Page 23 of Corrupt Game

Even with the beating, I couldn’t wait to get a glimpse of Lisa again. To talk to her. To listen to her laugh. When I went to school the next day, she was gone. No one knew where.

Teachers and students avoided my gaze.

My father managed to control my life by using other people.

Her family had been offered a position three states away and they were moving immediately.

The Zenni name held a lot of weight in the community—as did the money my father continued to throw around. He had to make those under his control remember who owned them.

That was the first time my father’s reprisals had affected anyone but myself because of my actions. I vowed to refrain from all contact with girls in the future for fear my father would find out and they’d disappear. I never knew what came of Lisa. I never tried to find out either. Even though one phone call could giveme those answers, I didn’t want to interfere in her life more than I already did.

Control was the only means to tamp down the rage at my father for his actions.

To the world I was a placid lake that reflected a smooth surface to all who viewed it, but underneath, my emotions were a turbulent, churning force that threatened to overwhelm me if not handled properly.

Collette was just what I needed: a new challenge that would keep my attention focused and my emotions under control. They’d been allowed too close to the surface thanks to issues that had arisen this past year.

She hadn’t even been in the same vicinity with me for an hour, and already she was causing me severe frustration.

My normally perfectly combed hair was beginning to stick up from the multiple times I’d run a hand through it.

My lapse in control now was actually the reason why I needed a new personal assistant. Several years had passed since I’d hired one. I needed to let out all of those deep dark desires in a way that only someone like Collette could understand.

The problem was that the process had become mechanical, predictable. There wasn’t any feeling behind it, which in turn didn’t sate my thirst or need.

Training Collette wouldn’t be mechanical. She was already so different than the last few assistants had been. It was going to be explosive the first time I took her.

One look at her and I’d been imagining my body over hers as she screamed and pleaded for release.

While I’d managed to stave off the cravings for the past several years, life had continued to hammer at my control. There was no way I could continue to ignore the fact that I needed this diversion.

It was a simple business decision. I wouldn’t become entangled in her life or motives. I had to stay emotionally distant from the heated looks she was sending my direction.

Decision made, I picked up my cell to place an order for takeout to be delivered to my condo in the city.

Adding a helping of Rossi’s favorite Balochi, I also ordered a slice of cheesecake for dessert. It wasn’t often that I allowed myself to have a sweet treat. I deserved it after the day I’d had.

Most days, the job helped me to clear my head, but today my thoughts were full of the woman downstairs. She was clouding my thoughts. I let the driver take me back to the city to pack a bag, hoping a few hours of distance would help me keep things in perspective.

I hadn’t thought it would be this fast, this simple.

The vetting process alone could take weeks. There wasn’t time for that kind of thorough vetting for her. She’d waltzed in and taken my office by storm. More like taking my mind and concentration over. She was a force.

It wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been plotting my demise, I had to have her. She was everything I’d been looking for but just hadn’t known I’d wanted.

Collette had literally run into me and spiked my interest immediately. That alone stopped me and made me think.

I’d been tempted to take her into my arms where I knew she would fit perfectly. Her heavenly scent of vanilla and a citrusyorange had made me hard instantly. Harder than I’d been in months.

I itched to rub one out, as if that were going to bring the relief I wanted, but I was with the pilot. And it wouldn’t have done any good anyway.

She’d stormed into the elevator. I wasn’t thrilled when she practically forced her way into the quiet of my personal space. It was one of the few places I could have a moment’s peace before facing the wolves always lined up to see me as soon as I stepped into the office.

The mixture of innocence and determination were etched into her features. Her sultry voice had only kept matters hard and I’d smirked at her attempt to stay away from me.

When she followed me to my office, the look on her face just before I slammed the door was one I would remember with glee.

I played that look on her face repeatedly in my mind as we landed on my rooftop. I made my way into my luxurious apartment, and finished the meal ready and dished on the dining table in record time.

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