Authors: Bryce Evans
London sat at her desk typing and fuming. When she
looked at the top of the document she was working on it had Tracy Allen’s name
as the programmer.
Good luck Tracy and Roxie when
your program goes dead. I’m no longer going to be a lap dog around here.
Finishing, she turned to look
out the window. It was a beautiful day and she was cooped up in the office,
unable to come up with one reason she should work for the Landon Company
anymore. Blowing out her breath, she found herself daydreaming about him again.
Her quiet thoughts always seemed to circle back to Ryder Malone.
The hair on the back of her neck lifted as the door
creaked open, and she turned to find Ryder standing behind her. Somehow, she
had conjured him up out of her daydreams.
Wow. Damn I’m a better witch than
I thought.
He was more handsome than she remembered, and their gazes met as
he stared at her with those electrifying blue bewitching eyes.
The spark she felt every time she looked at the man
started igniting. The intensity of his gaze was rapidly making her body excited
in all the right places. She felt as if his entire focus was on her, and her
heart faltered as she stared back at him. She didn’t know if he felt it too,
but the way he stared at her made her think he was just as affected.
He’s wearing a pair of fitted dark blue jeans with a
navy blue V-neck sweater that fit him perfectly. She could see his muscles as
they stretched the sweater across his body. He was handsome and rugged. With his
hair black as night and styled to perfection, he took her breath away and she
ached to touch him.
Why is he here?
Just then, Zoey appeared underneath his arm breaking
up her view.
“Hello, best friend.” London shot out of the chair
toward her best friend almost knocking her down. She grabbed Zoey hugging her
tightly to her chest. She hadn’t realized just how much she had missed her. With
everything that was happening at Landon, she wanted her life back and that
included Zoey. She inhaled deeply as she hugged her tighter.
“Hey…hey, it’s alright.” Zoey held on looking over
her shoulder at Ryder. “But you’re squeezing the life out of me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” London pulled away, swiping the
tears that had fallen from her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Zoey asked, concerned as she led
London to the chairs in front of her desk.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but what are you guys doing here?”
London asked. Zoey looked behind her and London’s eyes followed hers to Ryder
who was standing against the wall watching.
“I came to New York with Ryder. He had some business
and I tagged along. We want to take you and Donnie to lunch. Can you break free
for a few?” Donnie sashayed into the room as if he heard Zoey talking about
him. He was funny as he introduced himself to Ryder, like he was the King of
England. She had told Zoey about her new friend, and that she wanted them to
meet. He was a breath of fresh air when he entered in the room. Then he came
over to Zoey and pulled her into a huge hug.
“Hey, good-looking.” Zoey teased as she hugged
Donnie back like they were long lost friends. London narrowed her eyes thinking
it was odd since they had never met, but she didn’t say anything. She was too
excited to see Zoey. If she was honest with herself, she was even more excited
about seeing Ryder, but she would never allow him to know that.
Ryder moved to the other side of the door, looking
at the books in her bookcase when Roxie Falcon walked into the room.
“What is going on here? This isn’t happy hour,
London.” Zoey and Donnie turned around glaring at the snarling woman. The small
amount of happiness she felt at her old friend’s arrival disappeared when Roxie
walked in. She sucked all the oxygen out of the room when she entered it.
“These are friends of mine who just arrived from out
of town. I’m going to lunch.” London got up and went around to her desk to get
her purse.
“We need those bugs worked out now. Since you took a
sick day yesterday, we had to postpone that meeting, and now you are taking a
lunch break. The buyers are going to be here this afternoon. We need it all
worked out now,” Roxie reprimanded.
“Yes, I am.” London bit out. Her cheeks reddened as
she got up from the couch.
“No, you’re not. Tracy needs that now, before the
Johnson people get here this afternoon,” Roxie argued with her hands on her
hips.
London could feel the fury boiling up inside her. “Well
shucks Roxie, that’s your problem now. You see as of now I quit. You two find out
how to fix the problems.”
Roxie moved toward London putting her hands on her
arm holding her still. London looked down at Roxie’s hand as it squeezed her
arm. She could feel her anger as it rushed forward. The thought of knocking
that look off Roxie’s face gave her chills. Her blood was burning molten lava
hot inside her, and she could feel the magic inside her sparking. She didn’t
understand why it had all of a sudden decided to make an appearance, but it
scared her enough to make her close her eyes and breathe before she hurt Roxie.
