by Lilly Wilde
“When is the first break in your schedule? And before you say you don’t have any, I know that you do.”
Silence.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way Princess, it’s your choice. But either way, we will do this.”
I knew he would do whatever he needed to do to make this happen. Maybe the faster we get this over, the faster I can eradicate myself of this unnecessary bullshit.
“Give me an hour. Should I come to you?” I asked.
“Yes, that would be best as I have back to back meetings scheduled and every minute is crucial to my day. I’ll expect you promptly at nine-thirty.” He hung up.
I fucking hated him. My eyes stung as the tears tried to force their way to the surface. There was a knock at my door.
“Yes.”
It was Raina, her face overflowing with compassion. She had never witnessed this behavior from me and I had no idea of how much was visible on the surface. I felt like shit.
“I thought you could use a cup of tea Miss Cason.”
“Thank you Raina,” I replied as she placed the tea on my desk.
She turned to leave and closed the door softly behind her.
I took a sip of the tea and closed my eyes wondering how I was going to make it through a face-to-face with Aiden.
I finished my tea as I worked on email. It was a quarter after nine already. The phone intercom beeped.
“Miss Cason, a Mr. Dane Patrick is here to see you. Should I send him in?”
I spit tea all over my desk. What the fuck?
I reached for my phone. I quickly texted April.
*Dane is here at my fucking office! Did you ever hear anything from him or his wife?*
I placed the phone on my desk and replied to Raina.
“Please send him in.” I knew I needed to see him and get rid of him.
Raina walked Dane into my office and closed the door behind her. I motioned for him to have a seat.
“Hello Aria. You look beautiful as always. How are you?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Wow. No hello.”
“Not for you. Liar!”
“So you know about my uh-”
“Wife? Uh yeah! What the hell have you gotten me mixed up in?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
He went on to explain that his marriage was ending and that his wife was trying to get everything on the grounds of infidelity and she was having her lawyer call me in to testify.
“Look, you had better find a way to fix this. Don’t bring me in the middle of your shit.”
“Aria, listen-”
My door opened abruptly and Dane stopped mid-sentence.
It was Aiden and he wasn’t happy.
He looked at me and then at Dane who stood to face him. I didn’t know what to do or say.
“This is Mr. Raine,” I offered.
Dane reached out to shake Aiden's hand. Aiden returned his gesture with an ice cold glare.
“And you are?” Aiden asked.
“Dane Patrick,” he replied, confused by Aiden’s immediate disdain with him.
“And what is the nature of your business with Miss Cason?” Aiden demanded.
“Well that is between me and Miss Cason.”
Aiden made a step toward Dane who slightly faltered.
I stood and walked around my desk grabbing Dane’s arm.
“Dane was just leaving. Let me walk you out.” I led him to the door and saw Raina staring at us. I leaned in toward him so that only he could hear.
“Don't you fucking come back to my office. If you do, I guarantee you will be arrested,” I whispered.
“If it were only that simple. I'll be seeing you Aria. Soon.”
Fuck! Why was all of this happening? Now I have to deal with Aiden's inquisitive demanding bullshit on top of trying to figure out how to handle Dane!
I turned and walked past Aiden to my desk.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked my impatience and frustration coming through loud and clear.
“Is there something going on that I should know about?”
“No, I don't think so.”
“Was that personal?” he asked.
“And if it was? Never mind. You of all people know that I don't do personal at work. I made that mistake once. Trust me, I don't intend on repeating that huge lapse in judgment again.”
“Am I supposed to take that personally, because I did?”
“So what?”
“Aria-”
“And don’t ever walk into my office intimidating my guests.”
“I don’t think I did that at all. I merely questioned his intentions?”
“As if you have the right?”
“I have every fucking right,” he said, his eyes blazing.
“No, you have no right to me in any capacity besides RPH and that is still up in the air.”
“Aria, I don’t know what you want me to say here. Do you honestly think I’m going to sit by and watch as you invite some asshole into your life while you ignore me?”
“I expect exactly what you have shown me over the last few weeks…nothing!” I exclaimed.
“You've ignored my calls and texts. How long do you expect that to continue before I force you to communicate with me?” he asked.
“I'm not doing this with you. I assume you are here for the answer to your blackmail offer?”
I saw a glimmer of irritation on his face as he walked over to sit in one of the chairs in front of my desk.
“Yes, I would like to know what you have decided.”
“Well, it’s not like I have much of a fucking choice. Either I succumb to your threat or I risk career suicide.”
“I’m really disappointed that you view this opportunity with such malice Aria.”
“Oh, you’re disappointed? Ha! We don't want that, do we?”
He sat back in the chair and crossed his leg so that his ankle was positioned on his knee.
“I’ll accept but with conditions,” I said, meeting his gaze.
“You will accept and there will be no conditions. The contract was emailed to you a few moments ago. Review it and send the e-signed copy to HR as quickly as possible as Blake is being told today and the announcement and press release will be going out this afternoon.”
