Tarnished Love by Bianca Borell
FILIP
Two Years Later
I pause at her office door then step inside. The desktop may burst with the intensity of her typing.
“Bria.” Her expressionless gaze snaps to my voice.
Today my nerves are stretched to the limit, and I don’t have the patience to deal with this. I just came from Sophia and her banged up arm to face the shadow of Bria as though nothing ever happens outside her personal bubble.
“Filip, I have to work.”
“Bria, wake the fuck up.”
“Filip.” Her voice monotone as I lift my hands in the air.
“Why did you come back? Look around you, you’re a prisoner.”
“That’s enough.”
“How much longer, Bria?”
I storm away, pack a bag, and move to London. I am done with Zürich.
Two years is a long time to hope. The Bria I know is never coming back.
***
The next morning when I check my messages, I see a summons from Damien, probably because I didn’t tell him I was leaving Zürich. Why should I? He may be the CEO, but all four of us have the same rights, and I can do my job from anywhere.
I step off the elevator, and Luisa jumps up, shaking her head. I don’t pay her any attention because I don’t care that he doesn’t want to be interrupted. When I storm into his office, the anger in his eyes almost has me halting. But his glare doesn’t stop me.
“I can’t do it anymore.” I slam my palm on his desk for emphasis.
He raises an eyebrow.
“I’ve done my time there.”
“It’s not as if I sent you to prison.” His voice rings with derision, as if scolding a petulant child. I grit my teeth, his sister is in so much pain, and if he would come home more often, he would realize my sister fades away with every new conquest of his. But instead, the king rules from his throne and continues with his plan.
“I’m relocating—the London office will now be my primary location.”
“Filip.”
“Don’t. My sister is fucking gone, get over it or do something about it. Pull your head out of your ass. Both of you. You two are the biggest fucking disappointments of my life.”
His jaw twitches and he says, “Fine.”
I slump on the couch, and I break—my sister, now Sophia, him, the fact that I go through life mechanically—it’s all too much. He slides next to me and clasps my shoulder.
“It’s not what I wanted, for either of us. Now get yourself together. Du Monts and du Skys don’t break.”
“Only on the inside.”
“Exactly.” Luisa knocks, and Damien nods at her in acknowledgement.
“I have a meeting.”
“Do you ever wonder, Damien?”
“More than I would like to admit.”
“Open your eyes.”
“When I do, I see her with him.”
***
“A Heineken, please,” I say to the bartender in the first pub I find after leaving Damien’s office.
The barstool next to me shifts, and my eyes trail up the long legs encased in skinny jeans and a slim body wrapped in a red trench coat. When my eyes stall on her face, I freeze. It’s not that I haven’t seen her in the last two years—she’s a constant in Damien’s life—but I’ve never allowed myself to really take her in after that night.
“Chloe.” Her name falls out of my mouth, and my cock rises to salute her. He hasn’t forgotten her or the fantasies in my mind with her as the star.
“Filip.” That same sultry, sweet voice that I swear has a direct link to both my heart and my dick.
The small dots of freckles scrunch up on her nose as she squirms once again. But it doesn’t prevent me from gazing at her, every time she becomes more gorgeous. Her blond hair with reddish highlights grazes her shoulders, and those emerald eyes peek from under lashes that have me picturing a bed and her naked in it. She tilts that smooth neck of hers, long and slender, and I gulp my beer.
“And here I thought none of you even had an idea how a beer tasted.” Touché, oh, she likes to play the rich man/poor woman card.
“I am always open for new adventures.” I wink at her, and she gesticulates in a faux surprise. “So, in a bar at noon?”
“I could say the same about you,” she retorts, and I smile, a genuine one, and my face muscles strain, reminding me I still can do it without faking it.
“I moved here.”
“And I was under the impression you were still avoiding me.” The arrogance of her, but damn if she is not halfway right.
“Oh, Chloe, you may be beautiful, but the world is full of beautiful women.” While true, it is also a lie because no other woman causes my body to react like she does. But it goes both ways, I can tell by how she’s just sitting there and breathing through her nose that my words antagonized her, again. I miss coaxing a reaction out of her. She’s so expressive, the way her eyes shimmer and darken. As if I need the reminder she is dangerous.
“I came to visit Damien, but he’s in a meeting and cannot be disturbed.”
When isn’t he? The world domination he and Bria have started must be achieved.
“Still pining away and just waiting until he sees you?” She flinches, and I open my mouth to apologize, but the hurt I detect in her eyes as if I hit a nerve startles me, making me forget.
“Fuck you, Filip.”
“Any time, Chloe.” Why am I like this with her? If I wanted to fuck her, I would bring on the charm, but I am so damn tired of playing the game.
She rises to her feet and locks her arms around me, and her perfume, something fruity, subtle but vibrant mixed with her natural scent, sends my senses into overdrive. I spread my legs and pull her to my chest, and she traces a finger down my buttons. She wants to play? I’ll let her play.
To my surprise and joy, she leans in, while my eyes are glued to her red lips, and whispers, “I’d rather wait for Damien to fuck me than fuck an entitled prick like you. You haven’t changed one bit.”
Inside she slays me, but outside, I let out a bark—half laughter, half disdain. Why, Chloe, do you entice me like this and make me want to prove to you I can. It’s my reaction mode. Stupid.
“If you ever need some help getting rid of the cobwebs in your pussy, I can help.”
She gasps, and her expression turns to horrified. Don’t play with fire if you don’t want to get burned, Chloe.
“You’re horrible, who the fuck hurt you so badly for you to be this bitter?”
I smile and slam my lips to hers. I can’t rein myself in anymore and snap. It was bound to happen. One second she gasps, the next she kisses me back, and everything in me relaxes, giving in to this euphoric madness. A mix of desire, frustration, and us. She moans as my tongue slides inside her plump mouth. I cup her face, and when her eyes find mine, they shimmer. Hard to believe she’s even more beautiful now with swollen lips and hungry eyes, and I commit it to my memory. It’s just her and me stealing a moment. We’re both just chasing after something.
“I hate you,” she whispers, and I rest my forehead on hers.
“No, you don’t. It’s long overdue.”
“You avoided me, Filip.”
“It’s for the best.” Why am I so honest with her? Maybe because I will turn back into a bastard soon enough, and she deserves better than me.
“There is something about you.”
“And here I presumed you fell for only the broody, moody, and unavailable kind.”
Her inquisitive eyes tear me open, and I gulp through the lump wedged in my throat. Her soft fingers trace my collarbone, and she closes her eyes.
“You’re the most unavailable of them all, Filip,” she says as she leaves me, mouth agape, a tent rising between my legs, her scent lingering around me.
“Go after her,” the bartender shouts and points at the door, but I clasp the bottle of beer and drain it. I tell myself it’s just a passing fancy. A passing fancy that keeps me awake from time to time, a passing fancy that makes me livid when she’s in my vicinity and I want her but can’t have her, but a passing fancy, nonetheless. I swipe through my contact list, and my thumb stalls on V, Veronica or Vivian. My thumb decides as it dials. Just a means to an end, endless strings of means to an end.
