Page 71 of Serena
“Jacob, what are you doing here? We don’t have a meeting scheduled.” He smiles, and it feels like spiders are crawling on my skin.
“I think we’re due for a chat, Ms. Nerva.” His pronunciation of my name is alarming. “You may want to close the door. You don’t want everyone to hear what I have to say.” I do as he says to avoid an impending scene. To everyone outside, this will look like a regular meeting. I’ve been on alert since I walked in, so I make sure to keep my distance. I have the pocketknife Ian gave me. If I need to, I’ll stab this prick right in his eye.
“What can I do for you, Jacob, and get the fuck off my chair.” Well, that threw professionalism out the window.
“Your chair. Your office. Your promotion,” he says, enunciating every word. “Tell me, Serena, who did you have to fuck to get this promotion?” he seethes.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t act stupid, Serena.” He slithers to where I’m standing. Like the snake that he is. “You didn’t start fucking Ian Kayde until after he arrived. So, who did you fuck to get this job?”
“Unlike you, Jacob, I'm great at what I do. I can outperform you any fucking day of the week.” I seethe. “It’s not my fault you have an inferiority complex.”
“You’re just another bitch who’s fucking her way to the top.” He continues to insult me.
“Does that make you feel good, Jacob? Putting the blame on someone else because of your inability to be someone in life.”Keep it together, Serena, I tell myself. “If that’s the case, go take a long look in the mirror. I have one if you need it.” That’s when I see his hand rise, but he stops himself. “Go ahead, Jacob. Show me how right I am about you.”
“You’re just another gold digger. I expect you to resign after the party,” he orders me.
“You wish,” I throw back.
“Well, Serena, if you don’t, then I’ll let the whole office know and ruin your perfect reputation. I may even pay Mila Livingston a visit. Her family is always looking to pay for a juicy story involving the Kaydes.”
I have one question to ask. “Jacob, have you been following me?” He smiles and walks out of the office without another word. I pick up the phone and press dial.
I’min a meeting when I hear my phone ring. “Favorite Meal” pops up on my screen. I laugh every time I see it. A reminder of how good she tastes and how pissed she was when she saw this was her name on my phone. It’s fair since I’m “Knife Guy” on hers. I don’t bother getting up. I just answer it.
“Mi Reina, miss me already?”
“Ian, I need you.” That’s all it takes. I excuse myself and let Gabe finish the meeting. Twenty minutes later, I walk into her office and find her pacing. Upset. She runs to me. Seeking my comfort. She doesn’t wait for me to ask her; she tells me all about the confrontation with that piece of shit, Jacob. I knew I should have gotten rid of him.
“Do you want me to hurt him?” Her silence is the only answer I need.
“Yes, does that make me a bad person? I know he would have hurt me if I were anywhere else but here.” She’s trying to find an excuse to validate her need for revenge. There isn’t one.
“There is nothing wrong with wanting to hurt those who hurt you. Especially with what happened to you, but you don’t have to. There is an entire army at your command.”
“Who? You?”
“Not just me. My family.”
“I need to think about it. I’ve never hurt anyone. How did he even know?”
I love that she still acts surprised when she shouldn’t be. Selma told me about the gossip. It seems like Serena and I have been the talk of the office for a couple of weeks. So it must have made it to Jacob, and he tried to use it against her. “Well, baby, it’s not like I try to hide it. I use any excuse to get you alone with me. In a room full of people, I only see you. And maybe, just maybe, they heard you moan my name. I do fuck you any chance I can get.”
“So much for being discreet.”
“Baby, fuck being discreet. Serena, you’re not some dirty little secret. I want everyone to see you in my arms. Starting with the brand reveal. Go with me, not as my colleague, but as my date. As mywoman.”
“I’d like that.” She wraps her arms around my neck. “Don’t kill him. Teach him a lesson, but make it hurt…a lot.”
“Anything my girl wants.”
I rush into my office and pull up the camera that’s installed in Serena’s office. She doesn’t know about it. I put it there to record every time I fuck her. Those videos are my favorite. Right now, I’m thankful for my voyeur tendencies. I play the recording. The moment he enters her office, he starts going through her things. Touching everything with his slimy hands.
She was right. The situation would have escalated if they were somewhere else. I see her stand up for herself, never giving him the upper hand. He wants to scare her, belittle her. She asked me not to kill him, but like I told her, she has an army at her disposal.
I pull out my phone and call Miles. “Speak to me.” It takes him a while to answer. Which isn’t like him.
