“What the fuck are you doing here?” She spat. Kaylee clutched her pepper spray tightly as she waited for him to roll back over.
Adam’s eyes flashed with anger as he stared at her as he placed his hands on the floor propping himself up.
“I'm here to bring you back home Kaylee,” he ground out. Kaylee could tell he was still in pain and she smiled slightly at herself for hurting him a little bit.
“Well nice try. I'm not leaving.” Kaylee moved to push herself around him and get into her apartment. But Adam was too quick. Adam reached out and tried to grab her arm as she attempted to unlock her door. Kaylee reacted quickly and shoved her arm away and aimed the pepper spray at him and pressed the trigger. Pepper spray surrounded Adam in a cloud and he covered his eyes quickly. Kaylee moved as fast as she could towards the door but he used his large body to block her path.
Kaylee heard the elevator doors open and a sense of a relief washed over her. Thank god someone else was here in this floor.
“Help!” Kaylee shouted as she aimed her sprayer again towards Adam’s face.
"Kaylee!" Grayson called down the hall. Kaylee’s heart rate picked up. Grayson came back! She could hear him start to run and for a moment she turned her attention away from Adam to look to Grayson for help. Adam took Kaylee’s moment of distraction to his advantage. His body moved fast as he wrapped his arm around her waist and held a knife to her throat.
Kaylee felt the cold blade against her neck and panic formed in her chest. Kaylee looked down slightly and realized it was his switch blade that he always carried with him.
“Let go of her,” Grayson warned. Kaylee pleaded with her eyes to Grayson to help her.
“Get out of my way,” Adam said, “and she will be perfectly fine.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Grayson said. He raised his hands in surrender. “Now come on there has to be a reasonable thing we can do here.”
Adam pushed Kaylee’s body forward towards Grayson and she felt the blade start to slowly cut into her neck. She let out a slight yelp.
Grayson reacted before she even had a chance to realize what was going on. In one moment he was standing in front of Adam and Kaylee, blocking Adam’s one and only exit. In the next Grayson had punched Adam as hard as he could in his exposed side. Kaylee felt his grip around her waist loosen and she quickly dropped her whole body weight to her knees in order to fall out of his grip. Kaylee felt the knife slice her skin as she dropped, but in that moment, she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting out of Adam’s arms. As Kaylee dropped she heard the knife clatter onto the floor.
Adam let go of Kaylee and moved his arms to block Grayson’s repeated punches to his side. At first Kaylee was excited to see Grayson punch Adam. Especially after Adam had put a knife to her throat. But she quickly noticed Grayson start to become more violent with his punches, using more force than necessary. Kaylee moved over to the side and watched in fear as Grayson beat Adam practically to a pulp.
Kaylee was completely paralyzed with fear. What the hell was happening to Grayson? One moment he was Kaylee’s savior, but now he looked like a blood thirsty animal loving every punch that hit Adam’s body.
Adam fell down to the ground and Grayson jumped on top of him and started to punch him hard in the face. Kaylee could hear the sounds of bones cracking and she could see blood start to splatter onto the wall. Finally Kaylee somehow found her voice.
“Grayson!” Kaylee shouted. But he wouldn’t listen to her. She had to stop him before he killed Adam.
Kaylee ran back up to Grayson and tugged on his shirt in attempt to pull him off of Adam.
“Grayson, stop!” Kaylee managed to pull him off slightly and that is when Grayson had finally registered that she was there. It was like he had gone into his own world and all Kaylee could see was extreme anger and hatred etched across his beautiful face.
Grayson looked back at me and finally got off of Adam. Kaylee pushed him back towards the wall and rushed to Adam to see how he was. He looked completely awful. Bruises were already starting to form underneath the blood that coated his face. Kaylee could tell that his nose was broken and possibly his cheekbone.
Kaylee looked back at Grayson with fear in her eyes. As much as Adam had scared her in that moment, Grayson did not need to beat him has badly as he did.
“Grayson, what have you done?” Kaylee yelled. Tears broke free as I heard Adam struggle below her. Kaylee looked back down and him and gently touched his shoulder.
“Hang on, Adam,” I said. “I am going to get you to a hospital.”
Kaylee looked back at Grayson, who looked as though he was completely defeated. Kaylee shook her head in frustration and pushed open the door to her apartment. She could feel Grayson right behind her. Kaylee pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed 911.
Before the operator picked up, Kaylee looked at Grayson. “What the hell happened there?”
24
Grayson
What the hell did I do? Grayson watched Kaylee from the other side of the hospital as she waited to hear how Adam was. Grayson clenched his fist in anger. Did she still care about this asshole that shoved a knife to her throat?
Grayson swallowed hard in attempt to keep his anger at bay. The police and ambulance had arrived at Kaylee’s apartment within minutes. They stabilized Adam and shoved his worthless ass on a stretcher and carted him outside. Good riddance Grayson had thought. Grayson’s only concern at the time was trying to keep Kaylee safe.
