Page 46 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

I said, “Yeah,” and at the same moment, the delivery guy made a move.

That was his mistake.

Ace was quick. He grabbed the guy and pressed him against the wall, holding him there by his neck. “Touch her again, and you will die,” he growled, baring his teeth.

“Yo, I wasn’t touching her, I swear, dude, and I didn’t mean to touch her, it was an accident! I was just leaving,” the delivery man spluttered, but Ace didn’t seem convinced, so he continued in a pleading voice. “Me and the girl just had ourselves a little misunderstanding, but I’m leaving now. I swear!”

Ace looked at me, and I gave him a nod. He let go, and the guy stumbled.

“I’m sorry,” the delivery guy muttered again, before turning on his heel and sprinting past me out of the door. He looked back as he stepped over the threshold, likely checking to see whether Ace was following him, but he wasn’t. Instead, two huge security guards blocked his way.

Ace directed his attention to me, his eyes still dark. He held his strong hand out toward me and helped me to my feet. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“That man wanted tomolesther,” Willette exclaimed as she picked up the papers. Her hand was still clasped over her chest when she placed the stack on her desk. “Excuse me, I will need to use the bathroom. Sensitive bladder. Excitement like this always gets to me. I’ll be back in a minute.” With that, she entered a few keys into the phone system (turning on the voicemail, she explained), got up and left.

“Is that really what happened? Do you want me to call the cops?” Ace asked, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders to keep me steady. My legs threatened to give out beneath me as a rush of adrenaline coursed through my veins.

“No, no. I don’t know the guy. He helped me out of a traffic jam when I needed a ride on his scooter.”

Ace leaned back and gave me a dark look. “A ride on his scooter?”

“Yeah, funny story, actually. I was in a cab on my way to my interview here, and there was an accident…anyway, I guess he thought I owed him something.” I shrugged.

“Why didn’t you use the train?”

“One time I got robbed on the train. I just froze when that happened too—like a deer caught in the headlights. Damon insists on me using the cab company.”

“You don’t need to be scared of anything,” Ace said, pulling me against him. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” he added, “and we’ll talk about getting you a car allowance as part of your benefits soon, so you don’t need to worry about transport either.”

“Damon is paying for the cab, and also Jay, my cab driver, is a sweet friend. You don’t have to—” I started.

Ace held up his hand, cutting me off. “You don’t need to say anything. I know I don’t have to. Iwantto.”

I smiled, not just because he had been my savior, but because...because...his concern for me sounded so surprisingly genuine. “Thank you.” He’d do the same for any other employee in distress, wouldn’t he?

Ace pulled away from me and took a step back as one of the security guys approached him. They exchanged a few words.

“Stop this guy or anyone from the same delivery company from entering the building without an escort,” he ordered. “Make sure no one walks in here without you knowing about it.”

“Roger that,” the security guy said. “We monitor the camera above the building’s entrance twenty-four-seven. Boss, we have it handled.”

With that, Ace straightened his tie and glanced at me one last time. “Stella, when you’re done helping Willette, come up to my office and I’ll give you the private cell number of the head of our security team. Just in case you ever need it.”

“Oh. Thank you,” I said. “For everything.”

Ace nodded once, and with Willette’s reappearance, he pivoted on his heel and left.

“Wow. Mr. Windsor can be pretty intimidating,” Willette whispered to me. “But I don’t blame him for getting touchy-feely with the guy. Rumor has it that there was an incident with his former assistant and a delivery guy. Apparently, Mr. Windsor caught them in the act in his office, if you know what I mean. I doubt that it’s true though. Are you guys close? He seems very protective of you.”

“He would have done that for anyone,” I said, not wanting to start any rumors. “He’s just a good guy.”

19

ACE

Anger and blind rage were the only emotions thrumming through my body—they’d seized my mind. I wanted to kill him. Just for a split second, but nonetheless, it had taken all my self-control not to squeeze the guy’s throat until he gasped for his last breath.

I’d never been so possessive in my life.

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