by Tia Siren
I wasn’t the better option. She’d still end up hurt at the end of the day because I couldn’t commit to anyone. Not after what had happened with Sierra. But at least I wasn’t an abusive asshole.
“Mr. Burke.”
“What?” I snapped, glaring down at my phone, where Roger’s voice had come from. He was back in the office today. “What is it?”
“Ashton Wilkes is here,” Roger said. “Do you want me to—”
“Send him in,” I interrupted. “Is Joanna in yet?”
“Not yet, sir. I—”
“Call her,” I snapped, a headache throbbing in my temples. “Make sure you get ahold of her. She is never late.”
“Of course, sir. I will do that right away.”
The doors to my office opened a few seconds later. A frown tugged at Ashton’s lips as he sat down in front of me.
“What’s going on here?” he asked. “Everyone seems to be running away from you this morning.”
“Nothing. There is nothing going on. What are you doing here?”
Ashton sat back in his chair. “Wow, you’re in a foul mood. I’m here to talk about the fashion company we talked about last week. Remember?”
“Fuck.” I sat back in my chair with an aggravated sigh. I had spaced out on answering any work emails over the weekend, from Ashton or anyone in general. “I had a rough weekend. I’ll get all the documents and lawyers involved here by the end of tomorrow.
“All right,” Ashton said. “What happened this weekend?”
It didn’t feel right talking to Ashton about what I had witnessed outside the club. It wasn’t anyone’s business, but I felt sick with concern now that it was 8:30 a.m. with no word from Joanna.
“I had a bad weekend is all,” I said coolly. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll send over those documents once I get them drafted up by the lawyers. Let’s move on this company while we still can, before another management firm does.”
“Sounds good, boss.”
Ashton rose from his chair to walk out of my office without exchanging another word. Just like my employees, he knew that when I was angry, I wanted to be left alone to my own devices. I needed the downtime to think about what to do about Joanna when she did come in. There was no point in trying to squeeze any information out of her when she was already upset and visibly embarrassed by the situation. I had a grim feeling that what had happened last night had happened more than I wanted to think about.
I rose from my office chair to pace around in front of the windows. Dark clouds had gathered on the horizon, a threatening sign of a heavy snowfall. I kept my eyes trained on the street and parking lot below for Joanna’s car, but more time ticked by and there was no sign of her. I picked up my phone to dial Joanna’s personal cell number, but it went to voice mail after ringing for a minute.
“Damn it,” I muttered and sat back down in my chair to focus on the tasks ahead. “Where the fuck is she?”
I couldn’t even remember the last time I had felt this concerned about a woman’s well-being. Sierra, it seemed, had sucked that completely out of me for a long period of time. After finding Sierra in bed, my bed, with another man, I had learned quickly that caring so much about someone was a really quick way to hurt yourself. People always hurt you, no matter how much they promised they wouldn’t.
Those wedding vows? To love through sickness and in health? To protect? Bullshit. It had been utter bullshit with Sierra, who didn’t care much for wedding vows. She cared about money and playing mind games to get more money. That much was clear from the years after our divorce, and from pulling on my heartstrings every chance she could.
Letting go of that perfect picture in my head hadn’t been easy; Sierra had made sure it was hard for me to let go of her. The late-night phone calls that ended up with her crying over the phone about not knowing what she really wanted? It all had been some fucked-up ploy to keep me coming back to her because I felt the urge to protect her from the world. I was the one who needed protection from Sierra at the end of the day.
It was different with Joanna, though. She didn’t have a foul bone in her body, or an evil one. I had never heard her swear aside from that one time I had walked out of my office. She did her job without complaint, but it was her sweet nature that drew me in. Something about her calm and quiet nature softened the edges inside me. She didn’t care about money, either. Everything about her life was modest, from her soft-spoken attitude to her clothes.
Saturday night, I had attended a charity event that required my attendance even though I had been in no mood to be around others. I had drunk quite a bit on the ride there to shake off the agitated feelings that kept bubbling in my stomach all weekend. Not even some of the women, who were incredibly sexy in their nice dresses, had appeased the feeling inside me. I had ended up drunk and alone back at my penthouse, stroking myself to the image of Joanna bent over my desk. Hot shame flooded through me again when I thought about how amazing that orgasm had been.
It was obvious that Joanna was in a dangerous situation with her boyfriend, but here I was jerking off to the thought of fucking her. What was the difference between the two of us? I had never once abused a woman by laying a hand on her, or by playing fucked-up mind games to get what I wanted. I let every single woman I’d ever been with know that I wasn’t interested in long-term commitments. I didn’t pretend to be a nice guy up front to get what I wanted.
I smoothed a hand through my hair with an aggravated sigh. It was well over thirty minutes past the time that Joanna needed to be clocked in. Maybe it would be worth it to call the police to do a welfare check, but her boyfriend was the police. I knew how that situation would go down the second I called.
The doors to my office opened. I glanced over my shoulder to see Roger stepping in with a nervous expression, a few files in his hand. He set them down on the filing cabinet for me to look through.
“Did you call her?” I asked crisply. “Joanna is never late.”
