Chapter 8

THERESA'S POV

Concentration didn't come readily when Aiden walked into the office like a storm cloud, his jaws clenched in that unyielding manner of his. His mood had grown darker in the past few days, and no degree of professionalism could bridge the gap caused by his not trusting me.

It was in the way he looked at me, a puzzle piece he couldn't quite figure out, but didn't quite want to. I tried, God, I tried, but his presence felt heavy, air thick, as though he would smother me.

I'd spent altogether too much of my life perfecting the fine art of keeping my head down and getting the job done. Being his secretary was supposed to be a cakewalk; after all, I was used to navigating tense environments. I had lived through worse. But Aiden Ryan? He was a certain kind of torture, burrowing under my skin and refusing to leave.

“Tessa,” Aiden's voice cut through my reverie cold, clipped as ever. The quarterly reports. I asked for them an hour ago.

“I sent them to your inbox," I replied, keeping my voice even.

He narrowed his eyes, the sharp blue of them icy as they held mine a beat longer than necessary. "Next time, I expect them printed and on my desk, not buried in some email." His voice was low, edged with impatience, like somehow I'd inconvenienced him personally.

"Yes, of course." I nodded, forced, biting the inside of my cheek.

Typical.

No matter how well I'd performed my job, it was never good enough for him. He would always manage to pick something out that wasn't finished, some little thing he could criticize. Aiden wasn't a perfectionist; he was a control freak. To work as his secretary meant tiptoeing around him day in and day out.

But that wasn't even the worst part of it. Nope, the worst was how he could always make me feel…insignificant, less than human but another cog in the machine he would replace at any moment. Still, I'd dealt with worse than Aiden Ryan and his moodiness. I just had to remember that.

I started to turn to leave his office, the door swung open, and my heart sank. Damien.

He strode in like he owned the place, that cocky smirk already pulling at the corner of his lips. Damien Ryan, the halfbrother who was the complete opposite of Aiden. Where Aiden was cold and calculated, Damien was reckless and charismatic, life of any party. And of course, my ex-boyfriend. Because life wasn't complicated enough.

“Ah, ah," Damien drawled, his eyes flicking to me no more than momentarily, but the mayhem already brewed behind them. "Looks like I'm interrupting something. Business as usual, I assume?"

Aiden didn't even look up from his desk. "Damien, I don't have time for whatever nonsense you're here for.”

"Chill, bro," Damien said, beaming as he leaned into the door frame, an affable young man without a care in the world. "I'm here for just a friendly visit."

I felt his gaze settle once more on me, a little too long almost in silent dare for me to react. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. My hands clenched into fists at my sides while my face remained impassive, feigning indifference to his gaze on me.

"Theresa," Damien finally said, low and with mocking tones. "You're looking lovelier than ever.

My stomach knotted tighter because I knew Aiden's gaze was darting between us. The urge to snap back was swallowed, and instead, I managed to paste a professional smile onto my lips. "Thank you Mr. Ryan. I should get back to work."

Turning to go, I caught the merest flash of something in Aiden's face-curiosity, perhaps? Suspicion? It was gone before I could get a handle on it, replaced by the usual cold indifference. Damien, though? He wasn't about to let me go without one final jab.

"Don't be a stranger, Theresa," Damien called after me, condescendingly.

I said nothing. Couldn't. If I opened myself up to him, I knew I'd lose. Damien was always good at getting under my skin, and now, not being his, he seemed to relish in making things even more uncomfortable for me.

I muttered my thanks and turned back to my desk, but a nagging suspicion that Damien was up to something wouldn't leave me. He was always up to something. His visits were never casual, never. I knew him too well for that.

Aiden saw his half-brother as a nuisance, a troublemaker, but he didn't see the real Damien, that manipulative side that had almost destroyed me. Whatthe hell Damien was, would be revealed to Aiden in due time; for now, it really did seem that Damien was going to stir the pot until I was at the center of it.

I plopped myself down into the chair at my desk, my heart racing as the interaction that just occurred replayed itself in my head. Damien wasn't here just to taunt me. He had a plan, and I didn't have a single notion as to what that was.

The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur-tension upon tension building with every look Aiden shot my way, each and every smug comment Damien had to say. I was walking on air, one misstep away from falling into the bad times, until finally I was ready to leave.

Halfway to the elevator, footsteps sounded behind me. No need to turn and let me know who it was.

"Leaving so soon?" Damien's voice was smooth, too smooth.

I knitted my brow without turning to face him. "What do you want, Damien?"

"I just wanted to talk," he said, further closing the space between us, his warm breath dancing on my neck. "Is that such a crime?

I quickened my pace, not allowing him to get to me. But Damien wasn't one to let things go.

He grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. “What's going on between you and Aiden? Did you break up with me just to fuck him?”

I yanked my hand away from him and said while glaring at him. “You know that's not why we broke up.”

“So you're indeed fucking him.” A smirk crept on his face as he stepped closer to me invading my privacy.

“Of course not,” I lied, averting my eyes from him.

The weight of my guilt, my shame, fell on my chest instantly, heavy and too familiar. I wanted to scream at him, to keep telling him how wrong he was, but deep inside, a small part of me knew he was right.

But not this time; I wasn't going to let Damien have his way.

“Move,” I spat, dodging around him and poking the elevator button.

The doors opened but not before Damien's smile grew bigger. "You are not allowed to leave me, Tessa. We will only be over when I say so. Have a lovely night.”

I stepped into the elevator, which closed between them, my heart pounding. But then it was his words, their echo taunting me, reminding me no matter how far I ran, I could never be out of reach of the past.

I exhaled the shaky breath as the elevator descended, my hands shaking at my sides. The one thing Damien had been right about: this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

And I had no idea how I was going to survive it.