Devastated (Anger Management Book 1)

by R. L. Mathewson

  She’d probably been the only kid growing up who’d prayed for thunderstorms, she mused, worrying her bottom lip as she shifted back against the couch, reminding herself that those days were long gone and that she would never have to worry about waking up to find her father wrapping his hand around her throat, again. But unfortunately, no matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn’t quite seem to believe it.

  Five years and fifteen hundred miles later, and she still couldn’t shake the feeling that-

  “No,” Kylie said, shaking her head with a sigh because she wasn’t going there.

  Not tonight of all nights.

  Instead, she was going to sit here and answer emails, check on orders, and start working on getting everything ready for the convention while she waited for the lights to come back on, which she really hoped was soon because she was exhausted. She just wanted to go upstairs and curl up in her bed and call it a night, but she couldn’t do that until the lights came back on. Until that happened, she was going to take advantage of the situation and get some work done, she decided even as she couldn’t help but worry her bottom lip as she glanced around the large dark room, unable to shake the feeling that she wasn’t alone.

  Telling herself that she was just being paranoid, she reluctantly opened the flashlight app on her iPad and-

  “Tell me something, Miss Marshall,” Hunter drawled from where he lounged in the desk chair, shirtless, and looking completely relaxed while she sat there, waiting for the panic to hit, only…

  It never came.

  If anyone should scare her on a night like this, it should be this man, but for some strange reason she wasn’t scared. Then again, that probably had something to do with the fact that she was too busy struggling to remember if she’d said or done anything to embarrass herself in the last ten minutes. Besides, her mad dash in here while mumbling to herself like an idiot, she thought, biting back a wince.

  “What are you doing up?” he finished, looking bored as he sat there, waiting for a reason that would explain why she was down here at two in the morning, wearing an oversized tee-shirt and a pair of panties when she should be in her room, fast asleep.

  “Working,” Kylie said, clearing her throat nervously as she quickly reached down and discreetly adjusted her shirt so that she didn’t inadvertently give her boss a peep show.

  “I see,” Hunter said, shifting his attention back towards the large window as several bolts of lightning struck with deafening booms that rocked the house as she reluctantly resigned herself to going back upstairs and-

  “It occurred to me that we’re stuck living together for a year and we don’t know anything about each other,” Hunter said, while she sat there, licking her lips nervously even as she told herself that now was not the time to panic.

  “Well, I-”

  “Why don’t we rectify that, Miss Kennedy?” he suggested right around the time that she amended her previous decision and decided that now was definitely the perfect time to panic.

  *-*-*-*

  “Do you play cards, Miss Brown?” Hunter asked, as he pulled out a deck of cards from the kitchen drawer and tossed it on the table where it slid to a stop in front of Kylie, who looked seconds away from bolting for the door.

  “A little,” Kylie said, licking her lips nervously as she shifted in her chair before she reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the kitchen door.

  “Blackjack?” he asked, grabbing a couple of glasses and setting them on the kitchen counter near the stove.

  When she reluctantly nodded, he grabbed his flashlight and opened the freezer. He filled the glasses with the rest of the ice, grabbed a couple of Cokes from the fridge, and a bottle of rum from one of the cabinets, well aware of the small woman watching his every move. Once he was done, he placed one of the glasses in front of her. He placed the flashlight in the middle of the table and switched it to the lantern setting so that they could see what they were doing. Once he sat down, he picked up the deck of cards and turned his attention to his own personal mystery.

  “Umm, I’m not much of a drinker,” Kylie said, shifting nervously in her chair again as she shot the kitchen door another look of longing.

  “You’ll be fine,” Hunter promised, as he shuffled the deck.

  “I’ve never had Coke and rum before,” she said, shooting her glass a nervous look.

  “I’m not drinking alone tonight, Miss Swan.”

  She opened her mouth to argue only to shut it with a reluctant nod and that defiant look in her eye that intrigued him. Everything about her intrigued him, from the way that she glared at him whenever he messed with her files to the way that her eyes lit up whenever it was cheat day and she could eat whatever her little heart desired, to the way that she came to his rescue today. But it was the way that she came running into his office, diving onto the couch where’d she’d curled up, mumbling to herself and looking absolutely terrified that had him sitting here, deciding that it was time to get some answers.

  “Winner gets to ask a question, any question, and the loser has to answer it honestly,” Hunter said, leveling a hard look on her as he dealt the first hand before adding, “and the loser takes a drink. Any questions?”

  Shaking her head, she checked the bottom card and after a slight hesitation, Kylie said, “Stay.”

  Nodding, he flipped the bottom card over. “Blackjack,” Hunter said, gesturing for her to take a sip.

  For a moment, she simply sat there, worrying her bottom lip as she stared down at her glass while he waited for her to refuse, only to take him by surprise when she picked up the glass, closed her eyes, took a small sip, and-

  “Oh, God!” Kylie choked out between violent coughs as she was forced to grab onto the table as her face turned an interesting shade of red while he sat there, questioning this plan only to remind himself that this was probably his best option to get answers out of her.

