Covet - Eve Vaughn Page 0,30

have brought her to my home, but I couldn’t stop myself once the words were out. Maybe it was because I wasn’t 100 percent sure that she was telling me the truth about the mystery man in her house being her brother. When we were together, she wasn’t that open about her family, only saying that her parents were both deceased and that she had one brother.

I figured since she didn’t talk about her only surviving family member much that they weren’t close, so I never pressed. I always assumed she’d eventually open up. It just seemed odd now that he would show up out of the blue.

It didn’t matter because she was mine for the next two months, and it was my intention to break her. She’d be damaged goods by the time I was done with her.

So why did I get up before the crack of dawn and head to my office just to avoid her? I’d specifically told her to be up a certain time so that she could have my breakfast ready, but I avoided her instead. It stayed on my mind all morning and put me in a foul mood. I found myself snappy at everyone around me. Cheri took the brunt of my ire and was now avoiding me. I barely made it through my meetings without completely blowing up. By mid-afternoon I was done.

I was on the verge of calling it a day when my office door burst open. Only one person could do that and get away with it.

“What the hell is your problem, man?” Chris, who was probably one of the most laid-back people I knew, stormed inside and closed the door none too gently.

I really wasn’t in the mood, especially since my head was starting to throb with tension.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m sure you’ll tell me?”

“Cut the bullshit. These last few days, you’ve been an absolute asshole, and today you were borderline rude to one of our biggest clients in this morning’s meeting. Now I see Cheri crying at your desk. You might tell me its none of my business, but it damn sure is when it’s affecting this company. If you can’t tell me what the problem is as your business partner at least tell me what’s going on as your best friend.”

Chris wasn’t one to meddle so the fact that he was so passionate about what was upsetting him told me that he wouldn’t relent. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but it would just lead to another blow up I didn’t want to deal with. Besides, while I didn’t expect more from my employees that I didn’t expect of myself, my goal wasn’t to make them run away in fear from me. As for Cheri, I couldn’t ask for a better assistant, and the fact that I’d upset her to the point of crying didn’t sit well with me. I made a mental note to have some flowers sent to her.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Chris demanded, breaking me out of my silent musings.

“It’s complicated.” I released a heavy sigh while slumping in my seat.

“It’s only as complicated as you make it. Look man, you brother hasn’t been dead that long, and I know how much he meant to you. You only took a week off, and that was because you were helping your mother plan the funeral. Have you actually taken the time to properly grieve?”

I was about to deny his claim, but Chris held up his hand halting me before I had the chance.

“No, hear me out. I know what you’re going through. When my dad died, the first couple months I went through the motions. I didn’t cry, and I tried not to think about him that much. But one day I just woke up angry, and I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t until his birthday rolled around and I broke down. All those emotions I was going through was because I couldn’t allow myself to say goodbye to him. Because if I did, that would mean acknowledging he was gone. Maybe you should take some time off to get yourself together.”

“I don’t need to take any time off; besides, I have meetings lined up for weeks.”

“They can be rearranged. You’re not doing anyone any good here. In fact, I insist that you take some time off. We have competent people here that are more than capable of stepping in. I