CHAPTER ELEVEN
Thorn
It’s been a couple of long months, that’s for sure. Without Holly in my life, the world’s grown dim. People come in and out, lackeys reporting on this or that, but I’m not really listening. Instead, my head nods, my eyes focused on something in the distance, and the underlings scurry out once more, mumbling about this or that.
It doesn’t matter. Gravity Holdings has been around for decades now. I have good people on staff, and they make sure this ship runs even if I’m only nominally at the helm now. Because Holly’s occupied all my thoughts, every waking moment filled with memories of the curvy girl.
Suddenly, my secretary buzzed from the outside.
“A woman here to see you,” said Annie in a quiet voice.
“Who?” I growled, my tone uncompromising. People don’t usually drop in on the CEO unexpectedly.
“Someone I think you want to see,” Annie said again, her voice insistent despite its low tone.
And I shrugged because my secretary knows me well. She’s been with me for decades now and despite her busybody ways, I trust Annie’s judgment. So my head nodded curtly.
“Show her in.”
And when the door opened, the air in my lungs disappeared within seconds because suddenly, she was here. The beautiful brunette, ripe as ever, stood in my office, those brown eyes searching.
“Thorn,” came that dulcet voice. “Hello again.”
I couldn’t speak at first, a million emotions hammering through my soul.
“Holly,” I finally managed in a choked voice. “What brings you here?”
The brunette approached my desk, swaying with every step. Oh god, she was gorgeous. Unbelievably so, better than a thousand memories put together.
“I have news,” she said in a low tone. “And I’m here to apologize.”
Keeping my breathing even, I looked into those caramel eyes.
“For what?”
This time, she looked away, her gaze drifting to the floor to ceiling windows behind my massive frame. The view was amazing for sure, the Freedom Tower rising to the skies with the ribs of the Oculus soaring from left field.
But Holly was on a mission. Those wide pools turned back to me, determined to be heard.
“For everything,” she said slowly. “Every word you said that last day was true. The corporate secrets getting out from every location we were at. All that was true. But I didn’t know,” she added in a low tone. “I was being used, as was my friend Katrina.”
“So you figured it out,” came my gravelly intonation. “You finally figured it out.”
“It took three months to put things together,” she acknowledged. “And it was my fault. I fell into a deep depression, speaking with no one, shut off from the outside world. It was only when I saw that my plane ticket from Boca was paid for by Nick Ryver’s company, did I realize the scope of the wrongdoing. He set up Kat,” came her grim words. “He set her up so that with every call, we were being recorded. That’s how he got his hands on your business documents, zooming in with the latest technology. And I’m sorry, Thorn,” she said, her words quick now. “I had no idea. If I’d known, I’d never have let it happen.”
I was silent for a moment, steepling my fingers in thought. But suddenly, Holly interrupted, her gaze shocked.
“So you knew all this,” she whispered, eyes alight. “You figured this all out.”
“Of course I did,” came my neutral tone. “We figured you were being manipulated by Nick Ryver. That guy’s a canny fuck, and he’ll go to any lengths, even if it means using two unsuspecting girls.”
Holly paused, her expression stumped.
“But if you knew I was being used, why did you blame it on me? If you knew I was an unwitting participant, why didn’t you reach out? Why did you eject me from the plane with nothing but my passport?” she asked in a hoarse, pained voice.
And this is where it got hard. Because the emotions I’d felt were new to me. The initial suspicion that the curvy brunette had betrayed me cut to the core, making me double over in pain. And that’s what shouldn’t have happened. Corporate espionage? Par for the course. I’ve been at the helm of Gravity Holdings for decades now, growing it from an upstart into the behemoth it is now. We’ve seen everything under the sun, so we were prepared for the leaks. Hell, it’s nothing new.
But what gripped me by my balls were the feelings I had for Holly. At first, pain wracked my very being when she was fingered as the traitor. But it shouldn’t have been like that. I don’t feel for women. I’m the one who uses them, and Holly should have been no exception.
So her betrayal caught me by surprise. One, because it came from someone close to my heart. And secondly, because the female had somehow wormed her way into a place that hurt. It shouldn’t have been like this. Being a corporate titan meant that I’d insulated myself, and this was a massive breach to the wall around my soul. It meant that I’d failed in a major way, letting emotions tangle with cut and dried business matters.
So like a robot, I’d excised the woman. I’d thrown her out of my life, unceremoniously booting her from the flight with nary a backwards glance. Except I’d been the one who’d miscalculated. My intentions of being one and done with the situation had gone massively wrong, and I’d thought of nothing but the brunette since that fateful day.
And here she was now, looking at me with eyes filled with pain.
“You knew,” she whispered on a choked voice. “You knew I had nothing to do with it.”
“I knew,” came my low growl. “You’re nothing but a sweet eighteen year old girl. How could you have pulled off something like this, much less acted as mastermind? No, it was Nick Ryver the whole time.”
And suddenly, the brunette stood, brown eyes flashing, curves quivering with rage.
“So you knew, and yet you let me hurt,” she whispered, her eyes filled with anguished pain. “All this suffering the past three months. You knew and didn’t do anything about it.”
Her words caught me by surprise. Yes, I hadn’t contacted her. I hadn’t reached out, that was true. But it was because I’d been grappling with my own emotions the entire time, trying to understand how this situation had gotten so out of control. Because it wasn’t the leaks that troubled my soul. It was the fact that I’d fallen for this girl, head over heels, completely taken unawares. And that’s what made me stop short.
But it was too late because Holly rushed out of the office, running to the elevator.
“Wait, stop!” I called, rising from my desk. “Sweetheart, let me explain.”
But it was too late. The high-speed elevator that goes directly to my office was already dinging closed, my secretary watching with shocked eyes.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Evans,” Annie stammered, halfway standing from her desk. “Should I have stopped her?”
We both stared as the elevator lights flashed, carrying the love of my life away. And my hands opened and closed uselessly on air, gripping at nothing.
“No Annie,” came my low voice. “It’s fine. I’ll get her back.”
Because no way was I going to let Holly Nelson out of my life again. The first time had been painful enough, booting her off the plane with every intention of erasing her existence from my brain. But much good that had done. Instead, I only wanted her back. My thoughts had circled around the sweet brunette again and again and again, unable to stop. Heck, I’d contemplated therapy just to put the kibosh on these endless ruminations.
But now, the answer was clear in my mind. I was in love with the brunette. She’d never been a spy, and I was the dumbass who’d taken a wrong turn. I should have approached her and made amends the minute I’d gotten a hold of my emotions. I was the one who should have apologized on bended knee, seeking her grace and favor, and not the other way around.
So grabbing my jacket, I turned to my secretary.
“All calls on hold,” was my rumbling command. “All meetings cancelled.”
Annie nodded, her expression pale.
“For how long?” she asked. “Just the rest of the afternoon until you’re back?”
But my head shook even as I entered the stairwell. Fuck, it was gonna be a long ways down by foot, but worth every second of the effort. Because I had to get my girl back come hell or high water, and every calorie expended, every bead of sweat on my brow were infused with need for Holly.
“Naw,” came my grunt as the emergency door swung shut behind me. “All calls and meetings on hold until I say,” was the rough command. “I’ve got more important matters at hand to take care of.”
And with that, my big form began the chase. Because the sweet brunette is everything to me, and I wouldn’t stop until she was back in my life. And if I had my way … this time it would be for good.