Twelve

Noelle’s POV

He was kissing me!!! Dante fucking Moretti had his lips locked on mine. And I simply stood there as he maneuvered his lips against mine while tugging my waist and drawing me closer to him.

He didn’t give me a chance to even draw back before delving in deeper. His palm reached for the back of my neck as he angled my head to suit his state before picking up the pace.

“Fuck Sunshine…”

He growled on my lips as he panted. His forehead resting on mine as if it belonged there. But it only made one thought stand out more. I needed to fuck. And a good fuck at that.

“Now tell me…” he whispered in between deep breaths, “What exactly happened?”

I kept mum as I contemplated my next move, but he seemed to have other thoughts as his hold tightened around me.

“Don’t be afraid to speak to me. What happened?!”

I could tell he was pissed. But it wasn’t directed towards me. And for a few moments, I had actually forgotten there was a mangled body that lay a few feet away from me.

“Go on Sunshine”

I muted every other thing, even the nickname, as I quietly recalled every thing that happened earlier to him.

***

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER

“What are you doing here, Sam? I don’t think I have an impromptu business to discuss with you?”

Kael and Adrien had decided to create a cosmetics department since makeup seemed to be on the rise and so far it has been good.

That was until the department head decided to be greedy.

“I am here to simply discuss the basics of the new product. Not with you of course. But you are to hand the proposal directly to Mr Velrose”

He had a sneer on his face as he glared at me. He looked at me as if he were a ticking gold mine while I was a charred stone.

Another misogynistic bastard who wouldn’t believe that women couldn’t act without a man’s backup. As if I needed a man to go to a verbal war from the like of him.

“Sorry to burst your bubble. But every contact they sign must pass through me”

“Why you insolent…”

“These prices are as ridiculous as can be. And even I aren’t a make up fan. And also this doesn’t match the budget originally set aside for this department.”

“Pipe down woman. Just hand it to them. What is a woman like you even doing in a male dominated field? If you had been that perfect then maybe the Sinclair empire wouldn’t have ended with you.”

His words hit a certain nerve. Probably because I carried a bit of self blame for all these while but I refused to let it show.

“This doesn’t mean anything. I’m still not handing it over to them”

“You insolent bitch!!!”

He slammed his hands down at tge table as his face twisted to a harsh look. I tried to reach to my drawer to bring out a taser I had always carried around me but he seemed to realize my intentions as he quickly dragged me up by the collar and held onto me tightly.

“If it weren’t for the asset between your legs, did you think you would be qualified to even work for them? The four power houses in this country. Did you think you would be so lucky? One day or another, you will be tossed aside…

Just like how your father was dumped”

***

“And that was when you came in.”

I finished up my story as the tears swelled in my eyes. Cause part of it was true. Here I was, wrapped in the embrace of one of my bosses.

“Hey hey hey, don’t cry.”

Dante panicked as he revealed a soft expression on his face. He carefully cradled my face in his arms as he placed tiny kisses all over my face before hugging me tightly.

“Now I want you to pay heed to my voice and my voice only. You are here because you have the skills we need. Your company thrived because you are competent. And smart. And so professional. Do not ever, and I mean it Sunshine, don’t ever let anyone discredit you like that. Okay?”

His voice was so warm. And soft. The softest I had ever heard it ever since I started working here. And it was soothing.

“Answer me Sunshine”

“I understand” I muttered weakly as I finally brought myself to embrace him back. And perhaps that was all I needed as I broke down in tears. I couldn’t recall the last time I had broken down like this.

But I knew that Dante never judged me for it. Instead he held me tightly as I carried into his chest. He still held onto me as I finally calmed down. He held onto me as I unconsciously blew my snot on his chest which he responded with a deep chuckle.

“Sorry” I meuutered which he made him laugh more.

“I never knew I would see this side of you Sunshine”

I tried to tidy myself but he quickly held me back.

“I want to see more of this Sunshine. Your days of being the tough one are over. From now on, lay it all on me, tge burdens, tge heartaches, everything.”

“Even the work stress?”

He smiled as he wiped my face with his handkerchief. “Especially the work stress Sunshine”

A groan on the floor brought my attention back to Sam and tge reality of everything. In a moment of vulnerability, I had opened up to Dante who seemed to have no issues with it.

Whatever, it wasn’t like I could rewind the hands of clock this time.

Dante calmly looked at him and said nothing.

“He said my father was tossed aside. Do you think he knew anything about his death?” I calmly asked Dante as I watched him still for a bit before revering back to his original form.

“What do you know about your father’s death Sunshine?”

“Not much. But much enough to know it wasn’t just suicide as others said”

“Hmm”

Dante didn’t say much again as he quietly picked Sam up by the collar.

“You can leave early today. You need to rest after everything”

“But…”

“Don’t worry Sunshine. As long as I am here, no one fires you”

He had a gaze in his eyes that I couldn’t tell. But his words made me remember Kael’s words from before.

‘Dante added an inresting clause to tge contract. No one gets to fire you except it’s a mutual decision from all four of us. Which means even if three accepts and one rejects, you still stay’

“I will find out more on his words about your father. But you on the other hand have to forget everything he said. Okay?”

“I understand” I had so many questions and till I was sure about who to trust and who I shouldn’t, it was better not to reveal all my cards just yet.

“Good. My driver will take you home now. See you later Sunshine”

He placed a peck on my forehead and caressed my cheek with his gree hand before walking out of the office. Leaving me in my own thoughts.