Page 82 of The CEO's Revenge

When my mother is around, Dan is either mean to me or pretty much just ignores me. These things I can live with, especially where he ignores me. In fact, that’s my perfect scenario with him. But recently, more and more whenever we’re alone together, which I try to avoid whenever I can, this new side of him comes out. Where he looks me up and down like I’m a piece of meat he’d like to devour. I’ve not failed to notice either the way he brushes against me whenever we pass each other, even out in the living room where there’s absolutely no need for it.

Right now, I keep my face totally impassive.

“I said you’re pretty,” he repeats.

“Yeah. Thanks,” I say tightly.

Just go away, I think to myself, but he doesn’t go away. He stands propped against the frame of my bedroom door. I don’t move because moving would bring me closer to my bed and I don’t want him thinking for even a second it’s some sort of invitation.

He grins. “You know Amelia, we’ve always had this chemistry between us, haven’t we?”

My eyes widen. Is he mad? I can’t stand him. As a matter of fact, I detest him. I’m dying to tell him exactly what I really think, but I have to keep this little gem to myself. Sleazy Dan is bad, but angry Dan is wore, by far worse.

“I should call Mom and tell her to bring home some orange juice. I forgot to get it at the grocery store,” I say, mentioning Mom in the hope he’ll remember to be loyal to her. Unfortunately, it’s too subtle a hint for him.

He grins at me. “Aww… look at you. All shy and shit. But I get it, really I do. You don’t want to hurt your mom. And neither do I. Violet is great. Fantastic. She takes good care of me.”

“Yeah, she does,” I say with a touch of desperation. I don’t want to risk angering him or encouraging whatever the hell he thinks this is.

He pushes himself up off the wall and I flinch slightly. Dan notices and laughs cruelly. “Don’t pee yourself. I just thought someone should tell you how attractive you are.”

I feel myself flush, the searing heat rushing up my neck.

His eyes note my embarrassment and he laughs, the sound unfamiliar. There is something cruel and sexual about it. For a moment it seems as if he wants to say something else, then he checks himself, turns and stumbles away, heading for the living room. I hear his body crash into the sofa.

I step forward, close the door, and lean back against it, my heart beating like crazy. Jesus, what the hell was that all about?

Then I quickly move to my tiny bed, sit down and pull my laptop towards me. My heart is still fluttering as I start browsing the jobs’ boards. I have to find something. Something that pays enough for me to get the hell out of here.

I check the time. My mom is due home in an hour. I’ll just lie low and hope Dan forgets I’m home. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it. One time, I came out of my room and Dan ran from the bedroom he shares with my mom with a baseball bat raised over his head. I managed to duck as he swung it at me.

Instead of apologizing he lost his temper with me, scolding me for sneaking around like a thief, and telling me that I should have the manners to greet him when I get home. I bit my tongue and didn’t remind him I’d been home for almost three hours and I’d spent the first fifteen minutes of it making him a bacon sandwich. I think that was the time I realized exactly just how drunk Dan could get.

The hole he made in the wall with the baseball bat is still not fixed. It is a constant reminder to me that Dan can be unpredictable and downright dangerous.

I freeze suddenly. I can hear him moving around. The fridge door opens, then slams closed. A beer bottle is opened and the opener thrown on the counter. For some reason him not bothering to put the bottle opener back into the drawer irritates me. Mom’s out there working herself to the bone for this lazy jerk. I mean how hard can it be not to get shit faced through the afternoon and put the damn thing back into the drawer for fuck’s sake?

Like, everyone else manages it.

I grit my teeth go back to my laptop. My rage is pointless. I find a few promising openings. A waitress at a diner. A shelf stacker in a grocery store. Shitty, low paid jobs, but if I can just get one of them, then maybe I can get out of this life. I fill out the applications to a couple of openings, hit send, and shut down my laptop.

I pick up my cell phone, ready to text Lucy to see what she’s up to tonight. I might see if I can go over to her place. She lives in a clean and tidy little house and her parents are normal. They work for a living and the only time her dad drinks is a glass of wine or two with dinner and the occasional night cap. Like a normal man.

I hear Dan stumbling back along the hallway towards my room. I put my cell phone down. Great. What now?

“Do you need something, Dan?” I call, hoping he just wants a sandwich made.

I hate that I’m practically Dan’s hired help (without any pay or benefits, of course) but if making him a sandwich gets him away from my bedroom, then right now, I’ll happily do it.

My door has no lock and he opens it without knocking just as I stand up from the bed. He grins at me and blinks twice, fast. I frown and he does it again. Oh God, he thinks he’s winking at me. It should be tragic, but it’s not.

It’s terrifying.

Chapter Three

Amelia

“I’ve been thinking,” Dan says, then pauses.

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