It was one of the many pictures the PI I had on her had taken over the years. It was a picture of her working behind the counter the first day Fiona’s First Cup opened. It was a picture of the woman who held my entire life in her hands, and she didn’t even know it.
Chapter 7
The devil never really ever leaves you alone.
Fiona~
The day was almost over, thank God! Normally I loved coming to work and doing what I do, but yesterday’s disaster with my parents still had me in a funk. Lost count of how many beers and a couple tequila shots later had done nothing to erase the incident from my mind.
I didn’t sleep for shit because even after all my tough talk yesterday, I still stayed up half the night trying to work a way to help them out that didn’t involve sacrificing my home or business.
My father had a problem and the little girl in me wanted to believe that just maybe…maybe, if I helped them out, he would go to counseling and finally become the dad I always dreamed of. Then they’d finally be happy and that would allow them to finally be happy for me.
I was such a fucking idiot. Seriously, I should have a medal in idiotism or something.
I was going over some bank statements when my assistant manager, Debbie, cracked open my office door. “Hey Lady, there’s a guy out here who says he needs to speak with you.”
“Is he here for a job?”
She shook her head. “Nah, he said something about settling a debt with you?” Her face took on a look of confusion, and she just shrugged one of her dainty shoulders.
My face must have mirrored hers because I didn’t have...debt.
Shit! Shit! Shit! My fucking parents.
“Oh…uh, go ahead and send him back. I’m sure he’s just confused. I’ll take care of it.”
When Debbie left to go get him, I stood up and rounded my desk. I’d never felt so anxious before in my life and that’s saying something. I just had a gut feeling that I did not want to be sitting down looking up at the guy when he walked in. He had obviously been told by my parents that I would handle their debt, so I needed to stand strong and come across firm when I corrected him.
There was a light, respectful knock on the door before Debbie opened it. “Come in.”
I smiled at Debbie as she walked in first and held the door open for…Damien Greystone???
Holy Mary, Jesus, and Joseph!
Walking in the room like he owned it, was Damien fucking Greystone, and all I could do was stand here and die of the heart attack I was so clearly having.
Debbie immediately closed the door after Damien cleared the path and, if she found it odd that I hadn’t greeted him, she didn’t say anything before walking out.
Damien Greystone was standing in my office and oh, Sweet Baby Jesus, he was gorgeous. He’d always been beautiful as a kid and then a teenage boy. But standing before me as a man, Damien was breathtaking. His hair was still dark as evil and while it was cut short on the sides, the top length of it fell around his head like his hair didn’t give a fuck either. His dark black brows arched perfectly over the deep green lasers of his. His eyes looked greener if that was possible. His face grew into sharp slants and edges and was void of any hair, ready to slay any female with a pulse should he flash a smile that I knew came with a deep set of crescent-shaped dimples.
He was dressed in a suit I knew cost more than my daily profits. I knew this because it draped his body with tailored perfection. He looked taller, bigger, and more imposing. And he was looking like he wanted to chew me up and spit me out like the insect under his shoe that I was.
I decided to put my heart attack on hold to ask him what the fuck was going on. “What are you doing here, Damien?”
He tilted his head slightly to the right as if he was puzzled; but I knew better. This man was never puzzled by anything. He always knew what cards everyone at the table were holding. “I thought your friend out there had explained. I’m here to settle your parents’ debt.”