Caught by Emma Louise

Chapter Six

She’s trying to kill me.

She’s trying to fucking kill me, I’m sure of it.

The light tinkle of Darcey’s laughter floats through my open office door, and if I lean back just a little, I can see her in the hallway talking to Felix, one of the two guys we have working for us. If I thought her ass looked good in those trousers the first time I saw her, I was wrong. The tight skirt she has on today is so, so much better. Her ass is so perfect, it’s a fucking distraction. And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s being distracted.

I can’t hear what they're saying, but judging by the faint blush on her cheeks, he’s flirting with her. If it has tits and a pulse, Felix will try to get in its pants. I’m not even sure the tits are a requirement with that guy.

Getting up from my desk, I slam the door hard enough to make the frame rattle.

I should’ve stayed away from here. I thought some time away would be enough to get a hold on my anger at her being here, but it only took one sight of her in the break room, making herself a coffee, for me to realize it was nowhere near enough. It doesn’t matter that Crew tells me she got fired from her job with Serena, or that he says he believes her when she says she’s not here to try to trap me in any way.

I don’t trust her, and I do not want her here.

I’ve been back in the office for a few days now, and I get the feeling that Darcey is avoiding me, which suits me perfectly. Crew tells me she's doing great; the place is already more organized, and the rest of the guys love her. But none of that matters to me. I’d be fucking thrilled if she quit today.

“Everything okay, boss?” Felix asks, poking his head into the room.

“Fine,” I grunt, not looking up from the computer.

“You sure?” He presses, taking an uninvited seat opposite me. I’m about to tell him to fuck off when there’s a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” I bark, gaining an amused smirk from Felix.

“I have some mail for you, and a couple of invoices that need looking at. I’d ask Crew, but he’s out for a few days,” Darcey says as she sets a small stack of papers on the cluttered desk without looking at me directly.

“I know he’s out,” I growl unnecessarily. Her eyes fly to mine, widening in shock at my tone.

“I...” She stumbles over her words.

“If I need your help keeping up to date with the whereabouts of my business partner, I’ll be sure to ask you in the future.” I watch, fascinated as her plump lips part in surprise right before they slam closed in a firm line.

“Right, of course,” she replies after a beat of silence, and I can tell it’s taking a lot for her to keep her cool. “Do you need anything else from me before I go to lunch?” she grinds out, slamming the last of the papers down with much more force than is needed.

“Not from you.” I don’t miss the inhale of shocked breath, or the slight flare of her eyes at my dismissal.

“Fine.” She turns on a heeled foot and storms out of the room.

“Wow,” Felix breathes out, reminding me he's still here.

“What?”

“Are you going to pull her braids next?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Or maybe you’re just going to push her off the swings at recess?”

“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

“That.” He points to the now closed door. “That is what I'm talking about. Your weird way of flirting with the new girl. I thought you had better game than that, man, I have to say.”

“Pretty sure it’s just you who’s been flirting with her.” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Felix is sharp. Sharp enough to detect the edge to my voice as I speak. His eyes narrow, and a cocky smirk hits his face. I don’t need his shit today. “And my flirting with her is an issue?”

“Is there a reason you’re in my office right now?” I ask, hoping like fuck he drops whatever it is he’s gearing up to say next.

“Nope.” He grins. “Just catching up with the boss.”

“Get out.” I sigh, pointing at the door. He does as he’s told, but he does it laughing his ass off.

“This is going to be fun,” he says instead of a goodbye.

When Crew and I decided to open Elite, we didn't expect to need to hire help as fast as we did. It wasn’t much more than six months before we had more contracts than we could deal with on our own. Felix had gotten out of the military at the same time, so it was a no-brainer that he’d come work with us. Gavin, the fourth member of the team and our resident computer expert, joined a few months after that. We’ve been operational for just over two years, and we could probably do with hiring a few more guys so that we can expand on the services we offer. Right now, that’s mostly just installing and upgrading security systems and offering occasional body guarding, but Crew has been trying to convince me to get into more investigation type stuff.

I type out a text to Crew, telling him that we need to get together to talk about recruiting more help. I don’t even get time to put the phone away before he replies.

Crew: Ask Darcey to go through the resumes on my desk and schedule interviews for the ones we already agreed on.

I don’t respond. It isn't not his fault I'm frustrated that she’s still working here, but if I speak to Crew right now, I’ll take it out on him.

