As I exit the elevator car, I need to calm my nerves, and as I do so, I allow my eyes to roam the interior of Tobias's office floor.
It is precisely how I pictured it, lavish and completely void of any actual thought from the interior designing company.
But then again, Tobias has always been very persistent in coming forth with how he expects everything to be; pristine and simple.
More like, dull and washed out.
I walk towards the glass door that separates me from entering his domain.
“Oh, my gods,” A soft feminine voice says over the intercom with surprise lacing her words. “It’s you, you are her?”
I comb my fingers through my hair, “I’m sorry, have we met before?” I ask her with a quizzical look staining my face.
She must be Melanie, the one that wrote and sent me that ridiculous: Intent To Purchase Property letter.
“I, ah…” She quickly clears her throat and pushes the button on her desk to let me past the glass bulletproof doors. “No, I’m sorry, we haven’t. It’s just that-” She shakes her head as if to stop herself from saying something that she shouldn’t; like she already has. “If you are here to see Mr. Landry, he is occupied at the moment with his mother. If you’d like to-”
“Janice is here?” I ask, cutting her off.
“Yes, Mrs. Landry is with him.”
A sinister smile touches the corners of my mouth, “Great, this will go down very well then.” I say, disregarding her best efforts to verbally stop me from walking into his office.
I turn the cold brass handle, pushing the door wide open, “It must be done, Tobias. Your father’s dying wishes were made very clear on his deathbed, you must be married by the end of the week before your thirtieth birthday, or your cousin will inherit the business.”
I remain silent, my gaze shifts between Janice and Tobias, who has his back facing me while he stares out of the large window that overlooks the city.
His body grows tense, then sags as he leans forward with a low growl exiting his lips.
“How can someone such as yourself expect me to find someone to marry that I don’t love?” He says bitterly which makes my heart leap with joy, realizing that his life isn’t all sunshine with daffodils.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen, and I hope it hurts like a bitch when his head hits the foreboding ground.
“I expect it because it is required of you. Your past is the cause of your father’s demands, Tobias and quite frankly, I don’t think you have a leg to stand on to disregard his final wishes if you desire to-”
I flinch as his hand slams against the window frame before he spins around to face Janice with a murderous look in his eyes, “I don’t give two shits what you think, mother.” He snarls. “You knew the truth and refused to disclose it to the police that night. Because of you-”
My eyes grow wider than saucers as his gaze collides with mine. His jaw ticks and his fingers curl into the palms of his hands, balling at his sides.
I swallow thickly, paralyzed by his sky-blue eyes that have haunted me for many years.
“Keri Appleton?” I hear Janice gasp.
After a beat or two, I finally gain full control over my body as the initial shock fades. “Yes, it is me, Janice,” I answer, tearing my gaze away from Tobias.
She walks up to me and even though every loin in my body wants to scream at her to not come any closer as I slap her across the face. But I don't, instead, I remain silent with my heart hammering against the wall of my chest with disdain and heartache.
“You have grown into a beautiful young woman,” She whispers with tears in her eyes. “My Bruce loved you and your brother dearly, after the accident… after,”
“That’s enough mother!”
My bottom lip begins to tremble as I fight back the tears from spilling down my cheeks. Janice shuts her mouth, nodding her head, and rubs the pad of her thumb over my cheekbone.
“You were always the daughter he could only wish for.” She says with such sadness as she lets her hand drop from my face.
She turns her head to look at Tobias, “Remember what I said, Tobias. You have until the end of the week, or you can kiss your inheritance goodbye,” She sniffles and exits the room, leaving the door wide open.
Tobias walks up to me, towering over me as his gaze darkens, “What are you doing here?”
Suddenly, what I had come here to say, doesn’t seem so important anymore, and I shake my head, feeling small under the intensity of his glare.
“You’re an arsehole, Tobias Landry and I curse the day that you came into our lives.” I spit at him right before I turn on my heel and make a beeline for the door.
