Torn: Part Three (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (The Torn Series Book 3) (2 page)

“That's not a very good reason.” She takes a short step back, placing a hand on her hip. If she's intimidated by me, she's doing a really good job of hiding it. Her stance and expression make her look completely fearless and unyielding.

“You need more reasons?” I count them out on my fingers as I speak. “You're not qualified for the job. She already told me that much. You can't even cook bacon right. What makes me think that you're ever going to serve my mother a decent meal? You show up at a sex club and my mother is devoutly Christian. It's like putting a fucking demon in her house.”

The scowl that she's been wearing this whole time falters, and she lets out a harsh laugh. “Are you seriously calling me a demon?”

“What's so funny about that?” I can't believe she has the nerve to laugh at anything I've just said. Who does she think she is?

Piper draws a hand up to her mouth to silence the lingering chuckle on her lips. Then her expression turns serious, her eyes piercing right through me. “You resort to name calling.
Stupid. Demon.
Just like a child.

“Your mom told me that you're a spoiled little brat bent on getting your way. Maybe she didn't say it quite that bluntly, but I knew what she meant.

“You know, the funny thing is that when I saw you at Club Fet, I thought you were a real man. Damn, am I glad I never walked up to you. Because all you are is a child trapped in a man's body.

“Stop bullying your mother. Let her make her own decisions. I'm sure if she thinks that I suck as her housekeeper, then she'll fire me. Until then, I'm not going anywhere. Now get out of my way. I need to go back inside and see if your mother,
my boss
, needs anything.”

I'm frozen in disbelief. No one talks to me like that. No one. Ever.

Before I even have a chance to recover, she's pushing past me to go back inside. I reach to stop her, my words shooting out in a desperate rush. “I'm going to be running a full background check on you, and if there's one thing out of place, I know I can convince my mother to fire you.”

“Piss off, Holden.” She pushes my arm out of the way and disappears inside.

***

It's been a few hours since we had breakfast together, and I'm still steamed at how Piper stood up to me. Even more that she didn't seem rattled at all. From the second we stepped back into the house, she was as sweet as pie. Despite the fact that I had just given her a not so pleasant piece of my mind, she still treated me with the utmost respect.

“Sir.” There's a knock on my door, stirring me from my thoughts.

“Yes.” I look up and see Glenn Brown, the head of my HR Department, standing outside of my office with a file folder in hand. “Come on in.”

He hesitates for a moment before crossing the threshold into my office, an interesting quirk that he's always had. It's like he's about to take a step, then he pauses midway before finally continuing. I've often wondered if he does it because he's nervous, but I've never asked.

“Here's all of the information that I pulled up on Piper Gravatt.” He sits across from me before offering me the folder.

I don't take it, not wanting to leaf through papers. “Tell me what you found.” I lean back in my chair, crossing my ankle over my knee.

“Yes, sir.” He draws the folder back and flips it open to read the contents. “No criminal record. Has only been in one accident. Not her fault. Graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in accounting.”

“Stop.” I hold out my hand to him. He looks up at me, startled. “When did she graduate from college? What does her job history look like?”

He shuffles through the paperwork, his brown eyes scanning back and forth behind thick glasses. “It appears that she graduated two years ago. There's no history of any accounting jobs. Her last job was at Fairbanks Nursing Home as a food server. She was there for four years. Before that, there's a waitressing job that she was at for nearly three years. That's her only job history.” 

I prop my elbow on my desk and scrub my hand across my face. To be honest, I hadn't expected her record to be clean. When I saw Piper at Club Fet, I didn't exactly peg her as a good girl. Apparently, looks can be deceiving. Still, it doesn't make any sense that she'd be working at a dead-end job when she has a BA in accounting.

“So what you're telling me is that you've got nothing.” I frown.

This will make getting rid of her a lot more difficult. I was hoping for something, anything as an easy out. All I've got in my favor is the possibility that she might only be working for my mother until she can find a better job. Hopefully, that will be enough to convince Mom to let her go.

CHAPTER TWO

PIPER

“Piper, I am so so sorry.” Ann clutches onto my hand so hard that it hurts. The tears brimming in her eyes have my heart about to break. I can't believe that bastard would upset his own mother to this degree. Some son he is.

