Collateral Damage |+18|

3. This f*****g hair [Part 2].

Days later, I am called in for a meeting.

As I enter a small boardroom, the first thing I feel is Matheo's heavy gaze on me, so I stop at the door, but Scarlett seems to notice my indisposition and, surprisingly, whispers a soft: "Come on, you can do it".

I swallow and plucking up my courage, I go in and sit down next to Kacey, who squeezes my hand under the table and smiles at me before releasing me.

I listen attentively to the client's requests and preferences, until we finally get to the choice of color palette and they leave that decision up to me. However, I must keep them informed of any progress and decisions I make on the project.

Matheo doesn't say anything throughout the meeting, but I always feel his inquisitive eyes on me. I don't know whether to be angry for leaving me alone on something I have no experience in, or thank him for giving me the freedom to interact with the client to arrive at the best results. Either way, I know that my best interests were not exactly what he was thinking about.

When one of the girls from downstairs enters, offering drinks, I order a tea, while the others, except Matheo, order coffee. It is as I am about to drink it, that a strong hand wrapping around my wrist stops me.

I hear several surprised gasps on the place, but I am not able to emit any sound from the shock I feel from his actions.

I freeze in place and after several seconds staring at the expensive watch on the hand that continues to hold me, I raise my eyes until I meet Matheo's gray ones.

He is leaning toward me, his torso on the table, cluttering the paperwork in his need to get to me.

“Can you drink that?”

“What?”

“The tea, can you drink it?”

I shift in my seat, looking at the others who are staring at us dumbfounded.

He can't be doing this, disrupting the meeting like this.

"I don't underst..."

"Some tea has coffee".

"Ah" I mutter, finding nothing else to say.

"Can you drink that?" He asks again, this time with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"It's chamomile" I say slowly, so puzzled. "No coffee".

He nods and finally lets go of me, returning to his post.

"Okay, you can drink it now".

I swear to God, I don't mean to, but hearing the permission in his commanding voice, I spit out the tea, which lands directly in his face.

But what did he say?

I don't need his consent to drink f*****g chamomile tea.

He stares at me, breathing hard through his nose, surely planning what to do with me even under the perplexed gaze of everyone watching our every move. It feels like a silent, heavy eternity passes until he grunts a: "Kacey, get everyone out of here. Now".

Oh no.

No no no no no no no no.

I try to wiggle out of his grip, but he holds me there. More than his fingers on my wrist, it's his impenetrable stare that keeps me anchored to the chair.

Kacey pulls everyone out of there and almost at the last second, I notice Scarlett looking from Matheo to me with suspicion in her eyes.

Can this get any worse?

And why are they leaving me alone with this psycho?

Don't they see that he wants to kill me?

"You're staying" he growls when I make an attempt to leave.

"Let me go" I growl back.

And he releases me, only to wipe the tea dripping from his face, shaking his soggy fingers and looking at me with a cynical smile, full of something so damn dangerous it gives me the shivers.

My feet run quickly to the door, only to have my hand grabbed and my body pushed back. I feel his firm hands on my waist as he corners me against the huge table, but they quickly fall flat on the wood at my sides as soon as he has me where he wants me.

Everything happens so quickly and abruptly, I'm almost hyperventilating when our faces meet. My chest rising and falling violently as he maintains an almost inhuman calm, staring me down.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He whispers and although his voice may be soft, the expression on his face is lethal. "You're a mess, you call trouble. At every turn of the corner you stumble and create a catastrophe".

"Asshole" I whisper, pushing his chest, but he doesn't move an inch.

"You are the most unbearable person I have ever met in my life".

"Then fire me".

He laughs, denying vehemently with his head, "Don't tempt me, love".

He runs his teeth across his bottom lip, looking at me with such anger, but there's something much deeper there, something that keeps our bodies together even when we shouldn't.

"And this f*****g hair" suddenly, he grips my loose hair with one hand, tilting my face back hard "Why the f**k don't you have it up? It's just like you, a f*****g mess."

"You can't control everything, Mr. Slade" I mutter almost voicelessly, surprised by his actions.

He smiles again in that cynical way that makes me want to punch him in the face.

"Are you sure?" - He asks, then turns me around, quickly bending me over the desk and pressing his c**k against my ass.

I groan, closing my eyes tightly as heat explodes in my belly.

What the hell are we doing?

"Damn you, Defne," he growls in my ear, giving a gentle tug on my hair still held in his fist. He exposes my neck for his complete delight. My eyes blink shut as I feel him catch a piece of my skin between his teeth, a piece of skin he sucks on for a second before letting it go in a wet snap that I swear reverberates through the place. "If you ruin this project even a little bit, I'll fire you."

His words bring me back to reality and in one nimble movement, I bring my elbow back, digging it into his belly. He releases me and I turn to look at him, filled with anger.

"If you think I'm so incapable, why don't you just give the project to someone else?"

"The client asked for you" he replies, his voice hard again, as it was days ago in Scarlett's office.

"And the client gets what he wants" I say, looking at him with superiority. "Well, it looks like the one in control here is me."

He smiles without showing his teeth and looks more like he's avoiding a curse.

"Are you challenging me, Defne?"

I shrug innocently, leaving the answer unknown. Then I head for the door, ignoring his voice calling me: "Defne."

"Enjoy your days off now that you are relinquishing power to me, Mr. Slade. You'll soon know the progress I make on the project, and rest assured that I will update you only if necessary."

"I swear to God, Defne...."

But I don't hear what he finishes saying, as I close the door behind me, drowning out the anger in his voice.

Suck it, asshole.