  “Why did you take this job?” he asked, dealing out the next hand.

  “It was local and gave me a chance to move out of my apartment,” Kylie managed to say as the coughing slowly subsided.

  “What was wrong with your apartment?” Hunter asked, checking his cards.

  “I haven’t lost this hand yet,” Kylie said, drawing his attention back to her as she checked her card.

  “My apologies. I withdraw the question,” Hunter said, gesturing to her hand.

  “Hit me,” she said, meeting his gaze head-on as he tossed a ten of hearts to her.

  With a sigh, she mumbled, “I’m over,” as she picked up her glass, took another sip and resumed coughing until he had enough and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to her. As she took a sip, he said, “Same question.”

  “The locks didn’t work.”

  “That’s it?”

  Nodding, she said, “It was enough.”

  “You could have added more locks,” he pointed out as he dealt the next hand.

  “I did,” she said, checking her card and whatever she saw had her shoulders slumping in defeat.

  “Then what was the problem?” Hunter asked, noting the warm blush painting her cheeks and the fact that she wasn’t arguing the one question rule any longer.

  “They weren’t enough to keep anyone out,” Kylie said with a shrug, as she gestured for another card while he sat there trying to tell himself that the idea of her stuck in a vulnerable situation like that didn’t bother him.

  It infuriated him.

  “Why didn’t you move?” he asked, giving her another card when she gestured for one.

  “Let myself get talked into signing a lease,” Kylie said with another shrug as she looked at her cards.

  Nodding, Hunter asked, “Got in over your head?”

  “Story of my life,” Kylie said with a sigh as he dealt himself another card.

  “Twenty,” he said, gesturing for her to take another drink as he reached for her cards only to go still when she said, “Twenty-one.”

  Chapter 14


  “So, what did you do once you left the Marines?” Kylie asked, somehow managing not to smile when the large man sitting across from her continued to glare.

  “Private security,” Hunter bit out, shifting that glare from her down to his losing hand before he picked up his glass and finished off his drink.

  “Private security,” Kylie mumbled thoughtfully as he stood up and made himself another drink. “How did you go from that to this?”

  “That’s two questions,” he pointed out with a glare as she took a sip of water.

  “I’ll wait until you lose again,” she said innocently, which had him mumbling something under his breath as he walked back to the table, picked up the deck of cards and dealt the next hand with a glare that said it all.

  When he lost that hand, he narrowed his eyes on her, took another sip and bit out, “I’m good at what I do.”

  “I see,” she said, nodding before pointing out with a smile, “But, that wasn’t my question,” because she simply couldn’t help herself.

  When he released what sounded suspiciously like a growl, she decided that perhaps it was time to move on and asked, “So, how did you end up on house arrest?”

  “I fucked up,” Hunter said, dealing out the next hand.

  “What happened?” she asked, checking her card.

  “An asshole took a swing at me and I swung back,” he said with a shrug as though it was no big deal, but something told her there was more to the story.

  “I see,” Kylie said, gesturing for another card and-

  “Damn it!” her boss, who she’d like to point out was a sore loser, snapped when he lost the next hand.

  “Oh, did I win again?” Kylie asked, blinking innocently and taking a great deal of pleasure in his glare as Hunter picked up his glass and took a sip.

  “Just ask your damn question,” Hunter bit out.

  “I’m running out of questions,” Kylie said with a shrug that had his eyes narrowing on her and his fingers drumming against the table.

  “I’m sure you can think of something,” he drawled, and although she really could think of a few questions that she’d like to ask, mostly relating to those sexually explicit emails that she read every morning, they weren’t exactly workplace appropriate.

  She should also probably let him win, but since that would only end badly for her, she decided that it was probably for the best if she continued to take advantage of the fact that he kept giving his hand away. Instead, she picked up her water and took a sip, hoping to buy herself a little more time as she tried to think of a harmless question to help kill time until he grew bored of losing and-

  “Why don’t we play a different game?” he suggested, and before she could answer, he’d shuffled the deck and placed it in the middle of the table. “High card wins.”

  He cut the deck in half and held up a card, “King of hearts,” and just like that, she knew that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

  *-*-*-*

  “Was I ever married?” Kylie asked because that’s what she did whenever he asked her a question that she didn’t want to answer.

  She also cleared her throat, shifted uncomfortably in her seat, took another small sip of her drink, cleared her throat again before finally worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried to figure out how to answer him without giving away too much. Then, she would purse up her lips adorably, let her shoulders slump, and…

  “Yes,” she finally admitted.

  “That’s all you’re going to give me?” Hunter drawled, watching as she continued worrying her bottom lip, drawing his attention to the plump pink lip that she was abusing and making him wonder just how soft it was.

  “Yes, yes, it is,” Kylie said, making his lips twitch.

  “I see,” Hunter said, cutting the deck and held up the queen of diamonds.

  Sighing, she reached over and-

  “Damn,” she mumbled, as she turned over a three of spades.

  “How did it end?”

  “In divorce,” she said, reminding him that beneath that perfect assistant façade was a little smart ass that was dying to get out.