But before I can reach it, he rushes behind me and closes it, trapping me between him and the door. His front presses against my back as he places his hands on the high-quality glass above my head.
“Activate privacy.” He demands out loud and within seconds, the translucent windows in his glass-encased office fog up.
I turn to face him, leaning against the door with my back, as the sensation of him brushing against me causes my head to spin and my sex to throb. Curling my hands into tight balls of disdain, I pierce the skin of my palms with my nails to rid myself of the dark thoughts and feelings lapping at my feverish flesh.
Tobias licks his lips like he can sense and smell the arousal wafting off me. He has always been my weak point and after everything he has done, the devastation and destruction he has caused my family...
I should want to rip his fucking heart out and toss it onto the ground like it is worthless, but I don't. No amount of vengeance will bring back what he has stolen from us and I must continue to remind myself of that or the pain will consume me and I will be lost to it forever.
My breathing becomes shallow as he dips his head, and purposely brushes his stubbled cheek against mine, “Tell me, spitfire, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this morning?” His voice is low, deep, and husky. “Just like old times, you couldn’t stay away from me, now, could you?”
I lick my lips, “And you are the same arrogant son of a bitch that turned our lives upside down!” My nostrils flare as I fight to keep my tears at bay and my voice even.Something dark flickers in his eyes as he straightens, he removes his suit jacket and tosses it on the leather sofa stationed against the glass wall. I watch him as he rolls his sleeves up, showcasing his strong forearms that are sprinkled with thin dark hair.“Have you come to say something worth my while, Keri, or did you truly travel all this way to tell me how much of an arsehole I am?” His endless blue eyes draw me in as they turn a gloomy shade of grey.I brush the loose strands of hair away from my face, “Yes.” I hiss, “I came all this way to tell you to stay the fuck away from my bakery, Landry. It is mine and until the ink dries on the paper stating otherwise, I don’t ever want to see you or your contractors hanging outside my establishment.”Tobias scoffs, rubbing the stubble along his jawline. “You are on
TOBIAS:With my hands clenched into fists, I stand by the wide glass window and gaze down onto the street, where Keri is standing in a white summer dress that flutters in the breeze. She wipes her face, looks at her watch, and mumbles something before turning around and sprinting across the street.“Run, spitfire. Run hard. Run Fierce. It only makes me hungrier to catch you, dragging out the inevitable that you will be mine.” I whisper possessively, loosening my hands at my sides.I knew stepping into the Appleton bakery was a bad idea yesterday. Every nerve and every muscle in my body screamed for me to stop in my tracks, and get back into my vehicle.But as usual, my brain defied my body, and now I fucking ache for her.I shouldn’t feel this way about Keri Appleton. She should be off limits, like a forbidden fruit that will be my demise.However, I cannot help myself. The desire to see her after all these years had grown intolerable; it had become my undoing.Yesterday’s encounter
I turn the shower off in the middle of washing my hair. I swear I heard my front door open. I reach out, grab a towel, pat my face dry, and then wrap it around my body as I open the glass door. I try to focus on the surrounding sounds by angling my head to the side. “Keri!” I jump with fright the second I recognize whom the voice belongs to. After stepping out of the shower, I make my way into the living room. “Chase!” I growl furiously. “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that I don’t want to see you again after learning about you and Ava?” I watch as he brushes a trembling hand over his face. “I made a mistake, Keri.” He swallows thickly, meeting my gaze with his misty eyes. “Forgive me, I-I-I…” Rage licks my wet flesh. How dare he show up reeking of alcohol and self-pity! “Get out!” I scream at the top of my lungs, pointing to the front door that he has left ajar. “It is over between us, and that’s because of you,” I state bitterly. “You slept with my sister and got her pregnant
