Chapter 4. About Last Night

Olivia Barnett POV

“You’re back!” Lucy cried when I walked back to the office the next day. She ran to me and hugged me tightly as if it was the first time we met again in a long while, and not just last night.

“I knew it! The boss did not mean to fire you! Yey!” Her hands grasped my upper arms and shook me, my head and body bouncing at the impact, and it made the dull ache in my temple intensify. I winced.

“I need to know the deets!” She told me in a voice filled with excitement.

I shook my head to ward her off. Her enthusiasm this early is killing me. “There are no deets!”

Her enthusiasm crashed, and her voice dropped low.

“At least tell me, did you have a hot, wild night with Todd?”  I hate to tell her that though my night was wild, Todd was never a part of it. Todd right now was safe on his bed when I called to check on him this morning.

But Lucy was on a roll. She waited for my response, so I stabbed her with a disgruntled look that failed to stop the wide grin appearing on her face.

I pushed her away and fanned my nose with my fingers. A disgusted expression on my face.

“Ew! Lucy! You smell like puke!” I told her bluntly, but the truth is, I was hurting.

All my muscles ached after what Josh and I did.  I also have some bruises in some parts of me to prove that the night I spent in his bed was real.

Well, it couldn’t be all fake because not only is my body aching, but my heart aches, too.

When I woke up this morning and saw the blood stain on the white covers of Josh’s bed, I felt a pang. It’s not that I was regretting the whole thing. I am not.

Last night was a dream. Seeing the red stain on his bed covers was a dose of reality.

It reminded me of how ruthlessly he took my virginity, disregarding whether or not he inflicted pain.

Even when I asked him last night to go easy, and he promised he would, he still rammed straight into my core, knocking the wind out of me.

The pain was indescribable. It felt like he was ripping me in two. He paused, as if it only dawned on him that I was telling the truth.

The hesitation was momentary. Josh resumed as if his life depended on it.

He was relentless in the way he thrust his hips into mine. He was so big. I feared that my screams tore through the wall of his penthouse suite. He was like a madman. Insatiable. He kept taking, and I kept giving.

But it was not all pain. There were also sweet moments. The way he gazed at me when he realized that I was not lying about being a virgin. That moment of hesitation must have meant something.

I snorted.

Or so I thought, because he also shattered that tiny belief just now, when, before I rode the elevator to reach the office, I received a notification from my bank for a one-million-dollar deposit.

I specifically told him no last night, but he went right ahead this morning to pay me like I was some cheap w*ore he bought for his pleasure. My chest tightened. Every time I breathe, it feels like air is rubbing through the bruises in every part of me.

I turned toward my desk. Every bone in my body protested at every step, and my woman's core burned. I winced when I began to walk, but when I found Lucy watching me with a curious expression on her face, I immediately composed myself and pasted a fake smile meant to satisfy her.

“Is the boss here?” I asked weakly. My eyes darted toward Josh’s closed office.

There was no sign of movement inside, which gave me a few more minutes of relief.

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened, and Josh Morgan Sterling stepped out.

A hum could be heard in the silence that followed his appearance. As usual, the whole place stared in awe of our boss.

I peeked at him, but bent my head at the last moment because the sight of him reminded me so much of last night. The passion, the pain, and the insult I felt after he sent me that one million dollar deposit still burned my soul like an engraving.  

When he walked past my desk, I left my chair to follow him.

“I told you not to pay me,” I told him when the door closed behind me.

Josh unbuttoned his suit jacket and shrugged out of it. Then, he balled it into his hands and threw it where it landed neatly on his couch. He sat down behind his desk, looking tired. His face showed a smattering of stubble all around his cheek and chin.

He massaged his temple impatiently. “Can you stop nagging me? The one million is for my conscience. I paid you to keep your mouth shut.” He told me bluntly.

The cold, harsh truth was like dousing with cold water.  In fact, it only became desperately intense at every cruel word he uttered.

I could feel my facial muscles going numb.

“I am not under any illusions, Mr. Sterling.” I spat out to belie the pain his words inflicted. Drunk or not, Josh Morgan Sterling had this innate capacity to hurt me.

“Good. Now, get me a glass of icy water.” He ordered like I was his servant.

Gone was the Josh who couldn't get enough of my body, who kissed me as if his life depended on it.

Then, he rubbed his temples vigorously.

I shook my head and took a deep breath.

I marched out of his office and went to the pantry to get his order. When I got back, I slammed the glass on his table. The condensation drippings hit him on the face.

“What is wrong with you?” He snapped.

“Nothing.” I denied quickly.

“That was not nothing.” He argued, pulling out his handkerchief to wipe the small splashes of water on his face, neck, and arms.

“If you must know. I felt insulted. I gave you my virginity, but it does not mean that you can walk all over me.” I hissed.

His hand on the table balled, and I stepped back cautiously.

“If you think I insulted you or disrespected you, then burn the money. Do whatever you want with it. I don’t care. I just want your silence.”

He turned his back to me, dismissing me.

I marched out of his office, angry. Josh’s insult still burned my ears.

My hands itched to slap his arrogant and insufferable face.

I sat back down at my table. My eyes glinted with a plan.

I tapped away on my phone. The sight of the million dollars deposited into my account was an eyesore.

He said I could do anything with it.  Then, let’s see how he reacts after I burn his money.

My stomach twisted painfully as I began to swipe left and checked some sites for something to buy.

Then, I found it. I clicked to highlight the image and then the buy button. When the million dollars disappeared from my bank account to pay for the monstrosity I purchased just now, a grin swelled into my lips.