“Roxie if you want to keep that hand, then I would
advise you to get it off my arm.”
Squeezing her arm harder, Roxie got into London’s
face. “You can’t quit. We don’t know how to fix these problems. If you leave
then the deal falls through. So get your ass over there and fix it.” The air
whooshed out of her mouth as Roxie found her head shoved down on the desk. Her
arm was wrapped behind her back.
London managed to use the least amount of pressure,
she wasn’t trying to hurt Roxie, but the bitch made a mistake when she put her
hands on her. Roxie whimpered as London flexed her elbow just enough to let her
feel the pressure tighten. She knew with just a little more pressure and she
could snap Roxie’s elbow and break it. The thought flashed into her head, but
she knew she wouldn’t physically hurt Roxie, no matter how mean she had been to
her.
“You just made this a hostile work environment for
me. You should never put your hands on an employee. So the next time you touch
me, trust me, it will hurt. I guarantee that.” London muttered, before
releasing Roxie and allowing her to get up.
“You are so going to jail. You bitch.” Roxie spit
out rubbing her arm. “You can kiss your career good bye. You will never work in
business again. I will make damn sure of that.”
“Maybe you should rethink that one, Roxie.” Donnie
called out then waved his cell phone in the air toward her. “I just recorded
the entire scene on my phone and sent it to my emails. I think you should walk
out of here now while you still can.”
Roxie snarled then started to walk out. Turning back
around, she whispered, “I will get you back for this.” Then she turned and practically
ran out of the room.
“That went well.” London’s voice was thick with pain
as she made it around to her desk sitting down hard. She had forgotten about
Ryder who was standing in the corner watching. Apparently, Roxie hadn’t seen
him either, or she wouldn’t have made such a scene. She looked up and Ryder
smiled at her. He looked like he was proud of her.
That couldn’t be right
.
“Maybe we should pack your stuff and leave now
before security is called,” Ryder suggested. Even his tone was different as he
spoke. He was nicer to her this time.
“I saw some boxes in the copier room. I’ll go and
get a couple of them.” Donnie suggested.
“Don’t bother. All I need is this.” London held up a
flash drive. She put it in her purse and grabbed her jacket. She picked up the
phone and called for Eloise, the secretary for her floor, to come to her
office.
“Yes, London.” Eloise came into the room looking
concerned.
Crossing the room quickly, the sweet lady held her
hand out toward London. Eloise was an older woman who had worked for Landon
Computers for twenty-five years, and she knew what went on at this company. London
had immediately liked her when she started the job, and she would bring Eloise
sweet treats back to eat when she baked over the weekend. They had formed a
bond over the ten months she had been there, and she would miss her when she
left the company.
“Eloise? Today is my last day. I just quit and I
need you to take an account of my office so they can’t say I took something. All
I’m taking is my purse and coat. The books can be sent to my grandmother’s if
you don’t mind. You have the address on file. If you could be so kind and take
an inventory like you did when I started.” Shaking her head, Eloise walked up
to London and hugged her.
“I heard what she said to you, and I’ve seen how
they have been treating you. If anyone tries to say different, I will speak up.
I’ve sat by and watched so many good people get crapped on in this company and
it stops here. I know Mr. Landon’s secretary, so I will pass the word to her
about what happened. I’m so sorry, London. You are such a talented programmer. I
know you will do well for yourself, but not here. I can see that now. You’re
not a thief like them. You love to work hard. That should be the way you get
ahead in this business, but it’s not. I know most of these people are ruthless.
They cheat and lie to get ahead. This company used to be so well run. Why Mr.
Landon continues to allow this to happen I don’t know.
The world is changing my dear; hard work and talent don’t
seem to fit in this company. I suppose it’s time I retired. I’m not cut out for
these kinds of people any more, but, before I go, I’m going to request a
meeting with Mr. Landon. He needs to know. I don’t know if he will change it,
but I’m going to tell him.” London hugged Eloise back then put her jacket on.
“Eloise it has been a pleasure to work with you. You
have been very special to me. I will miss you. If you don’t mind can I call and
check on you from time to time?”
