Chapter 3

Lunch with Kirsten went well. The two of us bonded in a strange way as she dished on her dislike of Mr Satani. I was right about the bad blood between them. He had called upon her for sexual favours for six weeks when she first started in the company. His charming smile and smooth words had promised they had a relationship – that they were a couple.  And then, before she knew it, he had dropped her for some new intern who looked like she was barely legal.

I didn't comment on this. Instead I just nodded and leant a sympathetic ear. Inside however, my blood was boiling. The more I learnt about his past misdemeanours, the more I disliked the man. I became more resolved in resisting his charm because even I, someone who had no interest in dating anyone in the long run, could honestly say that Mr Satani was gorgeous. What I found more concerning was his name - Lucius Satani. I didn't understand how they couldn't see he was a bad person when his last name had Satan in it. He acted like he had a bit of the devil in him so I didn't understand why people didn't connect the dots.

Back at the office, I spent the next few hours sorting through the paperwork finding even more errors. They probably would have gone unnoticed if it wasn't for me.  As tedious as it was, Mr Satani should be kissing my feet in thanks for clearing the entire six month backlog of paperwork. I glanced at the clock, just as the small hand ticked that much closer to the five.

Cussing, I pushed myself off of the floor. I had been resigned to cold hard itchy carpet that definitely wasn't as plush feeling when you were sat upon it for more than two seconds. My chair, which I sent a longing glance at, was still buried under its own mountain of paper.

After brushing myself off and taking a well-earned stretch, I headed towards Mr Satani's office. I knew he was alone. No one had come or gone for the last hour so I knew he would be there, and for some reason, that caused me to hesitate. With a determined unladylike grunt, I allowed my fist to bang against the tinted glass. 

"Miss Holm-" The deep rich voice caressed my ears for a second before Mr Satani came to a startled stop. He lowered his gaze to me, his feature rapidly contorting into a frown as he eyed my raised fist. "Oh there you are. Can you set up the meeting room- ?"

I held up my hand which caused his mouth to shut with a click.   

"The meeting room is set and I have asked Kirsten to redirect any persons coming to the meeting to the right floor." I paused for breath and then bit my lip as I tried to think of a way to word my next sentence.

However Mr Satani, whose ego was obviously bigger than his head, thought that my lip biting was because of another reason.  He grinned down at me whilst his manicured hand ran up the length of my arm. I ignored the fact that it caused goosebumps to form across my skin and instead sent a scowl up at the man.

"I knew you'd come round." He purred at me through pursed lips.

His attention no longer on my face but was following the path of his fingers as they trailed up over my shoulder before trailing across my collar bone.  And as I stared up into his blue eyes, I felt my pulse skip but not in desire. No it was fear. I could have sworn that for just a second, those icy blues had flashed crimson.  

Deciding to ignore the ridiculous thoughts, I instead let anger take hold. Slapping his hand away, I took a step back to create a large gap between us. Two metres still wasn't far enough but my overladen office chair was pressed against the back of my legs so I had little room to move. That didn't stop me letting the fury take hold.

"Excuse me Mr Satani.  I have no idea what you presumed -." I broke off and forced myself to take a few deep breaths before I could continue.

"Let me make it clear to you, nothing will ever happen between us." I waved between him and me so there could be no possible way he could misunderstand. "There will never be an 'us'. Now, I only came to tell you that my son will be arriving in a moment so I will be a bit preoccupied. My babysitter is unable to keep him any later. Now, if you want me to work until the meeting ends, you will say nothing more about it and head to the meeting room."

My voice was hard as I sent a glare his way. Yet, my words seemed to have no effect except for making my infuriating boss – dare I even think it – happy.  I felt my face pull into a frown once more when my handsome employer licked his lips and stepped closer to me. I sucked in a sharp breath as he quickly invaded my personal space so that his firm body was pressed flush up against mine.  

"That's why you were able to resist me." He murmured.

It was almost like there was a little light bulb going on above his head. Mr Satani's beautiful blues were filled with understanding which quickly transformed into a burning intensity as he directed those blues directly into my own brown eyes. I felt shame as I looked right back because the connection made me feel things. Things that he shouldn't make me feel – no matter how attractive he is.  

I was completely enraptured by has stare and could only flutter my lashes as he moved his face closer still so that his lips brushed the curve of my ear.