  “What happened?” he asked, watching as she went through the motions again before she said, “It just didn’t work out,” taking a sip of her drink and mumbling, “This is yummy,” making his lips twitch.

  “Come on, Miss Mathews, there has to be more to it than that,” he said, having absolutely no idea why it bothered him that she wouldn’t tell him, but it did.

  “He wasn’t who I thought he was,” Kylie said with a shrug as she picked up the deck of cards and shuffled them.

  “Who did you think he was?” Hunter asked, watching as she placed the deck of cards back on the table.

  “Someone else,” she said, as he reached over and cut the deck to reveal a ten of spades.

  “And who did he turn out to be?” Hunter asked, as he watched her cut the deck only to sigh heavily as she placed the cards back on the deck, picked up her drink, and took a sip.

  “Someone who didn’t want me,” Kylie said with a small shrug like it didn’t matter, but the look in her eye told him just how much it hurt her and for some reason that pissed him off.

  He didn’t like the idea of her with the kind of asshole who bragged about fucking hookers and trashed her every chance he got. He also didn’t like the idea of her being in love with any guy that could treat her like shit and he sure as hell didn’t like the fact that just the idea of her still being in love with that piece of shit bothered him.

  She was just his assistant and a temporary one at that. In less than a year, she would be gone and this whole thing would be nothing more than another bad memory, but even knowing that didn’t stop him from asking, “Are you still in love with him?”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head slowly with a heavy sigh as she reached for the cards and began shuffling them.

  “Why did you marry him?”

  “I’m still trying to figure that one out,” Kylie admitted with an adorable frown as she placed the cards back on the table and cut the deck, revealing a five of hearts.

  “Did you ever love him?” Hunter asked, cutting the deck to reveal a two of diamonds.

  “Why do you care?” she asked, looking genuinely curious as he sat there, asking himself the same damn question.

  He opened his mouth to tell her that he didn’t, but as he looked at her, he realized that he cared a hell of a lot more than he should.

  “I have no fucking clue,” Hunter admitted, as his gaze shifted to those beautiful plump lips of hers and he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he pushed the table out of the way, leaned down and-

  “So, I think I should go to bed now!” Kylie said somewhat hysterically, making him frown as she jumped to her feet, stumbled, and promptly fell to the floor with a pained grunt and a grumbled, “Oh, God, the floor is moving.”

  *-*-*-*

  “Am I dying?” the little drunk asked from the bathroom as he stood there, still trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.

  “You’re not dying,” Hunter said, sighing heavily as he came to the conclusion that he’d lost his fucking mind, because that was the only explanation that he could come up with for even thinking about kissing her.

  “Oh, my God, I’m dying?” Kylie demanded dramatically because apparently, she was a dramatic little thing when she was drunk.

  “You’re not dying,” Hunter promised her, again.

  “Oh, God, I’ve contracted the alcohol poisoning!” Kylie cried, making his lips twitch despite the fact that he felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.

  “You don’t have alcohol poisoning,” he promised her even as he rubbed his hands roughly down his face, trying to figure out how he’d fucked this up so badly.

  “I do…” sniffle, “I really do.”

  Somehow resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he headed back to the bathroom to find the little drunk lying halfway inside the large shower s
tall, hugging a bottle of shampoo against her chest, and making him really fucking thankful that the power had come back on since it would make this easier.

  “I’m going to die a virgin,” she mumbled pathetically, as he reached down and plucked the bottle of shampoo out of her hands.

  “You’re not a virgin,” Hunter told her, which resulted in another sniffle.

  “Bad sex shouldn’t count,” Kylie said with a forlorn sigh, as she reached for the bottle of conditioner.

  “No, it shouldn’t,” Hunter agreed, as he plucked the bottle from her small hands and placed it out of her reach.

  “I can’t believe this is how it ends,” Kylie said, shaking her head in disbelief. “Dying a virgin on the bathroom floor.”

  “You’re not dying,” he once again reminded her before adding, “You barely managed to finish off half your drink before you tripped over your own two feet,” which only went to prove that she was too damn good for someone like him. Well, that and her family had clearly lied about her being an alcoholic, which didn’t really surprise him.

  “But, I’m still a virgin?” she asked, sounding really fucking hopeful. “Because I don’t think it should count if you can’t feel it.”

  Shaking his head with a groan, because she was killing him here, he said, “Sure.”

  Nodding as she closed her eyes, she took a shuddering breath and said, “Then I’m ready to go.”

  “How about if we just get you into bed, hmm?” Hunter asked, picking up the small bundle and carried her towards her room.

  “But I like it here!”

  “You’ll like it even more in your own bed,” he promised her even as he had to wonder how he was going to make this up to her.

  “But…what if I drown?”

  “You can swim.”

  Sniffle. “I really can’t.”

  “You’re not going to drown in your bed.”

  “You don’t know that!”

  “Fine,” he said, sighing heavily as he moved to lay her down in her bed only to curse and head back to the bathroom when she slapped a hand over her mouth and mumbled ominously, “It’s begun,” making him realize that it was going to be a very long fucking night.