Crew: Stop being a stubborn shit and ask her. It's what we pay her to do.

Me: Fine.

I finally respond, knowing he’ll just keep at me if I don’t answer. I know what he’s doing; I’m not dumb. He wants me to get on with her, and he thinks I'll be civil to her here at work. He wants me to get her to do what she’s paid for?

I can totally do that.

* * *

Hours later, I'm leaving the office for the day when I overhear voices coming from one of the back rooms. Checking my watch, I see it’s almost seven o'clock already. There shouldn’t be anyone here at this time.

Taking quiet steps down the hallway, I creep closer to the door that’s slightly open.  “I’m so sorry. I know you had date-night planned.” Darcey’s voice is frustrated as she talks into the phone that’s tucked under her chin. Her hands are busy sorting through stacks of papers and files. She’s quiet while whoever is on the other line speaks. I’m being a creep again, but I can’t seem to stop myself from watching her as she moves around. She’s kicked off her heels and let her hair out of the tight bun it was in earlier. The deep brown waves that flow down her back remind me of the first time I saw her at the MC clubhouse. Stood in the shadows talking to my brother, I watched her from the first second she took a step into the place, knowing right away she didn’t fit in there.

I learned a long time ago to trust my gut, and seeing her, I knew she was going to be trouble.

“Hmm,” she murmurs into the phone, pulling my attention back to her. “I know you don’t mind, but it isn't fair that my boss being a gigantic dick spoils your plans.” She thinks I’m a dick? Well, she might be right about that. “You should see the amount of crap he’s expecting me to do in one day. It’s like a whole weeks' worth of work.” She sighs, defeat stealing its way through her posture. I watch as she slumps down into a chair. Seeing her look so exhausted should probably make me feel bad for giving her so much work to do, but I don’t. If this is what it takes to get her to quit, so be it.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thanks for being so understanding, Lee.”

“Phoning your boyfriend on company time?” I ask once she’s put the phone down, causing her to jump almost clean out of the seat.

“Max! You scared the shit out of me!” She gasps, clutching a hand to her slender throat.

“If I’m paying you to be here, I expect you to be working.”

“I was just—”

“I don’t care what you were doing. Personal phone calls on personal time. Is that clear enough for you?”

The silence stretches around us as she stares up at me.

“Perfectly,” she finally answers in a tired voice that catches me off guard. I expected her to give me her usual attitude.

“You can finish this shit tomorrow anyway. I need to lock this place up, and I don’t trust you to be here alone.” She flinches when she hears what I’m saying, her shoulder sloping down in defeat. Part of me knows it was a stupid thing to say. No matter what she did while working for Serena, I don’t think she’s here to play me, but I’ve learned from experience not to trust the sweet innocent ones. They’re usually the ones who fuck you over the worst. My not so lovely wife taught me that at least.

She doesn’t look my way as she moves around the room getting ready to leave, quietly pushing her phone into her purse and reaching down to grab her shoes. She keeps her gaze trained on the ground, not once looking up. There’s something unsettling about the way she moves, the practiced way she doesn’t make a damn sound. She’s like a shadow of the person who stood up to me a few weeks ago, telling me she was keeping her job whether I liked it or not. It’s unsettling and for some unknown reason, it pisses me off.

“You might think I'm a gigantic dick,” I say, hoping to get a reaction out of her, any reaction to snap her out of the zombie-like state she’s in, “but I’m your boss now. You want to work here; you might want to be a bit more respectful.”

Her face blanches of all color before her cheeks bloom a bright shade of pink.

“I didn’t know you were here,” she says meekly.

“That isn't much of an apology.”

“Why would I apologize? You are a dick.” If I wasn’t so focused on disliking her, I’d probably laugh at her answer. She isn't wrong—I am a dick most of the time. I just don’t usually get called out on it, especially not by someone who wants to keep their job.  I let it slide tonight because I’ve done what I set out to do, killing two birds with one stone. I’ve pissed her off and got the spark of fire back in her eye.

She doesn’t wait for me to respond. She pushes her dainty feet into her shoes and gathers her belongings before walking toward the door where I'm still standing.

“If I’m such a dick, why are you still working here?” I don’t know why I ask the question, but something about her newfound determination has piqued my curiosity.

“Because I’m done letting men like you think they can dictate anything in my life.” Her blunt truth catches me completely off guard, leaving me standing there like the dick she thinks I am as she brushes past me and out the door without so much as a backward glance.