Page 47 of Vow of Revenge
Freya kept her guard up and her eyes down. She fiddled with the keyboard and typed quickly.
“I don’t have all day!” I snapped. Flicking out my wrist, I checked my watch for something to do other than stare at her.
Her golden irises glistened under thick coated lashes when she looked up and held me with a look of hesitation. “I’m shutting down my computer. You’ll have to give me a second.”
“Why her?” Lynn’s voice cracked in the back of my mind.
Without thinking, self-editing or even consciousness of my real thoughts, I turned my gaze to Lynn’s wide-eyed disbelief. “Because she’s fucking perfect.”
I guess my response could be considered as part of the master plan, however, in the past such words never really registered with me as truth, they never held meaning, but this time, as I said them, I actually meant them.
Lynn let out an ugly half laugh of disapproval. “She’s far from perfect. Have you read her work? She can’t even write a gripping article,” she sneered.
My fingers curled, holding back the adrenaline rushing through my body. “Hmmm,” I growled low in my throat. “How about you fuck off and do some work of your own. I doubt yours is of an exemplary standard, given the fact you’re a disappointment in the sack.”
Freya grabbed her puffy coat from the back of her chair and joined my side, keeping a safe distance between her body and mine. She eyed the exit and cleared her throat.
Lynn rocked back on her heels, with a scoff of malice and hurt. “11:59, Freya, or the article gets cut. You’d do well to remember that I have the last say on which articles get edited for the magazine. If yours isn’t up to scratch, then it’ll get binned.”
Freya muttered under her breath, “Fine.”
I marched away from them both, needing space. There were less people in the lobby but still I felt tense and irritated. As the elevator doors opened, I felt her by my side. Her presence was electric, jolting the synapses in my brain.
“Where are we going? I have work to do.” She was two steps away from me, clutching her coat before her body as a buffer. It didn’t matter whether she put distance between us or barriers, let’s be honest, if I wanted to fuck her in the lift, then nothing would stop me. I swallowed, resisting the urge to do just that. “Did you find my bracelet?”
That fucking bracelet. I had it sitting on my desk, with my stuff, in my house, because it was mine now. “Not yet. I have something I want to discuss with you. Business,” I confirmed, staring blankly at the lift doors, even though I wanted to suck the lip she kept nibbling.
Usually, I’m the one who commands and dictates, but this time her magnetic allure was far from easy to resist. Perhaps my plan was doomed from the start and I should pull the plug.
“Thanks for what you said in there, it was kind ofperfect.” Her mouth lifted to an uncertain smile. “That woman has a huge chip on her shoulder. You’re not really a cold-hearted man, are you? It’s all just for show.” Her voice suddenly became distant… a memory triggered.
A crimson flood gushed down his chest, painting his clothes with fascinating death. I gazed at him, stillness in my limbs. He was choking on his own blood, but I just stood there, frozen, watching the life drain from his soul.
Why would someone want to hurt my father? To curse him with a blood curdling asphyxiation that made his eyes pop out from his skull, emblazoned with red thunder bolts.
Darkness.
“You’re such a kind-hearted boy.”
“Kaleb?” Freya was close to my side, her sweet voice inside my head. My hands were clenched and the lift doors wide open. The reception lay a head, but my heartbeat was pounding so fast that I swore I was going to faint.
“Are you okay?” The gold flecks in her eyes swirled, gazing up at me with concern.
“Of course,” I snapped. I was far from okay. I’ve always remembered the same macabre production, in need of subtitles. The same scene replays in my mind, on repeat like a broken record. It helps keep my resolve steadfast, but this was a new addition.
A new voice.
So familiar and warming.
It wasn’t my mother’s voice. I barely remembered her. Apparently, she ran off with another man when I was two. Father told me she had everything a woman could possibly want in life, yet she still wasn’t happy. My mind was fucking me over. I needed to regroup. Fast. I stormed out of the small cramped elevator, Freya in tow.
“Have you eaten?” I asked over my shoulder, leading her outside to the car.
“Yes.”
“How about coffee?”
“Okay.”
