Page 8 of In Bed with the Enemy

Jesus Christ that was almost worse.

I sat down heavily on the bed and sighed.

But, I didn't have a chance to process what I was thinking, or even try and bury it like I always did, because loud, aggressive knocking started up at my door.

"Ethan Greene open this fucking door! I know you're in there!"

7

AMY

I paced in my room. Back and forth. Back and forth. Replaying everything that had happened that day through my mind. It was like a bad TikTok reel. The video just kept playing and playing and I couldn't stop watching, even though I knew I needed to.

I wanted answers.

Real answers.

Not his bullshit.

The entire outside of him was fake, fake, FAKE! I wanted, no needed, to know why he would do this to me.

There was more to it than just business. I could sense that.

Before my brain could figure out how to stop the runaway train, I was heading towards the door, into the hallway, and up the elevator to his stupid penthouse level. I made it all the way up to his door and raised my hand to knock before hearing a muffled voice on the other side.

So, instead, I pushed my ear to the door to try and listen.

"This may have bought us a little bit of time. But, I need the R&D people to do what they're supposed to be doing and fast."

I gritted my teeth at his words as I stepped back from the door for just a moment. Buy them time? R&D department?

My blood began to boil as I started to connect the dots to what all of this meant. And, as much as I wanted to kick the door down, the sounds on the other side had me pressing my ear against it, instead.

"If she markets things right, I could see the device becoming fairly widespread," Ethan said from behind the door.

I had to step back again. I was so absolutely enraged. He knew. He knew the device was good. That's why he was trying to discredit it. So that he and his company could steal it from me.

I took a second to take a deep breath and then I rammed my knuckles against the door so hard that I knew I was going to regret it the next day.

But, I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

The hurt and pain from this afternoon were pouring out of me and I wanted to hurl it all at him.

"Ethan Greene open this door! I know you're in there!" I heard myself shout. I continued to pound my knuckles against the door, convincing myself that he'd be too much of a pussy to open the door until suddenly, I realized that it wasn't a hard metal door I was touching, but rather a hardened chest in a soft hotel robe.

I pulled my hand back suddenly and looked up at him, not really prepared for this moment. I was about to open my mouth to try and say something, but instead, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his room, closing the door behind us.

"Say what you want to say, Amy. But do try not to make a scene," he said in a tone somehow even more condescending than his normal tenor.

I stood there, totally dumbfounded, trying to regain my senses. Trying to grab onto just one of the things floating through my mind amongst all of the things I wanted to scream at him. He stood there opposite me and started to smirk.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

I threw my head back and let out a strangled yell. "Buy us time?" I screamed. "R&D Department! You knew my product would sell. You're trying to usurp the technology so that you can sell it first. Is that it?"

Ethan scoffed and made his way to the drink cart. "Don't flatter yourself, Ms. Reid. We are Standard Energy. We don't need to usurp your technology. We are completely capable of creating something better at a cheaper cost."

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