The officers questioned Kaylee and Grayson on what happened. Grayson had explained that he knew Kaylee and that she had texted him frantically that her ex-boyfriend was standing in front of her apartment. Everything from there on was only to protect Kaylee. The officers nodded gravely as Grayson told his side of the story. Once Grayson had explained everything, they said that because Adam had attacked Kaylee and Kaylee’s story was similar to his, that Adam would be facing a lot more trouble if Kaylee decided to press charges.
Once the police left, Grayson walked down with Kaylee to his limo and took her immediately to the hospital. The whole ride there she just stared at him from the other side of the limo with her arms crossed across her chest. Her face was pale white and every time that Grayson tried to make a move to talk to her, Grayson saw her body flinch away from his.
Grayson had seen that flinch before, in Emma in particular, when she finally saw the real Grayson. Fear slowly started to course through Grayson’s veins This was not the way things were supposed to happen. Grayson was just trying to save Kaylee’s life. He did not want to lose her in this way.
Especially now that he realized that he loved her.
25
Kaylee
After several hours of surgery Adam was on a path to a full recovery. As much as Kaylee completely hated that bastard, she was thankful that he would at least be ok and then hopefully never speak to her again.
Grayson had stayed with Kaylee at the hospital as they waited to hear how Adam was doing. Kaylee still could not get the images out of her head of how Grayson looked as he was beating up Adam. Was he actually enjoying it?
Grayson made several attempts to talk to Kaylee when they first arrived at the hospital, but Kaylee wasn’t ready to face him yet. Part of her was scared of Grayson, while the other understood that he was just trying to protect her from Adam.
Once the doctor came out and told Kaylee that Adam was going to be alright, a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Kaylee looked over at Grayson who was still sitting far away from her in the waiting room, and she almost let out a small laugh. He looked like a sad puppy. He looked like a wreck. His hair was disheveled, and he had some cuts and bruises on his face. Kaylee thanked the doctor and gathered up her courage to go over and talk to Grayson. She sat down across from him and she felt her whole body tense up. Kaylee did not want to be afraid of the man that she cared so much about. So she swallowed her fear and looked at him directly in his beautiful eyes.
“So, are you
going to tell me what really happened back there?”
Kaylee had told the officers her side of the story, but she had left out a lot of the parts where Grayson started to beat Adam to a pulp. They didn’t need to know that all of his punches were not in self-defense.
Grayson looked at her with sad eyes. He slowly shrugged his shoulders. “There is no easy way to explain it,” he said.
Kaylee stood up and sat next to him in the waiting room chair. She reached her hand out and lightly touched his wrist. The same spark that hit Kaylee every time their skin connected coursed through her again and she smiled.
“Try me.”
Grayson let out a long sad sigh. “For as long as I could remember, I have had anger issues. They started out as temper tantrums to gain attention when I was little but as I grew older it seemed that something would always just set me off. I spent years trying to control it. I have done everything possible from therapy and courses to self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. The only thing that seemed to work was when I would through myself into work.”
That explains a lot. Kaylee thought. She nodded at him and smiled hoping that he would continue.
“Because of my anger, I never would let anyone get close to me.” He looked over at me and grabbed her hands in his. “Especially, women. I avoided forming true relationships with women the most. I never let them see who I truly was because of the fear of them leaving once they saw my temper. And that is exactly what happened with Emma. She has been the only woman, besides you now, that has seen what my temper can cause and she left quickly because of it.”
Kaylee looked down at their hands nervously. He squeezed them, coaxing her to look back up to his face. “I’ve never hurt a woman, and I would never let myself get to that point, but when I saw Adam hurt you, I completely lost all control I had. I saw red, and that hasn’t happened to me in a long time. And I just went after him in order to protect you.”
Kaylee swallowed hard. She reached up and slowly touched his face. Everything started to make sense. All the stories around the office about Emma leaving, how distant Grayson felt around her. It was as if all the pieces to the big puzzle were fitting perfectly into place. Kaylee finally understood Grayson, and she wanted more than anything to help him through it.
“And I know that our relationship is complicated. I’m your boss, and there is no doubt that all of the women that we work with will start to talk. But I love you, Kaylee.”
Kaylee felt her heart rate pick up as a smile slowly spread across her face. Grayson smiled back her.
“I love you too,” and she quickly pressed her lips into his, but she suddenly broke the contact when she thought about the office.
“But how will we make this work?” Kaylee asked.
A smile formed slightly on Grayson’s face. “Well I have been thinking about this for a little a bit.
“Have you now?” Kaylee replied jokingly.
“GO Enterprises is not just one corporation. We have several offices and business entities in New York City and as you know from our trip to London, across the world. I’ve seen what you can do, Kaylee, and I know how smart you truly are. I am going to transfer you over to our development firm that is handling all of our projects overseas. You will be a junior account executive where you can get your feet wet and grow as much at the company as you want.”
A big smile spread across Kaylee’s face. She bit back a laugh about to escape her throat. Grayson Owens wasn’t so ruthless after all. While she loved working with Grayson, she knew that moving over to a different part of the company where she didn’t work with him on a day to day basis would be better for both of them. Besides, she could still come to his office after hours for some fun.
