Page 28 of Damaged

Art isn’t a bad one. It’s a gateway to connections. Owning a fancy gallery that sells some of the most priceless pieces of art and artifacts in the world will put the business card of every royal heir and billionaire dictator in my pocket.

Today creeps along. When it’s lunch, I think it’s three in the afternoon. I take a few calls where I know I’m noticeably more distant than usual. It’s not Sophia who’s distracting me. I’m just horny.

I should’ve released my lust in the shower with my right hand. I’m picturing what it would feel like to press her against a wall and stick my tongue down her throat.

To conquer her.

I want to get those big brown eyesbegging.

Enough.I shut my laptop and briefly bite my thumbnail. I’m like an ape right now. Uncontrolled. Animal.

I know what it is. A bad case of wanting what I can’t get. Maybe if Alex hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have this problem.

But I doubt it. I hate that I can’t have her.

I fill my briefcase and stand to leave. It’s not even four, but I have my secretary reschedule the rest of my calls. I walk through the wood-paneled halls and out through the marble foyer.

I wave off my driver and decide to walk the mile and a half back home. My security trails me half a block behind.

I get back to the penthouse and go to its second floor, where my home office and gym are both located. I find myself useless in both.

I can’t focus on work, but when I go to workout, I stare off into space between sets. It’s not just Sophia.

It’s the gallery. The plan. The creeping feeling that I don’t even know what I want.

To conquer,I told Sophia. That’s the only thing that brings me a modicum of satisfaction. But it’s only for a moment. All my wins feel fleeting. They just leave me wanting the next one.

I run on the treadmill, something that doesn’t need focusing. I turn up the speed faster and faster until I’m sprinting, and sweat is flying off my arms with each pump.

My lungs and legs burn.

My brain can think of nothing else but pushing through the pain. I go longer than I should, and when I hit the stop button and my heart rate begins to slow, I feel all the thoughts immediately crawling back to my brain.

Like roaches that scatter in the light but come back as soon as it’s dark again.

It’s already evening. The sun is gone. I go downstairs to shower. I’m about to step inside it when my doorbell rings. That’s odd. It’s never rung before. I’ve always been ready to let guests in myself, and my security has their own keycards.

Brock is off tonight. Part of the reason I have him posted to the roof is for show. Anyone casing this place will know it’s heavily guarded.

I walk naked to a security control panel in my bedroom. There, I open the cameras and see Sophia standing outside my private door in the stairwell. She’s holding a plate with tinfoil on top of it.

I frown, and for a second, I think of not answering, but then I remember her meeting tomorrow with Richard. If I’m going to have her fired, I should face her myself.

I toss on a black bathrobe and go to the door. By the time I get there and open it, she has already turned and started back down the stairs to her apartment. She turns back as I step out into the stairwell.

“Oh hey.” Her eyes glance nervously over my bathrobe. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You’re not disturbing.”

“Great.” She walks back up the stairs with her eyes on the foil-covered plate she holds. “I brought these as thanks. By the way, my new door is swankier than my old one. Much sturdier.”

“That’s good. And what are these?” I ask as I slowly take the plate.

“Snickerdoodles.” Sophia beams.

I blink in surprise. What the hell is this girl doing? Do I look like the kind of guy who eats a plate of snickerdoodles? Maybe I’ve let my image slip with all this gentleman nonsense.

But I’m not about to shove them back at her. I’m already about to be the bad guy. Still she’s teasing me. And I tease back. “Snickerdoodles. I should’ve guessed, snowflake.” I shouldn’tcall her names, but I can’t resist teasing back. But I must end this. I move aside. “Do you want to come in for a moment?”

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