Thirteen

Noelle’s POV

Today was my payday. The day I would finally have the six figure salary resting in my account. I had already made a mental list of everything that needed to be done before the money had even hit my account.

I also tried as much as possible to avoid the four of them or come in close contact. I had to deal with only Kael and Adrien since Dante and Lucien weren’t always available at tge office.

But lately, Dante was always there. Slowly but surely encroaching into my space. And I started to discover that he wasn’t as bad as I thought. Plus he hadn’t even said anything about our kiss the other day.

Oh God! That kiss!

I couldn’t count how many times I had fucked myself with Frank (a purple dildo I had randomly named during one of my make out sessions with it), while reliving that kiss in my head.

Plus with his presence, the others had relatively reduced their need for me. Limiting it to only important stuff that absolutely required my presence.

But that didn’t stop the fact that he would randomly find reasons to hold my hand or touch me at most times. Or the few times he would waltz into my office and lay down claiming he needed a nap.

Or the fact that he would always make sure we both left work together and he was always my personal chauffeur.

Or that we came to work together every single day. Or that he already memorized my favorite meals and the things I was allergic to and would make sure I was never five feet near any of them.

Or it sure as hell didn’t stop the fact that I enjoyed the attention. Or that I would purposely leave the door open so he can waltz in anytime he wanted.

I snapped out of my trance when the telephone rang and I hurriedly picked it up.

“This is Crown Interprises, Miss Sinclair speaking. How may I help you?”

“Get to my office right now!!”

The call ended as Adrien’s loud voice abruptly seized from the phone. Weird.

Cause he could have sent for me. Not calling the general office line. Plus why did he sound like he was about to have someone’s head.

Curious to know why he sounded that way and demanded for me in that manner, I quickly stood up and walked towards his office.

Only to find all four of them seated there, a grim expression seating on all their faces.

“You better have an explanation for tge rookie mistake you just made because I swear…” Adrien yelled as he angrily dropped off everything on his table straight to the floor.

“Calm down Velrose. I’m sure there’s an explanation” Lucien pitched in as he quietly held him down.

I glanced at the only person I knew would explain whatever wa showing on here, Dante.

He finally explained everything and I knew there was trouble.

“Sam sued the company. On the grounds of assault. He claimed you hired men to beat him up after refusing to submitting the documents he gave you over.”

“That’s … That’s not what happened… Dante you were there!”

“I know. He knows he can’t win the lawsuit. His aim is to damage the company’s reputation”

“I don’t give a bloody care about that. But if you wanted to hit the mother fucker then you should have gone all out and not leaving loose ends!!!”

Adrien yelled once more which made me pause.

“I don’t understand”

“Kitten, we are not angry that he assaulted you and you kept quiet but rather you didn’t tie up loose ends properly” Kael tried to explain but I still couldn’t make out his words and I could feel my anxiety levels shooting up. Fuck it, was I having a panic episode.

“Hey hey hey Sunshine, calm down okay…”

Dante rushed to me as he quickly grabbed my arms while rubbing smooth circles all over.

“Look at me Sunshine. Just me. It’s just me”

He kept soothing me as I felt my cortisol levels drop. And even with my now calm breath, he still didn’t let go.

“Listen to me Sunshine. They are not pissed at you. They are pissed FOR you. I should have known better than letting him go.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, my voice shaking as I tried to think of something else.

“Sunshine. In this world we don’t leave loose ends or clues that can point back at us for this very reason.”

“So in essence, you are saying that we should…” My voice trembled as I tried not to reason his words. He couldn’t possibly mean…

“Yes Sunshine. We should have killed him. Both him and everyone who could investigate his death and link it back to us”

Dante’s face was so stern which made me realize that he wasn’t playing. I looked over at the remaining three and their faces showed their support to Dante.

“I should have known better actually. He was meant to be dead the moment he said you were worthless”

“He did what?!” Lucien half yelled as his eyes stilled. An airy chill filled tge air as I felt myself slump in a chair I didn’t even know when it was placed behind me.

“There has to be another way. You guys can’t … No…”

“I’m sorry Sunshine. But there is no other way”

They… They were actually going to kill… For my sake.

I looked at them one after the other before it finally stuck in Dante’s stoic face. Only one thought roaming through my head…

‘What the hell had I gotten myself into?”