Contracted To The Ruthless CEO

Chapter 5

LAUREL

Father always mentioned something about shivers that could send signals to shut down the brain, or something like that, but I really thought it was only the mountain cold that could do that, not a kiss.

“What did you do that for?” I wiped my lips with the back of my palm as though my brain didn’t just go blank because of his gestures.

He searched the halls, his eyes darting sideways, I could tell that it was to see if anyone had seen us arguing before he pulled my wrist, dragging me into the room and slamming the door right behind him.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” I yelled, throwing my arm in the air “So much for not wanting your lips in my filthy mouth” I spat.

There was a look of disdain on his face, his eyes almost rolled at me.

“I’m saving you the embarrassment you’ll have to face if this doesn’t work out” he snapped “So come on, put on your happy smile and don’t make me do that sh*t again” he let out an exasperated sigh.

I pointed straight at his face, anger wrung up in my blood “You know this isn’t what I signed up for…”

There was a subtle knock on the door that caused me to pause.

He cleared his throat and turned towards the door “Who is it?” His voice was back to that low baritone once again.

“Young master Calister” the polished British accent came through the thick mahogany door as almost muffled.

“Yes Dylan” Daemon answered “What is it?”

There was a pause “Dinner will be served in a couple of hours and the lady of the home asks that you come down to talk to them” the man on the other side responded.

Even their butler is fancier than me. Well, as long as I get paid, I don’t care that they walk on water with money.

Daemon glanced over at me and back at the door “My woman and I are a bit tired..”

“But we’d like to join them” I intercepted his sentence and the creases on his forehead furrowed.

I walked closer to the door “We’ll be happy to join them for a little chat, thank you Dylan” I chimed with an awkward smile as he walked further down, sinking his body onto the bed.

“You’re welcome ma’am” Dylan answered before his retreating footsteps followed right after.

“What did you just do?” He sighed.

A sly smile formed on the corner of my lips “They want happy couple, why don’t we give them.” I walked over to where my bags had been stationed “Besides, they’re your family, they can’t be that bad” I scoffed.

Boy was I wrong, they were worse than bad, they watched me like a hawk stalking it’s prey.

“What university did you even..go to?” Mrs Calister asked, adding this to the million questions she had asked me as though this was a trivia session from a game show.

My eyes wandered to the dining, praying that the food would just sprawl from the kitchen so I could stuff my face.

A finger came from beside me, poking me lightly, it was Daemon and his eyes were saying ‘I told you this was a bad idea’

“Oh, mrs Calister.. I went to college in Milwaukee” I fiddled with my fingers a little “and..uh, because of my brother’s health issues I didn’t further my education higher than that” I answered sincerely, hoping that no one would make a remark that would deserve a punch to the gut.

“Interesting” Mallory smiled “It’s not so bad, I mean..if you had gone to Yale like me, I’m sure you’d be above this” she pointed around “Above gold digging..” her voice came off in a whisper but it was loud enough that I could hear.

“And what does that mean?”

Daemon placed his palm on my shoulder “Just ignore her”

There was silence amongst everyone, I clutched my fist to stop myself from ruining that perfect red lipgloss and giving her a toothless mouth.

“We know you went to Yale Mallory but you don’t even have a job” Daemon picked up the glass of water he had been offered for a rather long time.

There was a cough right by us “That’s because I don’t want my woman working” His brother, Andrew answered, pulling Mallory closer to himself.

“Is your woman a mannequin that can’t speak for herself?” I questioned “Oh wait, she went to Yale, I’m sure she was taught not to speak as much..”

A scowl grew on Andrew’s face and Mallory clenched her jaw but my eyes could see that she was trying to hide a goody too shoes act.

Meanwhile, Daemon had a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

Mrs Calister said nothing of the situation and I appreciated her for sitting still because I sure wouldn’t have held back if she tried to pull me down once more.

“Is that what you see me as?” Mallory asked, sobbing “A spineless rich girl who doesn’t work, just because I dumped you?” She questioned, standing up to leave when Andrew held her arm.

I could swear to the heavens, her acting skills were worse than mine.

“How does that even correlate?” I asked, glancing over at Daemon whose eyes darted “Darling, if you wanted to work, you could, after all, you could just beg my husband to be” I traced the collar of his shirt.

“And the job just..might be yours” I added, turning back at him, holding his gaze as his wrapped his arm around my waist on the couch, pulling me closer to his body, letting his scent of rich oak and musk fill my lungs.

Just as the tension filled the air, so did the smell of chicken and pastries.

“Dinner is ready” Dylan announced and boy was I glad to hear his accent disrupt me, us.

After having a great dinner, it was that great because Mallory was quiet the whole evening, I guess she had learnt her lesson after our little chat, now there was the hard part, the part I had failed to think through since meeting this, devil in a suit.

“Are you just going to stand there like a scarecrow?” His remarks were quite far from gentle.

I rolled my eyes, taking the robe from my bag “Just leave the room first and I’ll have a bath”

“It’s my room too genius” he stood up and walked towards me, his broad chests looking larger than before “Fine. You want space for a bath, you can have it but you’ve only got ten minutes” he responded, walking past me and placing his hand on the knob when I noticed something weird on the door, it was a loose hinge.

“Daemon watch out!” I warned, reaching my arm for his hand as he opened the door slightly and the hard wooden door toppled over him.

A loud thud echoed in the house, I looked at him, he was alright, the only problem, he was ontop of me whilst the wood was on his back.

What on earth is this death trap of a house?