The Drazen World: Torn (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Torn #1)

by D. B. Canavan

  Baby face rips his sunglass off, his eyes zeroing in on Tony and me. “You on your way out Tony?” His thick Italian accent stands out.

  “Yeah Paulie, but stay, I need to talk to you.” Tony’s expression darkens, his voice is laced with displeasure.

  I stop abruptly, not wanting to intrude. “Thank you. You go on, I can take it from here.” I reach for my bag, purposely brushing fingers with him again. Butterflies igniting in a flurry, hammering against my chest. I stand, waiting, as his eyes roam my face. “Um. I’m gonna need my keys. Please.” I throw him my sweet sexy smile.

  “Ah yes. Keys.” He gently places my keys in the palm of my hand, pressing our hands together.

  My body tingles, as his eyes eat me alive. “Thank you — again sorry, for — well you know.” I point to the building. God, I have to get out of here before I make a fool out of myself

  “My pleasure.” His deep, sin filled voice is laced with intention. I watch as his full lips part, revealing the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen. For the love of God. I swear, even the angles above start fluttering their wings with excitement.

  “Okay, I’ll just — go — now.” I turn, hitting the key fob, my SUV chirping to life. Plopping my purse and briefcase in the back seat, I climb in and start the SUV. How old am I? I grab my sunglasses, sliding them over my eyes. “Holy hell, what just happened?” I flip on the air, cranking the fan to high.

  Backing out of my parking spot, I admire my neighbor from behind my sunglasses. His dress slacks are made to fit, showing off his slim hips and tight ass. His broad shoulders fill out his suit jacket perfectly. Sweet Jesus, I have an Italian God living across the hall. I pull out of the lot and head to work. My mind shifting gears, bracing myself for the day to come.

  I’ve been at work now for three hours, and – nothing. My eyes flicker around my bland cubical, I’m starting to get worried. If I lose this job, the bureau will miss a perfect opportunity to get close to Johnathan Drazen and his business operations.

  Loud banging and steel ripping echoes from all directions. So far everything I’ve read about Johnathan Drazen is true. When I pulled into the hotel parking lot, the larger than life ‘Hotel Escapade’ sign had already been taken down. Construction workers had ascended on the building like a colony of hungry ants on a french fry. The upper and lower floors were being gutted, and employees were being fired and thrown away like yesterday’s lunch.

  My eyes scan my cubical, I really don’t have much to pack. Instant soup, extra tampons and an extra pair of stocking, that’s it. How pathetic. My eyes snap to the loan picture that rests on my desk, nestled between the phone and my computer. It’s the only thing in this cubical that means anything to me. I pluck the picture off the desk, running my fingers over the faces of my two best friends — Roy and Heather.

  Laughter softly escapes my lips as I eye the picture. Roy, Heather and I are all dressed in Hawaiian get ups. We’re grinning like loons, with fruity drinks clutched in our hands. We’re all obviously drunk. A warm sensation floods my chest, I got a call from Roy at three-forty-seven this morning. His voice cracking with emotion, announcing the arrival of his son. Heather and the baby are doing great, both were sleeping at the time. I chuckle to myself, Roy informed me he still has his most valued body part intact.

  I’m startled back to the present by the abrupt tapping on the steel frame of my cubical. My eyes snaps to the doorway landing on a tall, slender brunette who’s dressed to the nines. Who the hell is this chick? “Yes? Can I help you?” I try to hide my annoyance with a fake smile.

  “Mr. Drazen would like to meet with you in fifteen minutes.” Her voice is loaded with hints of high society and old money.

  “Oh.” My eyebrows arch upward. She must be his personal secretary, or god only know what else. My eyes snap to the clock then back to her. “Okay.” My voice is low and firm.

  “He’s taking his meetings in the old executive suite.” Her botox lips pout, attempting a smile.

  Old executive suite? My mouth forms a perfect ‘O’ as I realize she means my bosses office. Or, I should say, my former boss’s office. “Thank you.” I smile a fake smile, trying to play nice. I can’t afford to make enemies this early in the game.

  Without another word, she turns and disappears down the hall. What the hell was that?

  My nerves explode, and adrenaline starts coursing through my body. Game time. This is what I’ve been waiting for for the past eight months.

