Page 58 of My Forbidden Boss

A figure steps in front of me and throws a fist in one blurring movement.

David.

The man’s head snaps back, blood staining his mouth and chin. Crimson drops land on the ground as he staggers back. He holds his hand to his face, eyes blazing and filled with fire and hate.

His mouth scrunches in rage. He lashes out, fist flying, and then he’s face-down on the ground and David’s on him. David wrenches his arm behind his back and the man cries out, face scrunched in pain.

David pins the man in place with a foot on his lower back and a grip on his wrist while his gaze pins me to the spot without a physical touch. “Are you all right, Adeline?”

I stare at him mute. The man on his back lurches to his feet, shoes mashing my clothes into the ground as he staggers. No! I cry out. Those are the only clothes I have. Barbara picked them for me, and I need them for Florida. Without them, I have nothing. No job. No Blue Sky. No future. My skin burns and my chest works like bellows as I stare at the mess. The man steps towards his friend on the ground.

“Leave or I’ll break his arm,” David says, wrenching the arm he has a hold of.

I don’t recognise his voice. It’s brutal. As cold and frost-ridden as his eyes. David’s lips pull back, revealing clenched teeth.

The man cries out, “Get going, Andy.”

Andy doesn't need to be asked twice. He turns around and runs away disappearing into an alley.

“Think you’re tough attacking young women? How about fighting someone your own size,” David rasps.

“You have it all wrong,” the man grunts.

David twists his wrist and the man’s arm bends the wrong way. “I don’t think I do. Men like you are cowards. Now say it out loud. Tell me you’re a coward and I’ll let you go.”

“She made us!” the man says.

“I don’t think she did. I think she was minding her own business, waiting for me. Say it loud enough for everyone to hear.” David leans on his arms and I don’t know how the man’s bones haven’t snapped.

“Ahh! I’m a coward,” he cries out.

“Apologize,” David says.

The man squints at me. Spit flies between his clenched teeth when he speaks. “Sorry.”

David drops his arm and steps back. The man wastes no time, gets to his feet and runs in the opposite direction to his friend without looking back but I don’t care. All I can think about are my ruined clothes sacrificed to the sidewalk.

I fall to my knees. I pull my case onto my lap and start shoving handfuls of clothing inside, hands shaking, eyes burning, chest hot and throbbing. They’re wet. Muddied. But they’re all I have. My breath stutters and I’m determined not to cry. Not to give in to the inferno inside me.

Show no weakness. Show no emotion. Give them nothing to grab onto. Don’t let them get the better hand. Never give anything away. Hide it until it hurts, and it does. Every. Damn. Time.

“Adeline…love…Adeline!”

I choke when I notice David’s palms on my biceps. He tugs articles of clothing from my grip and hauls me to my feet. I blink into his face. The anger on his face is gone, replaced with fissures I don’t want to see there.

“My clothes…” I gasp, wriggling from his grip, but his fingers tighten, not letting go. He wrenches me to his chest, arms banding around me.

“Don’t worry about the clothes. I’ll buy you a whole damn shop,” David says.

I hold my breath. Can’t let go. Keep it in. My skin grows hotter and prickles. I don’t want the shop. I don’t want him to buy me anything. He owes me nothing. I’m the one burning in his debt, only he doesn’t know it.

I pull away from him. “Let me go.”

“You’re shaking like a leaf,” he says.

He doesn't let me go. He holds me so tight my cheek flattens against his chest. His heart thumps hard. He’s deliciously warm, but I’m so cold nothing will thaw me out again. My fingers clench in his jacket. I force them open, but they don’t obey. They’re locked on the material and like the rest of me, they don’t want to let go.

My chest drags in a lungful of air. Draws it in and in and in until I’m bursting with air and brittle glass. David wavers behind eyes building with tears I don’t want to fall. “Why?”

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