Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

M adison

The first time I confessed my love to Kent Luxe, I was sixteen. My pubescent heart didn’t care that he was Ife’s father or that he was married. I blurted out my feelings with no regard to where we were or who was around. Lucky for me, we were alone in the kitchen while Ife and Oyinlola were in the den.

What could I say? I was determined to be a home wrecker if it meant having my crush for myself.

No other man in my life really saw me until Kent. The boys in school saw me as exotic because of my vitiligo, wanting to see just how much of my body was unmelanated. They didn’t care if I fought with my parents, the stress I was under to perform to Nikita Montgomery’s standards, or my inability to cope with disappointment.

Kent did.

He wasn’t patronizing, like some of the other kids’ parents. He spoke to me as an equal, where everyone else treated me like a child. He showed me how to confront my shortcomings in a way that wasn’t destructive. He was everything my teenage heart saw as a hero, and incredibly handsome on top of everything else.

Even after my first confession when he distanced himself, I couldn’t stop my feelings for him. At eighteen, I planned an elaborate declaration, convincing Ife and her mother to go on a mother-daughter weekend trip and leaving Kent at home and alone.

I cringed now, thinking about how I snuck into his bedroom, determined to seduce him when I had zero clue what seducing a man meant. The wait was so nerve-wracking I almost ran to the bathroom several times to purge myself while waiting for his telltale footsteps to approach the bedroom door. Despite my agitated state, I didn’t chicken out, though now I wondered how things would be different if I had.

Instead, I lay in his bed while nervous sweat dotted my back, armpits, and thighs. Nothing prepared me for the horror that overtook his features or the intense anger and scathing dismissal he gave me. It was a million times worse than his first rejection, leaving a wound that I thought I’d healed.

While away, I worked to rebuild the confidence he’d shredded in one sentence and a scathing laugh. When he called me a sexless child who could never tempt a man’s appetites, let alone move his heart, I planned on never returning to Douglas. Yet being here now proved that a part of me wanted his approval. I still wanted him to see me as an equal, and as someone he desired.

I hated that for myself. He needed to pay for crushing me the way he did. I spent years in college putting myself back together while masking the mess I was. More years after graduating, I funneled my energies into my company. I barely spared time for a social life that didn’t advance my professional goals.

Despite my achievements, one day with Kent brought back the pain and humiliation from the past and shook my confidence. How could I not embrace my mother’s advice for revenge? Yet I’d almost lost my nerve yesterday when he offered to move Elsie into his penthouse. My plans for vengeance seemed unachievable, but then I remembered the passion in yesterday’s kiss.

No sexless adolescent could inspire such heat. And I wanted to make him burn hot enough to fry his brain. It would serve him right since being in the same room with him drove me to use my necklace. The little vibrator looked like a sleek bullet pendant and would have probably done the job I needed had I not been so tense from Kent’s presence.

The tiny orgasm did nothing to ease my taut muscles, nor did it eradicate my need to see Kent on his knees. This time, there would be no confession, no heart to offer him. And my efforts were paying off.

He couldn’t disguise his flaring nostrils and stuttered breathing when I leaned toward him, or his clenching jaw when I brushed against him. I barely hid my body’s reaction, which was primed now that I shared his office space.

To give myself a breather, I wrapped up our strategy session about tomorrow night’s charity gala and headed to my desk.

“By the way, Madison, you failed to mention when you would make an appearance.” As offhanded as he sounded, his tightly pressed lips told another story. He’d tried to withhold his curiosity about me from me.

Yes! He’s fallen into my first trap.

I turned to him with a smirk, loving the idea of me burrowing into his mind like an underground mole village. “You’re a big boy. With Elsie’s help, you won’t need me there.”

“It isn’t a question of need. I require you there.”

“I don’t see why?—”

“As my consultant.”

“Your consultant?”

“To ensure things run smoothly.”

“But you’re a pro. And with that famous Luxe charm you recently reminded me of, my presence would only dim your light.” I winked at him and packed a few items in my briefcase. “By the way, I’ll be out of the office for the rest of the afternoon.”

“Doing what?” Kent rose halfway from his chair before settling into the seat, a frown marring his handsome features.

“Oh, you know, consultanty things. Earning my obscenely expensive rate.” I rushed out of the office before my shaky legs gave from under me, praying I portrayed a confidence I didn’t feel.

I drove around Douglas until I reached the library. After my intense morning with Kent, I needed a breather, but I still had to work on his and his company’s images. I logged into the BBD site to monitor the chatter about Kent and Luxe Locations.

The internal company image needed a revamp as much as the external reputation. I scrolled through the recent discussion and drafted a few posts to plant under my username, Boss_Wrecker before I decided how to interject in the most recent bosshole discussion.

@OfficeVixen69: I don’t know how everyone can ignore the murderer in the room, especially when he turns his temper on us.

@In_The_Know: @OfficeVixen69 tell me about it. I saw him unleash in person. I don’t know how the board at #de-luxe_digs hasn’t voted him out yet. He’s ruining the company inside and out. I wonder if I’ll have a job in a few months. You know I need that .

@Nose2TheGrindstone: Did I miss something? I swear, every day he tops his worst. Like, how low can this man go? At this point, he’s below whatever is under hell. And I don’t know about y’all, but I’m with @OfficeVixen69. There’s no way he isn’t the culprit. I’ve dyed my hair black just to be safe.

@PeoplePleaser13: @Nose2TheGrindstone that’s a good idea. Only blonde women keep turning up. Come to think of it, @In_The_Know, didn’t you say you were blonde, too?

