"Hellena," he sighed. "This is what I need from you."
She nodded. "Anything."
"I need your key, both to the flat and the club. You'll clean your things out of the club in the morning. I'll settle you in an apartment of my choosing. I'll pay for a year's rent and you'll have six month's severance pay. You'll stay away from me and from Mariss. If I see you again I'll report you to the police." He stood back out of the way. "You have ten minutes to get dressed and get out. Leave your keys on the bed." She stared at him long enough that he told her, "Get out." His voice cracked, his head ached, and his eyes burned with tears. He'd never even known he could cry.
Hellena ran from the shower, not bothering to dry off. Sebastian stayed there a very long time. When he finally dragged himself to bed, he wrapped himself in sheets that smelled like Mariss and let himself pretend she was still there, her body cradled against his. He needed her comfort tonight. Her friendship and her touch were what he needed most in this moment, but they were the one thing he couldn't have. Sebastian let his pain consume him until he broke. For the first time that he could remember, tears flowed and he cried himself to sleep.
***
Herbert sat in the corner in the leather chair he almost always occupied when he was in Sebastian's home office. Mindy and her brother Jason sat next to each other on the sofa against the wall. Jason was not happy, but his eyes kept darting to Artemis in her terrarium. Rachel stood next to Sebastian where he was perched on the edge of his desk. She looked confused, but no less clueless than usual.
"Thank you, Rachel. That will be all."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Boa."
He hadn't broken her from the habit of calling him by his name when she said 'yes sir', and it was getting on his last nerve.
Rachel left the room quickly, stumbling over heels that were far too high for her clumsiness.
"You're not going to get a payout," he said to Jason. The younger man shot his sister an angry look.
"What the fuck did you do, Mindy?"
"If you can't speak to her respectfully, then your questions will be directed to me. Are we clear? Mindy did the right thing. When the day is out she will be my new personal assistant. What she does with the money I pay her is up to her, but you won't be getting any free money. However, if you'd like a job, my driver could use a few days off a week. You would probably start off at three."
Jason frowned. "What's the catch?"
"I won't have you arrested for extortion. And I won't have your sister arrested for filing false charges against me."
"What about Hellena?" Mindy asked. "What are you going to do about her?"
"I've taken care of Hellena." The events of the previous week still made his chest ache and Sebastian was starting to understand the dangers of depression. The way she'd run from him still made him want to throw up. "She won't be a problem." He pushed himself away from the desk.
There was a commotion in the hall before the door burst open and Mariss stormed into the room looking righteously angry. Rachel was hard on her heels.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Boa. She's strong!"
In this case, he was more than positive that Rachel hadn't failed to do her job properly.
"How could you?" Mariss growled. Her voice was low and furious. She spat the words at him like they were made of acid and supposed to burn through his skin.
"What?" he asked.
"I thought we'd resolved everything. How dare you!" She flung a tabloid at him. Sebastian ground his teeth together as it smacked him in the chest and fell to the floor.
"I was aware that we had," he said through clenched teeth. He stooped to pick up the paper and scanned the front. There was a mug shot of her, though she was much younger. The headline read, "Mariss Red, Juvenile Delinquent."
"I had nothing to do with this, Mariss."
"You were the only one I told!" she shouted. "No one else knew!"
Sebastian flung the paper onto his desk and shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't shake her. "Mariss, what good would exposing this do me?"
"I don't fucking know!"
"Alright." He herded her out of the room and closed the door. "Mariss, I didn't-"
"Mr. Boa, did you need some help?" Rachel stuck her head out the door.
"A moment, Rachel," he said rudely.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Boa."
He took a moment to calm himself. "Mariss, I had nothing to do with this."
"No one else knew!"
"Please, stop shouting, Red. Listen to me. Hellena may have known." That she would have lied to his face even after everything made Sebastian want to hit something.
"You told her?"
"Bloody hell. I explained to her in the shortest terms possible so she would understand what she'd done. I didn't tell her anything."
"Sebastian, do me a favor and stop trying to help."
She was shaking. He reached out to her, wanting some kind of physical contact, but she pulled away from him before he could touch her.
"Don't," she insisted. "One week doesn't change things."
"No, I hadn't expected it to. I thought I'd taken care of Hellena. I had no idea she would do this. I will fix the problem, and before you get smart with me, no. I'm not going to kill her."
"I wouldn't have asked-"
"Yes, you would have. Mariss." He sighed. What did he say? They couldn't be together. He wouldn't even press for it. Not again.
"I have to go."
"Let me walk you out."
She shook her head and put a hand out to stop him. "Please, don't."
Mariss moved around him without putting her back to him, as if she was afraid he would touch her and her resolve would come crumbling down. He knew that feeling well. She hurried out the door and closed it with a heavy slam.
Sebastian stood in his foyer staring after her, willing her to come back. All he received was silence and the lingering scent
of her shampoo.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tyffani Clark Kemp was born in Florida and raised by her grandparents. She has been writing since she discovered in the sixth grade that it wasn't enough just to read about fantastic places, but she could create her own. She weaves small bits of herself into everything she writes whether it be a science fiction piece about aliens or a dramatic romance fraught with conflict and love. After graduation she moved to South Carolina where she lives with her family and her fluffy shii tzu-mix dog who things he's a Saint Bernard. Her available works include Scorned: A LeKrista Scott, Vampire Hunted novel, Beast Within and Beast Anew, and Shaggy Maggie. Kemp also owns SideStreet Cookie Publishing LLC.
You can learn more about her and her books at:
***
www.tyffanickemp.com
www.facebook.com/withoutrulesseries
www.sidestreetcookiepublishing.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
The Man Without Rules Page 32