My Brother's Worst Enemy Craves Me

8

Chapter 8

Skye's POV

I had just signed away the next six months of my life to my brother's worst enemy.

That thought kept looping through my head on repeat as I sat in the leather chair across from his desk‚ the ghost of my signature still tingling on my fingertips. I had agreed to be his. Exclusively. Intimately. Whenever and however he wanted. I had locked myself into a contract with a breach fee so enormous that it would destroy me financially if I ever tried to escape.

And the worst part‚ the part I kept trying to shove to the back of my mind and bury under layers of denial‚ was that I didn't sign it just for the money. There was something else attached. Something else I was anticipating.

I shook my head hard.

No. It was the money. It was absolutely the money. That was the only reason. End of discussion.

"Your workspace is outside my office‚" Thorne said without looking up from his laptop. "The cubicle directly to the left of my door. You'll find everything you need already set up."

"Okay‚" I said‚ standing up quickly because I needed to get out of that office before the walls closed in on me. "So what should I start working on? Do you have a schedule for the week that I should review‚ or maybe some files that need organizing‚ or—"

"I'll let you know when I need you‚" he said‚ still not looking at me. "For now‚ settle in."

I stood there for a moment‚ waiting for more. A task. A folder. An email to respond to. Something. Anything. But he just kept typing‚ his fingers moving across the keyboard with calm‚ deliberate focus‚ like I had already left the room.

So I left.

My cubicle was small but surprisingly nice. A clean white desk with a brand-new computer‚ a leather chair that probably cost more than my entire bedroom furniture‚ a small potted plant in the corner that looked real‚ and a cup holder with fresh pens that all had the company logo printed on them in silver. Under different circumstances‚ I would have loved it. It was the exact kind of workspace I had always imagined having‚ compact and organized and mine.

But I had nothing to do in it.

I sat down‚ turned on the computer‚ logged in with the credentials printed on a card next to the keyboard‚ and then just stared at the empty desktop screen. No emails. No calendar invites. No tasks assigned. Nothing.

An hour passed. I rearranged the pens three times. I opened and closed the same empty folder on the desktop four times. I even read the company's employee handbook cover to cover‚ all forty-seven pages of it‚ just to look like I was doing something productive in case anyone walked by.

By the time the break bell chimed through the building's intercom system at noon‚ I was so bored and restless that I practically launched myself out of my chair.

The break room was on the same floor‚ just down the hall and around the corner. It was large and open‚ with a coffee station‚ a row of vending machines‚ and clusters of small round tables surrounded by cushioned chairs. A handful of employees were already scattered around‚ eating lunch and chatting in low voices.

I grabbed a coffee I didn't really want just to have something to hold‚ and I was about to sit alone at an empty table in the corner when a voice called out to me.

"Hey‚ you're the new girl‚ right? The one from the boardroom meeting?"

I turned around and saw a woman waving at me from a table near the window. She was smiling warmly‚ which immediately made me suspicious because nobody in this building had smiled at me yet.

I walked over slowly. "That would be me‚" I said‚ trying to sound casual and not like someone who had been publicly humiliated and fired in front of fifty people two days ago.

"I'm Evelyn‚" she said‚ extending her hand. "I work in the marketing department‚ one floor down. This is Mark." She gestured to the man sitting across from her‚ who nodded at me with a friendly grin.

"Skye‚" I said‚ shaking her hand before sitting down in the empty chair between them.

Evelyn was beautiful. She had deep brown skin that literally glowed under the break room lights‚ high cheekbones‚ full lips‚ and long braids that fell past her shoulders in perfect spirals. Her eyes were dark and warm‚ and when she smiled‚ dimples appeared on both cheeks like little commas framing her mouth. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine‚ not sitting in a corporate break room eating a salad out of a plastic container.

"We were both at the boardroom meeting‚" Evelyn said gently‚ and the way she said it‚ soft and careful‚ told me she was trying not to reopen a wound. "We saw what happened and honestly‚ I just wanted to say that we felt really bad for you. That was rough."

"Really rough‚" Mark agreed‚ shaking his head. "He didn't have to go that hard on your first day."

"It's fine‚" I said automatically‚ even though it was not fine and all three of us knew it.

"So how did you get the job back?" Evelyn asked‚ tilting her head with genuine curiosity. "Because when Thorne Anderson fires someone‚ they usually stay fired. Like‚ permanently. I've been here a year and I've never seen anyone come back from that."

