Echo (Bleeding Hearts #1)(31)

Chapter Thirteen



I was a different person when I stepped off of the elevator on Monday morning. I was so sure it was written all over my face that I’d spent the entire weekend having sex and everybody else would be able to see it too. Of course, they didn’t.

The only one who gave me a funny look was Matt. When his eyes drifted to the side of my neck, I quickly pulled my hair over the other place I’d been marked.

“How was your weekend?” he arched a dark brow at me.

“It was fine.” I fumbled to put my belongings away. “And yours?”

He tilted his head and scrutinized me for a beat before he answered. “Pretty lame. The boss had me putting in overtime on a project.”

“She sounds like a real slave driver.” I jerked my chin towards Nicole with a smile. She was bobbing towards us with a strange expression on her face.

“Hey, Brighton,” she greeted me. “Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Bennett asked to see you in his office.”

“Me?” I blinked in confusion.

I hadn’t been into Ryland’s office since the first day I started there. And it was beyond me why he’d be calling me in now.

“Yep, you.” She gave me a half-hearted smile. “Unless there’s another Brighton Valentine running around here I don’t know about.”

Matt frowned and exchanged a glance with Nicole. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

Nicole stiffened but gestured to her office. They both gave me a tight smile before I disappeared down the hallway.

Ryland’s door was already cracked but still weighed about as much as the nerves that threatened to pull me under. I smoothed out my black A-line dress and finger combed my hair before I stepped inside.

He was leaning against his desk, absorbed by something on his phone before he glanced up at me.

“Miss Valentine.” He smiled and gestured to the chair in front of him. “Just the woman I wanted to see.”

He was in a particularly friendly mood today, which only served to confuse me more.

I took a seat and folded my hands across my lap. “Is everything okay, Mr. Bennett? Did I do something wrong?”

“Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t know why you called me in here.”

“Please call me Ryland. I think we’ve been over this before.”

“Ryland.” I nodded. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” He walked around to the other side of his desk and shuffled through his paperwork, straightening it as he spoke. “And you haven’t done anything wrong, Miss Valentine. In fact, the reason I called you in here was because I had such good reports on your performance. So naturally, when I heard the news this morning, I knew you were the only person for the job.”

“What job?”

“Stacey’s on medical leave,” he replied. “For at least the next few months. So I need someone to replace her. Do you think you’re up for it?”

“Absolutely.” I nodded, realizing belatedly that I’d shown no concern for Stacey at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but really, the woman was a ticking time bomb. I had only wondered when she’d go off, not if.

“But I mean, I hope she’s alright,” I added.

Ryland shook his head in amusement before his phone chimed again, distracting him.

“She’s perfectly fine, Brighton.”

As my name left his mouth, a cold shiver ran down my spine. Because the usual cadence from his voice had disappeared, and I hadn’t imagined what I’d just heard. Ryland had never addressed me as anything other than Miss Valentine at the office, and for good reason. Because when he said my name that same inflection was there. The one that had whispered my name as he f*cked me repeatedly over the weekend. The one that said he owned me.

How had he managed to fool me?

My heart exploded against my rib cage as I struggled for breath. My entire body was already shaking from the adrenaline, but I didn’t care. I thrust the chair backwards and tried to bolt towards the door. I vaguely saw Ryland’s gaze snap to my horrified expression before he rounded the corner of his desk. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I made it out of his office. But the only thing I could think of right then was running. I was so close to the door I could almost feel the handle in my hand. My fingers had just wrapped around the metal when his hard body collided with mine from behind.

He spun me around and pinned me against the oak, clasping his hand over my mouth as his eyes narrowed in warning. His breath was ragged, his grip painful.

“Nothing has changed. Remember why you are doing this.”

I blinked back tears and shook my head weakly, not wanting to accept that he had just confirmed what I didn’t want to believe. That my tormentor not only had a face, but he was the same man I’d been so enrapt with over the last five years.

He must have known what I was thinking, because he flashed a smile, baring all of his teeth. The same teeth that had sunk into every part of my body.

“What’s the matter, Brighton?” he mocked. “You said you wanted it to be me, so surely, you can’t be that upset.”

He released his hand from my mouth and pressed his erection into my belly. This was turning him on.