few heartbeats, time around us standing still, only the sound of my breathing loud in my ears.
And then, she’s walking towards me and she reaches us, she grabs my wrist. “Let go of him.”
My grip loosens on Lucas’s shirt and I release him.
The lawyer splutters, “J-Jesus, man. Fuck. I wasn’t going to do it!”
Kendall stares at him. “Come on. I know some first aid. I’ll take a look at your eye.” She gives me a strange look. “I think you have somewhere to be.”
Lucas throws me a disbelieving look over his shoulder before trailing after Kendall.
I stare at the two of them, my blood churning inside of me.
Why is everything falling apart? I feel frustrated, my hand reaches into my pocket to feel the stone there.
10
Kendall
“You’ll be fine,” I mutter when I watch Lucas check his eye for the tenth time.
‘Stay away from my woman!’
The words are revolving in my head, beating against my skull.
Lucas’ words had clearly been a taunt. The man was desperately in love with Elise, the chirpy little receptionist. But Caleb’s reaction had me numb.
The dark possessiveness in his voice, the way he had lost all his composure.
And yet, he had brought a woman to his office, letting her touch him, clearly indicating that they were lovers.
Confusion arises in me and I shake my head.
“Think I’d look good in an eye patch?” Lucas glances my way.
“Sure, if it were the sixteen-hundreds. Calm down. I’ve had worse black eyes than that,” I tell him lightly.
He turns around, his eyes sharp. “What?”
“As a kid,” I say exasperatedly. “I used to get beat up in the home all the time.”
“You grew up in an orphanage?” Lucas looks curious.
“My parents died in a car accident.” I shrug. “My relatives didn’t want me so, yeah.”
“Bummer.” Lucas looks thoughtful. “Guess you have more in common with Caleb after all.”
His words spark something in me. “Mr. Starr grew up in an orphanage?”
Lucas looks surprised and wary. “You didn’t know? I thought you did?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “We don’t exactly spend time talking about our pasts.”
Lucas tugs at him tie, uneasy. “Well, it’s not my story to tell. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”
There’s something off about this. Something that he knows, and I have a feeling it has something to do with me. “Lucas, why did Mr. Starr hire me?” I ask slowly. “There were much better candidates than me.”
Lucas shifts in his seat. “How would I know?”
“I think you do.”
“Look, Caleb’s an eccentric guy. Who knows why he does what he does?”
I purse my lips but drop the topic. “Fine. You should go. I’m going to leave in another hour, and I have work to finish. Go put something cold on that eye.”
Lucas studies himself in the hand mirror I had given him. “I think I’d look pretty sexy in an eye patch.”
“Well, at least you’re modest,” I deadpan as he leaves.
I’m about to settle in to finish my work but it’s hard to concentrate with what I’ve just overheard. My mind is a bundle of confusion, nothing makes sense, my own conflicted feelings about this man who has been nothing but kind, who pushes against my barriers, who is insufferably arrogant, making matters worse.
Resentment rises in me.
How dare you?!
How dare you get in my head and feel, things I never wanted to feel!
My mug crashes against the wall, the remaining coffee splatters on the beige-colored plaster, before I realize that I’ve just thrown my mug against the wall.
I stare at the shattered pieces, furious with myself for being such an idiot.
“He’s started to rub off on you.”
I look up in shock to see Lana standing at the
door, her eyes on the shattered mug.
“Miss Hill.” Seeing her reminds me of last week, of what she’s seen, of what she’s probably told Caleb. “Mr. Starr’s left for the day.”
“I know,” Lana says evenly. “I came to see you. And stop calling me Miss Hill. I’m married.” She walks over to the visitor’s chair and sits down. “The appropriate title would be Mrs. Thornton, although I prefer Lana.”
“Okay.”
When she sees I’m not going to elaborate, she says, “I heard Caleb gave Lucas a black eye.”
“Did he?” I respond vaguely. “I thought Lucas slipped.”
Lana raises a brow and she almost seems pleased by my response. “Lucas always was careless.”
“I wouldn’t know.” I don’t want to talk to her. I want her to leave me alone.
“I didn’t tell Caleb about the scars on your back,” she admits, quietly, her eyes fixed on me.
Ok, so that gets my interest. I still, disbelief and relief flooding into me simultaneously, “You didn’t?”
“No, but I do want to know what happened to you.” She leans forward in her chair.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I purse my lips together.
Lana doesn’t seem bothered by my refusal. She just sits there, watching me. “Well, I want to know. Look, ever since you came here, the fact that Caleb was determined to…” She shakes her head. “The point is that I misjudged you. Your work under Caleb has been nothing short of exemplary and I want to apologize for my behavior and being so rude to you. I was the one who asked Elise to accompany you to the shopping thing. I’m just trying to befriend you. I saw the scars and it’s just… they shocked me.”
It takes guts to apologize and I stare at the paper in front of me, before opening my mouth to say, “When I was in the home, a few days before I was supposed to be released from there, my friend, who had gotten knocked up, her boyfriend came looking for her. He wasn’t a very good person, roughly speaking. He wanted her to come live with him but Tra—my friend knew he was abusive.” I swallow, remembering the night when Tracy hadn’t come home from school and how I had gone looking for her. “It was pretty late. She hadn’t come back and I went looking for her. The guy, her kid’s dad, he owned a garage near our high school. I armed myself with a wrench I found at home and I went looking for her there.”