  I reach down, pulling my bottom desk drawer open. Just in case, I slip the picture in my bag. My fingers search, grabbing my travel cosmetic case. Sliding the zipper open, I grab the mirror and lipgloss. Flipping the mirror open, I slide the wand loaded with a light pink gloss across my full lips, rolling them to spread the glossy color evenly. I carefully take the tip of my pinky finger and run it along the corners of my mouth, removing the extra color. I don’t want to look like a freaking clown. Checking the rest of my makeup, I look made up to perfection. Sexy, in a professional understated way. Snapping my mirror closed, and screwing my lipgloss shut, I drop both back into my makeup case. I toss the case into my purse, kicking the drawer closed with the toe of my shoe.

  I take a deep calming breath. I stand, running both my hands down my grey pencil skirt to smooth out the wrinkles. Lightly I pull on the cuffs of my silk sleeves and fixing my collar. Looking down, I unbutton another button of my blouse, giving the appearance of cleavage without being obvious. I’m sure Mr. Drazen will notice, I grin.

  Well here goes nothing. Please don’t let me get fired.

  My heels thud quietly against the carpet as I make my way toward the large dark wood door at the end of the hall. My eyes flicker to the dirty outline where my boss’s nameplate used to hang. I feel nothing, I hated that asshole anyway.

  Stopping in front of the door, I take a deep breath. I stand up straight, throwing my shoulders back and my chest out. I’m about to come face to face with the Johnathan Drazen. He will not get under my skin. Slowly I release the air from my lungs, knocking firmly on the door.

  Almost immediately a thick masculine voice resonates through the solid wood door. “Come in.”

  Inhaling abruptly, then letting the air out slow, I turn the knob and push the door open. My heels fall silent against the plush carpeting covering the floor.

  My eyes scan the room, immediately landing on the man I’ve worked hard to finally get close to. Even with his back to me, I’d know Johnathan Drazen anywhere. His red, disheveled hair is longer than in the photo, falling below his ears but curling just above the collar of his dress shirt. My eyes roam his body, appreciating his broad shoulders and tight waist. The light scent of his cologne drifts through the air, need flooding between my legs. Damn, what the hell.

  “The paintings go next.” His low commanding voice fills the room, making the air crackle with anticipation.

  What did he say? I cock my head to the side. “Excuse me?” What the hell is he talking about?

  I watch as his head snaps up, clearly not anticipating to hear my voice. Turning abruptly, his eyes take me in. “Sorry. You must be…” He reaches down, flipping open the top folder. A sexy smirk flickers across his lips. “Ah yes. Mrs. Winters.”

  Nothing could have prepared me for what was standing in front of me. The sheer magnitude of this man’s power and sex appeal has me mentally dropping to my knees. His brilliant green eyes eat me alive, traveling from my face to my chest, then down to my calves. My breath hitches in the back of my throat when his bright green eyes lock with mine. Holy Fuck, the magnetic pull between us is so palpable my body starts to vibrate. Those eyes. His emerald eyes dance with the erotic dreams that women fantasize about. My eyes quickly scan his body, realizing he’s capable of fulfilling each and every one of those fantasies.

  I shake my head slightly, pull it together. “It’s Ms. Winters, not Mrs.” My eyes confidently lock with his.

  A knowing smirk slides across his beautiful full lips, as a fire ignites in his eyes m
aking them twinkle with the promise of pleasure. “Ms. Winters. I apologies for the mistake.” His husky voice plays my body like a stringed instrument hitting all the right notes. “Please have a seat.” He motions to the chair in front of his desk. His smile is warm, show casing his full lips and straight while teeth.

  I confidently walk to the chair and sit on the edge of the seat. Crossing my legs, I purposely run my hands along the top of my skirt. Out of the corner of my eye I catch him following my fingers as they travel along the top of my thighs.

  His strong angular jaw clinches with self-control. Good he likes what he sees.

  I admired the way he carries himself, sliding effortlessly into the leather chair behind the desk. Pulling my folder to the edge of the desk, his hands softly stroking the thick corner. My eyes snap to his fingers as they stroke and flick the edge softly. With each flick of his finger my clit tingles with want. I tighten my thighs together, my panties already wet with need. “I’m a little baffled at something.” His green eyes snap up from the folder and lock onto mine with a purpose. “You have a MBA?”

