From my Bully to CEO

Chapter 12

PRESENT

SELENE’S POV:

“Hale!”

Grayson’s voice made my skin erupt in goosebumps and I swallowed down the sudden burst of fear that crawled up my throat.

The girl I was chatting with stood up straighter, her wide eyes darting towards the door of his office, where Grayson stood, thunder etched into every line of his face.

I sighed dramatically, still half leaning across my desk from when I’d stopped the poor girl from accounting and had striked up a very pointless conversation.

Mostly because I was bored. And she’d been good sport but of course, Grayson had to show up and interrupt everything.

“It was nice talking to you,” I said to her, passing her a smile. “But I guess, fun time’s over now.”

She nodded frantically and all but ran from there.

I stared at him from across my desk. If he thought he could bark at me and I’d come running to ask what was wrong, he was utterly mistaken.

And he realized it too because a second later, he pushed himself off the doorway and crossed over towards my desk in two wide steps.

“You think that was funny?” He asked, blue eyes boring into mine.

I blinked innocently.

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific, Vexley,” I said as I sank back into my chair.

“I had a meeting,” he said, punctuating every word as if he wanted to instill his rage in the words. “A very important meeting. With a very important client.”

I let my jaw drop in mock horror, even when I knew he wouldn’t buy my act for one second. It was still fun to toy with him.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered dramatically, eyes wide. “I can not believe I completely missed something so important.”

He clenched his jaw so hard I swore I heard his teeth grind.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” He asked, eyes burning.

I realized with a jolt that the fire in his eyes wasn’t anger. It was something else. Something primal and ancient. Something that had lived between us ever since that first interaction in the library. Something that we both tried to keep unnamed in hopes it would die down but it never had.

My thorat suddenly went too dry and I swallowed heavily, clenching my hands in fists under my desk to keep my composure.

“No, I don’t,” I said, my voice soft enough to cut as I titled my head to a side, observing him from under my lashes. “But I think you’re starting to.”

He blinked, confused by this sudden shift in power.

“Starting to what?”

“Starting to realize what you’ve done by hiring me. By forcing me to stay.”

His eyes darkened and I wasn’t sure if it would’ve been better if he was angry. Truly, genuinely angry.

At least then I wouldn’t feel that treacherous heat curling low in my belly.

“In my office,” he gritted out. “Right now.”

“No.” I said simply, leaning back in my chair.

Grayson’s office wasn’t the only one on the floor but it was a corner one so we still had a lot more privacy then we would’ve if it were directly on the center of the floor.

People tended to steer clear of this side of the building anyway. Mostly because they were terrified of him.

“If you want to say something, you can say it right here.”

Grayson’s lips curved upward in a ghost of a smirk, like I’d somehow walked straight into his trap. It made my skin prickle with annoyance. I never wanted to satisfy that bastard, not even unintentionally.

And I hated failing at his games.

He leaned forward ever so slightly and his voice dropped to a sinful whisper that had my toes curling in my boots.

“If I do, I’d have to explain to everyone here why I was thinking of how you’d look bent over that desk.”

All coherent though left my brain as wild heat rushed up to my cheeks. I could suddenly hear the sound of my heart echo in my ears. All the memories I shoved down in the deepest, darkest corners of my mind and my heart surged up like a volcanic eruption that’d been building up for too long.

Of his skin against mine. Of his lips on my throat. Of how deep the dark always was whenever we kissed, like even the universe had agreed that this ugly thing should always be kept hidden.

I felt dizzy.

“Grayson!” I exclaimed, my voice meant to be chiding but it cracked mid word, loosing all it’s power.

The smirk morphed and molded until it was something warmer, something with enough power to bring me to my knees. A real smile. One that made his eyes wrinkle at the edges and made that damned dimple pop.

“God, I love it when you say my name,” he murmured, voice so tender it made my heart twist painfully.

My throat was utterly, unimaginably dry.

Grayson was always beautiful but when he smiled - god - when he smiled. He could’ve taken over the world with that smile. It made him glow, like he was something otherworldly. Something ethereal. Something us humans could only ever be so fortunate to touch.

“You can’t say those things to me here,” I said instead, injecting venom in my voice. Venom that I didn’t feel.

“Then don’t challenge me here, Ninety-Eight,” he said, matching my slightly scandalized tone.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s been ten years. You can stop calling me that.”

“I could,” he said, as if genuinely considering my suggestion. “But I love the way the name makes you glow.”

I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood.

I hated that he’d noticed. I hated that his words were true even after ten years. I hated that a high school nickname could still made my knees go weak.

“You’re insufferable,” I said, for lack of a better response. Or because everything else sounded like a confession.

His grinned only widened. God, I wished he stop that. Stop smiling.

That smile had the power to make me do things - reckless, filthy things - that I couldn’t let myself even think about.

“So,” he drawled. “Are you coming to my office or do I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you in myself?”

I sputtered. Because for one dangerous second I could see it - his hands, his heat, the unshakable press of him against me.

But the other, more sane part of me immediately slammed the door on the imagine - that temptation. I didn’t want him touching me at all. Not now. Not ever.

“I’ll start secretly recording you from now,” I said, gritting my teeth but still not standing up. He wouldn’t touch me without permission, that much I knew. “And then, maybe I can use all these wildly inappropriate threats to get out of your contract.”

He chuckled, the sound curling around my spine.

“So, you’re not going to come?” He asked and I shook my head, suddenly feeling like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

He sighed heavily, like he was very done with me.

“You could still fire me, you know?” I suggested hopefully.

“I have a secret,” he said instead, every word carefully pronounced, like I’d suddenly lost my hearing. “And you’ll only find it if you get up your pretty little a*s and follow me to my office like a good girl.”

I hated the way those words slid under my skin - warm and wicked. I hated the heat blooming in my chest, hated that his voice could make my body react before my mind even caught up.

Worse, I hated that he knew. Knew exactly which strings to pull, which buttons to press. The exact way he could get me to oblige.

His threats had never worked on me. His anger I’d always met head on, with equal fire of my own.

So, naturally, the only weapon left in his arsenal was the one he knew I couldn’t resist. My restless, reckless curiousity.

“What secret?” I demanded with narrowed eyes.

His grin widened - full and satisfied.

“You’ll only find out if you and come to my office.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I almost gave myself a little headache.

“There is no secret,” I said with a lot more confidence than I actually had in his bluff. “You only want me to boost your ego by doing what you’re asking and I’ll never do that.”

“Your win with the missed meeting?” He asked, his voice gentle in a way that indicated the unraveling of something huge. “It wasn’t a win at all because I already knew about it. And I attended it virtually. While you were here gossiping with your new friend.”

I blinked, all my spirits deflating. Him missing the meeting must’ve meant at least a thousand dollar loss for the company and I was really looking forward to it.

“How?”

“That’s the secret,” he said simply before turning away and walking over towards his office.

I bit back a frustrated growl.

“I f*****g hate you, Vexley,” I called to his retreating back, already getting off my chair with the intentions of following him.

Damn him.

He paused at the door but didn’t turn around.

“I know, sweetheart,” he said and his voice was so soft, so unexpectedly vulnerable, I almost - almost - felt my heart break a little for him.