Unbelievable. Who was this man?
“I have some pressing matters to attend so we’ll not be able to discuss much more at the moment but I will see you at your place at 7 o’clock. I’ll bring dinner. Don’t bother refusing; this has gone on long enough. We are talking this out tonight.”
My heart was racing. I was angry and confused but so fucking turned on by this man and his dominance that I couldn’t fight.
“I need to talk to Blake,” I said.
“No you don’t,” he countered. “Once he is relieved of his duties, he will be escorted from the building. All of that is happening within the next 20 minutes. I expect you to keep quiet until then. Understand?”
“Look you arrogant –”
“Aria, I don’t have time for this. I’ll see you this evening,” He stood and walked over to my desk and kissed me softly on the forehead and turned to walk away.
He smelled so good. I fucking hated him!
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Within an hour, the announcement of my promotion and Blake's departure was detailed both in inter-office email and on the internet. I felt like a coward and a traitor. I hadn't taken the time I would have liked to speak with Blake because of Aiden's warning that I shouldn't. This felt wrong but I didn't want to do anything to upset Aiden at this point because I was not prepared for where that upset could lead. So I kept quiet as I was told.
This was so not me. I had changed so much in the last few months. Changes or not, I felt like I owed Blake an explanation. I promised myself that I would reach out to Blake as soon as some of the dust settled. I owed him that much. Blake was responsible for my having a job at RPH and here I was repla
cing him. I didn't like this but after considering my options, accepting the job was the only move that made sense for me.
My head was still throbbing and I just wanted to go home, fall in bed and bury myself under the covers until everything felt right again. My phone rang and I glanced at the display and saw that it was Raina. I lifted the receiver.
“Yes?”
“Miss Cason, do you have a moment?”
“Yes, of course,” I replied, curious as to what other shock I needed to absorb today.
“May I come speak with you?” she asked.
“Sure, give me a couple of minutes and show yourself in.”
I had received a text from Aiden just as my phone rang and I wanted to read it before Raina entered my office.
*I'm anxious to speak with you this evening. I have missed you terribly.*
I was weak for him; I wanted to reply letting him know I felt the same but I knew I shouldn't. I placed the phone on my desk just as Raina walked in closing the door behind her.
There it was. That same guilty look I noticed on yesterday. Confused, I motioned for her to have a seat at the table as I stood to walk around my desk to join her.
“Is there something wrong Raina?” I asked worriedly.
“Miss Cason, I have something to tell you that I should have and wanted to tell you weeks ago but I wasn't able to because I was afraid that I would lose my job.”
“Raina, what is it? I’m sure there isn't anything as significant as you may think that could result in your losing your job.”
“After you hear this, you may think otherwise.”
She glanced down at the carpet. This was not a Raina I had ever witnessed.
“Does this have anything to do with what you wanted to speak with me about yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let's hear it. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think.”
“Well, I wanted to warn you about Mr. Raine.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I knew some time ago that Mr. Raine and Aiden Wyatt were the same person,” she said, hesitantly.
I was quiet as the shock of that revelation traveled slowly through me.
“I knew he would be arriving yesterday to meet with you and I didn't want you to be caught off guard but just as I was about to tell you, Mr. Meade came and rushed you off to the meeting with him.”
“Raina, I don't understand. How did you know this and how is it that you knew about his identity weeks ago?”
“The week he resigned, he contacted me. He told me who he was and he wanted to speak with me about you.”
She looked at me, nervous as she took in my reaction. I wasn’t sure if she saw anything beyond anger as that was the only emotion I could display at the moment.
“Maybe I should back up a little. I strongly suspected something romantic was going on between the two of you. The others may not have noticed but being that I worked so closely with you on a daily basis, I was able to pick up on it. Besides that, I have worked with you for years so I think I am pretty attuned to your mannerisms and such. There were some obvious changes in your personality and overall behavior, especially when Mr. Raine was around. I knew that if my assumptions were correct, that I should keep it to myself for obvious reasons. Obviously he knew of my suspicions or maybe at the point at which he contacted me, he wasn't worried about whether I knew or not. He had called on my cell phone one evening. He told me of his identity and what had happened to his father and that he would more than likely be assuming control of Raine Industries. He didn't go into great detail about the two of you but he did tell me enough to confirm my suspicions. He was concerned about you but knew he couldn't come to you with any of this.”
I sat there taking in everything Raina had revealed but I was still quite confused. Why would he take her into confidence? Why had he not paid me the same courtesy given the circumstances? I felt the anger growing or maybe it was taking on a new face because I'd been angry since my initial notification of his resignation.
“Why would he tell you this Raina? I don't understand and why didn't you immediately tell me about this?”
Raina sat twisting her hands in her lap. She looked at me apologetically as she continued her story.