“Her boyfriend called,” Roger replied with a grimace. “Said she wasn’t feeling good this morning, but he would be dropping her off in a few minutes.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I muttered darkly. None of it surprised me. I knew how guys like Sid worked. Once they smelled competition, they grew more territorial over their women. “Don’t let that man in my office if he comes in with Joanna. If he makes any kind of scene, get me immediately, call security, and call the police.”
Roger’s eyes visibly widened at the instructions. “Is everything all right, Mr. Burke?”
“Everything will be fine,” I replied and turned to look out over Salt Lake City again. “That’s all, Roger. Thank you.”
“Sir.” Roger shifted on the balls of his feet. “I hope you can get Joanna away from him. I think she needs help getting away from her boyfriend.”
“You know that something has been going on?” I asked.
“I’ve had a few suspicions,” Roger said. Fear danced in his eyes. “Her boyfriend, the cop guy, threatened to kill me one time when I walked Joanna out to her car one day. He had been sitting in an unmarked car with another officer. I think this problem has been going on for a while.”
“I think so, too,” I said, nodding. “Thank you, Roger. Get her in here when she arrives.”
An intense rage filled me when Roger closed the doors to my office. This had been going on for a while now that I thought about it. The strange phone calls to Joanna all the time that the receptionist complained to me about. A marked car that constantly cruised by the office. Joanna’s jittery behavior at the end of the day when she packed up. It made sense why she practically lived at the office with me, and yet not once had she mentioned her fears about returning home. She never brought up how happy she was with her boyfriend, either.
It all made perfect sense while I paced along the windows. I tried to call Joanna again. This time, it went straight to voice mail, and I shoved my phone back into my pants pocket with an irritated sigh. I knew without a
doubt that her boyfriend had her phone because she never ignored any of my calls. Unease filled me again as I barked orders at Roger when he entered my office a few minutes later to ask what I wanted to do with a credit card debt collection contract that needed to be completed by the end of the day.
I didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for biting off Roger’s head. If anything had happened to Joanna during the weekend, then I would never forgive myself for not doing more to help her.
Chapter 6
Joanna
My neck ached horribly when I finished dabbing the last bit of foundation over the bruises covering my skin. Even then, the dark marks were visible through the thick foundation Sid had bought at the grocery store. Concealer was not enough to cover it. Not even my puffy, red-rimmed eyes, along with the bruise on my right eye, could be covered right. I had to face the world today as though nothing was wrong.
Tears filled my eyes as I clicked the bathroom light off to head into the bedroom. I stopped short as cold fear went through me when I found Sid awake, already dressed for the day, and sitting on the edge of the bed with my phone in his hand. Jealousy flickered in his brown eyes as he rose from the bed to wave my phone at me.
“Your boss,” he spat out. “He’s been calling you repeatedly for the past hour.”
I glanced at the small clock on the bedside table. I was an hour late. “I’m late for work. That’s why he keeps calling. I’m never late for work.”
“I don’t believe you,” Sid said. “You need to find a different job. I don’t like the way your boss looks at you, or the way he thinks you are his business. He wants to fuck you.”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head at him. “He doesn’t, Sid. He’s my boss. He’s just wondering why I’m not in yet.”
“Right. This is how it’s going to go.” Sid thumbed in the passcode he had forced me to tell him months ago. “I’m going to call your boss to inform him that you’re picking up your shit today. You’re not working there anymore.”
Desperation filled me as Sid scrolled through the contacts on my phone. I had to figure out a way to keep the one thing in my life that I actually loved doing while appeasing Sid, too. I didn’t want to think about what my life would be like if I stayed home under Sid’s thumb. Going to work was my only escape.
“If you do that, he’s going to report something,” I blurted out. It seemed like a plausible thing for Bastian to do. “He and Sabrina will both report you to the police department if I don’t show up, Sid. You can’t afford another complaint here. Think about it.”
Reputation meant everything to Sid. He took great pride in being able to hide the demons attached to his back, but those demons could only be contained for so long before they lashed out. Once they lashed out, someone was on the receiving end of it. Everyone in the Salt Lake area knew to avoid Officer Alvarez because he had a tendency to speak with his fists—not with his mouth.
“You’re right,” Sid said, sighing. “I’ll call your work to let them know that I’m driving you to work this morning because it’s on my route.”
I nodded numbly as Sid called the office and talked to Roger. He didn’t bother hiding his contempt when he spoke to Roger, but he kept it casual and charming, as he always did when it came to convincing others that he wasn’t the bad guy. Nothing was wrong.
Sid slid my phone into the pocket of his jeans as he scrutinized my outfit. His eyes landed on the marks on my neck, but no remorse flickered through his eyes. He looked annoyed as he went to the closet.
“That makeup is shit,” he said, producing a scarf for me. “Remind me that it doesn’t work next time. Put this around your neck.”
“You can’t see the marks,” I insisted, even though they were dark and ugly against my skin. “It’s honestly fine, Sid. I won’t say a word—”
He slipped the scarf around my neck. I swallowed nervously as he fretted about placing the scarf perfectly against the bruises. It didn’t surprise me when he tightened it suddenly to cut off my air supply and he leaned in to whisper, “If you tell anyone about what happened this weekend, I’ll fucking kill you and your family before taking myself out. Got it?”
