Stolen: Suspense Mystery Thriller Romance (Hartness Security Book 1)

by Mia Faith

  I couldn’t admit that I liked him; it was far too embarrassing. I felt like they’d ask me questions forever more and I wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable just yet. “Oh, you know,” I shrugged, hoping my face wouldn’t go bright red and give me away. “He’s an old friend. I can’t really see him that way.”

  “But that gives you the advantage!”

  “Does he hook up with women at work a lot?” I asked, mostly to change the subject and partly because I actually did want to know too.

  “I don’t think so,” Ash screwed up her nose at the thought. “But then again, he is only really interested in the traders, and you’re the only female on the trading floor since I’ve been here, so who knows.”

  Okay, well at least that stuck with the image of him that I remembered. He was never a playboy sort, the type of guy to sleep around with lots of different women. Out of the friendship group, Ethan was more like that than anyone else, so that was something.

  “Maybe he has a secret girlfriend?” Carly asked, which caused me to shake my head.

  “No, I don’t think so,” I replied without really thinking. “Ethan said he’d split up with Monica about eighteen months ago, and I can’t imagine he’s been out with anyone since.”

  “Ooh, well maybe it’s up to one of us to find out for sure,” she teased, nudging me once more. “It could be fun.”

  I didn’t want to admit it aloud, but that thought, plus the idea of being friends with these women, were making me want to stay a little bit. Maybe I could push past Derrick and his bullshit, maybe I would start to tune out Mason eventually, maybe I could find a way to make it all all right. Maybe I didn’t need to go back to the soul-sucking job hunt. Maybe I could make it work.

  “Okay, well, I suppose we better get back,” Carly sighed deeply. “But there’s only a few hours left.”

  I nodded, a steely determination filling my veins. I could do this, I would stick it out, however hard it was. It wasn’t like anyone else was knocking down my door to give me employment. And maybe everywhere else would be the same too. Maybe this was just the way that the financial world worked, and at least here I had friends, I had people I knew.

  Yeah, it would be fine. So Derrick was a knob; that didn’t have to affect me, and I would get used to everything else soon enough anyway. It would soon become second nature to me, then hopefully I could start to climb up the career ladder and everything would get even easier. I just needed one chance to show Mason that I was worthy and he would give me the boost I needed. Hopefully, he would do that in front of everyone too, just like he did the humiliation. I, wanted to see Derrick’s face when he recognized that I actually wasn’t a burden after all.

  I decided to take this new attitude back into the office with me, praying that it would make the rest of the day fly by.

  Chapter Three

  Okay, so it didn’t get easier right away. If anything, it got harder for a while, but I stuck it out anyway, and soon the first month rolled by. I learned to tune out most of what Derrick said to me, even when he was a sexist pig. I made a habit of leaving the room every time Mason started on one of his rants, and I spent most of the day looking forward to the times I could have out with Carly and the girls. What had started out as lunch every day had now occasionally transitioned into drinks in the evening time, and things were going great.

  Plus, on top of that, I really felt like I was coming to grips with this whole stockbroker thing. My number skills were good anyway, so it was just about learning to apply them in the right way, and I was beginning to see trends, statistics, and even the difference between the time to be bearish and bullish with money.

  Derrick didn’t like it; in fact, he hated every bit of progression I made, but that wasn’t about to stop me. I couldn’t care one bit about his opinion anymore.

  “What’s this?” I asked him, grabbing a stack of papers from his desk. “Have you actioned these yet?”

  “Will you just leave things alone?” he growled, snatching them from me. “Why are you always interfering with things that you don’t understand?”

  “Maybe because I saved your ass last week?” I snapped back, starting to lose my temper with him.

  Now that I’d started to learn things, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Derrick wasn’t totally the man he thought he was. He didn’t fully get things, but the one thing he was good at was passing blame. I just wished that Mason would see him, just once, but so far, no luck. The only person I wouldn’t mind seeing berated in front of everyone was Derrick.

