Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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“We’re not going to have a situation like Marcus, are we?” Mr. Thorne asks skeptically.
Fuck, I hope not because Alpha Barnes is my mate. Marcus was just hot, and he said all the things I wanted to hear. He’s not the only psycho I’ve had to push away. I know it’s because, on the outside, I look like I’m easy to push around. I’m not exactly small, but I’m not exactly intimidating either.
I’ve worked very hard to maintain that image. Humans are something else. I can’t even begin to count all the times my claws could have fixed my problem for me. All the times I’ve had to walk away so I wouldn’t give in to what comes naturally to me.
“I will never stop apologizing for Marcus, Mr. Thorne. That was insane. Barnes is friends with my brother. Our dads are probably drinking buddies,” or soon will be if I can get Vince and Alpha Barnes to play nice moving forward.
“Oh, how did he get wrapped up in a bike gang?”
“They’re just a club. They do charity work all over the city. They just like bikes.”
Guns, women, drugs, and illegal custom parts. They got me a few things I needed for my G-Wagon. The Barnes family runs the underworld here in Magique City. Certainly seems like my type is scumbag. That’s fucking funny.
“I’m happy that your sister is moving in with you,” he says, changing the subject. “I know how much you miss them.”
“Me too. I’m just dreading speaking with my dad. I don’t want to fight with him, but just looking at his face makes me want to rip his throat out with my teeth.”
“I have no advice to give in that department. I’m good with moms,” he’s not. Parents hate him. He’s a dog and not the cute fuzzy kind like me. I’ve picked him up from some pretty unsavory situations dozens of times since we’ve met. He’s a little delusional.
“Don’t have one of those,” I sit back. I shouldn’t feel as at ease as I do now. “I will not fix your problem, but I can tell you that sitting here feeling sorry for yourself shouldn’t even be on the list of solutions. Just go talk to her. Tell her the truth. You’re a good-looking, rich guy in his early thirties. I’d stop by the gas station to get her a candy bar and maybe one of those bug-eyed stuffed animals they have on the racks, first,”
“I-” he shakes his head.
“If you like her, you’ve got to make that leap of faith. If she can’t take it, she’s not the one.”
“If I listen to you and she dumps me, I’m taking the company card back.”
“I don’t use that,” I laugh, reaching into the top drawer on my desk. I toss it on the table. It slides across the glass toward him. “You can have it.”
“Seriously?”
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Chapter 25
“Do you even know how much money we make?” I ask.
“No, I do not. Stop judging me, Violet. I hate when you do that,”
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“Then stop being such a spoiled ass. Go do the thing. Riley didn’t deserve your floor whore’s wrath,”
“What if she doesn’t understand?”
“Then she’s not worth your time. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”
I will not. Not just because of my own unanswered emotions, but because they’d kill him. Knight has wanted to kill him since before he met him, and saw him speak to me the way he does sometimes.
“It’s not that easy,” he crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at my desk. “How do you do it? How do you keep people at arm’s length?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Since we met, you’ve stayed focused on your goals. You’ve done nothing else but work. For me and then the company. Even with everything going on with your family. You’re like addicted to making everyone else happy but yourself.”
His words strike a chord with me. My wolf scrapes along my spine with anger to hear him say that. I shouldn’t care anymore, but twelve years of delusion aren’t going to be forgotten over breakfast, a bike ride, and a morning of college experience stories.
“You should focus on yourself. I’m not the kind of person who requires validation. I know exactly
who I am.” I scoff.
He sits up. “I didn’t mean to offend you,”
“You never do. It just always comes out that way,”
“What is going on?” he says, placing his hands on my desk. “Ever since you met Riley, you’ve been angry with me. Talk to me. Do you know her from somewhere?”
“No, I don’t know her. I know girls like her. Everyone has a pattern. Isn’t that why you like having me around? Because I know shit you don’t.”
“So what is it?”
“You. You’re changing. You interrupted my day off because of her. You lost one of our biggest clients because of her. You’ve been distracted. You’re less present here. It’s annoying that I have to pick up your slack. I took a week off and you have a fucking conniption. You meet the guy I’m starting to talk to, and get defensive. It has nothing to do with Riley, or maybe it does. It’s just your behavior is my problem,”
“You’re right. I have been a little distracted,” he tries to defuse the tension.
Before I can tell him to get the fuck out of my office his mother walks in. Fuck my life. If there’s a
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woman who hates me with their entire Prada-wrapped existence, it’s this enabling sack of meat. Mrs. Elizabeth Thorne is the worst kind of helicopter parent out there. I can’t count how many times she’s threatened me about her little poopsie. Bitch.
“Get out,” she orders him.
“Mom, Violet isn’t in the mood for your shit. She’s already mad at me for what happened with Justin last week.”
“Go,” I say because I don’t want her to cause a scene this early in the morning.
Not at my expense. He looks between the two of us and nods. One thing I liked about Mr. Thorne is that he knows how to choose his battles. As stupid as he is. This isn’t an argument he’s ever going to
win.
“We’ll pick this up later,” he says, straightening up and heading out. Mrs. Thorne slams the door shut and locks it before she starts to close the blinds. Ed looks at me, alarmed.
“I’ve been trying to get rid of you for fucking years,” she starts. I smile, taking my stylus from the glass slipper as she sits across the room in the center of the sofa. I never noticed how much of her theatrics Mr. Thorne takes from her. “But you’re really fucking smart,” she sneers at me. I love how dramatic she is. She reminds me of my father. “I know you. You’re perfect for him.” Okay, I understand why she’s here. “And you let this little bumkin bitch into our home.
“How insecure are you? Why don’t you put something a little more flattering on? Show a little more skin. I know you’ve been in love with him for a while now. The entire fucking city knows, Violet,”
