Boost by Vi Summers

 

Chapter 40

-Greer-

 

 

The next morning, I hurried past Christian’s office with my head down, hoping to slip by without him noticing.

While my hair shielded my face from view, I should have known that slinking past was more suspicious than walking by with my head high and shoulders back, as per usual.

“Gree?” came his questioning voice.

I didn’t acknowledge, and I didn’t stop. I had to get to the sanctuary of my office to reassess the damage for the fifteenth time this morning. Sure, the concealer hid the bruising, but no makeup could hide the swelling.

Roxiee pushed her to her stilettoed feet and rushed into my office, hot on my heels. While she saw the accident happen and helped me clean up, she hadn’t seen the damage in daylight.

“How bad is it?” she hissed, coming up behind me as I inspected my face in the mirror hanging on my office wall.

“I guess it could be worse…”

“I still can’t believe it happened. I’m so sorry I didn’t see it coming.”

I eyed her through the reflection. “This is in no way your fault; just wrong place, wrong time.”

She turned me by the shoulders and assessed the damage at close range, concern radiating from sharp gaze.

“I’m okay, Rox, just a little sore.”

“I’ll grab you some more ice; see if we can get that swelling down a little more.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, knowing she would do it whether I accepted the offer or not.

Each strike of her heels faded from air-shot as she made her way to the office kitchen. A matter of seconds later, the timbre of Christian’s voice made me jump.

“Gree? What’s happened? Roxiee doesn’t rush like that unless it’s urgent.”

“It’s nothing,” I replied, ducking my head and angling away.

He stepped closer, his hand lightly brushing the small of my back as the other pressed against my hipbone. With little resistance, he pivoted me in place, then cursed when I looked up at him.

“The fuck?” He gently twisted me toward the window for better light. “Someone decked you?”

His fingers tenderly touched my jaw and angled my head so he could get a better look. Anger vibrated through his touch and echoed throughout his expression.

“When did this happen?”

I shook my head. “Last night. Some woman slipped and bumped into me on the dancefloor. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

Disquiet and outrage warred through his gaze. Both took away the affection that usually lingered in the fringes of his eyes whenever he looked at me, and the intensity made my breath still. Temper rolled off him in thick waves, each one burying deeper into my chest than the last.

“Is that bruising?” he asked softly, and dropped his head to closely inspect the slight bruising under my eyes hidden by layers of makeup.

I gingerly touched my nose and winced. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Christian violently jolted to the side. The unexpected and sudden movement startled me, as did Rafael’s booming voice.

“The fuck are you doing? Get your hands off her!”

Tian didn’t have a moment to collect himself before Raf was on him, pinning him to the ground by straddling his torso, and landing blow after blow while Christian fought back as best he could in a dress shirt and tie.

“Rafael!” I screamed. Each time his fist connected, it created a sickening thud. “Raf, stop! Stop it!”

Roxiee ran into the office and cursed. She threw the ice-pack at Raf’s back, which did nothing but bounce off and fuel his fury.

“Raf, stop it!” I screamed again at the top of my lungs. It was as if he was locked in a separate world and unable to hear me.

Desperation filled my veins. I hated seeing Tian take the fallout when he’d done absolutely nothing wrong.

In the space between an inhale and exhale, my eyes briefly locked with Roxiee’s across the brawl, and then I moved without thinking.

I threw myself blindly at Raf. The force of the impact was enough to knock him off balance and topple him sideways off Tian.

Through pure reaction, Raf threw up an elbow as he overbalanced. It collided with my ribs, inducing an immediate sharp burst of pain. Oxygen immediately punched from my chest and my lungs spasmed so hard I couldn’t draw a breath.

The moments that followed were surreal and out of sync with time. Raf’s eyes, dark and inky, were nothing but a stranger’s as they cut through me without seeing. Every muscle in his body remained tightly coiled as he pushed to his knees and panted heavily.

I sat as best I could in a tight business skirt and gasped when a twinge shot through my ribcage. My hands snapped up to press against the sharp pain. I forced myself up and stumbled to the couch, closing my eyes and gasping to catch a much-needed breath.

Tian’s angry voice wove ice down my spine. “You fuck! You just hurt her!” He dabbed the back of his hand to his split lip while glaring daggers at Rafael.

Raf’s body jolted violently as if he’d been physically struck. His stricken eyes found me; now wide with remorse and disbelief. They seared into me as he swallowed and worked his jaw. So many unspoken thoughts ran through his gaze. Confusion. Regret. Heartache.

