Page 27 of Beneficial Misfortune

Fuck me, maybe this is a bad idea. I’m almost positive it’s not a good idea to accept a job if I’m already crushing on my new soon-to-be boss.

“I’ll take it,” I say in a rush before I can overthink it and talk myself out of it… again.

I open my mouth to explain when I realize I haven’t said what, but before I can, his lips turn up in an actual smile, not the smirks and half smiles I’m used to, and suddenly, I’ve forgotten what I was going to say.

Yup, this is a terrible idea, but it’s too late now.

Chapter 9

Iwalk up the endless flights of stairs in a daze.

I just did that. I took a second job where I’m going to live with a man I’ve apparently developed a crush on over the last few weeks.

So much for never being at the mercy of another man…

But that’s not exactly true. I’m not at his mercy the way I was with Carter. I’m his employee, not his property. Honestly, I can’t imagine Nathaniel would ever be anything like Carter; he just doesn’t seem the type. But I guess you can never really be sure of that kind of thing. I never would have thought Carter could.

We’d dated all throughout high school and into college, and I’d missed every red flag until one of them decided to smack me right in the face.

So maybe I’m not the best judge of character.

Regardless, I have a new job that I start tomorrow.

Nathaniel had told me to call him in the morning, and we would work out the details of my move if that’s what I chose to do. I’d said I’d take the job but hadn’t been one hundred percent sure about moving, though I’m leaning toward it.

I’ll sleep on it.

I fish my keys from my bag and check the time on my phone.

How the heck is it only two in the afternoon? It definitely feels like it should be later.

When I finally reach my floor, I’m damn near dead on my feet, ready to sit and do nothing for a while. Maybe I’ll take a nap. I have a little while before dinner still, and lord knows I could use it.

Stopping dead in the middle of the hallway, my eyes go to my door only to find it’s not there.

What the hell?

I rush forward, stopping in the doorway to find my door is, in fact, there, but not the way it should be.

It hangs off the hinges, the wood of the doorframe busted up and littering the floor.

Unable to stop myself, I step over it, making my way inside despite the urge to turn back around. My eyes dart around my apartment, desperate to understand. Everything’s a mess, and as I make my way deeper inside, it’s as if my brain can’t make sense of what I’m seeing.

What happened here?

The cushions of my couch lie littered on the floor. Every cabinet in the kitchen is open, the contents littered on the counters and floor, and both my fridge and freezer doors hang open.

I stop as the sound of cracking glass under my feet echoes around the eerily silent kitchen.

Turning in place, I survey the room, and it finally clicks.

Someone broke in.

Someone was in my flat…

Maybe they still are.

Without hesitation, I turn back, running from my apartment as my heart lodges in my throat, threatening to choke me.

---