Page 11

ELEVEN

Ashley

As tough as it was, I was going to have to accept things would be uncomfortable for me for a little while. It would pass once I made the necessary changes.

My thoughts strayed to Micha and his possible reaction to hearing I was switching part time. What would he do with a part time pet or slave? The less time I had to spend around him, the better. There was no way I could keep going on the way I had.

Just thinking about the way he eyed me sent a shudder up my back and a heat coursing through my veins. The biggest question I had was what was his ultimate goal? What was he waiting to do?

The night I’d gone to the release party for Ipomoea’s new drug, Onychinus, with Josiah, Della, and Micha, Della had been taken by her ex-boyfriend, Brett. It’d taken a little bit for me to figure out where she’d gone, what’d happened to her, but when I found out I freaked out. One of the hotel’s workers even said he put handcuffs on her and dragged her to a van. At the time, I thought I’d never see her again.

It was Micha who’d comforted me. While I waited for news, I sat impatiently in a chair in the lobby and Micha had come looking for me. He was the last person I’d expected to see after the way he’d yelled at me on the ride over, but he’d crouched down by the chair and said, “I promise you with everything I am we’ll bring her back to you.” He ordered some burly looking men to stay by my side until he returned—on pain of death.

Before he left, he’d stretched out a hand toward me, and I’d stared at it, the pale, smooth skin and perfect nails beckoning me to take a hold of it. I’d almost reached for him. I’d wanted to, even though I knew I shouldn’t. He’d stopped and glanced at me, and I’d met his eyes. The yearning in his gaze had slammed into my chest, taking my breath away, and I’d froze.

I remembered curling into myself, and then he was gone, two oversized goons crowding in around me.

That interaction had been second guessed by me over and over again. Della was the love of his best friends’ life. Josiah and Micha had the closest friendship I’d ever witnessed between two grown men. Of course, Micha would pull out all the stops and do whatever it took to bring his love back. And I was Della’s best friend so therefore, I was important.

It wasn’t me that meant so much to Micha, it was what I represented.

I grabbed my trash and tossed it into the overflowing can near our table and trekked down to the water’s edge. A family with two young kids were picking up wood chips and tiny rocks and tossing them into the water. Ducks were floating around, bobbing in the rippling waves, waiting for scraps of food. They were making beelines for the impostor items as the children giggled over the animal’s antics.

A bench was leaning against a tree near the shoreline, and I sat down to enjoy a few minutes of tranquility after casting a glance back at my friends. Karissa was doubled over laughing. Mike was standing behind Ike, his arms around his new love’s waist, and Andy was saying something, punctuating his story with wild hand gestures. They were happy, carefree. I loved my little group.

Smiling, I started to turn back to the water when I felt a hand firmly wrap around my neck. Before I could yell or move, Micha blocked the sun, his shadow covering my face like a dark cloud. “There you are,” he said. “Pet.”

Shocked to see Satan outside his den, it took me a moment to form words. “It's Saturday, leave me alone,” I finally muttered.

I reached up to swat his arm away, but it had no effect. He looked stunningly out of place, in his black dress pants, vest, and a deep green shirt and matching tie. The sun glinted off his tie pin, the gold sparkling in the light.

“Every day is a workday for my slave,” he informed me, keeping his voice low. If anyone had looked at us, they would’ve thought either a crime was about to be committed, or that we were lovers. That’s how close he stood.

Micha moved his hand to my shoulder, his grip remaining firm in warning. He had the sunglasses on and I wanted to tear them from his face so I could look him in the eye. “It's my day off and guess what? I talked to Josiah and got permission to step down. I’m only part time now.”

Sneaking a peek behind me, I saw Andy watching my exchange like a hawk, laser focused on what was transpiring mere yards away. We were out of earshot, but I’m sure he could tell this wasn’t a pleasant conversation.

“It doesn’t work like that, angel. You’ll be accompanying me tonight; I have something special planned.”

The cutesy name picked at my memory, sounding like a familiar echo, but I couldn’t place it. The tiny smirk dragging the edge of his lips made me think whatever his plan was, I wouldn’t like it one little bit.

“That’s outside work hours, Micha.”

His hold switched from my shoulder to my upper arm, and he wrapped his fingers around the muscle, pulling me to a standing position.

“Your extracurricular activity was, too,” he shot back, referencing what’s brought me into his clutches. “Those are your friends over there, right?” I didn’t answer. He damn well knew they were, or he wouldn’t have said anything.

He tilted his head toward them. “I see Andy, Karissa, Mike... and some fresh blood.”

I spun to face him. “If you touch my friends, I’ll kill you,” I hissed at him.

“I’d like to see you try,” Micha said. “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.” He licked his lower lip and then bit it before he yanked me closer. “Time to go.”

The worst thing I could do was let my friends see me be dragged away kicking and screaming and I didn’t want to try and call Micha’s bluff. It wasn’t worth it. I’d survived him so far, and I could hang on a bit longer. I was strong enough.

I’d screwed up enough lately without causing any more damage to those I cared about.

Andy looked like he wanted to run over and rescue me and even Karissa was sending me furtive glances at this point. There was no way I’d give Micha cause to set his sights on them.

“Fine,” I said, tearing my arm away. “I’ll go with you. Just let me say goodbye to my friends.”

“Creepiest boss ever,” I muttered under my breath as I started walking.

“I heard that.”

“Good.”

We arrived at the picnic table, Micha breathing down my neck, and everyone went quiet. A tense atmosphere descended like a tsunami, instantly wiping everyone’s smile from their face. Karissa eyed us warily, not really being comfortable around strangers to begin with. She knew who he was, but their paths very rarely crossed when she’d been employed at Ipomoea.

Andy looked ready to shoot the man standing behind me and I didn’t doubt he would, if he could. Mike appeared confused and Ike was the only one to act normal.

“Hey man, what’s up? Pleasure to meet Ashley’s man,” Ike said, holding out his hand. Micha didn’t take it, choosing to remain silent and unmoving.

“He’s not my man. I’m taking off, got some work stuff to handle. I’ll see you guys later,” I said, moving to head toward Karissa and give her a hug.

Micha didn’t shift so much as an inch, forcing me to rub against him as I turned. His hand drifted to my waist, like he was guiding me, but I felt the warning in the firm clasp of his palm, the wordless message of what he would do if I tried to raise the alarm.

Andy was now glaring at Micha while Ike was oblivious to everyone’s discomfort and nonchalantly massaging Mike’s shoulders. Karissa met me halfway and stretched an arm over me to give me a hug, turning her head away from Micha. My heart was pounding, and I began getting annoyed with myself over my reaction to my stalker of a boss.

What it all boiled down to was, if he was going to do something to me, he already would have. I kept telling myself this, and I knew it, but I had yet to truly stand up to him. There was just this little thread of doubt that kept wiggling in my subconscious over whether I should test him and whether I really wanted to be away from him.

There was no denying the chemistry anymore. When’d put his hand on my waist, I’d leaned into him like I belonged there, like my home was right there in his possessive grasp. He had to have sensed the connection, the spark between us as strong as steel. This didn’t feel like a casual attraction; it felt like two planets colliding.

He had all the resources in the world at his disposal to get rid of me if he wanted. The support of his friend, Josiah was unquestionable, and untold sums of money backed the two of them up. He could’ve ordered a hit on me or just killed me himself.

So, what was his problem? I doubted he had women he didn’t like hiding under his desk to give him blowjobs.

No, there was something else going on here.