  “Yes Sir.” I purposely choose those words to see what reaction I’ll get.

  His lips part and his eyes ignite with heat.

  Bingo.

  “From…” His eyes snap back to the paper, scanning for information. “Harvard?” He smirks. “I won’t hold that against you.”

  My witty comeback is immediate. “Like your MBA from Stanford is any better?” I want him to know, I’m not intimidated or distracted.

  His eyes snap to mine, studying my face. A knowing grin ghosts across his gorgeous lips. He knows I’ve been checking him out, but not for the reason he thinks.

  “I see I’ve been the subject of some research?” His voice is laced with amusement.

  I want to laugh out loud. There’s not a woman alive who hasn’t googled his name, if for nothing else but to look at a nice piece of eye candy. “I like to know who I’m working for, Mr. Drazen.” I raise a skeptical eyebrow.

  He openly chuckles, “did I pass?” His eyes dance with a cocky humor.

  I flash him a playful smirk. “Well I won’t hold Stanford against you, or Penn state.” My eyes stay firmly locked on him.

  A sexy chuckle rumbles from his chest. Tossing my folder on the desk, “touche Ms. Winters. May I call you Faith?” His strong muscular hands rest on top of his desk.

  “Sure.” I shrug noncommittally. I can’t tear my eyes away from his hands. On the outside I look confident and calm. On the inside my common sense has melted into a needy sex kitten, ready to let him do anything to my body he wants. What’s with this guy?

  His smile melts, I miss its warmth immediately. My stomach drops as his eyebrows dip into a frown. “I’m just a little confused. What’s a summa cume laude, with a MBA from Harvard, doing working as an assistant?”

  “I’ve only been with the company for eight months.” I try to hide my fear, I don’t need him getting suspicious of my cover.

  “You should have been brought in as management.” He leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers under his chin.

  “A management position was not available when I applied.” I’m hoping this is leading where I think it is.

  “I’ve checked your work. It’s exemplary. You should have been promoted months ago.”

  I shrug my shoulders. Then why don’t you promote me now.

  I watch as he leans forward, reaching for the bottom right hand drawer of the desk. Sliding it open, his eyes intently search for something.

  As he searches through the draw, this allows me a chance to really look at the man in front of me. No picture I’ve seen does him justice. My eyes roam his strong angular jaw, full lips and copper hair. It’s not just his looks that make him so damn appealing. The man oozes sex. Not your ordinary missionary style sex. No, he oozed the hot and sweaty, cloths ripping, nail scratching, fucking up against a wall kind of sex. My body immediately burns white hot, wanting something that I haven’t wanted in years. Stop. It. Now!

  I’m snapped out of my sex induced haze when he pulls a blue folder out of the drawer, tapping it against the desk. “I’d like to give you an assignment. See what you got.” His eyes flash with an erotic double meaning.

  “All right. Let’s see what you’ve got.” I throw his innuendo right back at him.

  His face lights up, making my heart rate flutter. “You’ve heard about my luxury hotel and bar in Vancouver?” His eyes watch me like a hawk, trying to read my reaction.

  “Yes I have.” I know about all your real estate ventures.

  “What you don’t know, is that for the first nine months I lost money on the property. Hell if I’m honest the whole venture was a cluster fuck from the time I broke ground.” Suddenly his eyes react to the language he just used. “Excuse the language.”

  “Not an issue, I’ve said worse.” I throw him a sexy grin.

  He chuckles, “I bet you have.” His eyes thin on my lips, studying them intently. “This is one of the files on my Vancouver property. I’ll tell Jan to give you access to the server.”

  Jan must be Ms. Botox who summoned me here. “Okay.” I nod, my eyes flickering between his and the folder. Hopefully, that will include access to any files on his China property too.

  “What I want is simple really. I want you to tell me what went wrong.”

  “Wrong?” I cock my head in confusion.

  “Yes, Wrong. I want a report detailing what you think went wrong in Vancouver and what I can do in the future to correct the issues.” His lips twitch, “I hate spending money frivolously, unless it’s on a beautiful woman.”

