Feathers and Thorne Series Books 1 - 3: The Complete Collection

Chapter Two

Isabella

“Bella, be a doll and bring the downtown project files over to my desk.”

“I need those reports from the contractor as soon as he emails them over.”

“If you find my keys, can you let me know, babe?”

I collapse behind my desk after hours of endless work. I haven’t gotten to look through a single email of my own, let alone be able to answer the phone that constantly rings at my workspace. It is a nuisance to the other four people in this work trailer, set up outside a budding, mid-level construction project uptown.

My boss, Jacob Lacey, occupies the trailer next door. His boss—and father—William, had given this project to his son as a gift or maybe a distraction, and I was roped into the responsibilities along the way.

I thought being a receptionist at Lacey Construction LLC would be easy. As an architecture student fresh from dropping out of college, I was finding this job more difficult than I thought, almost as hard as it was to stay here. If I didn’t need this job so desperately, I would have left a long time ago.

A cold, callous hand brushes my hair back from my shoulder, and I fight the urge to flinch. It would only entice my boss, his handsy antics never ceasing but, more so, never welcomed. He cups my cheek and leans forward, his hot breath trailing down the back of my neck.

“Looks like someone is working late,” Jacob hums, purring in my ear as his lips brush the sides of my neck. “Wouldn’t luck have it; so am I.”

“Jacob. I thought you left hours ago,” I groan, hiding the defeat and, mainly, the disgust in my whispering tone. “I was just checking on my emails and the missed calls before I left for the night. Do you need anything else before you head home?”

“Just a little taste of you, Bella,” he hums, sneaking a kiss to my throat. I shudder, and his hands on my shoulders tighten their grip. “Come on, baby, I know you’ve been resistant in the past, but it’s a new night. I won’t do anything I’m sure you’re not used to.”

I jerk sideways, dodging his next threatening kiss. “Jacob, please. I’m not interested. I am here for the money, nothing else. You and your father both—”

“Don’t mention him again,” Jacob snarls, his voice raspy and his grip tightening. “My father may own the company, but you’re my receptionist. Your check comes with my signature, so I suggest you start showing me some respect.”

“Respect doesn’t mean I have to sleep with you.”

“Not tonight, maybe.”

He circles my desk, staring down at me through his long, dark lashes while pressing his hefty palms on the wood-top table that separates us. His light green eyes are wide, wild, and throbbing with adrenaline or something else, something narcotic, I’d guess. I’ve seen the same effect in my father’s eyes while he is dosed up on pain medications in the hospital.

I ignore the sight of his glare, scrolling through the inbox before Jacob lowers the screen of my laptop. I move my fingers out of the way, making sure not to start an argument with him about something so trivial. At least now, I don’t have to answer any of those dozens of emails that probably came from him, anyways.

He runs his fingers through his slick brown hair. “It’s getting late, baby. Why don’t you let me drive you home?”

“I don’t need a ride, Jacob,” I snap, my teeth grinding between my sentences. “I can walk.”

His brows knit in response. “It’s dark out, Bella. You’re in a skirt and heels. What would happen if I let you walk out of these docks alone, unprotected? Some people in this city are real monsters—they’d do anything if a pretty little thing like you comes walking by their car and… well, you can picture the rest, right, baby?”

I swallow hard but fight the urge to kick him in between the legs for that remark that sounded more like a trick than a friendly offer. “No, thanks, Jacob. The hospital is just two blocks away. I can walk alone, and I’ll be very careful.”

His salacious grin turns into a sour frown at my refusal. “Well, if you say so, baby. Just be sure to have the petty cash on my desk filed with the receipts, and make sure everything is locked up before you go. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

He leaves the trailer at once, leaving me alone on this job site for the rest of the night. It’s going to be midnight soon, and I’ll be back here before the sun rises, but I know I won’t sleep long anyways. To finish up my shift, I head over to Jacob’s work trailer and pick up the scatter of receipts left thrown all across his desk. There are wads of cash lying around from his quick and reckless work today.

He gets hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in petty cash to supplement this project for his wealthy buyers uptown. It’s just concrete and scaffolding right now, but it’s massive and costly.

I gather his receipts and count them up, placing them in order while trying to organize the cash left out for anyone to take. He doesn’t seem worried about such threats, or he is too messy to care, and I place it all back into the lockbox behind his desk.

My chest aches when I notice a money clip of cash pushed under the leg of his chair, hidden away as though by accident. The lock box has been shut for the night, and I don’t have a key to open it back up, even if I want to. Right now, I don’t want it.

Dad’s bills have begun coming in the mail, some of them with warnings, and this small stack of hundreds would extend his care and prioritize his treatment. I know I shouldn’t, but if Jacob didn’t know it was there to begin with, maybe he won’t know if I slip it into my skirt pocket and take it to the hospital.

I head down the block at a brisk, paranoid pace. The money weighs heavily on my mind and in my pocket, but I can’t ignore what it means for my father. He is all I have left in this world, and if this stack of money is uselessly lost on Jacob’s list of priorities, then I’ll make sure it is put to the best use possible for my father’s cancer treatments.

It’s only him and I now. I have to protect him.