by Sarah Bailey
Perhaps it was crazy for me to get fixated on this man when I’d barely shared a few words with him. I mean, he was four years my senior, which meant I would be playing a dangerous game. Backing down from a challenge wasn’t something I did. I had the upper hand. I knew exactly who he was, but he didn’t know me.
Then I realised I had no idea how I was going to achieve this since I was grounded for two weeks.
When have you ever let your parents stop you from doing what you want?
Normally I wouldn’t, but Dad was severely disappointed in me for going down to the casino floor when I’d promised Eric and Xav I wouldn’t. Did I really want to get into further trouble? And all over a stupid man?
No one had intrigued me like him. The boys at school were boring as hell. Only interested in one thing. Getting laid. I hadn’t dated. Not just because Dad wouldn’t like it but there was no one I found attractive. I wanted someone who challenged me. Who deserved me. The idiot boys at school? They weren’t it. Besides, half of them said nasty shit about my parents. I’d smacked one boy around the face for daring to call my mum a whore. He was too embarrassed at being hit by a girl to tell anyone about it. Since then, he’d kept quiet. I wouldn’t let anyone disrespect me or my family in front of me.
I wasn’t interested in Logan as a man. Yes, he might be handsome, and those ice-blue eyes had the ability to drown a girl, but his arrogance was off-putting. I imagined his soul was as cold as those eyes of his. Too bad for him I wasn’t going to allow his attractive outer package to fool me into thinking he was nice or kind. I was onto him.
Knowing I couldn’t stay in here too much longer, I shut everything down and turned off the laptop. I listened at the door for any sounds but couldn’t hear anything. I snuck out and locked the door behind me. As I wandered towards the kitchen to replace the key, I was stopped in my tracks by Rory leaning up against the doorframe.
“What have you been doing?”
“Me? Nothing.”
He raised an eyebrow, indicating he didn’t believe me. You couldn’t get anything by him. He was the most observant person on the planet.
“I was in my room. Just came to get a glass of water to go to bed with. That’s all.”
“Rora…”
I strode by him, not wanting to reveal the truth. Sneaking into my dad’s office would only land me in further trouble. As if I needed more of my privileges revoked.
I reached up and pulled a glass out from the cupboard before opening the fridge door to get the filtered water.
“Do you think Dad’s going to give me a lecture when he gets home?”
“Probably.”
“I wanted to see what goes on close up. Seeing it on the monitors isn’t the same thing. Is it so bad I’m curious about the place I’m going to run when I’m older?”
Rory walked further into the room and leant against the counter next to me as I poured myself some water.
“No, it’s not, but you know why you can’t be down there.”
“I wasn’t gambling.”
“It doesn’t matter. We have to conform to the licencing laws.”
“Since when did any of you care about being law-abiding citizens?”
He gave me a look. I knew they cared a great deal about their businesses and making sure they stayed on the right side of the law. Didn’t negate the fact they’d all been criminals when they were younger. And I wasn’t sure they’d left the life they’d lived completely behind them either.
I slumped against the counter and sipped my water. Being grounded was the absolute worst. Especially since they’d taken away my phone. It meant getting out to see anyone would be a challenge. Colleen would wonder why I’d not called her. Then again, it wasn’t the first time they’d done this. She probably knew I’d got in trouble. It did happen more often than I cared to admit to.
I turned to Rory, suddenly remembering something very important.
“You know how I’m grounded…”
His eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“And you all promised Mum you’d take me to get stuff for school before they come home.”
Rory folded his arms over his chest, eyeing me with no small amount of suspicion.
“Yes.”
“So… can you take me?”
He said nothing, merely regarded me with an intense gaze I was used to receiving from him.
“Please. I’ll be good. I promise. You wouldn’t want to disappoint Mum, would you?”
He let out a breath and shook his head.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Rora.”
I gave him my sweetest smile.
“And what’s that… Daddy?”
“You might be able to manipulate Quinn with that shit, but it doesn’t work on me.”
I pouted. No matter what he said, Rory had a soft spot for me. He was the quietest of my dads but he was also the kindest. He took care of us without question.
“It’s your funeral if Mum finds out you didn’t take me.”
“She’s aware you’re grounded.”
“Being grounded doesn’t change the fact I still need things for school.”
He was silent for so long, I thought he would say no. He rubbed his face and shoved off the counter.
“Fine. I’ll take you, but no funny business, you hear me? You’re not going to use this as an opportunity to sneak off or anything else you might have concocted in that twisted little brain of yours.”
“Hey! I do not have a twisted brain.”
He raised an eyebrow. Okay, fine, I did, but with a family like ours, could anyone blame me? Instead of complaining further, I placed my glass down and bundled myself up in his arms.
“Thank you, Rory.”
“Remember what I said?”
“Yes, I’ll behave.”