@In_The_Know: @PeoplePleaser13 you aren’t funny.

@Boss_Wrecker: Hey @everyone. I’m new here. What are we talking about?

@In_The_Know: Hey @Boss_Wrecker. We’re talking about the man we always talk about. The top honcho whose stare can melt the melanin off you.

@Boss_Wrecker: He is intense, but I guess I’d be, too, if the company I bled to build was under attack. I mean, other than the rumors, has anyone from the office disappeared?

@PeoplePleaser13: @Boss_Wrecker has a point. He’s never looked twice at an employee, but that could be his cover to make us vouch for him.

@Boss_Wrecker: Nah, you can’t always judge a person by how they manage people. I bet outside the office he’s a softie.

I glanced at the time, then at the chat once more. Without going overboard with my defense, I planted the seeds for other Luxe Locations employees to question @OfficeVixen69 and @Nose2TheGrindstone’s assertions. At least two other users who’ve posted about de-luxe_digs commented after I stopped chatting, showing their support of the company, if not of Kent.

In another chat, I lurked, unable to deny my curiosity about the site. Did my employees post about me? I was sure some of my team thought I overworked them, maybe even called me a bosshole behind my back. I made a note to search for clues when a chat with @Desk_Pet caught my eye.

Her situation with her boss sounded messy. I shook my head and squelched the urge to offer advice. People paid me a lot to handle their crises, and I wasn’t the charitable type to give my services away for free.

The next day, I arrived in the office expecting to exchange more barbs with Kent. Like the day before, I dressed to highlight my body’s curves, and his penetrating stare told me I’d succeeded. Maybe too well.

My skin itched from feeling his eyes on me. In response, I tried to bait him, but he refused to give me the satisfaction of replying. Instead, his calm demeanor left me feeling like a hormonal adolescent lashing out for no reason.

I endured for two hours before leaving the office. This time, I called my team to find out if they’d made any progress on the open murder investigation. There were few leads, and digging into the women’s lives didn’t turn up many clues. All the women linked to Kent were last seen with him more than eight months ago.

Was the reason he hadn’t publicly dated anyone since been because of the murders? Did they have other connections we could use to deflect attention from Kent and his company?

The next time I glimpsed the time, it was late enough that Elsie and Kent would have left for their first event together. I tamped down the jealousy desperately fighting for a foothold on my emotions. I knew what I was doing when I linked those two together. Their complementary looks would leave people in awe.

I rubbed my chest bone. Deciding not to attend tonight had an added benefit; I wouldn’t exhaust myself pretending Kent didn’t affect me. I needed to live rent-free in his mind, not the other way around. After a long exhale and arm stretches, I headed home.

Nikita’s cooking slapped my tastebuds the second I walked through the door. Eager, I helped set the table for our first family meal since I arrived. My butt hovered above the seat at the dining table when the doorbell rang. Both of my parents looked at each other before glancing in my direction.

“Are you expecting someone?” my dad asked.

“No, but I’ll check if it’s someone from my team. If they traveled here, there must be an emergency I’ll have to deal with.” I stared longingly at the smothered chicken, greens, and red beans and rice.

“Go on. We’ll leave you a plate.” My mom spooned a healthy serving of smothered chicken gravy over her beans and rice.

“Who is we?” My dad shoveled a mountain of the rice dish onto his plate. “Don’t go volunteering me for altruist of the year when it’s your famous chicken in front of me. Maddy can always call Grubhub.”

“Daddy, you are cold.”

“Don’t you worry about me. All this good food will warm me right up.”

I shook my head as I moved toward our mystery guest. Through the stained-glass front door, Omar’s sheepish brown face stared at me.

“Omar, what are you doing here?” I asked, after letting him in.

He raised a garment bag he held in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. “Kent sent me. I… uh… have to escort you to the event tonight.”

My mind raced. Kent couldn’t have spent a full thirty minutes at the party before sending the well-prepared Omar over.

“When did you have time to shop for me?” I unzipped the bag to find a gorgeous emerald sequined gown inside.

“Technically, I didn’t. This afternoon, Kent sent me to pick up everything. I don’t even know what is in all the packages.”

I wanted the dress, but I refused to let Omar see my desire, or else he’d report my reaction to Kent. One thing I wouldn’t abide in the war I was waging was seeing a satisfied smirk on that man’s face because he managed to one-up me. Hoping for an easy excuse, I checked the size.

“This is my size. How?” I asked, staring dumbfounded at the discreet tag.

“Beats me.” Omar checked his digital watch. “So, do you mind putting these on so we can leave? Kent was rather insistent.”

I glared at Omar. “What were his exact words?”

“Look, Madison, I’m just the messenger. You’ll be doing me a solid by dolling up and coming with me. So can you, please?”

“Omar…”

He slumped his shoulders and evaded my glance by looking at the ground. “He said if you know what’s good for you, you’ll do as you’re told, wear the damn dress and get your”—Omar cringed—“ass to the gala.”

I patted Omar’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling me. Don’t worry, I won’t bite your head off.”

“That’s a relief because I really like you. As a friend, promise.” A smile returned to his face and relief replaced the stress lines around his eyes from moments ago. “So, how long do you think you’ll need?”

“Not long at all.” I shifted my hold to Omar’s elbow and led him to the door. “Because I’m not going. And you can tell Mr. Luxe that someone else has already filled the role for my father, and I don’t need a second one telling me what’s good for me.” I gently shut the door in Omar’s face and returned to dinner with my parents, with a lightness to my step and a grin I tried to suppress.