CHAPTER TEN

Coraline

I spent the rest of my day after cooking for Alessio and his mystery date cooped up in the public library, researching for various online programs NYU might have.

I had gotten a partial scholarship after graduating high school to study English Literature but had deferred it for a gap year because I didn’t have enough funds and wasn’t interested in taking out a loan.

Now that summer was almost over and a new session would soon begin, plus I had a good paying job, I was ready to start classes online for my freshman year. Online so I could cut costs, and also work for survival.

I was so engrossed in my research that I didn’t know the day had flown by till my phone began vibrating on the desk of my workstation.

“It’s late and raining, Cora. Where are you?” Ash said when I picked the call.

“Raining?” I hadn’t even realized that. Then I checked the time and saw it was twenty minutes past five. “Woah, my bad. Will be on my way now.”

“Okay. Be safe. Get an umbrella too.”

I packed up my things and headed out into the rain, taken aback by how heavy it was and how dark everywhere had gotten. I was soaked in seconds, the stray wisps of hair that had escaped out of my ponytail plastering to the sides of my face.

There was no point in getting an umbrella now so I hefted my backpack higher on my shoulder and began walking at a brisk pace towards the nearest bus stand.

Harsh winds blew at my wet clothes and before long my teeth were chattering.

Then I heard a car honk from behind me. Glancing back, I saw the sleek black vehicle had rolled to a stop with the headlights beaming into my face.

A tall man in a suit stepped out and I shielded my eyes against the rain and light to see who it was. They widened when I recognized my boss’s powerful frame taking purposeful strides in my direction.

“What the hell are you doing walking in the rain?” he yelled when he got to me.

I didn’t get a chance to respond because he was suddenly grabbing me by the elbow and leading me towards the passenger side of his car.

He dumped me inside before I could even wrap my head around what was happening. Then he was sliding into the driver’s seat beside me in the next moment.

Was this how easy it was to kidnap me?

“Seatbelt.”

I stared at him dumbly. “Huh?”

He sighed then leaned over, solid chest pressing into my shivering side as he grabbed my seatbelt and clicked it into place himself.

The entire action took probably two seconds, but he had left my body buzzing from the brief contact we had shared.

Must be the cold. That was why I was feeling all these weird things.

He pressed a button and the car purred to life, heat blasting from within hidden vents in the dashboard. The seat beneath me also started warming up.

The change in temperature seemed to finally do the trick of thawing the ice around my brain and my mouth opened to speak,

“I was heading to the bus station. It’s a few blocks away so you don’t have to do all this.”

He ignored me, slowly maneuvering the car down the road. The rain was still pouring in torrential sheets and it only seemed to be getting worse.

“Fine then.” I huffed. “You can drop me off at the station.”

The station came into view but he drove past it, not slowing down for a second.

“You were supposed to pull over.” I exclaimed.

He glanced my way with a flat expression. “So you can wait under the rain till your bus comes then call in sick tomorrow due to catching a cold, hm?” He turned back to face the road, jaw clenched. “Not letting that happen.”

“I’m not going to catch a cold from staying under the rain for a few minutes.” I grumbled. He cut me a glare and I decided to remain silent.

Until I realized something.

“Aren’t you supposed to be entertaining your ‘female guest’ by this time?”

“I was on my way to pick her up when I saw you stupidly trying to brave this rain.” His arm flexed on the steering wheel, drawing my attention to the corded muscles beneath the golden skin. Why were his sleeves rolled up? Didn’t he know how distracting that could be for me?

He caught me staring and one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk.

“There was a fly.” I mumbled uselessly. His smirk only grew wider.

“You and I both know there wasn’t any fly, Coraline.”

“Cora.” I blurted out. “Call me Cora.”

His brows furrowed as he turned back to face the road. “Why?”

“That’s what everyone else calls me.”

“I don’t want to be everyone else.”

My eyes shot to stare at him, caught off guard a little. “What?” I whispered. What did he mean by that?

“Cora is a nickname. I’m your employer, not one of your friends. Calling you by your full name is the standard. Makes us maintain our formal relationship.”

“Right.” Now I felt foolish for thinking something else. I turned towards the window to watch the rain fall, following the droplets of water as it hit the tinted glass and trickled downwards.

The shrill sound of my ringtone suddenly cut through the uncomfortable silence.

I looked down to my lap to see it was Marcus. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alessio glance at the lit up screen too.

“Worried boyfriend?” he casually asked.

I almost snorted. “Uh, nope.”

“Who is he then?”

I glanced at him and tilted my head in suspicion. “Why do you want to know?”

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, the action seeming almost too ordinary for a man of his caliber. Water droplets dripped from the wet strands of his hair and slid down the strong slope of his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his shirt.

Even with his wet clothes and hair, he didn’t look bedraggled in the slightest. He just looked hotter with his white shirt plastered to the hard planes of his chest and water droplets glistening on the bronzed skin of his exposed forearms.

Whereas I was certain I looked like a drowned rat.

My eyes narrowed suddenly. “Do you even know where you’re going? Where I live?”

He scoffed. “You work for me, of course I know your house address.”

I gasped just as he made the turn into my neighborhood.

“It’s where Mrs. Gretchen also resides.” He felt the need to remind me. Still, I wasn’t convinced. I was sure he had done a full background check on me before hiring me. And now it made sense why it had seemed like he had trusted me to behave at the start.

The man knew all there was to know about me. He knew what I had to lose if I stepped out of line, that was why he hadn’t been too bothered with me.

I was still staring in shock at him when he turned off the ignition.

“We’re here. Get off.”

I turned my head away and gathered my bag, trying to look composed. “Thanks for the ride.” I mumbled as I opened the door to step out.

The cold air engulfed me immediately, the rain pounding down on my clothes and skin.

I hurried towards my building but an umbrella was suddenly thrust over my head. Looking up, I met the brown gaze of Marcus.

“Ash told me to wait out for you,” he said over the rain and I nodded. Together, we headed towards the entrance, and it was only when we finally got in that I heard Alessio’s car pull away.