  “Don’t be so ridiculous,” Derrick shook his head, looking as if he actually didn’t remember the error he’d made. Maybe this was what he did: he lied so much that he couldn’t recall the truth himself. Maybe that was why Mason hadn’t spotted it yet. “I would never make a mistake. I’ve been working in this industry for years. You got here, like, yesterday so don’t try to tell me anything.”

  “Oh right,” I replied innocently, my eyes scanning over the one page left on his desk. “So I guess you haven’t calculated the tax totally wrong on that report then.” Urgh, he was such an idiot! That was such a basic thing, he should have been able to do it with his eyes closed. He was right: he had been working in stock trading for years, so why was it left to me to pick up on his errors?

  I watched as his face drop, almost as if it had happened in slow motion. His features fell, his expression darkened, it was as if I’d awoken the Devil inside of him all over again. “You’re such a bitch,” he spat out, venom lacing his tone. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  He moved closer to me, looming over me, trying to use his bodyweight to his advantage. Unfortunately for him, I was used to this tactic; I’d seen it constantly from my brother growing up, so all I did was fold my arms across my chest instead. He wasn’t going to do anything; he was all mouth. This was exactly the sort of action that a coward would take.

  “What is going on in here?” As Mason’s voice rang out, Derrick physically jumped backwards, as if he’d been electrocuted. “If this is what I think it is, then you are fucked, Derrick.”

  “It was… I… I didn’t…” he fell apart, becoming a gibbering wreck, which I couldn’t help smiling at.

  “Were you threatening another employee?” he snapped. I respected him for not pointing out that I was a female colleague because I didn’t think it was right for anyone to feel intimidated at work. “Did I actually see what I think I did?”

  Somehow Derrick went pale and red all at once, his mouth rendered shut, so Mason turned to face me to find answers instead.

  “Look at this,” I snatched the paper from Derrick’s hand and gave it to Mason, watching him as he examined it closely. “Derrick has made a very obvious mistake, and this isn’t the first one either. Last week I had to contact six people to apologize for his errors…”

  “Derrick, you know my policy. This is the third strike, so you’re out,” he said it so calmly, so seriously, but I could almost hear the temper bubbling away there under the surface.

  “But… no, but…”

  “No, there are no buts here. Just go.”

  Woah. I found this new, cool demeanor much more terrifying than the constant yelling. It chilled me to the bone. Was this the sort of thing that Mason did when he was really serious? Maybe all the shouting was a façade and this was the real thing to be afraid of.

  My pulse rate kicked up a notch as I watched Derrick sadly grabbing his belongings. I felt like the air had stilled, the world had come to a halt, and that if I moved even a muscle, I would shatter the scene unfolding in front of me. I didn’t even dare look at Mason despite the fact that the magnetic pull was back, doing its best to drag my gaze towards him.

  “Don’t do this,” Derrick finally whispered with a sad box of things in his hand. “Please?” His whole big-man thing had gone, and I could clearly see that underneath it all he was nothing more than a small child needing to be loved. If only he’d been more himself, if only he hadn’t put on
that mask, maybe we could have been friends. Maybe we could have properly helped one another.

  Mason almost followed him out of the door, but I reached out to touch him on the arm without even meaning to. For some inexplicable reason, I wasn’t totally ready for him to go just yet.

  “Erm…” I racked my brain as our eyes connected, trying to think of a valid reason for keeping him behind. “Erm, I… well, who am I supposed to work with now? And who is going to take over Derrick’s accounts?” I honestly didn’t know where his firing left me and I was a little scared that I’d end up out on the streets as well.

  “Oh, right,” he ran his hand over his head, reminding me of how he used to tug on his hair whenever he felt stressed. “Of course, well…” he indicated towards me. “Why don’t you do it? You’ve certainly proven that you have an eye for detail?”

  “Oh, really?” That was a huge shock. I had thought it would take months for me to get promoted, maybe even a year. I wasn’t totally sure that I was ready for it, but I also wanted to grab onto the opportunity with both hands. “Erm, sure, sounds good.”

