Page 21 of Decoded
There have been a few instances where Daniel has pressed himself into me, or touched me, but never like this. Sure, thosewere inappropriate, but this is something else entirely and I have to fight it.
“Daniel, stop,” I demand as he pulls the cup of my bra down to fully expose me to him. “Daniel this is too far, let go of me. Now.”
“You think you can fucking leave me, Anna?” He doesn’t yell, but his menacing tone has me cowering all the same. “You’re mine,” he claims, pinching my nipple so hard tears spring to my eyes.
“Stop! Now! Let me go and I’ll walk away. I won’t tell anyone what happened, I promise.”
He laughs, channeling every evil villain in movie history. “You think anyone is going to believe you? Poor, pitiful, Anna. I will ruin you. I’ll make sure that the only one that will get sympathy is the boss who eventually had to let you go after your advances became too strong and you wouldn’t take no for an answer. My, my, Anna. Your father is going to be so disappointed in you.”
Daniel hits where he knows it hurts. My whole life I’ve tried proving myself to my dad, and every time I disappoint him is like an ice pick to my heart. Unfortunately, it’s been pretty often in my life. If it’s Daniel’s word versus mine, I have no doubt my father will side with his best friend.
“Please let me go. I don’t want this, please.”
“Stop lying to yourself, sweet girl. I bet your pussy is drenched thinking about all the things I could do to it. Let me check.”
I buck against him, trying like hell to push him off me, but his hand on my ass pulls up my skirt, and his fingers manage to skim underneath my panties. I’m screaming and shouting for someone, anyone to help, but it’s too late. He dips his finger inside me, completely violating a piece of me I would never willingly give to him. Tears fall down my cheeks, shuttering my cries for help, as he continues pressing into my back and probing me.
A knock at the door stalls his actions, and I have never been so grateful to hear Kristy’s sweet voice behind that door. “Anna? Mr. Brenner? Is everything okay? I thought I heard screaming.”
Daniel leans into my ear, tugging my hair so that my scalp screams in pain. “You don’t say a fucking word.” He pulls his fingers out of me and makes an obscene spectacle of tasting them, then pulls my skirt back down over my ass. I adjust my shirt as he walks away from me but continue facing his desk, so my back is to the door that he cracks open.
“Hi, Kristy. Thanks for checking, but we’re all good. Miss Keith just tripped over the chair and was shouting for help, but thankfully for her I was there, and she fell right into my arms. We’re all good here.”
I can’t see Kristy’s reaction and I’m too scared to turn around. She must be satisfied with his answer because I hear footsteps retreating. My body shivers as I stand there knowing my saving grace has walked away.
“That will be all Miss Keith. I hope your new place of employment brings you as much satisfaction as I know this one has.” I slowly walk past him, but he grabs my wrist and yanks me to his chest before I cross the threshold. “And sweet girl, I will never let you go.”
Something about Daniel’s words sound ominous, but I keep my mouth shut and shoulders back as I walk out of his office and pick up the box with my things from my desk. I hold my head high as I walk to the elevator bank and then get the hell out of Brenner & Associates.
Chapter sixteen
Keaton
I
t’s the end of another long week without hearing from Anna. My new assistant is set to move in this weekend, so I’ve bribed my brothers with beer and pizza to come help me finish up the guest house so that it’s to Janine’s standards. Apparently plain drywall is unacceptable, and gray is “very in,” whatever that means. This new assistant better be fucking worth it.
“Why are we doing this?” Lincoln asks for about the fiftieth time this hour.
“I’ve told you that the new girl needed housing and Janine was so gracious to offer my place.” I roll another layer of paint on top of the already gray walls.
“Yeah, but I mean why arewedoing this? You couldn’t hire someone to paint the place and fix things up?” He complains again.
“Weare doing this because we aren’t pretentious pricks who aren’t capable of doing the damn job themselves. Why? Did you have another hot date planned that won’t go anywhere because nobody is good enough for you and your baby girl?”
“Fuck you. You know, everyone thinks I’m the grumpy asshole, but this past month you’ve really stepped up like you’re vying for first place,” Lincoln grumbles.
I know it was a dirty dig at my brother. He has been looking for love for both him and Charlie after Nicole left them just days after Charlie was born. Either he is incredibly picky, or the dating pool is slim pickings because he’s gone on dozens of first dates this past year, but I don’t know if any have resulted in a second one. I get back to painting as Camden comes whistling into the room, his glasses sitting slightly askew on his face.
“The bed is put together. Whatcha need me to do now?” He asks, sitting on the new white sofa with a smile, his glasses slightly askew. He’s always a ray of fucking sunshine and today I hate it. In fact, I’ve hated just about everything since my trip to Vegas.
“We’re adding the last layer of paint and then we’re done. I don’t know why Janine thinks we needed to do all this. The guest house was fine before.” I look over to find my brothers staring at me, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“It had walls, lawn chairs and a poker table. That’s pretty much it. How did you expect someone to live here without any furniture?” Camden states.
“Anyone that has to be your assistant deserves this and a whole lot more.” I’ve had enough of Lincoln’s smart mouth.
“Then how about the both of you get the fuck out of here and I’ll finish it my damn self. I don’t need the two of you bitching at me all night.”
