Page 25 of City of Wind and Lies

Bowie's face is stoic, an impassive mask slipping over his features not giving me any sign of what he's feeling. I don't know what I can ask; what I can say to break this awkward veil that's fallen around us.

"I'm fine. Probably just my period," I offer up, hoping that the growly man isn't scared of a little menstrual blood. He washes and dries his hands, unphased by my comment, rolling the sleeves of his crisp white shirt back down his inked and corded forearms.

He stills as I place a hand on his bicep. "Worst case scenario, I tore a little," I say with a shrug. "It's no big deal."

Heavy footfalls ring out as his response when he turns on heel and goes to take a seat at his desk. And I swear my teeth start to chatter at how quickly he ices me out.

Clearly, I'm not good with being snubbed, the itch of fight or flight bubbling up inside me. Ignoring the pain, I stomp out of the bathroom, resting my hands on my hips as I stand in front of his desk. "Seriously? You're just not going to talk to me?"

He doesn't even move an eyebrow. The man just sits there, clicking away on his computer, like he didn't just fuck me bloody over the very desk he’s sitting at.

Maybe it's the dopamine flooding my central nervous system or the fear of being rejected, or hell, maybe that pesky overly emotional, impetuous thing- whatever it is, I don't really care. I lean across the desk, closing the lid of his laptop, hand holding it shut using every last drop of my bravado.

My heart creeps into my throat as his eyes ping up, pinning me with a pensive stare.

"Is all the proof of Allen’s guilt on this drive?" he asks as he steeples his hands, voice even and full of decorum, like I'm just another employee.

The fiery spirit inside me goes tepid, my mouth hanging open in bewilderment.

"Y-Yes," I manage.

"Thank you. I'll let you know if I have any further questions," he states tersely, opening his laptop and resuming his work. "That'll be all, Miss James."

His words sucker punch me in the gut, leaving me gasping and trembling as I recoil back. I bite my bottom lip, tears pricking at my eyes as I do a shitty job of hiding my feelings.

Rolling my shoulders back, I gather what little is left of my pride and head for the door. When I reach for the handle, I notice the lights of the reception area are on now; Cami must be in. I pause, blinking away the tears, fingers swiping away the remnants of my pain as I steel my expression.

"Wren," he calls out, and a tiny bit of hope flutters to life inside me.

I hum in response, slowly swiveling on my heel to face him, and with three simple words, my stomach plummets.

"Remember the NDA."

Heat floods my face as my fingers scrabble for the door handle, twisting and pulling before I've even turned around. I rush out into the lobby, needing to be alone in my office like yesterday.

"Whoa!" I hear a second too late as I collide into someone like the slow motion car wreck that is my life. I’m so lost in my frenetic stupor I start apologizing before I even look to see who I ran into.

"Are you okay?” Allen asks, hand sliding effortlessly to my hip.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumble, jerking back from his touch like a skittish cat.

"Bad meeting with the boss?" He hooks his thumb towards Bowie's door.

"Something like that," I mutter, sidestepping toward my doorway.

He forces a chuckle. "Nothing quite like getting bent over and reamed to start your day, am I right?"

You have no idea, pal…

The flight response fully swallows me as I duck into my office and plop into my chair. I fire off an email to Bowie asking to work remotely for the day under the guise of not feeling well. His response is fast and short, allowing me to 'take the time I need to feel better'.

Jamming my laptop in my bag, I grab my purse and toss the undrank latte into the trash with my vomit. What a fitting representation of my morning.

The entire drive home, I wrack my brain, trying to figure out what caused that personality snap in Bowie. Nothing makes sense. I knew it was a taboo thing we had going, but he initiated it every time.

Is this just something he does? Fucks his way through his employees, then just drops them like yesterday's news?

Did Cami know? Has he fucked Cami?

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