Page 34 of Need

Our eyes held for what seemed like forever before he pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. I felt his breath against my hair, my skin. It was comforting.

After a few minutes, we broke apart and he followed me to the kitchen. He sat and talked to me while I put the finishing touches on dinner.

Our conversation probably wouldn’t be viewed as anything special by most standards, but it was to me. He told me he’d talked to Jimmy, the man I’d met at dinner with his aunt and uncle, and that he was meeting with him for lunch Tuesday. He told me more about the foundation he ran. He asked me about my mom. I found that it was much easier to talk about my mother than I thought it would be. She and I had always had a good relationship. At least, I’d thought we had.

She’d taught second grade until she’d gotten sick. At the age of thirty-five, she was diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. The chemo made her too sick to work. My mom had some great doctors, but in the end, they couldn’t save her.

I hadn’t realized that I’d started crying until he was there holding me. He rocked me in his arms while I remembered my mom and finally, truly said goodbye to her.

The food I’d made burned due to my meltdown and he decided to order out rather than having me make something else or trying to salvage our ruined dinner. For the rest of the night, we sat on the couch and watched a movie and then some television.

The few other times I’d remembered my mom since she’d died I had felt totally and utterly alone. John had never wanted to talk about her, and I knew that the few friends I’d managed to make at my new school didn’t want to hear about it, so I kept it to myself. Stephan didn’t make me feel that way. He acted as if he really wanted to know, and I found that I wanted to tell him. I didn’t feel alone anymore.

Stephan

Even though I’d known Brianna’s mother had died of cancer, hearing about it firsthand had taken its toll. I couldn’t imagine a young girl going through that by herself. She’d been alone. That was never going to happen again if I could help it.

After her breakdown, we had a quiet evening sitting on the couch, watching television and eating Chinese food. It couldn’t have gotten much better.

We talked a little, cuddled, and just relaxed. I’d never really had this with anyone else. Tami rarely came over to the house unless we were playing. Sarah, my first collared submissive, was very active. She always had to be moving, unless we were playing and I had ordered her not to. Even then, I could always tell it was taking an effort on her part to stay still. For her to sit and just cuddle with me on the couch would have driven her nuts.

I went to bed that night feeling more content than I could ever remember being. Brianna was tucked into bed next door, and I had real hope for us. She was opening up more with each passing day. Her trust in me was growing. I just had to be patient.

My alarm didn’t even have the chance to go off the following morning; I was up with the dawn. You would have thought, given my peaceful intro into sleep that it would’ve continued throughout the night. It didn’t. As if my body knew what was coming, it woke up alert and ready.

I dressed quickly, ate a simple breakfast, and went in to kiss Brianna goodbye. She was still sleeping since I was over an hour ahead of my usual schedule. Although I would have loved to have seen her beautiful eyes to start my day, I let her sleep. Instead, I left her a note and attached it to her alarm clock where she’d be sure to see it.

When I pulled into the parking garage attached to my office, I saw Jamie walking toward the elevators.

She saw me and straightened her posture. “Everything’s in place, Mr. Coleman.”

“Good,” I replied with equal seriousness. Although I got a slight sense of satisfaction from what I was about to do, it was not a time for levity.

We rode up to our floor in silence. Two security guards were already waiting as soon as we stepped off the elevator. The sight made me smile.

I took a detour into Karl’s office—or what used to be his office—to make sure everything was gone. Jamie had had everything stripped over the weekend. There was nothing left in the room except a few pieces of furniture and a single box with his personal belongings. After seeing it, I smiled.

All the department heads and executives, minus Karl, were waiting in my office when I arrived, including Lily. Our eyes met and I knew she was behind me one hundred percent. Not that I ever had any doubt about that.

Everyone was briefed on what had happened—although most had heard through the grapevine—and what was going to happen. Not surprisingly, there weren’t any protests.

Karl’s security codes had been deactivated, so he would be unable to use the staff elevator. At seven forty-five, the front desk called my office to inform me that a not-too-happy Karl had entered the front of the building. They’d been instructed to let him pass, but he was being monitored through the security cameras.

I heard the elevator doors open only seconds before Karl responded to the security guards that surrounded him. “I don’t need an escort! What the—”

“We are to escort you, sir.”

“Karl,” I said as calmly as I could. “Why don’t you come with me?” I turned, and walked toward his old office knowing he would follow.

“I should have known you’d be behind this, Coleman,” he said as he followed me down the hall. “What’s wrong? Upset that your girls like a little variety?” he taunted.

Karl could taunt all he wanted. I was the one who was going to have the last laugh.

I stepped into the now sparsely decorated room and motioned for him to join me. Max and Ben waited outside. It was obvious the minute Karl registered the changes in the room.

“You have no right, Coleman.” He was about to launch into a rant that I didn’t want to hear.

“Actually, I do.” I removed several sheets of folded paper from my jacket. “These are statements from women in the finance department, women who work under you now or have in the past. Once people heard what you’d done over the weekend, it didn’t take much for them to go on record on how you’d treated, and continue to treat, every female that works for you. I also have statements from witnesses and hotel staff documenting what happened Saturday night.” I let that set in for a moment then added, “I have every right.”

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