The Sunday after the grand opening of the club, I received an email from Quantum Enterprises. I groaned and my finger lingered over the delete button. Like the email, I wanted to delete Sebastien from my life, permanently.
He was an infuriating, overbearing control freak! But, damn , he also smelled amazing, looked annoyingly hot, and made my knees feel weak when he gazed at me with those intense green eyes of his.
And the moment after the opening, when I felt a hand on my arm and I thought I was being attacked, lashing out, he wasn’t angry. He was patient, gentle, and made me feel safe for the first time in a long time.
I sighed and pushed my thoughts of Sebastien to the side. I looked at the email sitting in front of me. I knew that if I didn’t read it, it would haunt me forever. Reluctantly, I clicked on it, and my jaw dropped as I read its contents.
Not only had Sebastien doubled the original offer to one hundred thousand dollars a month, but he also added meal stipends, a fully furnished luxury apartment with a company car, a twenty thousand dollar sign-on bonus, four weeks of paid vacation with travel allowances each year, medical and dental Insurance, opportunities to attend workshops and conferences to improve my skills, flexible working hours, and the option to work remotely when needed.
Sebastien sure did know how to lay it on thick. The email was my dream job wrapped in gift paper with a complimentary bow at the top.
But…there was a catch. It was Sebastien, so I expected nothing less. I had to reply to the email today, or I’d lose the offer.
I curled my knees to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, rested my head on my knees and breathed deeply.
Taking the job meant going back under Sebastien’s tyranny.
Not taking the job meant sending numerous resumes hoping someone would hire me.
Taking the job meant being able to pay off my debt quickly.
Not taking the job meant more missed payments and worse.
Tears escaped my eyes before I could blink them back.
“Dean, I miss you. I wish you were here with me,” I whispered.
I had no choice. I had to suck it up.
After wiping my tears, I adjusted myself in my chair and replied to the email, thanking Sebastien for the offer and accepting everything minus the car and the apartment. Almost immediately, I received a reply instructing me to arrive at head office the next day at nine a.m.
***
That had been almost a week ago. Now, here I was, pacing my office, steam coming out of my ears, because once again, Sebastien had acted like a raving lunatic just because I was chatting with a male co-worker I’d met in the parking lot coming back from lunch.
And that wasn’t the worst part! Besides being possessive, he was exhibiting stalker-like behavior. There were times when we ended up in the same restaurant for lunch, or I bumped into him at the supermarket. Also, I noticed his security guards would follow me home and still be there the next morning when I came out to go to work. This version of Sebastien made dealing with the previous Sebastien seem like child’s play. And I had no idea what to do about it. My contract was for a year, and if broken, I’d have to pay a hefty fine.
I sank into my chair and willed myself not to cry. Maybe I should just disappear.
But then what happens to Dean?
This wasn’t the life I had envisioned, and honestly, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I had four more hours to get through before I could go home and cry my eyes out in the privacy of my crappy apartment.
The hours crawled by, and at five p.m. I was mentally drained. I was packing up my things when Sebastien stepped into my office.
“I’ll need you to work late tonight.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Quantum, but I have plans.” I didn’t even look up at him as I slung my handbag over my shoulder.
“Cancel them,” he ordered.
I glared at him. “No.”
I saw him flinch, and before he could open his mouth to respond, I retorted, “I’m not working late tonight, and if you don’t like it, you can fire me. This is not the last job on the planet.”
Sebastien’s eyes darkened as he glared at me. Just then, he received a phone call and stalked out of my office. That was my cue to leave before he came back. I walked out of the office, barely waving at my co-workers. I just needed to put as much distance between Sebastien and myself as possible.
An hour and a half later, I pulled up in front of my apartment building. All I wanted was a hot shower, then to curl up and watch a good movie. After grabbing my handbag, I locked my car, made my way into the building and dragged myself up the stairs.
But when I got to my apartment, my heart skipped a beat. The door was slightly ajar. I knew that couldn’t be a good sign. Bile gathered at the back of my throat.
Cautiously, I pushed the door open, and my blood ran cold as I looked around my apartment. It was completely trashed. My sofa was overturned, and the pillows were shredded. My coffee tables lay splintered on the ground, and shards of glass were scattered around the apartment from broken vases that once held my flowers. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the writing scrawled on the wall in red paint. ‘See you soon, bitch.’
That was all it took.
I spun on my heel and bolted down the stairs as if the hounds from hell were on my tail. My heel caught on the third step, and I tumbled down to the bottom of the staircase, breaking one of my heels off in the process. I hardly noticed the sharp pain in my shoulder and head as adrenaline pumped through my veins. I scrambled to my feet, snatched my handbag from where it had fallen and rushed to my car. Once outside, my eyes darted around frantically, praying that whoever trashed my apartment hadn’t stuck around to see what time I’d be home.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Rex hop out of the SUV. As he jogged towards me, I jabbed the key into the door and slid into the car just as he reached my door. I ignored the tapping on my glass and sped away from my apartment building, not looking back.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I screamed as I slammed my hands on the steering wheel.
Tears streamed down my face as my head spun. They found me. I knew it was only a matter of time but…I just wished…
The blare of a truck horn jolted me out of my thoughts.
Shit! I was in the wrong lane.
My heart pounded as I swerved dangerously in front of a cab. The cab driver flipped me off, but I had bigger problems to deal with than worrying about an angry cab driver. I needed a place to stay. A safe place. But where?
I had no friends or family to seek refuge with. My chest tightened and I could barely breathe, making me feel lightheaded, as I zoomed past cars. Drivers honked angrily as I cut in front of them without signaling.
Before I knew what I had done, I was pulling back into the parking lot of Quantum Enterprises Head Office. I slammed the car into park at the entrance of the building, grabbed my handbag and hopped out of the car, not caring that the engine had been left running. I dug into my handbag, desperately searching for my access keycard to the building as I headed for the entrance. With shaky hands, I finally found it. I swiped it at the entrance and stumbled into the building. I just needed to get to my office and hide, at least for tonight.
But, just as I turned the last corner to get there, I slammed into someone, the impact making me wince and see stars. I reached out to grab the wall and steady myself. I looked up and my stomach twisted in knots when I realized the person I had slammed into was none other than Sebastien.
Shit!
“I-I forgot something in my office. I just need to get it, then I’ll leave,” I blurted out, my voice cracking on the last few words.
Sebastien took a step back and slowly scanned me from head to toe. I shifted uncomfortably under his unnerving gaze. I needed to get away from him. There was no way I could stay here anymore. Maybe I could find a cheap motel to spend the night.
I turned quickly and began to walk in the direction I had just come from. I had only taken a few steps before Sebastien suddenly grabbed my wrist. I jerked to a stop and instinctively turned to face him. A blinding pain shot through my injured shoulder, and I gasped as my other hand shot up to it, my vision blurring with tears.
Sebastien swore under his breath and dropped his hand as though I had burned him. Without warning, he scooped me into his arms like I weighed nothing more than a rag doll. My skin grew hot and my pulse quickened as he briskly made his way to his office. The moment he placed me on the sofa, I missed the security of his arms. I watched as he walked back to the door and locked it. Shit .