“What!” he whispered, darting bewildered glances from Tian, to Roxiee, and then finally to me. He looked so broken, so lost.

I shook my head. “No-”

“Yes, you did, asshole,” Christian cut in as Roxiee disappeared.

I winced and rose to my feet. Outstretching a hand did little to close the distance between Raf and I.

His expression tore me in two. He seemed sickened and vacant. Empty as if he was falling apart inside where no one could see. But I saw. I saw the fear. I saw him shouldering the blame for me getting caught in the cross-fire.

Rafael’s eyes flared before narrowing sharply on my nose. He pushed to his feet and came to me, reaching a trembling hand, yet not touching.

“What happened, baby girl? Your nose…”

I forced a wavering smile. “It’s nothing.”

He whirled on Christian and pointed savagely, sending the anger in the room skyrocketing once more. “Look at her face! You were going to kiss her!”

Tian’s non-humorous laughter cut across my office. “I wasn’t about to kiss her, you idiot. I was trying to make sure she was okay.”

Raf’s expression crumbled. His mouth worked open and closed as he ran a hand over his head. Finally, his gaze settled on my face again. “How did it happen?”

“Dancing,” I murmured. “Some girl stumbled and headbutted me.”

His focus then dropped to where I held my ribs. A deep crease formed between his eyebrows and he shook his head. “I hurt you?” His voice cracked in devastation.

I shook my head again. “It doesn’t matter; it was my fault for lunging at you.”

“The hell it doesn’t matter,” Tian snapped. He stabbed a finger at Raf and took a menacing step forward. “Regardless of how she got injured last night, you hurt her just now. You’re nothing but a lowlife and don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. Get the fuck out.”

A shuddering inhale filled Raf’s chest, and he dashed a nervous tongue over his lower lip.

“I hurt you,” he repeated. The whispered words tore my heart in two.

“You didn’t, Raf, it’s okay,” I assured him desperately. I felt him pulling away. Slipping through my fingers, and I was grasping at anything to not let that happen. “It was an accident.”

Raf shook his head and backed up a step. My chest felt like it was being crushed. I knew what he was doing. He was slamming up walls. Shutting me out. Physically and emotionally distancing himself from me.

My attention flicked to Roxiee when she returned with our security guard, Logan.

“You okay?” she murmured.

“Yes.” My eyes sought out Rafael again.

His entire posture deflated. I’d never seen a man look so broken. So crestfallen. And the new disconnect in his eyes speared through me like an iron rod.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Greer. I didn’t mean to,” he murmured like a child knowing he’d done wrong.

Christian stepped closer, now holding tissues to his nose. “Well, you did. Get the fuck out. I won’t tell you again.”

“Rafael…” Of course, he needed to leave, but I desperately needed to talk to him. “We need to talk. I’ll call you later.”

He didn’t utter a word as he turned his body. His eyes held mine as he angled further away, wanting to say so much, but holding it all inside.

My heart ached as he walked past Logan without so much as a stolen backward glance. 

As the elevator pinged in the background, Christian glared and shook his head at me.

“I’m not fucking impressed, Greer.”

“This is all a massive misunderstanding!”

“He fucking tackled me, then punched me!”

“Yes, that was wrong, but-”

“And then he hurt you!” Tian exclaimed.

“That wasn’t intentional and we both know it. It was a reaction, just like yours was when he took you off-guard.”

Tian scoffed harshly. “Oh, come off it and stop making excuses for him. You might love him, but open your fucking eyes, woman.”

“Get out,” I screamed.

Tian curled his lip and tsked at me, then mercifully left before tears welled in my eyes. My entire world had become distressingly unstable, and there was nothing I could do to settle it.

Logan lingered until he knew I was okay, and Roxiee slowly picked up the forgotten ice-pack from the floor and handed it to me. I took it with shaking hands and tilted my head to the ceiling, willing the emotions away before I completely broke.

“You two look like you’ve gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson,” she mumbled.

An ugly laugh-cry escaped as what was left of my strength dissipated. I turned to hide the tears that blurred my vision.

“Are we suing?”

Her question shook me harder than my argument with Tian did. If this resulted in a lawsuit, that not only put our reputation at risk of going under, but it would also be incredibly damaging for the Boost Foundation.

Hastily dashing away the moisture clouding my gaze, I took a series of deep breaths to steady my voice

“No, we won’t be suing.”