I pulled away and picked up my glass, giving him a smile before I started to walk away. I’d return the office key later when I was sure Rory wasn’t lurking downstairs.
“So, we can go to Oxford Street, yeah? And go to whatever shops I want?” I threw over my shoulder.
“That wasn’t the agreement, Aurora.”
“I’m a Knox, we only get the best, don’t you know that by now?”
I paused in the doorway, glancing back at Rory who was shaking his head at me.
“There’s never been any doubt you’re Quinn’s daughter.”
“And you still love me, anyway.”
I flounced away, knowing Rory would take me wherever I asked him to go.
There was a very good reason I wanted to go to Oxford Street. The Bensons flagship store was there. A certain irritating man worked at said store. And if I accidentally ran into said man… well… it would be a pure coincidence now, wouldn’t it?
Chapter Five
I should have taken the day off knowing I was going to bloody Ant’s stag do last night. My head pounded like a bitch and I wished I was in bed instead of dealing with this customer. This woman’s whiney voice grated on my ears, going on about how this dress was in perfect condition when she’d bought it but upon getting it home, it had a tear in it. Not only did I not believe the bullshit story she’d tried to concoct, but I also had zero patience today.
“Look, miss, I understand what you’re saying,” I interrupted, “However, you do not have a receipt nor do we take returns on used items.”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“It is not used!”
I raised an eyebrow and picked up the dress, indicating the red wine stain on it. Sometimes the customer was not always right.
“Not used?”
She spluttered and looked ready to bite my head off. Then she noticed two women staring at her and whispering. She straightened, pulled the dress from my hands and stuffed it back in the bag she’d brought it in.
“Yes, well… excuse me.”
I almost snorted when she walked off, trying to hold her he
ad high. It amazed me how many people tried it on with us. Usually, I would have been more polite and probably tried to keep her on side, but today was not my day. I was done with fucking foolish people. Definitely should not have come into work today, but I had a responsibility to this place. One I took very seriously, no matter what state I’d got myself into the night before.
“What a bitch,” Kylie, the sales assistant next to me, muttered.
“You better not be saying that within earshot of customers.”
Kylie looked up at me, her face flushing slightly.
“No… I don’t, Mr Benson, I’m sorry.”
I waved a hand and started to walk off.
“Call me if you have any more issues.”
The woman had asked to see a manager. I’d had to come out of my office to deal with it. Working in the flagship store of Bensons was something I preferred doing to being in head office. One day I would have to, when I took over the company from Dad, my aunts and my uncle, but for now, I got to be here.
Instead of going back into my office where I could drown myself under my desk, I decided to take a walk around to make sure things were running smoothly. I trusted the staff, but you never knew what kind of shit you’d encounter on a day to day basis.
I straightened the cuffs of my shirt and walked through the women’s section, eyeing all the racks to make sure nothing was out of place. Fuck did I need to take some more painkillers. I couldn’t remember how much I’d had last night, only it ended in Roger throwing up outside the casino and Jude promising to get him home. Ant and I had returned to my flat where I’d promptly curled up under the covers still fully dressed and passed out. He’d been asleep in the spare bedroom when I’d crawled out of bed mid-morning, showered and got changed to make sure I could be at the store for midday.
I was about to take the escalator up to menswear when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted some familiar long black hair. Spinning around, I narrowed my eyes.
You have got to be kidding me.
Standing a few metres away from me with a smirk on her face as she looked me up and down was the one girl I had attempted to banish from my thoughts last night. My feet carried me over before I had a chance to think about what I was doing until I stood before her. The girl tipped her head back, meeting my eyes dead-on.
“Well, hello again.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hissed.
Her eyebrow raised and she smiled wider.
“Me? I’m browsing.”
Her voice dripped with innocence but this girl was anything but innocent.
“Why don’t I believe a word coming out of your mouth?”
She reached out and straightened my lapel as if she had any right to do so.
“Why, Logan, isn’t the first rule of retail that the customer is always right? Or should I call you, Mr Benson?”
Her words brought me up short. We were in my store. I couldn’t be having a full-on argument with this blasted girl in the middle of the shop floor no matter how much her presence wound me up.
How the fuck does she know my name?
Something about the way she was looking at me made me suspect that she’d gone out of her way to work out who I was and then tracked me down. Her parents owned the Syndicate and part of the membership requirements had involved an in-depth assessment of my suitability. The sheer audacity of this girl had me doing something I shouldn’t have. I snatched her hand from my lapel and tugged her away towards the back of the store.
“What are you doing!”
I didn’t answer her and ignored the looks of the customers who were eyeing us with wide eyes. The moment I had her in the back corridor, I knew I was acting recklessly, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. This girl was only sixteen and I’d dragged her away like a ragdoll. Those were not the actions of a rational human being.
