From my Bully to CEO

Chapter 7

PRESENT

GRAYSON’S POV:

I survived living in a home shrouded in silences. I survived a father who didn’t care whether I was alive or dead as long as I could give him what he wanted. I survived growing up with a legacy that demanded every last drop of my blood.

Hell, I clawed my way to the top of the most ruthless markets at the age of twenty-five, becoming the CEO of my own company when everyone around me wanted me gone. I survived being underestimated, challenged, threatened—even betrayed.

And then I survived a lot more of the same s**t.

Yet, none of that could’ve ever prepared me for the storm that was Selene Hale.

I saw her coming. Of course, I had. I was the one to make the call. I hand-drafted her contract. Threatened her with the one thing she still cared about just to keep her close. Close enough for her to ruin me should she wish.

So, really, I didn’t have anyone to blame but myself.

She walked into my building that first day and hadn’t wasted a second before declaring war. She told me I was going to fire her in five weeks, or she was going to run my company to the ground.

But what she didn’t know was that I gladly let her.

I let her burn my entire empire to ashes just for a glimpse of her. Hell, I would have handed her the matches myself if it meant I got to feel the heat of her next to me once more.

I exhaled heavily and shut my laptop with a snap, the sound echoing against the walls of my corner office.

I hadn’t doubted her for one second when she looked me in the eye and had threatened to destroy me. If anyone in the whole damn world could ever come close to touching the invincible image I made for myself in the business world, it was Selene Hale.

But I thought her sabotage would be different. Changing meeting dates, reorganizing my filing cabinets. She was petty like that.

But no, she decided to t*****e me by not showing up at all for two days.

I wasn’t sure if she knew what her absence was doing to me. I wasn’t sure if she knew I spent the last ten years dreaming of her, of scouring the world just for a glimpse of her.

She had to know. Of course, she had to. Selene was smart. She didn’t miss things. Especially not things like these.

She must’ve sensed it, must’ve known this ever since we were teens pretending that we had the world in the palms of our hands. The way she drove me crazy when she looked at me with that fire in her eyes, the obsession in my actions when I threatened to take her grandmother’s house away just to make sure she stayed.

And now she was using her absence as a sharp-edged weapon, designed specifically to make me suffer, to remind me I wasn’t the one in control anymore. Especially not when it concerned her.

That I could have the entire world at my feet, yet still not have the one person who meant the world to me. The one person I was willing to die for. The only thing I ever wanted in my miserable life.

As if right on cue, my office door swung open. No knock, no hesitation.

I straightened, irritation flashing hot through me. “I swear to—”

My words turned to ash on my tongue when I saw her standing in the doorway.

My brain short-circuited for a second as my eyes hungrily took in her appearance. She looked sinful, every dark temptation wrapped in a mask of weaponized innocence.

Her brown hair was loose down her back, the strands shiny and curled at the ends. The urge to run my fingers through those soft waves made my fingers itch, and I had to clench my hands into fists to stop myself from doing something stupid.

She wore simple black dress pants paired with a white button-down and an oversized beige coat over it.

I blinked, trying to stop my train of thought from going to that dark, dangerous place in which every other thought turned back to how desperately I wanted to lock this door behind her and bend her over my desk.

“Are you okay?” She asked sweetly, blood-red lips curving into a smile.

No. "No, I was very much not okay," I wanted to say. But the way she was smiling, she already knew that. And she was enjoying it.

Absolute f*****g menace.

“You didn’t show up for the first two days,” I said, my voice low. Controlled. Barely. “Do you know what kind of impression that gives the rest of my team?”

She tilted her head like a cat batting around a dying mouse.

“I would’ve cared a little bit more if it were anyone other than you,” she said finally, shifting from one foot to the other.

The movement finally made me look away from her gorgeous face, and I saw the coffee cup she held in her hands.

“That attitude’s not getting you anywhere, Hale,” I said, raising my eyebrow at the cup in her hands. “What’s that?”

She pushed the door closed with her foot, eyes glued to mine as she stepped forward. Her every step was calculated, every sway of her hips controlled enough to bring me to my knees.

“The only place I’m trying to go,” she said coolly, now standing in front of my desk, “is as far away from you as humanly possible.”

“Coffee,” she said, sliding the cup towards me as she settled herself into the chair across from me, crossing her legs slowly.

I stared at the cup. “Is it poisoned?”

Her lips twitched, but she didn’t answer.

I took a sip anyway, just to piss her off.

It tasted like a trap I had very easily fallen into. And burnt cardboard.

I looked up, grimacing. “You hate me and good coffee. Noted.”

“Rookie move, Vexley,” she said, smiling smugly at me. “Accepting coffee from me.”

I would’ve swallowed a million more of that godawful coffee if it meant I got to see more of that smile.

“Congrats on bagging the first win, Hale,” I said, rolling my eyes at her.

“Thank you, thank you,” she grinned, taking an exaggerated bow from where she sat. “We should make a scoreboard. It would be nice to see your face every time you have to note down one of my victories.”

“What’s with the small talk today, Hale?” I smirked. “Is it because you missed me so much or is there another reason behind the chatiness?”

She rolled her eyes, then reached forward to rest her elbows on the table between us, leaning forward.

“Let’s make something very clear here, Vexley,” she said, her voice curling into that dangerous edge she used back in high school when she was particularly pissed at me. “I’m not here because I suddenly decided to play the part of your perfect little assistant.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare think that,” I said, matching her lean across the desk. My eyes flicked down to her hands, inches from mine. I could’ve reached out. Could’ve touched her.

But I didn’t.

“I’m only here because I didn’t want you to think I was hiding.”

“Ah, of course,” I nodded solemnly. “Though you have to give me credit, Hale. I’d never underestimate you enough to think you’d back down.”

Her eyes narrowed at the subtle provocation.

“You’re funny,” she said dryly.

“I try my best.”

She pushed to her feet, her chair scraping back. “I’m going to make your life a living hell, Grayson.”

I leaned back in my chair, watching her like she was the start of something dangerous. “I’ll be counting on it, Selene.”

She tossed a look over her shoulder—cool, effortless. Lethal enough to make my heart stop—before she walked out of my office.