Page 71 of Beautiful Desire

I’ve spent the last two hours buried in more paperwork. How there’s still so much to get through is beyond me. I hear the distant ping of the elevator arriving and look up, wondering who the hell is coming at this time of the night, to see one of the security guards from the main lobby walking down the corridor toward my office.

My eyes are back down on the papers in front of me when I hear a knock on the open door. Looking up, I see the security guard standing there, arms crossed behind his back and his stance wide.

“Just checking everything is okay up here, Mr. Lombardi,” he says, giving me a firm nod.

“Everything’s good. Thanks…” I tell him, waiting for him to tell me his name.

“Sean, sir. My name is Sean.”

“Come in Sean,” I say, standing from my seat, making my way toward him, and extending my hand to offer a handshake, which he returns with a firm grip. “Take a seat.” I point to the seats around the coffee table.

“Thank you, Mr. Lombardi,” Sean says, sitting in the small leather seats.

“So, tell me, how long have you been working here, Sean?”

Without hesitation, he answers, “Almost seven years. I moved to the city hoping to find a part-time job so I could save up and go to college, but when I got this security job…well, the pay was enough to get me by, but with the shifts switching from days and nights it wasn’t exactly ideal. So, I decided to put the college dream on hold a little longer, and I just never went back to it.”

Something about this guy intrigues me.

“You knew Peter well, then, I assume, after being here for so long?” I ask in curiosity.

“Oh, yeah. He was a great guy. Great to the staff in the company and everyone in the building, really. I was shocked when we heard he had sold the company overnight.”

Dropping my head, I stare at the carpeted floor, guilt filling me at the reasonwhyI was forced to buy this company overnight.

“You know his PA, Miss Parker, too, I assume?” I ask, keeping my eyes focused downward.

“Oh, Elle? Yeah, she’s pretty hot. I’m not sure there’s a guy in this building who wouldn’t like to get to know her better.”

My jaw pops at the thought of Elle being with any other man.

Clearing my throat, I say, “You don’t happen to know who delivered those roses she was sent the other day by any chance?”

Almost before I finish asking the question, Sean starts to answer.

Huffing out, he tells me, “Yeah, those were from her ex, Paul. That guy is such a douche.”

“Paul?” I repeat, playing dumb as I lift my head to look up at him.

I know they’re from Paul. I just need to know who the fuck Paul is.

“Sorry, it’s been a hectic week. I’m not sure I’ve met him,” I say, hoping Sean will take the bait and divulge more information.

Thankfully, he does. “Yeah, Paul Howard. He’s the head of accounting. Tall guy, brown hair, clean-shaven. Real fucking asshole in my eyes.”

I notice the look of disgust on his face, and it angers me.

Don’t even fucking think about it, buddy,I say to Sean in my head.

I quickly try to think back through all the people I’ve met the past few weeks, but his name doesn’t ring any bells. Guess I’ll have to look through the files once Sean leaves. In need of more information, I try again.

“Oh, yeah? And why is that?”

“Like I said, he and Elle dated for a few months a couple of years back. She was too good for him, but somehow, he managed to worm his way in. The whole office knew what he was like, but Elle, being Elle, wanted to see the good in him. He bought her countless expensive gifts, used to come into the office bragging about what he had bought her, but we all knew what he was doing behind her back. I’m pretty sure the whole building knew, but nobody ever told her. Instead, she ended up finding out herself.”

I sit looking at him in confusion. Leaning on my forearms, I eat up everything this guy is telling me, my anger rising by the second.

“What do you mean?” I ask, needing him to tell me more.

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