Vows of Deception: Bound to My Ex's Step-Father

Chapter 4

“Good morning, little honey.” Rydell greeted me after I sat rigidly in my chair, beside him.

I looked at Rydell and then my cheeks began burning the moment I remembered how close his lips had been mine last night. Opening my eyes right before he kissed me had exposed my fake faint, leaving unresolved tension between us before he abruptly stood up, cleared his throat and left the room. Just how awkward is that, right?

Why would he say those? Does he…like me?

I looked at Rydell, he doesn’t seem to be a little flustered as I am. He was sitting beside me completely calm. He was already dressed in a charcoal colored suit, busy readying through the stack of documents while sipping his coffee. His expression was entirely normal, as if he didn’t threaten anyone last night.

The silence was suffocating, and the awkwardness was on my side. Clearing my throat nervously, I gripped the handle of my coffee mug. “Rydell…about last night-”

“Eat your breakfast, little honey,” he said smoothly, not even looking at me. “You need that because you look so pale.”

I swallowed hard. “Right. Uhm, well. Uhm, thank you for taking care of me. I actually need to hurry up. I have a shift at my work in an hour, so I need to go to work.”

Rydell finally paused. He set his coffee cup down and he looked at me. “You can go today,” he said, his voice deep with authority. “But make sure it is your last day there.”

I blink, completely stunned. “My last day? Rydell, I’ve worked hard for that position. I can’t just quit.”

“You can, and you will,” he replied, leaning back slightly in his chair. “You are no longer an unprotected orphan struggling to pay rent just to have a home. You are now the wife of Rydell McElroy Kiertson. The matriarch of this clan doesn’t answer to a gallery manager, nor does she expose herself to the public. Your place is here, in this mansion, with me. “

How did he know that I’m working in the gallery, that I’m also just renting a cheap apartment? Does he also know that my manager is bullying me? Just how?

The possessiveness in his voice sent shivers throughout my body-a dizzying mix of fear and forbidden thrill. Before I could even say anything, he checked his luxury wristwatch and stood up. “I have important matters to handle in the city today regarding our marriage certificate and Don Roman with your step-son, you know ... .little outburst,” Rydell informed me, his tone now turned darker. “So I can’t accompany you to your work.”

I noticed that when a maid entered the dining table, he walked around the table stopping right behind my chair. He leaned down, there his familiar intoxicating scent made my breath hitch. “I’m leaving two of my best bodyguards with you, as I’m still selecting female bodyguards who are skilled enough to handle you,” he murmured near my ear, his voice low and dangerous. “They will escort you to the gallery, wait outside your door, and bring you straight back here when your shift is over. Do not try to escape, little honey.”

“Wait, what’s wrong with the male bodyguards? I know them and they can protect me perfectly fine and-”

“That’s the problem. They’re male bodyguards.”

What? I don’t understand.

With one final lingering look that promised me that he would never let me escape, Rydell turned and left me breathless, bewildered and confused.

****

I’m just silent all the way to the gallery, Rydell did assign two huge men in identical tailored black suits to escort me. One is a driver and the other one is the one who will tail me. He stood like a stone statue outside the glass door of the contemporary art gallery here in New York, drawing curiosity to any passerby that comes inside.

I sat in my desk office filled with documents that I know that’s not even my job. They’re probably just wanting to bully me because I didn’t invite them to my wedding. I stare at the computer screen. The cursor blinked at me, mocking my hesitation.

Resignation Letter.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but I couldn’t bring myself to type a single word. This job was the only thing I had built for myself after escaping Randall’s shadow. Yes, maybe they’re bullying me but still, at least I can earn by myself. I don’t need anyone’s help.

Rydell’s ring felt heavy and real on my finger, and true, his dark declaration of possessiveness this morning had sent a forbidden thrill straight through me- but surrendering my life to a double faced man felt wrong. Besides, he’s still the father of the jerk who tossed me.

If I quit now, then that means I had accepted his world. A world full of blood. A world of a dangerous man who almost wanted to claim me last night. Before I could even delete the resignation letter, the intercom on my desk buzzed, startling me.

“Hazel? Please come to Mr. Pacejo’s office immediately,’ the receptionist’s voice said.

My brow furrowed. I closed my computer and walked through the main floor of the gallery. I noticed that my colleagues were whispering to one another, giving me sharp judgemental glares. When I caught the eye of Rita, a senior curator who always gives me a hard time at my job, she smirked and looked away.

An uneasy feeling crawled in my stomach. The moment I entered, instead of asking me about the latest issue of the arts in the company, he slammed his own table and said. “Hazel, I’m deeply disappointed with you,” Mr. Pacejo began, his voice dripping with condescension. “The gallery has just received a formal report from your colleagues regarding your…highly inappropriate conduct outside our doors.”

Conduct? I blinked completely off guard. “My conduct? Sir, I don’t understand.”

“Do not play innocent with me, Hazel. You are engaged to Ariston, and now your seniors spotted you arriving today with a dangerous looking man who was openly standing outside my establishment like they own it. I never knew that you are that kind of a woman.” he said, his eyes blazing with disgust.

Maybe this was what Rita meant with her smirking earlier. I almost forgot that Mr. Pacejo cared more about the gallery's high-society reputation than the actual art.

Still, I tried to explain. “Mr. Pacejo, those are security personnel-”

“I know exactly what they are, and I know exactly what you are doing,” Mr. Pacejo interrupted harshly, leaning over his desk. “Everyone in the city’s elite circle knows you are engaged to Ariston, he is a respected, wealthy young man from a proper family. And yet you fled from the wedding yesterday and now, here you are, parading around with hired muscles from some cheap, thuggish sugar daddy. You are cheating on your fiance, Hazel, and your scandalous little affair is happening right in my company.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself and tell him that Ariston was a fraud who was already married, but Mr. Pacejo held up a hand. “Bringing your elicit, trashy drama into a high society business is unacceptable. You are an absolute embarrassment to my company’s name. You’re fired.”

And with that, I lost the job I worked so hard to get, all because of Ariston.