“Kaylee you are the first person that I have ever wanted to let in, and I know I fucked up. I know what I did scared you, but I promise to never scare you like that again.”
Kaylee pressed her lips into his and she felt her whole body melt into his. Deep down, despite Grayson’s temper, Kaylee knew that he was a good person, and she would do everything she could to help bring out that good person more in him.
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Bad Boy Boss
1
Luka
Luka
I hadn't had one good night’s sleep since I had been locked up.
I heard the clanging on the outside of the bars that startled me out of my restless sleep. I never slept well in jail. I should've gotten over that by now, having been in here for four years, but I hadn't.
I closed my eyes again, trying to fall back into the illusion. Trying to get back to her.
She was so fucking beautiful.
There was no question about it—with her stunning dark hair and intoxicating hazel eyes, she was gorgeous. She had a unique look about her, unlike any of the other girls that I had slept with. Large doe eyes, with an innocence that I hadn’t ever encountered before. Nobody around me was that innocent. We all had our deceptions. Lies we told people to get by. But not Vienna. But I guess that was why I wanted her so badly.
She was forbidden.
I remembered my father telling me that once. I wasn't allowed to mess with any of the women in the family. Not that she and I were blood relatives. We weren't even related. But her mother worked for my dad, and that made her a part of the family, which meant she was untouchable. But it didn't mean that I didn't think about her. Her small hips swaying as she walked away from me. The way she flirtatiously glanced over her shoulder. She knew exactly what she was doing to me. She just didn't care. But I did.
I wondered what she looked like now. So much time had passed. Was she still so thin? So fragile? Or had she filled out?
I imagined she had. Beautiful curves that I could touch. Taste. Breasts that would fill my hand when I grabbed them. But fantasies didn’t satisfy me like the real thing.
Another clang of the metal told me I had to move on. I had to leave her in my dreams. The only place she lived anymore with me. A fantasy.
I opened my eyes slowly, trying not to appear disturbed by the noise outside, but I knew that the guards were just trying to get my attention. It was always one of the guards trying to assert his power. Dumbass. I could own them in a second if I wanted to.
I was part of the Gioti family. No matter what the guards liked to believe, they didn't have full control over me, even if I was in jail. My father did. If he ordered a hit on somebody inside this prison, it would be my job to get it carried out, no matter the cost. If some stupid asshat guard tried to stop me, I’d have to take care of it, and quietly.
Luckily, my father hadn’t asked me to do any jobs lately. He just wanted me out of this hellhole. I didn’t think it was out of love or because he missed me—that wasn’t my old man’s style. I suspected it was mostly my mother putting pressure on him. She had convinced him that I deserved to be out, after all that I did for the family. The only reason I was in here was because of them, anyway.
But that was how it was in the Gioti family. You did as you were told.
I waited for the noise again, but instead, I just heard the sound of someone clearing his throat.
“Gioti, your lawyer’s here. Get your ass up.”
My lawyer? I wasn't supposed to have a meeting with him for another week. My parole hearing was next month, so there was no need for him to be here now. I wondered if this was some sort of message from my father. Shit, I hoped it wasn’t an ordered hit. While I was good at what I did, I didn’t want to risk fucking up my parole meeting.
“What the hell are you talking about, guard? My lawyer’s not coming today.”
&n
bsp; I heard the keys jangling against the bars as he started to open up my cell. “Well, he's here now, so unless you want me to turn him away, I suggest you get your ass up and out here.”
I nodded as I wrapped my hand around the metal bedframe of the bunk above me and pulled myself up. I smiled at the empty bunk. I hadn't had to share a cell with anyone in a few weeks; I think they were scared to put anyone new with me. It wasn't my fault that the last guy had gotten a broken nose. If he hadn't been such a dick about taking up the mirror all the time, we wouldn’t have had a problem. I just let them know that taking up the mirror wasn’t going to help him with his looks.
The guard cleared his throat in annoyance.
“I'm coming, I'm coming.”
I turned around and stuck my hands behind me through the bars, which was the protocol. I knew he would have to cuff me, not that it mattered. If I really wanted to overpower this twerp, it wouldn't be that hard. All it would take was a swift knock to his head with my own, and he would be out like a light. It had been about a month since I'd last gotten tased, but I wasn't really in the mood to relive that experience right now. It wasn’t worth it to start anything with him. After he cuffed me, he attempted to assert his dominance over the situation and held me tightly by the uniform. You do that, bro, act like you’re the man. I didn’t really give a shit about this guard and his power pissing contest. All that I wanted to know was what my lawyer wanted.
I let my thoughts wander as we walked through the sterile halls. I hated the way this place smelled, like sweat and old piss. So instead, I thought about how she used to bake, how she and her mother would make pies and bring them in once a week. My favorite was the apple pie. I missed the warm, sweet aroma filling the office.
Beauty and the Billionaire Boss: A Bad Boy Romance Page 10