I resisted the urge to reach up and pull the scarf away. That would only aggravate him more. I fought against the panic rising in my chest, and I nodded quickly before he loosened his hold on the scarf. I sucked in a deep breath to calm my racing heart as Sid took me by the elbow.
“You’re lucky that your boss provides a good paycheck,” Sid said when we exited the house for the day. “Once I get this promotion, you won’t need to work anymore. You can stay home.”
I grimaced inwardly at the thought. A real-life horror story was what that sounded like. Sid opened the passenger door for me. I watched as he waved cheerfully to our next-door neighbor, who returned the wave. Our small house was in a quiet suburb filled with families who appreciated having a cop living on their street to keep an eye on things. They weren’t immune to Sid’s charms, just like most people who came into contact with him.
Twenty minutes later, Sid pulled up alongside the curb of the towering building where Burke Management was located. It overlooked the entire city of Salt Lake. I had never felt more relieved to be at work than after the painful weekend I’d just gone through. Sid rested a hand on my upper thigh as he leaned in to press a hot kiss against the side of my neck. I fisted my hands together to keep myself from moving away.
“You look beautiful, honey,” he said. “Have a good day at work. I’ll be here to pick you up at five.”
“Okay.”
“Remember what I told you. Keep it in mind.”
I stepped out of the car quickly to hurry in the direction of the lobby. I didn’t even bother turning around to see if Sid was watching me walk into the building because I knew he would stay there for a few minutes to make sure I didn’t walk back out. My heels clicked against the marbled floor as I hurried to the elevator before pushing the up button repeatedly. The only place I ever felt okay in anymore was Bastian’s office.
The office was a flurry of nervous movement when I walked in to find Roger shifting through a pile of papers on my desk. He looked up in visible relief at seeing me walk toward him.
“Thank God you’re here,” Roger said. “Mr. Burke is in a foul mood. He’s been asking to see you for the past hour.”
Roger’s eyes focused on my scarf before skimming along my face to settle on my right eye, which still throbbed with pain. I adjusted the scarf to cover up the bruises even more as I dumped my purse in my office chair.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, my voice monotone to my own ears. “Sid said that he called to let you know I wasn’t feeling well and that I would be a bit late.”
“I got the message,” Roger said. “Are you okay, Jo?”
I looked up and saw Sabrina looking at me from across the room as well. Her eyes focused on my neck intently. She was in the middle of phone call, but I could see the questions burning in her eyes. Everyone knew. Shame flooded through me. I blinked back tears while rifling through my purse to avoid eye contact with everyone who was looking in my direction. I also had to face Bastian, and I had no fucking clue how I was going to handle that shit while keeping my job intact.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Does Mr. Burke want to see me now?”
“He said as soon as you come into the office, he wants to speak to you privately. So, the answer would be now I imagine.”
I took a deep breath before approaching Bastian’s office doors. I could hear his voice speaking crisply inside, and I gently knocked on the door. I had to face him at some point. Might as well get it over with.
“Come in,” Bastian called out immediately.
I stepped inside to find Bastian standing near the windows overlooking the city. He turned sharply to gaze at me with his phone glued to his ear. Fear and humiliation wrestled in me while Bastian ended his phone call quickly. He swept a gaze along me, and dark clouds gathered in his eyes. I reached up to adjust my sca
rf again while I tried to think of a good excuse for being late.
“Sit down,” Bastian said and nodded to the chair in front of his desk. “You and I are going to talk about what happened this weekend, along with the reason why you were late this morning.”
Bastian took a seat behind his desk, but I refused to sit down. This was the last thing I wanted to talk about with Bastian, my attractive boss. I couldn’t tell him the truth even if I wanted to. Sid’s threats echoed menacingly in my head.
“I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I’m sorry that—”
“Please stop,” Bastian interrupted, holding up a hand. “Joanna, are you okay?”
I lowered my gaze to the floor to avoid his penetrating eyes. “I’m fine, sir. Why do you ask?”
“Because I watched your boyfriend drag you like a rag doll from that club,” Bastian said. “And he threatened to shoot me just for talking to you. That’s why I’m asking you. You were also late coming to work this morning. The lateness I can handle. It’s the reasons behind the lateness I’m worried about.”
“It’s honestly fine,” I whispered, twisting my hands together. “Really, it’s fine. I’m okay. He just has a temper sometimes from his job, you know. He’s a cop who works the drug units here, and he just gets worried about me when I go out. I hadn’t answered my phone, so he was upset that night.”
I knew Bastian didn’t buy my rambling because of the noise he made in the back of his throat. He got up from his seat and walked around his desk to stand in front of me. It occurred to me that I couldn’t lie anymore when I looked up to find Bastian’s eyes focused on the scarf around my neck. I felt it loosen, and his calloused fingertips gently touched my skin where Sid’s fingers had left bruises. Bastian’s thumb rubbed in a slow circle to wipe away the concealer I had dabbed there.
“That motherfucker,” Bastian seethed, shaking his head. “He’s been abusing you, Joanna. Hasn’t he?”