Page 69 of Texting the CEO's Obsession
Who thefucktold him all this?
My heart pounds in my chest as panic creeps up my spine, and I damn near jump out of my own skin when my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I scramble for it, pulling it out with shaking hands, and what greets me only makes things worse.
It’s a picture of me from last night, blurry and obviously taken on a phone camera. I’m sitting in my car with my hands clenched tightly around my steering wheel, wide-eyed and panicked.
I was still in the parking garage of Nick’s building when this was taken.
Unknown Number: Sleeping your way to the top is going to end badly…
My breath hitches in my chest, coming fast and shallow as I lock my phone and fling it down onto the couch cushions beside me, along with the file.
I can’t do this. Whatever the hell is going on, I can’t handle it.
My whole body shakes, and I make no attempt to fight off the panic searing like fire through my veins. It’s all too much to deal with at once.
Panic consumes me in full force. So much so that I barely hear the sound of the front door opening over my own gasping breaths.
“I’m home!” Nick calls out as the door clicks shut behind him, and I can’t help but flinch at the chipper sound of his voice. “Riley?”
Half of me wants to call out to him and half of me wants to hide.
His footsteps come down the hallway, and I whip my head up when his shadow crosses the office doorway.
“Riley!” He drops his jacket to the floor and rushes in, steely eyes hard with concern as they rake over my body. His knees hit the floor in front of me as he cups my tear-stained cheeks with warm palms. “Princess, what happened? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t touch me!” I shriek, shoving him back.
Pushing him is about as effective as pushing a brick wall, but he leans back anyway, dropping his hands to give me space.
“Riley?” he asks, confused and cautious. “Sweetheart, talk to me.”
“I found your little file,” I grate out, snagging the folder up from the couch beside me and slamming it into his chest. “What the fuck is going on, Nick?”
His gaze drops down to the file pressed against his chest before meeting mine once more. Instead of explaining, his brows narrow as he snatches the folder away from me like it’s poison, gripping it hard enough that the edges crumple.
“You were looking through my office?” he barks, glaring at me as he pushes up to his feet. “I let you in my house, and you go snooping through my stuff?”
A furious laugh tears out of my throat as I stand drilling a finger into his chest.
“You don’t get to be mad!” I shout, incredulous rage bubbling in my throat. “You’ve been fuckingstalkingme! I haven’t told you a single goddamn thing about myself that isn’t in that folder!” A dangerous, terrifying thought wraps itself around my brain stem, and I take a slow step away from him, closer to the door. “Are the pictures even real?”
“What?” Nick’s voice softens with confusion as he blinks at me. “What do you mean? You saw them!”
“I saw them mysteriously show up at your door with no note and no explanation!” I press, inching closer to hysterical. “Who saysyouaren’t behind them? Is this all just some big charade? Scare me to earn my trust and seem like some knight in shining armor? Have you just been lying to me this whole time?”
Nick sighs in frustration and rakes his hand down his face, scraping his palm roughly over his stubble. My heart pounds with a mix of terror and agony.
“You have five seconds to start talking,” I whisper, backing away even further. “Or I’m leaving andnevercoming back.”
“Goddamnit, Riley,” he huffs, dropping the file back onto the low table.
He turns his back on me, and he reaches for a decanter of whiskey on the little table tucked against the wall by his desk.
Is this really it? Is he giving up on me, onus, that easily? Before I have a chance to spiral into that conclusion properly, he starts talking.
“I’m not lying to you,” he says as he pours himself a hefty glass of whiskey. “Ineverlied to you. Not outright. I kept things from you, yes, but I didn’t lie, and I’m not about to start now. I have nothing to do with those pictures. I don’t know who does, either.”
