Chapter 2

I was raised by my grandmother because I had no choice. My dad was a deadbeat father and left my mom and me when I was only nine. I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. 

What hurt me more is that he promised me that he would come home later that night and bring me a doll; a doll that I had wanted for the longest. I guess he lied because I am now a twenty-five-year-old woman and I’m still waiting for that doll.

A year later, my mom died of chronic depression. She had stopped taking care of herself and even went days without eating. Of course, she made us believe that she was eating but we would always find her food in the trash the next day. 

We took her to therapy but that lasted for only about a day. She threatened that if we made her go back there that she would hurt herself; so we listened. When she died, I felt so alone. She died in her room clutching onto a pillow that my dad had given her for their anniversary a year before.

After she was gone, I had to move to Seattle because that was where my granny lived. She was another mom to me. She made me smile again. She made me feel alive again. She gave me hope.

I now lived in my own apartment and my granny now lived at the Old Folks’ home. I made sure to visit her every Wednesday and Friday, no matter how busy I was. She was never busy for me so I was in no way going to be too busy for her.

Both my parents left me. They did not fight for me. They chose themselves over me, and that broke my heart. 

Dad left his nine-year-old daughter without even looking back. I could never understand how he could do that to me. 

Mom may have had a reason to be distant and maybe leave me, but she had a choice. She had a freaking choice. She could have chosen to rise above what dad did to her and be the best single mom ever to me, but she chose a different path. 

She chose to be like dad and leave me. Except before she died and left me physically, she had abandoned me emotionally long before then.

So I made a promise to myself, that I would never run away from my problems or let them destroy my life like the way they destroyed my parents’. Because I knew that there would always be a solution to a problem even if the answer or solution was not pretty or obvious.

Bradley took me to a hotel not too far from the bar. We used his car, it took only three minutes to reach there. The ride there was quiet and he kept looking over at me to make sure that I was okay. 

After Bradley checked us into our room, he led me upstairs and into a bedroom. It was nice but it was not somewhere I had imagined I would be. Not because of the physical location but mainly because of the fact that I did not ever think that my client would be the one taking care of me and not the other way around.

I was the one always looking after my client’s professional needs.

I closed the door and stared at the CEO as he removed his clothing. When his jacket fell on the ground, my mind assaulted me with the mental image of my fiance and my best friend together in our bed. It sickened me and it also brought me to tears.

“Are you okay?” The CEO approached me. He was now half-naked, only wearing his boxers. Why had he removed his clothes? His body was incredible and very tempting. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t wanna.”

Was he talking about having sex with him?

“I-,” I tried to speak but then my eyes landed on his growing bulge. I lifted my attention to his eyes and I saw that they were filled with lust and want.

Seeing that he wanted me turned me on. Plus he was way too hot for my senses at the moment. “We don’t have to speak of this moment ever again. It has been a stressful week for me and I need this. And from the sadness that I see in your eyes, I can tell that you need this too.”

“I caught my fiancee cheating on me not too long ago,” I confessed, and I felt a bit lighter, knowing that I had told someone. The CEO mumbled, “I’m sorry,” and then he proceeded to remove my clothing. 

His touch was like magic, it shot bolts of pleasure in me, causing me to succumb to him. “He betrayed me. I trusted him with my heart and he lit it on fire.” A tear escaped my eye.

The CEO placed a soft kiss on my neck and then said, “I don’t know the guy, but what I do know is that he’s sh*t for letting someone as magnificent as you go.”

“Mhmm,” I replied with a softness in my voice. My pencil skirt was now on the floor and then my blouse came off next. With only my bra and panty clinging to my body, the CEO lifted me and carried me easily to the bed. 

“But right now, this very moment is not about our problems or worries. It’s about us getting lost in a world of pleasure and being happy,” The CEO said as he removed his boxers hurriedly, his movements were run completely by passion. 

“We deserve it,” He laid on top of me and I felt his manhood between my legs. I whimpered without my consent and my body shivered. 

He began to kiss me passionately, causing Nora and what the bastard did to flee from my mind completely. I began to equally return the kiss and that caused the CEO to release a small growl. Our movements became sloppy and full of raw passion.

My body begged to be taken advantage of and the CEO was more than happy to do so. The bed shook under our weight as he buried himself in me. I gripped the bedsheets until my knuckles became white. 

This was bliss, a euphoria that was way beyond my comprehension. This was above sex. This was an out-of-body experience. 

The CEO's eyes were blazing with so much passion and his breaths were shaky and hot. His mouth found its way to my neck easily and he sucked onto my skin, causing me to moan loudly as he thrust into me. 