"I always wanted a MILF." He purred as he dipped his head and ran his nose along the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply as he did so.

My brows drew together. What the hell was a MILF? And then like my own little light was turning on, I gave a screech of outrage. Driving both of my fists into his sides, I stomped on his foot before skirting around the chair so I could put even more distance between us.

"You pig." I snarled at him, my hands clenching at my sides.

 I was drawn out of my anger-fuelled haze by the sound of my tinny ringtone. I snapped my attention away from Lucius Satani and instead eyed my ratty old phone as it jumped across the desk top.

"You disgust me," I glared back at the infuriating man before hurrying over to my desk and lunging for the handset.

I glanced at the screen and immediately felt my lips twitch and my entire body loosen.

"I'll be right back. Go to your meeting, and in the meantime, try to think about what the meaning of manners and personal space is."

I refused to meet with the pig's gaze as, with a flick of my hair, I stormed off towards the lifts.

Down in the lobby, I had barely managed to compose myself as my eyes swept the dozens of people milling around. It wasn't hard to spot Mari. She was stood at the reception desk in a pair of faded jeans and pink timberland boots that stood out amongst the suits everyone else was wearing. She was chatting away to Kirsten while rocking the bright blue pushchair back and forth with her boot clad foot.

Grinning, I hurried over to them as fast as my stilettos would carry me.

Skidding to a halt next to the pushchair, I peeked under the hood and let out a breath when my eyes fall upon my little angel fast asleep. Bending down, I placed a kiss on his forehead, his soft downy hair tickling my nose. I took in a deep breath and I suddenly felt a hundred times calmer. Despite the faint trace of baby sick, Danny smelt absolutely amazing. I used to hate the smell of babies – I supposed it showed how much my life had changed.

I stood up and turned to Mari. I didn't waste any time before I pulled her into a tight hug.

"God I missed you guys today." I murmured, squeezing her tighter for a moment before releasing her.

"We missed you too. Little Danny boy was all out of sorts for a while. He settled down once I put on that bloody Tony Christie song." She muttered bitterly but her emerald coloured eyes were soft despite her words.

Mari absolutely hated Tony Christie but her younger brother insisted on singing it to me while I had been pregnant. Apparently I waddled a bit too much and looked a little too much like those people in the music video.

Oh how I dislike that boy, my smile not dimming for a second as I patted my friend in consolation.

"Don't worry, we'll get him back. Do you have time for a coffee or do you have to be off?" I questioned, eyeing the car keys she kept jingling in her hands.

"No I can't I'm afraid. I really have to be going." She brushed a loose strand of her hair away from her face and gave me a smile in apology. "Don't worry, I'll be around yours tomorrow at seven thirty like agreed. Okay?"

I nodded and pulled her into another hug.

"I should probably be going too. The bloody meeting starts in a minute and I don't want to annoy the pig before the week has even started."

Marianna's perfectly plucked brows pulled into a frown. She pointed her finger at me accusingly as she backed away towards the door.

"You can explain that to me tomorrow missy. And it was nice to meet you Kirsten."

With a last wave, she disappeared out of the doors and into the early evening.  I turned my head and gave Kirsten a small grimace before I grabbed the pram, and the baby bag sat beside it and hauled myself back to the lifts.

** **

Only a few minutes had passed before I was sat behind a desk once more. The meeting room lay just to my left but it was still unoccupied. Thus the area was eerily quiet, only the buzz of the overhead lighting reached my ears.

As far as I could tell from my earlier wanderings, this entire level was formed of meeting rooms and storage cupboards. Thus, until the guests actually arrived it was just me. Danny, my baby boy, was still fast asleep in his pushchair. It was unbelievable how little he looked like me, most of it he had gotten from his dad -- the soft dark brown hair and his adorable little nose. His eyes confused me because neither his dad, nor I, had blue eyes though. The only thing me and little Danny had in common was that fact that we were both chubby babies.

I caressed a finger over his plump rosy cheek before returning my attention to the pile of papers. It was a wonder how the company actually managed to function when everything was a great big mess. If it's like this at the executive level then the company should, in theory, be in complete ruins. I shook my head and pressed my lips into a thin line. It was none of my business. I would simply do my job and go home.  

The soft footfalls alerted me to new arrivals. I lifted my head from a particularly dry contract in time to see Mr Watson and the super-douche sauntering forwards. I grinned warmly at the white haired man and reserved my tight lipped grimace of disdain for my boss.