“Oh, London.” Eloise grabbed her and hugged her
tighter. “That would be wonderful. I would be disappointed if you didn’t. I
don’t have any family left and I feel that you are like my granddaughter.”
“Thank you, Eloise. You are very special to me too. I
would love for us to keep in touch.” London spoke gently to the older woman
then hugged her again.
“I prepared my resignation last night not knowing if
I would need to use it today, but it appears that I do.” London got a brown
envelope off her desk and handed it to Eloise. “Thank you for helping me with everything,
and for always showing me kindness.” London said grabbing her purse, “I will be
in touch soon.”
She looked up at her friends; the stress of what she
had just done was making her sick. Trying to keep it together before she broke
down, London sighed heavily with a sense of doom. Everything she had worked for
was gone, but she had to keep it together until she was alone. She needed to
act natural or Zoey wouldn’t give her a moment’s relief when they left.
“I guess I’m ready for lunch.” They all waved bye to
Eloise as she and her friends walked out of the office.
“I’m sorry London. I know you loved your job here.”
Zoey expressed. London could see the concern in Zoey’s face.
Chapter
14
Donnie made small talk with Zoey as they traveled
down the road. London sat in the back of the limo watching cars as they passed
by. Her body began shaking as she thought about everything she had worked so
hard for had just gone poof. All the time she put in to building her career
was gone. Once Tracy and Roxie ruined her name, she would be lucky if she got a
job waitressing in New York. She didn’t want to go eat. She wanted to go home
and die. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces and all in front of
Ryder.
The car stopped at the Winford Restaurant. It was
ranked one of the best restaurants in Manhattan. Donnie whistled as they all
exited the car.
“Wow, I do like how you take us out to lunch in
style,” Donnie said, grabbing London’s hand as they walked inside. The maître
d’ immediately went to Ryder shaking his hand, greeting him as though he was a
top customer. She knew that Ryder and Zoey had a lot of money and money always
got you the best table, but it still surprised her.
He escorted them to a table informing them that
their waitress would be here in a few seconds. He said seconds and he was
right. A beautiful young lady showed up as he walked away, placing a bottle of
wine on the table, before excusing herself for a few minutes.
London was in shock. She sat between Donnie and
Zoey, with her arms wrapped around her middle trying to stop the trembling in
her body. The realization of what she’d done was finally hitting home.
“What did I do?” she whispered, rocking back and
forth. She had nothing now. No one could save her, and her life was in
shambles. She didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Her anguish hit
her square in the chest.
Ryder poured her some wine. “Drink this, London.”
She couldn’t concentrate, but she managed to put the glass to her lips and drink
it down, with Ryder watching her as she swallowed.
“Calm down, sweetie. You did the right thing. You
know you did. I’ve got Roxie by the balls with that video if she even thinks
about trashing your name. Tit for tat. I’ve got your back and so does Eloise.
Here drink another.” Donnie tried to make her understand as he poured her
another glass putting it in her shaking hand.
Blowing out a tired breath, London closed her eyes
for a minute to try to clear her head. She took in deep breaths from her nose
and knew it was Ryder’s scent she was inhaling. Opening her eyes, she stared
directly into his concerned blue eyes. The intensity in his gaze showed how
distressed he was, which was odd to her because he’d acted like he hated her
before. The electricity she felt around him was still there, and it unnerved
her that she felt this way about someone who didn’t like her. Looking away, her
eyes moved over to Zoey who smiled but looked concerned too.
“Hello, Mr. Malone. Welcome back. My name is Nancy
and I will be waiting on you. What can I get for everyone today?”
London didn’t know if she was even hungry. Her mind
was in distress and so was her stomach. She needed to look at the menu. Concentration
flew out the window along with her career. Her life was now a disaster.
How
can I eat?
She needed to get up and take a cab back to her apartment. Calls
should already have been made, but instead she was in the best restaurant in
town.
I need to look for a new job. Cry?
Fuck no, I’m not crying. I should have hit that bitch square in the mouth. Oh
God, what did I just do?
She continued to replay it over and over in her head. Her emotions were
everywhere now.