“My theory. He knew his abrupt departure would hurt you. He regretted the dishonesty and knew he couldn't come to you with this any other way than in person. He wanted me to keep an eye on you. He wanted to know if you had moved on and if you did, he wanted to be made aware of it as quickly as possible so that he could intervene.”
“So he wanted you to spy on me and report back to him?” I asked incredulous to her declaration. After seeing him in action these last couple of days, this really wasn't as shocking as I think it would have been three days ago.
“Miss Cason, I feel horrible about this and I have told him so. When he alerted me to his arrival, I literally begged him to allow me to tell you before you walked in and discovered it alongside everyone else. He reluctantly agreed but obviously the opportunity to warn you passed before you found out yourself.”
I sat quietly absorbing this news, soaking in yet another wonderful tidbit of information about Aiden.
“Raina, I'm not upset with you and I appreciate the fact that you didn't want to be involved with this. I can certainly understand why you followed his instructions. Believe it or not, he gagged me too.” Immediately I was embarrassed at the use of the word gagged as visions of Aiden fucking me, gagged across my desk, flooded my mind. “I wasn't able to alert anyone, even Blake of his being fired and my replacing him.”
“I threatened to quit you know,” she said. “I told him you had been an amazing employer and I refused to betray you in this way. But after he convinced me of his intentions toward you, I agreed. He told me that he knew how highly you thought of me and that he didn't want to put you though losing both of us within such proximity.”
“Well how thoughtful of him,” I replied sarcastically.
“You’re upset; understandably so. Miss Cason, I know it isn't my place to say but don't be too hard on him, I think you should give him a chance. He is an extremely intelligent and powerful man who has experienced more than I can fathom but the communications I've had with him have revealed that he is walking in unchartered territory when it comes to you. All of the intelligence and power in the world mean nothing when it comes to affairs of the heart and it would appear you have his. While I oppose his tactics, I think his heart was in the right place.”
I sighed and offered a smile which she returned.
“Thank you Raina. I want to apologize for your being placed in this position. I will take it from here.”
“I think he makes you happy,” she said.
I couldn’t reply to that at the moment. Had someone told me this three weeks ago, I would have agreed.
“Are we okay?” Raina asked.
“Of course we are.”
“I was so worried you'd think I'd betrayed you.”
“I don't think that at all Raina.”
She stood to leave. “Congratulations on your promotion. I know you will take this company to heights unknown. “
“Thank you Raina.”
Raina turned to leave my office. “Thanks for your loyalty and I'm relieved you didn't quit. Who would I have taken along to the top floor to help me run this place?” I asked smiling.
Raina returned my smile and I stood to return to my desk.
I glanced at the phone on my desk. I picked it up and reread Aiden' s text.
I quickly typed a reply.
*Fuck you. Don’t you fucking dare come to my place tonight or any other night!*
I turned my phone off. I hit the speaker button and told Raina to forward all calls to the answering service for the remainder of the day. I then began reviewing the recent e-publishing numbers. I noticed some discrepancies and later called Raina in to work on some revisions.
Within moments, my door flew open to reveal an extremely angry Aide
n Raine.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
He stared at me and I returned his glare. Raina looked at me obviously confused. Aiden broke our gaze and glanced in Raina’s direction. “Leave us,” he instructed and turned to face me.
“And see that we’re not disturbed,” he stated his eyes not leaving mine.
As soon as Raina closed the door, he stalked toward me, reaching me within a few strides. He grabbed my arm, yanking me out of my chair.
“I don't have time for your bullshit Aria.”
“Just as I don't have time for yours! Hence my text.” I jerked my arm from his grasp.
He took a step closer to me, making me crazy. I took a step back. His hands were on either side of my face pulling me into a kiss. I resisted but he continued, demanding access to my mouth with his tongue.
He broke his kiss. His hands still on either side of my face. His piercing green eyes willing me to surrender to him.
“Stop fighting me,” he whispered.
He placed his lips on mine once more and as if I’d been commanded, I responded to him. We kissed as if we were starved for each other.
He broke the kiss, breathing harshly. “I've missed you. Every day.”
“Oh, I never would have guessed. What… with all of the attempts to contact me over the last several weeks,” I spit out.
“I knew I owed you an explanation but I also knew it shouldn't be something I communicated in a text or email or even a phone call. Don't you think I understand what you gave to me when you allowed me to get close to you? I never took that lightly. Not for one moment. I simply wasn't in a position to speak to you face to face?”
“Oh my God! Do you think I'm that much of an idiot? You are Aiden Wyatt Raine which in this country is synonymous with multi-billionaire. You have access to private planes and whatever else you want so if you wanted to see me, you very well could have, so save the bullshit.”
“Aria, yes I did have access to you but I was not in a position where I could leave my mother. She was distraught when Dad had the heart attack. She was hospitalized shortly afterwards and I literally didn't leave the hospital for two weeks. I actually had the hospital convert some space into an office which is where I worked when I wasn't sitting with one of my parents.”
