Page 145 of Savage Bosses

KYLE

T

he next day at work, I found myself watching Aerica like a protector. Analyzing every gesture, every word, looking for some sign that I wasn’t alone in this growing attraction.

When she looked at me, I felt like the only person in the room. Her gaze saw beyond the surface to the real me underneath. The realization was humbling and thrilling all at once. I found myself making opportunities to talk to her, to make her smile, to make her life a little easier. I wanted to be there for her.

She was no longer just my temp girl, and I was no longer content to be just her boss. The boundaries between us were gone, and try as I might, I couldn’t bring myself to care about those restrictions. Professionalism be damned.

There was something happening here, and I was tired of fighting it. For once, I was going to stop overthinking and just follow my heart. I spent hours at work trying to restrain myself. Not touching her was so difficult now that we’d been intimate.

Sitting at my desk, going over quarterly reports, I tried to stay focused on my duties. There was a clinging knock on my office glass door. The door opened and there stood Aerica and my brother’s girlfriend, Ashley. Did they know each other? How could they?

“Mr. Caldwell, do you have time to speak with your brother’s gir— Ashley?” Aerica asked.

“Yes, of course.” This was unexpected, and I had no idea why Ashley would show up at my office unannounced. She was a sweet girl, but she wasn’t the brightest. Any intelligent woman wouldn’t be dating my brother.

Aerica opened the door wider to let Ashley enter my office. She closed the door as she ducked out of the office, leaving me alone with the redhead.

“Kyle?” Her soft voice interrupted my thoughts. She was the last person I expected to see at work today. And with the concern etched across her face, I knew this wasn’t a social visit.

“Hey Ashley, please have a seat.” I said, forcing my voice into something resembling cordiality.

“Thanks Kyle.” She sat in one of the two chairs in front of my desk. She placed her purse in the other.

“What brings you to FuSeWater?”

“I’m worried about Wesley.” Her green eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she wrung her hands together nervously. “He didn’t come home last night. I came here looking for him and he’s not at work today.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, slamming a fist onto my desk. I leaned back in my chair and sighed. This wasn’t the first time my irresponsible little brother had pulled a stunt like this. It was one thing for Wes to slack off at work, but to not come home to his girlfriend? Ashley was the worrying type, and he knew it. This was a new low for him. I clenched my jaw, trying to keep my anger in check. “Ashley he hasn’t been here. No calls, no texts, nothing. I just thought he was home with you.”

“He never came home and his cell phone is going straight to voicemail. It’s Wednesday. He should be at work today, right?”

She already knew the answer. “Yes, he should.” I confirmed.

“Has he done this before?” Ashley asked tentatively. I could sense the hesitation in her voice, as if she wanted to ask more, but feared crossing a line with me.

“More times than I can count,” I admitted. “But never without giving some sort of bullshit excuse.”

“Damn it, Wesley,” she whispered, a tear escaping her eye. “I just, I don’t know what to do anymore. This is getting out of hand. This is more than I can bear.”

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled, frustration boiling within me. I couldn’t help but feel responsible for my brother’s downward spiral, even though I knew it was ultimately his choices that led him here.

“I don’t know what to do.” Ashley shook her head. She was at her wit’s end.

“Look,” I said, trying to sound more reassuring than I felt, “I’m going to do everything I can to track him down and figure out what the hell he’s up to. I promise.”

“Thank you, Kyle.” She managed a weak smile as she wiped away her tears. “I really appreciate it.”

I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in my chest. My own flesh and blood brother caused this pain and uncertainty, and I was powerless to stop it. All I could do was try my damnedest to fix the mess he’d made and hope that it would be enough. Ashley would be better off without my brother, but she was going to have to come to that conclusion on her own.

“Kyle, I don’t want to think the worst of your brother, but—” Ashley hesitated, her eyes briefly darting away as she tried to find the right words. “I can’t help but suspect that he could be cheating on me.”

“Cheating?” I repeated, my mouth going dry at the thought. The more I heard about Wesley’s antics, the more it seemed like he was hell-bent on self-destruction.

She nodded, her eyes meeting mine once more. “He’s been so distant lately, and I found some texts on his phone from a woman I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice cracking. “And his drug and alcohol problem, it’s just getting worse. I’m afraid he’s going to hurt himself or someone else.”

“Christ,” I rested back into my chair as I tried to process everything Ashley had told me.

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