"No one else has arrived yet, I'm afraid." I said, pre-empting the most obvious question.

Mr Satani grunted in response before walking straight past me into the meeting room. His cologne lingered in air in his wake. I tried not to make it obvious that I inhaled deeply before it  vanished. He may be a royal pain in arse but he did know how to smell good. 

Mr Watson stepped forwards to follow but paused in the doorway, his old twinkling eyes darting between me and my son.

"He's yours?" He asked, raising a solitary brow as he tapped his finger on to the end of my son's nose.  

I nodded and giggled as my little boy wrinkled his nose in annoyance. Immediately Danny's arms and legs started to wriggle around as he stirred from his sleep.

"I must say my dear, he is cute little man." He then gave me a cheeky wink that belonged on a man of much younger years. "And you certainly do not look like a woman who has just had a baby."

I blushed and ducked my head. To distract myself from my flushed skin, I stretched forwards and unclasped my little boy from the confines of the pushchair.

"Thank you Mr Watson." I replied belatedly to the old man while I pulled the grumbling Danny into my arms. He opened his bleary eyes and blinked up at me as I cradled him to my chest.  

"Phil." I glanced up at the old man and felt my eyebrows rise up into my hairline.

"Call me Phil my dear." He said with a toothy smile that revealed a set of full pearly white teeth.

I dropped my mouth into an 'O' before little my lips twitch in response. My mirth was quickly stolen however when the lifts dinged from the hall behind him.

Men and women ranging from the age of twenty to seventy poured out from the open doors. Each was haughty and passed by me with nothing more than a glance. I let a breath hiss out from between my teeth and relaxed back into my chair. My shoulders started to itch again but I ignored the sensation and instead offered my mask of politeness when a few people gave me a distracted nod.  

"I better go dear. Just make sure you send in any latecomers." Phil patted my shoulder and smoothed the hair on my son's head before striding into the group and disappearing from view.

Eventually my attention became consumed by my son. All thoughts of looking presentable and professional went out the window as I pulled silly faces and baby talked to him. I felt elated when it earned me a cute gurgle and a gummy smile. I kissed the end of his nose and felt warmth in my heart. It was those smiles, those precious moments, which made the sick covered shoulder and sleepless nights worthwhile.

It wasn't until half an hour alter that the doors to the elevator opened again. Keeping my attention on the sleeping baby in my arms, I didn't bother to look up and instead pointed at the door beside me.

"You just need to go through that door." I murmured softly when the person stopped before the desk, being careful not to wake my son.

However, when the shadow continued to fall over me, I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. And then suddenly they were too close. But, by then, it was too late.

 I lifted my head up slowly and tightened my hold around the sleeping baby in my arm. My gaze first landed upon a great big black clad figure before me. He was huge and as I slid my gaze past him I felt my breath stolen from my lungs.  A group of twenty people were tightly crammed into the space before me. They were all kitted out in matching black attire in an attempt to be stealth, weapons held lightly in their hands. Their tensed stances let me know that one wrong move would end my life.

Normally I might have laughed the entire situation off as a practical joke, but the crazed glint that shone in each of their eyes was enough to tell me that they would use them without a thought.

The person before me was the most intimidating of all. He was by far the largest. Muscles strained against the fabric of his t-shirt.  And yet, apart from his large physique, there were no defining features that would help me identify him in a police line-up. The only thing I could see were his violet eyes shining manically through his balaclava but there were too vivid to be real. They were obviously contact lenses.

But the most intimidating feature was not his size nor was it his eyes. No, my gaze was trained upon the crossbow that was being pointed directly at me, no more than an inch from the end of my nose.  I leant back in my chair in an attempt to avoid the contraption but the weapon moved with me.

Cradling Danny to me, I turned my body and tried to hide him from the murderous stare of these strange attackers but there was nowhere to go and nowhere for me to hide. My breaths came out in quick pants as I prayed for a miracle to save me.

The crossbow wielding man made a simple hand gesture and several of the people flanking him lifted their weapons and aimed them at me while their leader leant closer to me. The crossbow pressed against my cheek while hot garlic scented breath brushed across my face. I felt my eyes stream as I struggled not to blink.

And then the man spoke and it took everything in me not to cry as terror sent chills down my spine.

"Scream and you die."