You have lost your fucking mind.
I blamed the hangover stripping me of my common sense. And this fucking girl who had zero understanding of the real world.
I almost threw her inside my office and slammed the door shut behind me, leaning against it with my arms crossed. The moment she turned on me, her brown eyes full of unrepressed rage, I knew this wouldn’t be pretty.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she all but yelled at me.
“What am I doing?” I pointed at her. “Don’t think I’m fooled for one fucking second by your innocent act. What are you really doing here?”
She stormed over to me and pointed a finger at my chest.
“That’s the second time you’ve manhandled me.”
“What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”
“I’m here to make you understand what you did last night was not okay and I’m not going to be made a fool out of.”
I almost laughed.
“Me make a fool of you? Excuse me, but you are the one who stared at me last night and were somewhere you shouldn’t have been. I’m the one who is the aggrieved party in this situation.” I batted her hand away. “You almost had me kicked out and for what? I did nothing to you.”
“Oh, so dragging a woman into an alcove is doing nothing, is it? And pulling me through your store where anyone could see is nothing?”
“You’re not a woman, you’re a teenage girl.”
Why was I even having this argument? Honestly, what the fuck was my problem? I should never have brought her in here. Walking away would have been a smart idea. Except all my smart ideas were drowning in the gutter somewhere along with any sense of rationality I possessed.
Her eyes narrowed and her face flamed bright red. I didn’t like how it made her seem more human. And I certainly did not like the way my thoughts turned to imagining if her chest would flush the same shade of red for very different reasons.
She’s sixteen. Stop. This. Now.
It didn’t matter if she was legal. I couldn’t be thinking those things about her. Not when she was so bloody irritating and clearly thought far too much about herself.
It doesn’t stop you from wanting to teach her a lesson.
Oh, I’d teach her a lesson all right. One in respect. She would bend to my fucking will before I was done with her.
“If I’m just a teenager, why would you drag me away like you have any right to touch me, huh? Is that how you handle all of your customers?”
“You are not a fucking customer. No doubt you came here to taunt me.”
One moment she looked pissed as hell, the next she smiled and her eyes lit up.
“And what if I did?”
“Then you’re more of a nuisance than I first thought. Did you beg your daddies to give you my information? I wonder what they thought about that.”
“I do not beg anyone for anything. And don’t you dare make assumptions about my family. You know nothing about me or them.”
She was right. I didn’t. I mean, shit, I didn’t even know her fucking name.
What are you doing, Logan? Just let her go and stop this idiocy.
“You’re not denying you went out of your way to discover who I am.”
That’s not letting her go!
“I like to know who I’m up against. Then they can’t catch me unawares.”
I took a step towards her, forcing her to take one back. The girl was delusional.
“What on earth makes you think I want to catch you unawares? I have no interest in spending any further time in your presence.”
For a minute she stared at me, then she laughed. She fucking well laughed in my face.
“Oh, that’s rich. If you didn’t want to be around me, you shouldn’t have dragged me in here.”
“You shouldn’t fucking well be here in the first place. Do your parents know about this?”
She shrugged and looked completely unaffected by my words. It only served to piss me off further. This bloody girl had no fucking qualms about pushing my buttons. I should not let her get under my skin.
&nbs
p; She’s making a fool out of you.
“It’s nothing to do with them.”
“So, they have no idea. My, my, you really have no shame. I don’t think they’d be very happy to discover their teenage daughter is chasing after a man four years older than her.”
Her eyes flashed and she clenched her fists at her sides.
“I’m not chasing after you. God, you’re such an arrogant prick. I’m here because you seem to think I’m nothing. Let me tell you something, Logan Benson, I’m someone you should never mess with.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah?”
She stood taller and eyed me with no small amount of hatred blazing in those golden-hued brown eyes of hers.
“Mark my words, you’ll regret ever crossing me.”
She skirted around me and ripped my office door open. I turned, unsure of what she planned to do next. The girl looked at me over her shoulder with a smirk.
“You’d do well to remember the name, Aurora Knox. She’s going to bury you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
She stormed out, leaving me wondering what the hell happened and how on earth she’d got the last word.
Chapter Six
My shock lasted all of thirty seconds, then I flew out of the room after her. She’d barely got a few feet when I stopped her with my hand on her arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Her eyes landed on me as she turned, surprise written all over her features.
“Away from you. I thought you didn’t even want to be in my presence.”
I shouldn’t want to be. At all. Except there was something about her. The intrigue was still there no matter how much she’d irritated the crap out of me. Why would this girl come all this way to give me hell? What was her problem with me? What had I done to her?
Why do you care?
I had no idea. And my inner confusion did nothing to stop me from pulling her back into my office. My eyes were on hers, trying to work out what the hell I was doing as she stared up at me. What was it about this blasted girl?