My stomach clenched. Images from the elevator flashed through my mind‚ his hand between my thighs‚ the contract on his desk‚ the signature line‚ and I forced them all down so fast I almost choked on my coffee.

"I guess I got lucky‚" I said with a smile that felt like plastic on my face.

Evelyn studied me for a moment‚ and I got the feeling she didn't believe me at all‚ but she was kind enough not to push. Instead‚ she glanced at her phone and winced.

"Shoot‚ I have to run‚" she said‚ standing up and gathering her things. "I have a presentation to finish before break ends and my supervisor will actually murder me if it's not done. But Skye‚ it was really nice meeting you. I mean that. And I would love for us to be friends‚ like actual friends‚ not just the fake smile in the hallway kind."

Something warm spread through my chest at that. Real‚ genuine warmth that I hadn't felt since I walked into this building for the first time.

"I'd really like that too‚" I said‚ and this time my smile was real.

Evelyn squeezed my shoulder as she passed‚ her braids swinging behind her as she walked out of the break room with the kind of effortless confidence that I could only dream of having.

That left me alone with Mark.

He was handsome‚ there was no denying that. Tall‚ broad shoulders‚ sandy brown hair that fell slightly over his forehead‚ and green eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. He had an easy‚ relaxed energy about him‚ the kind of person who made you feel comfortable without trying too hard. Under normal circumstances‚ in a normal life‚ with a normal job‚ I probably would have found him very attractive.

But he wasn't as handsome as someone I knew.

I crushed that thought immediately and buried it in a shallow grave at the back of my mind.

"So‚ Skye‚" Mark said‚ leaning forward with his elbows on the table and that friendly grin still in place. "Tell me about yourself. What brought you here besides a death wish and a tolerance for terrifying CEOs?"

I laughed‚ actually laughed‚ and it felt so good that I almost forgot where I was for a second. "Honestly? I needed a job and this one found me before I could find something else."

"That's how they get you‚" he said‚ nodding with fake seriousness. "They wave the salary in your face and before you know it you're stuck in a cubicle wondering where your twenties went."

"You sound like you're speaking from personal experience."

"Two years of it‚" he said‚ raising his coffee cup in a mock toast. "But hey‚ at least the coffee here is decent and the break room has natural lighting. It's the little things."

I smiled again. Talking to Mark was easy. He didn't pry or push. He just talked to me like a normal human being‚ and after the last forty-eight hours of my life‚ I really needed that.

"I'd love to get to know you better‚ Skye‚" he said‚ and his voice shifted just slightly‚ just enough that I noticed. It was still friendly‚ still warm‚ but there was something underneath it now. Interest. "Maybe we could grab lunch sometime this week? There's a great place around the corner that does amazing pasta‚ and I think you could use a meal that doesn't come from a vending machine."

I opened my mouth to respond‚ but the words never made it out.

Because every hair on the back of my neck stood up at the same time.

It was the strangest sensation‚ like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped ten degrees‚ charged with something electric and dangerous that I could feel on my skin before I could identify what it was.

Someone was watching me.

I turned around slowly.

Thorne was standing in the doorway of the break room‚ completely still‚ shoulders squared‚ feet planted‚ his entire body radiating the kind of controlled fury that made the air around him vibrate. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. His hands hung at his sides‚ but his fingers were curled inward‚ almost like a fist.

And his eyes.

God‚ his eyes.

They were locked on Mark like a laser sight on a target. Cold‚ bright‚ glacial blue‚ burning with a rage so intense and so barely contained that it made my blood run cold. He looked at Mark the way a predator looks at something that has wandered into territory it should never have entered‚ with absolute‚ murderous stillness.

Then those eyes moved to me.

And somehow that was worse.

The entire break room had gone silent. Conversations stopped mid-sentence. Forks froze halfway to mouths. Every single person in that room felt the shift in energy the moment Thorne appeared‚ and every single one of them had the good sense to stop moving and stop talking.

Mark straightened up in his chair‚ his easy grin fading into something cautious and confused. "Mr. Anderson‚ is everything—"

"My office‚" Thorne said‚ and his voice was quiet. Terrifyingly quiet. "Now."

He wasn't looking at Mark when he said it. He was looking at me. And the word didn't sound like a request or even a command. It sounded like a warning.

Nobody in that break room breathed.

I stood up. My chair scraped against the floor‚ and my whole body shaking intensely. I could feel Mark's confused stare on the side of my face. I could feel every other pair of eyes in the room tracking my movement as I walked toward the door where Thorne stood waiting.