“If you guys don’t mind, I can order for you. They
have the best steak. It is a specialty here in New York.” His voice called to
her, and she looked up at him.
“That would be great for me. I haven’t had a good
steak in a long time. I like mine medium,” Donnie responded as he looked over
at London. He looked worried too when she nodded instead of answering directly.
She drank the rest of her wine as Ryder ordered, and
she didn’t even listen to what he was ordering. Closing her eyes, she tried to
calm her mind, but every time she took in deep breaths, his scent consumed her.
Why is he even in my thoughts
right now?
It
was pissing her off thinking about Ryder when she should be concentrating on
her life that was now falling off the cliff.
“London, I have a question for you. I know this
might not be the best time to bring it up but I think now since everything
happened at your old job…well, maybe it’s the perfect time.” London heard Zoey
speaking, and she turned in her seat trying to listen. She didn’t say anything
when Zoey spoke to her. She couldn’t concentrate on the words.
“London?” Zoey grabbed London’s hand. She looked up,
her vision unfocused as she silently stared at Zoey.
“London. I need you in my company. I need your
expertise and I need you because you’re family to me. I trust you with my life
and hope that now you will consider being my partner. The program you developed
for the Landon Company is the same type of business we could bring to these
companies. But, we will be in charge. Nobody will try to take it away from you
this time. It will say your name at the top of the program as who created it.”
London’s eyes narrowed looking from Donnie to Zoey. She
knew at that moment that Donnie had told Zoey everything and now Ryder knew. He
had too. That was why he was being so nice to her. She should have expected it.
Zoey would pull out all the stops for her best friend and Ryder didn’t want
Zoey to be hurt.
Wow, can this day get any worse?
London wasn’t used to taking handouts. She believed
in hard work getting you to the top. She was never given something without
earning it first. She could see the pity in everyone’s eyes as they stared at
her. A shiver moved through her when she realized her best friend felt pity for
her and was only offering this job because she had just resigned and had no
hope to find a new one.
Her career was over and she wanted to punch someone.
All the anger she felt was rolling around inside of her like in a pinball machine.
It was bouncing back and forth waiting to hit the next hope and dream she had.
Before she did something she would regret London silently got up from the
table. She walked right past the maître d’, and out of the restaurant. As she
got to the bottom step of the restaurant, the rainstorm that had been
threatening, unleashed on the citizens of New York.
Rain fell down on her, drenching her clothes, as she
ran down the street. The weather was starting to get cold in New York, which
made the rain feel ten times harsher, but she continued to walk until she found
herself in Central Park. London sat down on a bench as men and women ran past her
trying to escape the rain. People only glanced at her as she sat there,
defeated.
She probably looked like a nut sitting in the rain,
but looking out, she thought that the park was beautiful now. She loved coming here
during her days off.
Well you’re going to have a lot
of them soon.
Thinking about that made her heart hurt. It hurt so
much at how her life had turned out. She felt defeated for the first time in
her life. Everything she had was tied up in that job. She had put her heart and
soul into it and now it was gone. Just like that. It was gone.
She tilted her head back allowing the rain to beat
across her face as she breathed in the cool air. She wanted the pain from the
rain and cold to take it all away. She hated being a weak person. She hated herself
for not being like them. She couldn’t lower herself to be that corrupt.
Stealing another person’s work then putting your name on the top of it, as the
programmer was just wrong.
“What are you doing?” London didn’t have to look up
to know who was talking to her. When she didn’t reply to Ryder, he reached out
and tipped her face toward him. He shook her gently until her eyes popped open.
“London, look at me. Are you okay?” he asked, pulling
her up from the bench.
London narrowed her eyes at Ryder, and her voice
came out as a whisper. The emotion she was feeling was beating her down. “Why
are you following me? What do you want?”
Ryder just stared at her. All London could see was
pity on his face. She was lashing out at anything and she wanted to hurt
someone. His intense look did her in. The air between them sparked as she
stared back at him.
She hated the way he affected her. He drove her body
insane. Even now, she struggled to stop herself from kissing him. Then she
reminded herself that this was Ryder and he only felt pity for her. London was
sure that Zoey had sent him to get her.