  “Well, no one else in this Godforsaken company knows what they’re doing, so I’m hoping that you can do better.” Was that a smile creeping up on his face? A real one? That actually made my heart flutter a little bit. “I’ll have to train you a bit myself, but that should be fine. You’re smart; I don’t see any reason why you won’t pick it up quickly.”

  “Wow, that’s great. Thank you.”

  I suddenly became acutely aware of every inch of his body as he slowly moved closer to me. My heart leapt up into my throat; I felt a tingling sensation tearing right through my body. I had the odd sense that he was about to pull me in for a kiss, and although I knew that it was totally wrong, I really wanted him to.

  But then he leaned closer and whispered quietly into my ear instead. “You know, the reason I put you with Derrick is because I got the impression that he passed the buck a lot. I knew you’d be smart enough to pick up on it, and you proved me right.”

  With that, he swept from the room, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. I knew that I should get started organizing Derrick’s – no, my – office. I needed to check through all the paperwork, sort out my own filing system, spot any potential mistakes, but Mason had left my head all over the place.

  I slumped into the chair, just thinking instead. There was something undeniably attractive about Mason, something that I liked, but that was purely physical. I didn’t like him at all as a person, not anymore, he was still just horrible, and I felt like that was a dangerous combination.

  What would it be like, working under his gaze, dealing with his constant attention? I hoped I didn’t flounder under the pressure of it all. I really didn’t want to crack and fall apart.

  Knock, knock…

  Emotions danced around my stomach as I stared back towards the office door, half fearing, half hoping that it would be Mason back for some more. But then the door swung open, and I found Carly standing on the other side of it with a big, beaming grin on her face.

  “What’s going on?” she exclaimed excitedly. “Did Derrick really get fired? Are you getting a new boss?”

  “Wow, word travels fast,” I replied, giving her a weak smile. “Derrick did get fired, for threatening me and making loads of mistakes, but there isn’t going to be a new boss. I’m actually going to be in control of Derrick’s accounts now.” Telling her felt much more real; it made the promotion a tangible, exciting thing. “The only problem is I have to work under Mason for a while, and that scares the hell out of me.”

  “Oh God, I wouldn’t be scared; I’d be doing all I could to seduce him!” Carly’s eyes filled with a dream-like quality for a second, undoubtedly picturing Mason in all kinds of crazy situations. “Anyway, let’s go and tell the rest of the girls. They will be so excited for you!”

  Oh God, now I would have to suffer an hour of intense scrutiny. I really didn’t want to think about the possibility of using this opportunity to seduce Mason, not when I was scared enough about it all as it was. But then again, I didn’t want to stick around here either; I needed a time out just to sort out my thoughts.

  “Yeah, okay,” I told her, my smile becoming more genuine now. “And I think we need a celebratory drink too. On me.”

  “Okay, but just the one,” she giggled happily. “There’s no way I’ll be able to answer the phones seriously if I’m tipsy. Plus, you know what Ash gets like when she’s been drinking.” We both laughed at that, remembering her drunken escapades from the weekend. The girls were wilder than I’d ever been, but I kinda liked that; it helped me to come out of my shell a little, which I felt like I needed. I’d always been strong, but never so much confident, and now I felt like I was getting the whole package. I felt like I was becoming a much better me.

  “All right, just one,” I agreed. “Maybe we’ll have the proper celebration on Friday.” There was something solid here, something that I needed to be happy about, and if I could just forget about the rest of the rubbish, then I could actually feel over the moon about it. In fact, I needed to call Ethan, later on, to thank him for the opportunity. Without him, I wasn’t sure where I would have been.

  Chapter Four

  “Johns, have you got me that report yet? I need it on my desk yesterday!”

  I felt frazzled with all the instructions he kept barking at me, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff he gave me to do all at once, and even worse, I wasn’t learning a single thing. I was like a servant to Mason, doing all the crappy jobs that he didn’t want to do, and it was driving me crazy. This didn’t feel like a promotion at all; it felt like a step backwards.

