Chapter 5 - Twisted hero

Chapter 5

-ROWAN-

I shouldn't have done that. Indigo is looking at me like I'm some sort of twisted hero. She shouldn't even be looking at me at all. Her innocent green eyes should be focused on the floor and not on my face.

"You called for me, sir," she says respectfully. 

"Ms. Reid and her partners will be coming here to speak on the Alpha project. Prepare the board room and bring out the charts." I tell her in a straight voice. 

She nods her head and starts to leave the room. Before she crosses the door, I stop her.

"Indigo," I call out, and she turns.

"Sir?" She answers. 

"If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable here because of any vile comments, tell me." I tell her in a serious tone. She looks taken aback by my words, but covers it up a second later.

"I'll be fine on my own." She says, puffing out her chest a little, feigning confidence. 

"I didn't ask for your opinion on the matter. Something happens, make sure to tell me. If I find out on my own, it won't turn out so well for you." I add a threat in there, and she nods furiously, probably pissed off at my demand.

Give or take thirty minutes after that I'm seated in a board room with fifteen other people—excluding Indigo and I—that I can't stand.

"I've decided that the Asian investors can't be trusted and we should—"

I scowl at Charlotte Reid's incredibly annoying high pitched voice. She sounds like a banshee. I hate attending meetings, but looks like my secretary/wife doesn't.

Indigo is paying attention, and taking down notes next to me. I see some of the men from Reid's company are paying extra attention to her.

They may not be looking at her white button shirt that reveals zero cleavage, but I'm sure their eyes are on her luscious red lips as she bites them unknowingly. 

They may be looking at the curve of her neck through her high ponytail. They're probably looking at—

Snap out of it, Rowan! I caution myself and right on cue, Indigo nudges my elbow.

"What?" I whisper-growl at her.

"I think we should carry on with the deal. The Asians are trustworthy, we made a deal with them last year and it was successful." Indigo tells me.

What is she talking about?

I should pay more attention to these things. I turn to Charlotte, that's still laying down a thousand reasons why we shouldn't make a deal with the investors.

"We're making the deal with the investors. I've heard enough." I cut her off harshly and her jaw drops.

She closes it a second later, and huffs.

"I'm your business partner, and I'm telling you the right thing to do. Those people can't be trusted, they'll rob you blind!" Charlotte protests.

"I said that I have heard enough." I emphasize on every word.

She looks like she wants to say more but I give her a stern ugly look that causes her to huff and shut her mouth hole. 

"You're all dismissed." I say, and everyone starts to disperse from the room.

-INDIGO-

That was a waste of a meeting.

That Charlotte Reid or whatever she calls herself is an idiot. I doubt she knows anything about business. She's always staring longingly at Mr. Grey and pitching useless ideas. 

Not only her, that entire board room needs to be redecorated. There're all incompetent in their work. 

I start to gather the files aggressively, so that I can leave the boardroom. I'm almost out of the room, when I see Charlotte Reid blocking the exit.

A scowl makes it's way on my lips as I stare at her. She's wearing a full on red power suit with high heels and her makeup seems to be on fleek. 

She'd make a better supermodel than a businesswoman, no doubt about that. But the question now is, why is she blocking my path? 

"Excuse me," I tell her in a curt tone, I have a million things to do and I'm not in the mood for her pettiness.

"Who are you?" She asks me and I frown.

She can't possibly be asking me such a question. I've been working in this company longer than she's been a business partner to the company.

"I'm Indigo Ma-Grey." I correct myself at the end as a sudden wave of pride flows through me. 

"How dare you say that to my face?" She screeches as she grips my forearm and digs her long nails through my shirt and into my skin.

"Let go of me!" I defend myself, trying to push her away from me, but she's unmoving. 

"Rowan is mine. Who do you think you are? What did you do to make him marry you? Are you blackmailing him, you whore?" She asks all in one breath, viciously and tears well up in my eyes. 

What the hell is wrong with this woman? She might look like a twig but her grip is firm. I can't even get her to budge. Fuck! I can't cry in front of her. 

"Now listen to me carefully," she sneers, gripping my other arm and pinning me against a wall. "You may think that because you're married to Rowan that you're something. You're not! You're still a lowlife that will never fit into our world.—

"You may have seduced Rowan into marrying you, but that doesn't change who you are. You're a slut, a whore, a wretched—" 

"What the hell is going on here?" A familiar voice snaps and Charlotte immediately lets go of my arms, causing me to fall on the floor helplessly. 

"Just showing the lowlife her place," Charlotte says in pride and I don't need to look at Rowan to know that he is angry, he's radiating anger and the whole room is tense. 

"Did you just call my wife a lowlife?" He asks in a low disbelieving tone, taking slow steps towards Charlotte. 