Pain splinters across my head, in the back of my eyes, as it travels down my neck and disperses across my shoulders. The feeling of being crushed by Chase becomes overwhelming, and as I try to hit my head against the wall for the final time, he pushes my head back to stop me. “Tell me you still love me,” He demands with hope glinting in his eyes. “After today, I will never utter such words to you.” I sob, feeling defeated. “LIAR!” He roars. “You will love me until the very end, Keri.” Enraged, he releases my head from his grip and punches the wall beside my face. I jump, crying out with fright as shock and panic seep into my pores. Tears blur my vision as it becomes difficult for me to inhale a full breath of air into my starving lungs. A blurry figure steps through the door, it drops something on top of the coffee table as it rushes towards me too. I scream, struggling against Chase as terror fills me. Has this figure come into my home to rob me, will I be subjected to another
As I wait for the kettle to boil to make myself a cup of coffee, I look around my living room and make a mental note to find a local handyman to come through and fix the body-sized holes that currently decorate my living room walls. After Tobias had left last night, I sat in my living room stricken by shock for what seemed like a lifetime. I clung to the blanket wrapped around me like it was a lifeline while I tried to process everything that happened. My outlook on life has changed. I use to live by the quote: Live like someone is watching you dance as tomorrow is never promised. Now I think I’ll live by the quote: Some people will only like you if you fit into their box. Don’t be afraid to disappoint and say no to those that are too big for your box. As the kettle boils, I remember seeing Tobias throw something down on the coffee table, but as he left, he did not retrieve it. I push off the countertop with my hip and make my way to the coffee table. As I recalled, he did indee
“I wouldn’t hold my breath trying to figure it out,” I reply in a husky tone, swallowing thickly as my cheeks start to feel like they are on fire.Before I can predict his next move, Tobias's hand plunges into the scalp of my head, stopping me from pulling away from him, and tugs at the roots of my hair.“That’s the difference between you and me spitfire. I am willing to do the things you aren’t.”Licking the seams of my lips, my gaze drops to his mouth, and instantly I feel sick to my stomach. I hate that after all these years, he is still able to read me like an open book and stroke the desire that still yearns for him even after all this time and after everything that has happened between us.“I’m not in the mood for your bullshit, Landry.”I watch as his gaze drops to my lips too, “I can get you in the mood.”“I’m not interested.”Tobias releases me, standing to his full height, and I am forced to step away from him. He turns his back to me as he looks out of his office window.
As Tobias leans back in his chair and looks at me in a full of amusement, scrutinizing manner, that rubs me the wrong way. I open my mouth to tell him that if I agree to his proposal, he is to step away from Appleton Bakery and let me run my business how I see fit. But before I can utter a single word, my phone blares to life. Exhaling loudly out of my nose, I straighten while I extract my phone from my bag. My heart plummets into the pit of my stomach when I see who it is that is calling me. A coincidence maybe? Lifting a finger, I gesture to Tobias to hold that thought as I make my way to the far end of his office and answer the call. “Mr. Jameson, this is a surprise. Is everything okay?” I ask him in a hushed tone with my back facing Tobias. “Good morning, Keri. I’m afraid not, we need to talk urgently.” My accountant says in a grim tone, telling me shit’s about to hit the fan. I swallow thickly, “I’m all ears.” "I'm sorry, Keri, but the bakery simply isn't profitable enoug
Sitting down on the sofa in nothing but a silk robe, I recall the events that happened this morning in Tobias's office, skipping straight to the end where I eventually agreed to marry him. After he had declared that he wouldn’t touch me unless I beg him. I shoved him away from me, watching as a cocky smile erupted across his face before I marched across his office to where the contract sat on his desk, and I signed it with trembling hands. “There. It is done.” I hissed, dropping the pen on his desk as I spun around to face him, feeling like I had signed my soul over to the devil himself. “I get to keep my bakery, and you get your inheritance.” Tobias had rocked on the heels of his feet, shoving his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “I will have Melanie pick up our Marriage Certificate by the end of tomorrow.” He declared in a stern voice. I couldn’t help but shake my head while I scoffed at the same time. “I'm not concerned about the details, Landry. The quicker we get this don