Page 37 of Runaway Girl
Don’t cry, baby.
My fingers raised, chasing away the tears and cradling her face—as if Iworshippedher. Which I fucking did.
I nodded.
“We,”I reaffirmed, infusing that one word with all-consuming love and the promise ofus.
Chapter 22
ALICIA
Hours had passed, and I was growing weary.
I’d sent my family home after I received my accolades and desperately wanted to join them, but I was technically still on the clock—expected to network and schmooze clients who only came for the free food and booze despite most being millionaires themselves.
The celebration was primarily for Stella Johnson, Felix’s wife and General Counsel of the company. She had been on maternity leave with their second child over the past two years and was making a comeback. I was happy to see her return.
Stella was the one who advocated for my position and brought me into the fold. She was the original girl boss I aspired to be. She had my utmost respect and loyalty.
However, even with the ongoing celebration and promotion, all I could think about was Ethan. Despite the successful outcome of his trial, I knew he must be hurting.
I didn’t know why I held some sick sense of responsibility or concern, but against my better judgement, I couldn’t help but care.
That’s when my gaze caught on an eager smirk from across the room. Jake leant against the wall, beady eyes dancing over my frame as if imagining me naked.Nope. No, thank you.
I had cut ties with him, palming his contract off to a subordinate over his insistence to push against boundaries that I had set and reminded him of on multiple occasions.
Jake thought he was cute; I thought he was disrespectful. And that’s the exact word I used when debriefing with Felix.
On that note, I was ready to leave.
I sidelined the main conference, then swept into the elevator, ascending to the top floor.
The place was empty. As I grabbed my belongings from my office, a crash rang out from the photocopy room down the hall, shortly followed by a pained grunt.
I hope no one’s hurt.
Of course, I went to investigate, but as I approached closer, an internal alarm blared through my senses.
Turn around. Leave. Save yourself.
That’s when I heard their voices. Both recognisable and coated in lust, their words echoing down the corridor in shallow pants.
“This is thelast. Fucking. Time.You hear me? So make it count.”
“Please, Bossman. You know how much I need you. You know I can’t live without it.”
By then, my feet were moving of their own volition. My heart wanted to shut out everything and remove myself from the soul-destroying situation. However, my nature wouldn’t let me leave without witnessing the irrefutable truth.
So when I silently pushed the door open, I shouldn’t have been railroaded from the most disturbing sight—yet I was totalled all the same.
There was my boss, Felix, fumbling with his clothes as Heather—his fucking secretary—lifted herself on top of the photocopier machine, pulling up her skirt to show her bare beneath—the display wanton and downrightdisgusting.
They were so caught up in each other they didn’t even notice I was there. And from the look on their faces and the confidence of their actions, it wasn’t the first time.
Utter revulsion swirled in my gut as bile rose to the back of my throat. Only a few seconds had passed, however, I knew the imagery would scar me for life.
Then, Felix unzipped his trousers, which had me jolting out of my inanimate state to yell the first thing that came to mind.
