Page 57 of The Craving

“You asshole! Is that all I was, a good fucking time…?”

I wince, as both my drivers can hear her rant.

“Get her home safely, Miles, and perhaps pop in some ear plugs,” I tell him before climbing into the back of the Range Rover and pulling out my phone.

Pressing send on the email, I then shut my phone down and drop it on the seat next to me for the rest of the ride to my estate. I should be in the office, but I can’t today. I need space from everything, and the only place I get that is in my home that no one can touch. I don’t bring people out here, except occasionally the guys.

My heavy sigh must have given away my anguish.

“Short trip, sir.” Wallace knows I wasn’t due back for a week, but the call he received to come to the airport this morning has him checking in that I’m okay. Others might think it’s being nosy, but Wallace is someone I trust, and I know he genuinely cares.

“Yes.” It’s all I can manage right now. My mind is off thinking about Victoria reading my email.

From: Nicholas Darby

To: Victoria Packer

Dear Victoria,

I wish to apologize for our work trip being cut short and not quite as either of us had planned.

My plans changed quickly, and I needed to return to London.

Please continue this week with your rebranding project, and I will have Lucy schedule a meeting with you for us to review your next proposal.

Any information you may need help with, please contact Flynn Taylor, who I’m sure will be more than helpful. He has been working with me since the day I took over the business. I will organize for him to take you on a tour of our London hotel for you to get a feel of what a Darby Hotel has to offer. I’m not sure your stay in Rome gave you the right impression.

I trust you with this job. I have a feeling you are far more talented than you give yourself credit for. The situation with your previous job will not happen here, and I will make sure we continue to work together on a professional level. Trust your gut and don’t take the safe option. Show me what you can do.

Thank you,

Mr. Nicholas Darby

CEO/Owner of Darby Hotel Chain

I know it was the gutless thing to do, but I just couldn’t face the fight. At some stage I will need to explain to Flynn that I have just dumped Tori in his lap, and if he touches her, he will die.

What the fuck is wrong with me?!

Watching out the window as the world whizzes past me in a blur, I can’t think clearly. My brain keeps going back to my core belief. Is this something you would be happy to tell your mother, knowing she would be proud of you? And the answer is a big fat no! I stepped over so many boundaries with Tori. All against my better judgment, yet I couldn’t stop.

I crave her on a level I have never experienced before.

Did I do the right thing sleeping with her? Probably not, but do I regret it? Not a chance. Her peachy skin in my hands last night was something I’ll never forget and won’t get again. I’ve sworn off Tori for good. The two of us together would never work. We are too volatile when we are around each other, and the other problem is that it just makes me want to fuck her harder. Such a bad combination of lust and hate. I take the blame for my part, being controlling, yet I can’t hold myself back with her.

As we reach the entrance of the estate, the old square stone pillars and iron gate are the sign I’m home. My apartment in London is where I stay, but this is truly home for me.

The crunching of gravel under the tires makes me take that deep breath I need. The breath that allows me to finally breathe, strip off the literal suit I wear when others see me, and let myself unwind to just be me. Nic, the chef who is living another life that he inherited and is determined to succeed in. But that doesn’t mean that every so often I can’t be the guy who surfed and ran every morning. Who cleared his head with the saltwater running over my skin and the sun heating his blood, not a care in the world.

But here I am, everyone’s property. I need to be at the top of my game to make sure that every person I employ, and in turn then every family I support, are happy and paid well. My family’s reputation is still held up high, and the legacy of my grandparents and father will continue for many years to come. I don’t want to disappoint them or my mother, who is so proud I followed in my father’s footsteps.

A high expectation to maintain, yet I’m managing.

Well, Iwas,until a certain woman walked into my life, and since then, the world seems different. Chaotic, yes, but there’s also something else I can’t put my finger on, and it’s driving me crazy.

Walking through my back door into the kitchen, I know what I need to do. I need to cook!

The kitchen is my happy place, cooking the one thing that gives me true joy and no stress. Because I’m not cooking for anyone else but myself, and even though I’m my own worst critic, I can handle that.

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