“I don’t need your damn pity, Ryder or a job. I
found this one. I will find another one. If I have to, I will move away from
here to another city and start over, but I won’t take hand-outs from you or my
best friend.” London was yelling at Ryder as she pushed her arms against his
hard chest. It was like trying to move a mountain.
“Handout?” Ryder grabbed London’s face. “London, you
are acting like a child. Zoey is your best friend and she loves you. She tried
to get you to go into business with her before you even left college. For once,
think about someone else. Did you ever think she needs you? You are being so
selfish.”
“Selfish? You—you big baboon, let me go! Why do you
continue to do this to me? My life is upside down right now. Everything is
falling apart. I…I’m no good for her right now. I would only bring her down.
Didn’t you just see what happened? I… I’m ruined now…” She couldn’t feel her
toes anymore as she yelled at Ryder. The rain continued to beat down on them as
she struggled to get away from him. London finally realized what Ryder had
said.
“What’s wrong with Zoey?” London asked. Her teeth
were chattering so hard, she thought she was going to break them.
Ryder didn’t answer her question about Zoey. “You’re
not ruined. Let’s go get in the car before you freeze to death.”
Without waiting for her to react, Ryder picked her
up and carried her to the car. The driver came around and opened up the door
allowing them to get in.
“Norman, take us to London’s apartment, please.
Hurry before she freezes to death,” Ryder demanded.
The cold rain dripped off her body as she sat in the
limo. Her lips had already turned purple and her body was shaking uncontrollably
when Ryder closed the door. London was so cold it felt like she was drugged.
All she wanted to do was sleep.
* * * *
Ryder pulled her body closer to him, wrapping his
arms around her. She was still shaking when he started rubbing his hands up and
down her arms. He took his coat off and draped it over her as she continued to tremble
uncontrollably.
Ryder’s wolf came to the surface, and his body heat grew
warmer, like a heater. His wolf was rubbing against skin, when he got a big
sniff of the woman wrapped in his arms. He wanted to do more than hold her but
he couldn’t take advantage of her. This was not the strong woman he had met
before. This was a woman on the edge. Her dreams had been stripped away from
her, and she felt like her life had ended.
Ryder had done an extensive background on her, so he
knew the reason she guarded herself from others. London’s parents moved often
which made it harder for London to make friends. She never had real friends,
and every time she moved, it became harder and harder for London to relate to
others. Then her parent’s death had wrecked her, taking away feelings and
emotions so she wouldn’t be hurt again. The only tangible part of her life was
her job and now that was gone. She couldn’t see past that right now. He
understood it.
Ryder looked down at the most beautiful woman he’d
ever seen. Even with mascara running down her face, she was the one who plagued
his dreams ever since the first time he saw her picture, and she didn’t even know
how much he cared about her.
He had placed the file with her picture in his top
desk drawer so he could pull it out and look at her often. Even his wolf
demanded that he claim the woman, but London wasn’t like him. She wasn’t a
shifter and wouldn’t understand their ways. The pack and the council required a
lot of responsibility in Alpha City. Ryder knew she wouldn’t understand all he
had to do. When someone needed him, he would have to leave and go help or solve
the problem. Plus, she didn’t even like him and when she found out that she was
a witch, she ran from it. To sum it up, he needed a mate who would stand up to
problems and try to find a way to solve them. Not run from them. Just like
today she ran away from her friends.
Regardless of how she was acting, it didn’t stop how
much he wanted her. Even now, he wanted to strip her clothes off and take her
in the car. He wanted to suck her blood as he pounded into her luscious body,
but that would never happen. London was a human and with his strength, he could
hurt her.
She felt wonderful in his arms. His body hardened
just from being near her. If she was his mate, how would or could she deal
with everything, but, deep down he knew she wasn’t cut out for it and he wouldn’t
want to see her hurt.
Tilting her head back, Ryder had to know how her
lips felt. He only needed one kiss. Just one. He leaned in and licked the drops
of water that dripped from her hair onto her face. Then his lips touched hers. The
spark that he felt, as her smooth lips touched his, was electrifying. His eyes
jolted open when her tongue came out wetting her lips. He could tell she was asleep
but he couldn’t take it. He leaned over again and kissed the sweetest lips he
had ever tasted. It was just a soft kiss to her lips but it would be something
he would recall over and over again.