I see her legs tremble in fear. She should be afraid. What she just did to me violates at least three laws. 

"I'll ask you again, did you just call my wife a lowlife?" Rowan repeats, as he now stands head-to-head with Charlotte. 

"B-but—" Charlotte starts to stutter and Rowan loses it. 

"Indigo is my wife. Any insult to her is an insult to me and I do not take insults very likely." Rowan says in a pissed off tone and Charlotte turns absolutely pale. 

"But she's—"

"Mine. I swear on my life, if you ever dare try something like this again with Indigo, I will destroy you, your family, your business, every single thing. And don't doubt my words, because you know I'll do it." He threatens her in a tone I've never heard him use before.

"Get out of my building." He dismisses her like she's a pest.

She doesn't need to be told twice, as she bows her head in shame and scurries away.

When she disappears finally, Rowan turns to me and helps me up from the ground, standing me on my feet. But something is off, his focus is not on my face but lower. My arms, where Charlotte gripped me. They are now bleeding.

"Fuck!" He curses to himself as he runs his fingers through his luscious hair. 

He leans his head down to my level, causing us to stand face to face. I can smell his breath, mint mixed with a hint of coffee. Two unlike scents that arouse something in me. 

"I—" words fail me in that moment as his electric Prussian blue eyes stroke mine. 

I can't look away, neither can he. Our breaths are heavy and there's something in the air hanging around us. Something that is not supposed to be felt between an employer and his employee. 

Mr. Grey casually ignores the spark in the air around us and sweeps me off my feet. Literally. He carries me up to his chest, bridal style and helps me all the way to the lobby of the building, ignoring the curious looks thrown our way by fellow employees. 

He takes me into his car and gently places me on the passenger seat, before turning to the driver seat and locking the doors of his Porsche. He starts to drive off in the direction of his mansion in top speed. 

I want to tell him to calm down, but I don't. I let my heart jump up and down in fear and adrenaline, watching him maneuver through the streets in anger. 

Yes, he looks deadly angry. At who? 

It can't be me. He's probably angry at Charlotte and what she did to me. I don't dare tell him to calm down before he passes his aggression to me. My eyes trail over his tight jawline and hard muscles. 

That is, until the car stops, and I see that we're back in Mr. Grey's mansion. He carries me inside the mansion and to the kitchen, where he places me on a kitchen stool.

He starts to open up all the cabinets, searching for something.

"What are you doing?" I ask him in curiosity, and of course he chooses to ignore me.

He brings out a first aid kit from one of the cabinets and sets it on the kitchen island. He opens the box and takes out a few things.

"Take off your shirt." He commands and I gasp, horrified at his demand. 

"What?" I ask. Maybe I might have heard him wrong. 

"I want to check your arms. Take off your shirt." He explains a bit, through his teeth. Like he's in the one in pain here. My mouth forms an 'O' in realization.

I try to take off my shirt but my upper arms hurt. I can't take it off on my arm. I turn to look at Mr. Grey but his attention is on an ointment cap, as he tries to turn it open.

"Mr. Grey, I can't..." I trail off, glancing at my arms, and he looks up to see me. That's when he realizes that he'll have to do this himself.

His eyes widens at the situation. He was not prepared to do this himself. 

"Excuse me." He says in a voice unlike his own as he walks out from the kitchen and in the direction of the downstairs bathroom. 

Will he able to do this? We both didn't sign up for such intimate things. I'm wearing a singlet underneath but still. He'll still touch my skin, see it. 

I don't want him to. It'll change the dynamic of everything. This is all Charlotte's fault, she's the cause of the awkwardness that's about to happen between Mr. Grey and I. 

I hear sharp footsteps from behind me and I see that Mr. Grey has taken off his suit jacket and rolled the sleeves of his white button shirt up to his elbows. The first three stops of the shirt are also unbuttoned. 

To say he looks regal right now is an understatement. His luscious hair is still in its neat bun, leaving small strands at the front. 

I have no idea why he insists to grow his hair long, but it is working well for him. 

He gets to me and I change my position on the stool. Resting my back against the kitchen counter and facing the wall in front of me, widening my legs. 

Thank heavens, I'm wearing pants today. I wonder how this would've happened with me in a skirt. 

Mr. Grey occupies the space in between my legs and hear courses through my legs. He steps in closer, ensuring that there's less than two inches in between us. 

Why is everywhere so hot all of a sudden? I blow out a breath, slightly forgetting that there is a man in front of me. My breath fans his face and he gives me an indecipherable look. 

"Let's get this over with." He mutters in a curt tone, as his hands touch my the top of my shirt and I shiver.

This is going to be torture.