We sit across from each other as I tell her all about Jonathan’s proposal and the price he demands I pay.
“That piece of S!” She jumps to her feet, pacing the length of the office and slurping from her coffee cup. “You can sue him for sexual harassment.”
“He didn’t force me. If anything, he wants me to be one hundred per cent willing.”
“D. I. C. K,” she spells out.
“There’s something else, Lay.”
“What? What is it?” She crouches in front of me, her mouth releasing the straw with a gentle pop and dread forming a crease on her forehead.
“I don’t think I’m his endgame. There’s something else I can’t put my finger on.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hmm. I must say, it makes sense. He’s Jonathan King, right? He wouldn’t pay so much for a mistress.”
My nose scrunches at that word. I can’t believe the bastard actually suggested that he gets…me. Out of all things, it had to be that.
“Is it because of your sister?”
“What?”
“You’re a carbon copy of her, even Ethan noticed that. Surely Jonathan noticed it, too. Maybe he wants you to be her replacement.”
“That’s…sick.”
“I know, but this is Jonathan. He’s kind of sick. You can tell that underneath all the silver fox appearance, there’s a Satan’s spawn. You can’t eliminate any possibility.”
“You know, I always hated him because Alicia had acute depression and he made it worse. I could feel it even when I was a little girl. And remember those articles that speculated she didn’t die because of an accident but from committing suicide? I believe them, Lay. I believe he’s the major reason my sister could’ve made that decision. And now, I have to relive her fate?”
“Oh, come here.” Layla wraps an arm around my shoulder. “You won’t, okay? We’ll start from scratch. Just the two of us, like when we were fresh out of uni and clueless. Remember those times we stayed up all night? You have the talent and I have the brains. We can totally do this again, mate. Jonathan King can suck our Ds.”
I laugh despite myself. “How about our employees?”
“We can keep some and help others search for work. Many small businesses do that.” There’s a sadness in
her voice as she speaks.
I shake my head. I can’t do that to her and to them. Layla and I spent too many sleepless nights to stop now or to allow Jonathan to bring us down.
Besides, I doubt he’d leave us alone. If we choose to walk away, there’s nothing that would keep him from coming after me again. Knowing him and his ruthless ways, he might even let us prosper for a while just so he could swoop back in and announce ownership of our new company like he did today.
I won’t spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder because of Jonathan King.
I’m already doing that because of another devil. I’ll never let it repeat.
Jonathan wants to have me?
Fine.
But he’ll regret every second of it.
10
Jonathan