“Hey.” I kneel down in front of her. “Don't worry about it. I'm not going to let him scare me away.”

“I would understand if you don't want to work for me anymore.” She turns her gaze to the window overlooking her backyard.

“Enough of that. He's gone now. You can relax. I'm going to get the kitchen cleaned up, and then we'll do whatever you want to do. Something to make you feel better. Something to make you forget he was ever here.” I offer her a smile.

“I wish it were that easy.” She shakes her head. “You don't understand my son. He's not going to let this go. I understand why he's worried. But he doesn't understand where I'm coming from,” her voice trails off into a hiccup.

“Listen. Let's make a deal.” I pat the top of her hand. “If you don't budge on this, then neither will I. I will be here as long as you want me to be, and nothing that he says or does will matter. Besides, my record is spotless. Sure, I don't have any experience as a housekeeper, but I have a stable job history. No criminal activity.”

“That's comforting,” she lets out a short laugh.

“There. That's better. Stop worrying, okay. I'll protect you from the big, bad bully.” I stand and strike a superhero pose.

“He's really not that bad when it comes to most things.” She misses the comedy in my gesture completely.

I deflate slightly, figuring that this might bother her for a while. How could it not? After the meal was over, she walked Holden outside and they were gone for a while. Who knows what he said to her.

I finish cleaning up the kitchen, then Ann rattles off a list of chores that she wants me to do before retreating to her bedroom to take a nap. It saddens me to see how much arguing with Holden seemed to zap her energy. Even worse, it makes me feel like it's my fault too, though I know it really wasn't.

Ann is still asleep by the time I finish my chores. I stand in the doorway of her bedroom, watching her and thinking. I don't want to waste her money by sitting around doing nothing, but at the same time, I'm worried she'll get mad if I leave. And I'm pretty sure that Holden already has her seriously considering letting me go. She seems kind of frail, both physically and emotionally. Holden definitely did not inherit her sweet personality.

I go into the living room and sit on the sofa while I decide what to do. My mind drifts back to when I opened the front door and saw Holden standing there. Thinking about my initial reaction causes a sarcastic smirk to tilt the corners of my lips. My heart undeniably fluttered in my chest the second that recognition hit me. He was so damned beautiful. Pale gray eyes. Tousled brown hair. Pristine business suit. All of the desire that I had for him at Club Fet came shooting to the forefront of my body. But then he opened his mouth and ruined it. I really am glad I didn't sleep with him. That would have made things even more complicated.

Not wanting to prove Holden right that I'd take advantage of his mother, I decide to make Ann lunch and leave it on the stove, then I write her a note letting her know that I'm leaving for the day since I finished all that she required of me. Hopefully, it's the right move. There's no way of knowing without waking her up. And she really looked like she needed the sleep.

I feel oddly better once I'm outside of the house. Even though I was alone for most of the day, the tension from my argument with Holden lingered like a heavy fog.

It's a little after 1 PM when I get home—still early. I'm admittedly disappointed that I didn't get a full eight hours of work in, but it can't be helped. Hopefully, tomorrow will go smoother without Holden around to muck things up.

Earl left me a note on the kitchen counter saying that he went out with friends. I'm thankful for the courtesy but wish he would have called me instead. Maybe he thought I would say no. I smirk, remembering a time that I did the same thing to my mom when I was a teenager and wanted to go to a party that she forbade me from going to. Her reasoning was selfish though. She had wanted me to stay home and take care of the boys while she and Dickhead went out. I was tired of being a slave, so I left a note on my bed, then sneaked out of my bedroom window. Did I ever get a tongue lashing and a grounding after that. It was worth it, though. There was so little happiness and fun in my teenage years. Thinking about that turns my smirk into a frown.

Earl doesn't have to worry about that though. I'm not going to yell at him. As long as he lets me know where he's going, I'm fine with it. If he doesn't come back tonight, that will be a different story.

To kill the rest of the day, I make Joe a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup for lunch, then I load him up in the car and we head to Walmart to pick up a lock for Earl's bedroom door. It's interesting how quiet and well-behaved he is in comparison to his older brother. He barely says a handful of words as we walk through the store.