  In all honesty, Derrick wasn’t as bad to work with as Mason was. He was more of a self-involved asshole. I hadn’t learned anything from him, but at least I’d been given the opportunity to learn things for myself. Here, with Mason, I didn’t have a chance to do anything. I didn’t even have a second to think, never mind do anything productive.

  “Erm, yeah, here it is,” I rustled through the stack of paper in my arms, that sense of being out of my depth creeping up on me all over again. I wasn’t sure why my group of friends thought that this was such a great role; it was the worst thing that I’d ever been through. “Oh, look.” I gave it to him, feeling triumphant but he didn’t look impressed.

  “Good, now did you find the old filing system?”

  Oh God, my face went pale as I realized I hadn’t done that. I’d gotten every other silly task he’d set for me done, but I’d forgotten to go down into the archives room. I really didn’t want to have to admit it, but I was going to have to.

  Unless…

  “Hold on, I’ll be back in a moment,” I dumped everything down and tore down the stairs, my whole body pounding in annoyance, and some shock too. I’d seen Mason be a dick to lots of people, and he’d made it very clear that he wasn’t about to give me an easy ride or anything just because he knew me before, but I never expected him to be this harsh.

  As I found myself alone in the cold and dusty archive room, I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes for just a moment. These days I left the office with a pounding headache and a sickly sensation swirling around in my stomach. This felt nothing like I’d wanted it to be.

  Feeling seriously pissed off with Mason, I yanked my cell phone out my pocket and put in a call to Ethan. His job as a travel writer took him all over the world, but he was usually up for chatting whenever.

  “Hello?” he answered lazily, sounding like he was relaxing somewhere. I could just picture him on the beach in Thailand and I really wished that I was with him. Anywhere had to be better than here. “How’s it going, Mel? Liking the new job?”

  “When did Mason become such an asshole?” I spat out, my temper getting the better of me. “He’s horrible now. He used to be nice, right? I’m not just imagining that?”

  “Oh, he’s harder now,” Ethan sounded a little guarded, as if this wasn’t totally someone th
at he wanted to be discussing. “But he’s has to be. It’s the only way he can make a success of himself. It’s a hard world, as you know.”

  “But he’s so… different.”

  Ethan sighed deeply. “Monica leaving him hit Mason hard. He felt lost without her after being with her for so many years. It really didn’t help that happened all within the same month that he found his birth mother just to discover that she’d died…”

  “Woah, woah, wait,” I insisted, trying to wrap my head around all of that. “Birth mother? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Oh God, did I not tell you?” I wasn’t surprised that he’d kept this information from me. He just didn’t think about things. He still had the drifter mentality; luckily it did him week. “Yeah, just before he started his company, he decided to track down his birth parents. He’d always known that he was adopted – not that he ever talked about it. I only knew because he told me once when he’d been drinking – and he’d just found his father living in a crack den. That truth killed him enough, it made him feel really worthless. He told him that his mom was a prostitute, which was why he’d been taken into the care of another family.” This was all so much, so horrible; it made my heart bleed for him. “He still wanted to meet her, but he couldn’t because she’d overdosed the week before.”

  That was intense; he must have really struggled with that. If only he’d looked for her sooner, he might have gotten some of the answers to help him move forwards with his life. “Wow,” I practically whispered, unsure of what to say.

  “Yeah, it was harsh. Then he told Monica, and not long after, they spilt up. I never heard if it was related or not, but I got the impression that it was, which was when he wanted to change. I guess he felt sick of feeling worthless, or whatever, so he decided to start his own company. Maybe he’s harsh, but this is his everything.

  “Yeah,” I murmured sadly. “That makes sense.”

  Okay, I felt like I understood him a lot better. Maybe now I could tolerate him more now that I knew why he felt like he had to act that way. I could spent my days with him using a matureness to get me through. He obviously felt like he had to be that way, just to keep himself on top.