  “I can do that.” I smile confidently, ignoring the last part of his sentence. What he doesn’t know, I’ve already seen all the files on Vancouver. “Thanks for the opportunity.” This report will be a piece of cake. I stand, reaching for the file. “I’ll have the report on your desk first thing in the morning.”

  He playfully pulls the file back, standing behind his desk. “No. I want the report by end of business today.” He extends the folder toward me, smirking.

  “Excuse me?” I acted surprised.

  “I would like the report by the end of the day. Is that a problem?” He sarcastically arches his eyebrow.

  He’s playing with me. “Not at all Sir.” I smile, standing my ground with confidence. The last thing I want is for him to think is that I can’t do the job.

  “Great. Lucky for you my day doesn’t end until seven or eight tonight. You have some extra time.”

  I won’t need it. I snatch the folder from his strong fingers. “Okay, you’ll have it on your desk by the end of day.”

  We both stand, staring, only a desk separating us. Why do I want to throw myself over the desk, offering myself up as a sacrifice?

  “Great.” His lips curve into an evil smirk.

  “Fine.” I match his smile. “Is that all Mr. Drazen?”

  “Please, call me Johnathan.” His eyes dropping from my face to my cleavage, then back to my lips.

  “Thank you Mr. Drazen.” I turn on my heels, smirking as I walk out of his office and toward my cubical. He has no idea who he’s playing with.

  A little under three hours later, I tap firmly on his door. In my hands, I hold the very report that’s going to land me a firm position in his organization,

  “Come in.” His voice hits my body, making it come alive.

  I step into his office, quietly shutting the door. “I’m sorry to bother you Mr. Drazen. Do you have a few seconds?” I hold the folder, with my report on top.

  “Sure, what questions did you have?” His eyes scan me from head to toe.

  I inwardly smile, he thinks I don’t have the report done. “No questions, Sir. You wanted my report on Vancouver by the end of the day.”

  “Yes.” His eyebrows drop in confusion.

  “Here it is.” I extend my arm, offering him a completely bound, professionally done report.

  His fingers brush with mine as he
takes the report. “You’re finished?” His eyes widen flooding with astonishment.

  “Yes Sir.” I smile warmly. “Oh, I also uploaded my report to the server along with bar graphs and the research I used to come to my conclusions.” The corner of my mouth curls softly into a sexy confident smile.

  I stand and wait, watching as he flips through my report. His eyes scan some of the pages intently and skip over others. “Impressive.” He flips the report shut, his eyes hungrily roaming my body. “Very impressive, Ms. Winters.” He walks behind his desk, sliding my report into his briefcase. Slowly his eyes scan my body, a look of appreciation and lust firing behind his lush copper lashes. “I’d like to keep you on. If you’d like to stay.”

  Thank fuck. “Thank you.” I smile, genuinely glad he’s keeping me on board.

  “I’ll take that as a yes then?” His lips twitch with humor.

  “Sorry. Yes. That’s a yes.”

  “Wonderful.” He grabs a small pad of paper, and scribbles something in pencil. “Here.” He holds the paper out, purposely brushing his fingers against mine.

  I take the piece of paper, my eyes widening with disbelieve. “Is this…”

  “Your new salary? Yes.” Sliding into his chair and getting comfortable. “Human resources will be putting together a package for you with other various perks, but that will be your starting salary with bonuses tied to your performance.”

  Holy fuck. The number I’m looking at is three time what the FBI is paying me.

  “Also, you’ll be moved into the office across the hall from mine.” His eyes shimmer with pleasure.

  “What?” My eyes snap to the office across the hall. It’s enormous. With windows.

  “It’s almost identical to this office, just a little smaller.” He smirks.

  “Wow.” I whisper. I’m totally caught off guard. I did not expect this.

  He coughs coyly, looking at me through his gorgeous copper lashes. “Have dinner with me. I’d like to discuss the opportunities I have in mind for you.”

  Oh I bet you do. I know this is what the FBI has been waiting for. My objective was to get his attention, but since I’ve gotten his attention I don’t know if I can handle him. He’s like a damn drug and I can’t allow myself to get hooked on what he’s selling.