He then placed his teeth on my skin and I felt pain. I should have told him to stop but the pain felt so good. I wanted more. It was like he could hear my thoughts. He sunk his teeth deep into my neck and I saw stars. I had never been so aroused sexually and mentally in my life!

We soon reached orgasms and the room was filled with screams and moans of pleasure until we fell right next to each other breathing heavily; satisfied more than ever. It didn’t take long for sleep to overcome me. 

I slept like a baby for the first time in almost a year; not having to worry about being a perfect mediator for my boss or about Mark and Nora. I was at peace.

When morning came, I woke up feeling refreshed. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt like I could do anything!

I yawned and then I rolled to the other side of the bed, only to see that Bradley was gone. I did not think much of it because I knew that this was just a one-night stand; just a sinful act that I was never going to do again. 

I hoped what had happened between the CEO and I would just stay between us and not affect our working relationship. 

My phone suddenly began to ring and I reached for it somewhere on the floor. I inhaled sharply when I saw who was calling, my boss! The clock hanging on the wall told me that I had slept in and was now really late for work.

I was sure that my boss was calling to threaten to fire me or maybe even replace me with someone else to work with the CEO.

I answered the call tentatively and to my surprise, my boss did not yell. His voice was coated with pride and happiness. “Good morning, Lisa. How was your night?”

I could not believe that my boss who was always too busy was actually taking the time out of his day to check up on me. Or was this just the calm before the storm? Maybe he was fattening me up for the slaughter. 

“Look, boss. I know I’m late to work, and I’m really sorry about that. So if you’re going to fire me or kick me off the project, I deserve it.”

He chuckled, “Fire you? Lisa, what I’m trying to do is congratulate you!” 

“For what?” I bit my bottom lip in nervousness. I was starting to think that I was dreaming so I did some pinching but it hurt like hell, which let me know that I was wide awake. “I don’t follow.”

“Stop being so modest!” He laughed. “You got the CEO signed with us! He hired us to build the nightclub!”

“Oh,” I was starting to understand now. But I did not remember giving the news to my boss yet. I had planned to do that when I got to work today. “How did you find out?”

“Mr. Specter called this morning and gave us the news. But it’s not just that. He is going to give us all his current and future projects, Lisa! All of them!” A happy laugh erupted from my boss as I tried to process it all.

“That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed as I dragged my body off of the bed. I wrapped the bedsheet around me as I held the phone to my ear with my other hand. 

“But it is all under one condition.” My boss's voice was now serious. “You have to be the only one who would work with him. You’d be the bridge between him and our company. This is the catch.”

I was taken aback by the condition. After last night I thought the CEO would be trying to erase me from his mind, but he wanted to spend more time with me. I would have to think about that but for now, my answer would be yes; only for the sake of sealing the deal.

“I’m sure I can make that work, sir,” I replied to him, and he chuckled.

“I knew that I could count on you, Lisa!” 

The condition was not bad and I was sure that I could pretend that the CEO and I did not have mind-blowing sex though that would be one of the hardest things in the world. 

‘Not the hardest’, The voice played in my mind and I blushed.

The CEO was respectful and responsible, so working with him would be smooth. I was sure of it. He was a man who was straightforward and hardworking.

“Always, Mr. Rogers.” I smiled.

“Okay, Lisa. Have a lovely day! And oh, take the day off. You’ve earned it.” He ended the call. 

Holy crap! That just happened! That was something I never thought would happen anytime soon! It was a miracle! It was a win for me and the company! Even for the CEO because we would build him one hell of a nightclub. 

I guess the one-night stand did pay off.

I should call Bradley. I should thank him. This was all happening because he finally decided to sign with us. But, since he was not here and had left, calling him, would seem more logical. 

I adjusted the bedsheets around my body as I called the CEO’s number. Surprisingly, it began to ring and I could hear it in the hotel room. That meant either two things: maybe he had left and forgotten his cell phone, or he was still here.

I followed the loud ringtone of the phone until I came to the closed door of the bathroom. “Bradley? Are you in there?” I knocked lightly on the door. 

No reply came and I knocked again. The ringtone was indeed coming from the bathroom. When no one replied, I proceeded to open the door. When I turned the knob, I realize that the door was unlocked. 

I pushed the door slowly until it was wide open. What I saw next shook me to the core. “Oh my god,” I gasped and the phone dropped from my hand and landed on the floor with a thud. 

One of my assumptions was right. The CEO had not left and was in the bathroom. But what he was doing caused my mouth to dry instantly and made my mind spin in fear.