Page 42 of When The Night Falls

Then, a strangely familiar voice called from inside, ‘Come in.’

I frowned. I was certain I had heard that voice before, but where?

John opened the door and stepped aside. I looked at the man in the room, and then my throat constricted, my heart missing several beats. He was staring at the screen of his desktop Mac, seemingly absorbed, and clearly hadn’t seen me yet.

Panicking, I glanced at John.

‘After you,’ he said.

I walked in and froze after five paces, overcome with emotion. Confusion, despair, as well as fear and unbelievable joy, were searing into my heart, causing it to twist rather painfully.

Trepidatious, I watched as Jason’s brother finally lifted his gaze and looked at me. His eyebrows leaped up his forehead and his eyes widened beneath them.

Totally stunned, William stared back at me.

7 | have we met?

For a moment, all I saw was his naked body, both on top of and within me, while he pleasured me into the celestial.

I could scarcely believe my eyes.

This was why I had thought he looked so familiar back then. He was Jason’s elder brother!

I recoiled a step, struck by the overwhelming power of his gaze.

Ever since the morning in his flat, I had tried to consign my adventure with him to the depths of my memory, but every night, it had come back to haunt me. I had wondered so many times if I would ever see him again, but I had always assumed it was up to me to decide whether I would. Not even in my wildest dreams had I imagined it would happen like this.

Yet there he was, in the flesh, regarding me with total disbelief. The odds of this happening were astronomical, and it made me question my own convictions. Did coincidences truly exist, or was everything written in the stars? If so, what tales did they hold of my future? And why on earth had they included him?

‘Will, this is Cara Jane Darby, the new trainee,’ John said. ‘She’s also Jason’s flatmate, as you know.’

Paralysed, William kept staring at me. I didn’t blame him for struggling so hard to compose himself. Not only had I arrived like lightning from a clear blue sky, but I was also being introduced under an entirely different name.

‘Yes, I know she’s stunning, but it isn’t polite to stare, William,’ John said, obviously trying to make humour out of his son’s puzzling behaviour.

William charged up from his seat. ‘I’m so sorry. For a moment I thought I recognised you,’ he apologised to me, but I could tell from the gleam in his eyes that he did in fact recognise me.

Hearing his voice, I realised how much I had missed it. Deep, authoritative and oddly soothing, it whispered of sensual pleasures. How strange it was, to find myself having missed a person I had only encountered once before.

Marvelling at the beauteous view of him, I stopped breathing as he made his graceful approach. Only he could hypnotise me like this. I simply couldn’t look away.

‘It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Darby. I’m William, but you can call me Will like everyone else. I’m looking forward to working with you. I hear your marks are impeccable. I’ll personally ensure that you’ll get to put theory into practice during your time with us.’

He extended his hand. I directed my gaze to it, feeling the blush mount in my cheeks. I remembered how it had dominated me. A particular memory, of when he had used his grip on my arms to balance the weight of his forceful thrusts, flashed through my mind.

This was outrageous. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t work here, under the leadership of a man who had fucked me into oblivion. How was I supposed to look him in the eye without being reminded of that? How were we supposed to take each other seriously, as professionals, when our current acquaintanceship was composed of carnal indulgence? Would we be able to overlook it? Start anew?

I wanted to cry. This was the worst possible thing that could have happened. I had worked so hard to prove myself eligible for this placement, and now I had quite literally fucked my chance at it. Not only that, but William was also the only man I had ever seriously considered dating, and now he was turning out to be my future boss and my best friend’s brother.

‘Murphy’s law,’ Dad whispered in my mind. ‘Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. In other words, whatever can happen, will happen.’ Well, I was currently witnessing evidence of that theory. Lesson learned, Dad, albeit too late.

‘Y-yeah.’ I broke contact with William’s eyes and grabbed his familiar hand. His grip was firm around my own, as if he was worried I would disappear if he ever let go.

‘Well, I’ll leave you to it,’ John said and glanced at his watch. ‘I’ve got a meeting in less than two minutes. If there’s anything I can help you with, Cara, let me know, but I expect William will take good care of you.’

‘Of course,’ William said, and there was a faint smile on his mouth when he finally released my hand.

John gave my shoulder a supportive squeeze before he went to the door. I stiffened at the sound of it drawing shut behind him.

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