Page 22 of Broken Minds

Chapter Ten

I felt bad that I’djust come all over her and then turned and left. Perhaps she’d expected cuddling, but I wasn’t a cuddling kind of guy, but also, the moment I’d ejaculated, I realized something.

I was starting to like Jolie.

Loretta was right. I was getting soft for her—when my cock wasn’t getting hard—and that complicated things. It was easier to hate her.

I exited the elevator with my head down, so I didn’t notice Loretta in front of me until I’d almost slammed into her.

“What the—?”

My housekeeper stood with her arms folded and her lips pressed together. “What the fuck are you playing at?”

I reared back at her vehemence. “Sorry?”

“I know exactly what you were doing down there.”

I frowned and shook my head, but guilt flooded over me, and my face heated. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Bullshit. If I didn’t smell sex pouring off you, I’d have known anyway.” She gestured toward my office. “Did you forget that you have cameras down there?”

The blood drained from my face. “What are you talking about? You don’t have access to those screens. They’re protected by my computer password.”

“I’ve been working here long enough to see what that is, Hayden.” She spat my name, as though using it to spite me instead of calling me sir, as she was supposed to. “Do you think I’m stupid? How many times have I been cleaning the office while you’ve been working?”

My mouth dropped. “You used my password to get into my computer and you watched me and Jolie down there?”

“Yes, I saw everything, so don’t try to pretend like you feel nothing for her.”

I lifted my eyebrows, my eyes widening. “What the fuck, Loretta? You watched us have sex?” The idea of Loretta watching while I screwed Jolie made me sick to my stomach.

“I had to know for sure. You kept insisting there was nothing between you. If you hadn’t lied to me, I wouldn’t have been forced to watch. Believe me, it wasn’t something I enjoyed, seeing you all over that little tramp. I thought more of you, but it seems I was wrong.”

Anger burned away my embarrassment. “First of all, it’s none of your goddamned business who I have sex with. Secondly, it’s possible for a man to fuck a woman and not feel a single thing for her. Did it ever occur to you that maybe that’s how I’m keeping her in check? Thirdly, you finding out my password and going into my computer is way out of line, Loretta. I’ve fired employees for far less.”

She straightened her shoulders. “You think you’re going to fire me? And what happens then, Hayden? You’re an intelligent man. You must understand that I know far too much. I could have you locked up just like that.” To highlight her point, she snapped her thumb and fingers together.

I glared at her. “If you report me for anything, Patrick Dorman will stay alive. Is that what you want?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You know it isn’t.”

“Then I suggest you let me do things my way.”

Externally, I was playing it cool, but inside I was shaking and furious. I hated the idea of Loretta standing in my office, watching Jolie and me when we were in such an intimate situation, knowing she’d have been able to flick between the screens and see us from whichever angle she wanted. I was sickened at the possibility of her getting turned on by such a thing, getting a kick out of it. It also made me realize that perhaps I didn’t know this woman as well as I thought I did. It never occurred to me that she might break my trust and gain access to a computer she knew was out of bounds. I’d assumed that because we were united in our loss of our loved ones and our hatred of Patrick Dorman that I’d be able to trust her inside my home as well. I remembered being shocked and irritated by her quick use of the Taser on Jolie, but had blamed myself for giving it to her in the first place, but now I wondered if it had been the right thing to do. Because she was a woman and older, I’d wanted her to have something to both protect herself and to stop Jolie getting away. The Taser had achieved that, but had she been a little quick to use it—a little eager?

“I suggest you get out of my sight,” I told her. “I’ll decide what to do with you later.”

My housekeeper gave me one final scowl before she turned and stalked away. I exhaled an angry, frustrated breath and allowed my shoulders to relax. The buzz I’d experienced after fucking Jolie was long gone, and I was irritated at Loretta for tainting what had happened.

I didn’t know what I could do. I needed Loretta here, and she was right when she said she knew too much. It didn’t matter if she spilled her guts after I’d killed Jolie’s father, but I needed her to keep her mouth shut before then.

I didn’t think she’d actually say anything—not before our mission had been achieved, anyway. She had too much invested in this as well, and she wasn’t going to just throw it all away.

Besides, she was right when she said things were getting complicated between me and Jolie. I thought they were about as complicated as things could be between a man and a woman, but that didn’t mean I wanted anything to change. But change was probably the only thing I could rely on in this situation. I had the boat now, and I could take her off the island and onto the mainland, and then the next part of my plan could begin.

Our time together was limited, and right now all I wanted was to make the most of it. If that meant spending the rest of our time together with my cock buried in her pussy, mouth, or ass, then that was exactly what I planned on doing. Something tightened in my chest as I remembered how she had been worried about me. She’d been frightened that something had happened to me when I’d swum out to the boat. Did that mean she cared about me? Or was she just relieved I hadn’t left her in Loretta’s hands? I remembered how she’d felt pressed up against me, how her hair had smelled slightly musty when I’d buried my nose in it. I’d put my arms around her and I’d held her. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d hugged another person. And it had felt good. Addictively good.

I stopped by the downstairs bathroom to clean up, and then went to my office. I needed to change all my passwords, and not only those on my computer, but all the ones for the files on my computer, too. I knew now that I couldn’t trust Loretta, and who the hell knew what else she’d learned during her time here. The process was going to be dull and time consuming, but I didn’t have any choice. The possibility that she’d already meddled with things on the computer concerned me. I had my email accounts on there, and one badly sent email could mess up everything.

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