When we get back to the house, I ask if he wants to help me install the lock on Earl's door. Since I watched Earl install the one on my door, it shouldn't be so difficult for me this time around. Joe meekly nods, then kneels on the floor beside me while I remove the old doorknob and put the new one together.

“There. All done.” I beam at him.

“Can I get one for my room too?” He fidgets with the torn plastic packaging from the new lock, barely glancing up at me.

“Maybe in a few more years.” I stand, mussing up his hair before gathering the parts of the old doorknob together to throw away.

For a few seconds, I expect him to argue with me. He doesn't though, not yet in the rebellious years of his life. I'm admittedly thankful that he's easier to deal with than Earl. Being around him isn't unpleasant.

Once that's done, we go into the living room to watch television. Joe's face lights up when he flips to a channel with a cartoon that he likes. I'm not really in the mood for cartoons, but I'm using this as bonding time. If I can keep him happy, then he'll be more likely to trust me in the future. Besides, I have too much on my mind to really pay attention to it anyway.

Work stress is still weighing on me. I feel anxious and like I need a release. A sexual release. It would be a good night for Club Fet. Not because it will be busy—it probably won't be since it's a Monday—but because anyone will do tonight. I'm not in the mood to be picky.

Holden might be there though. That's something I have to take into consideration.

A scowl sinks the corners of my lips as I think about how much he has ruined for me in such a short period of time. There are no other places like Club Fet in the entire city. My only other options are munches, Craigslist, and play parties. Munches bore me, especially since I'm not really interested in finding a permanent Dom. There's no point in going to a meet and greet when all I want to do is play. Craigslist is more miss than hit. Most of the guys on there are false Doms misinterpreting the lifestyle to fulfill their own sick sadistic fetishes. There's no barrier of protection for the submissive if you're locked inside some stranger's house. Play parties are really my only option.

After a few hours of watching television, Joe goes to his room to take a nap, and I slide in front of the computer in the living room to pull up a fetish website and look to see if there are any play parties in the area. To my disappointment, there's absolutely nothing going on tonight. There is a play party tomorrow, though. That doesn't take care of my immediate cravings, however.

I turn off the computer, push the keyboard aside, and rest my head on the desk. “I hate you, Holden Longworth,” I grumble. “I just met you, and you've already wrecked my world.”

CHAPTER THREE

HOLDEN

“She just left you there? Not surprised,” I huff. The Newton's Cradle is in my hand, but the balls are silenced.

“I guess she just let me sleep because she didn't want to wake me. She did make me lunch before she left though,” my mother says on the other end of the line.

“How thoughtful.” I roll my eyes. “You should probably check to make sure she didn't
steal
anything.”

“Is this really why you called me? Haven't you done enough?” I can hear that she's already starting to get upset. I best not push her too far.

“No, I haven't done enough.” I set the Newton's Cradle down. “It won't have been enough until she's out of your house and replaced by someone more capable.”

“I'm not going to spend another fifteen minutes arguing with you about this, Holden.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I ran a background check on her.”

“And?” There's no doubt in her tone, only challenge.

“And she just moved here from Utah.”

“I know that,” she snaps.

“She has a bachelor's in accounting, so she's probably just working for you until she finds something better.”

There's silence for several seconds, and I know that I've gotten the wheels in Mom's head turning. She's considering what I'm implying, the very real possibility that Piper could leave her at any moment.

“I don't care,” she replies finally.

“But, you do care.” I tilt my head slightly, tired of her stubbornness. “I can hear it in your voice. Listen, this Piper girl hasn't worked for you for very long. You're not attached to her yet. You can—”

“Holden.” She cuts me off. “Piper is a sweet girl. If that's the only thing that you found in her background check, then you're wasting your time talking to me. There's no way to tell if she's only going to be working for me temporarily, and even if that is the case, I don't care. I like her, and you're just going to have to accept that. I have my reasons for wanting her around instead of someone that you hire. Please understand that and drop this. All you're doing is upsetting me, and I don't need that stress right now.”

Click!

It takes me a moment to realize that she's hung up on me. I shouldn't be surprised, though. She was getting pretty riled up.

It seems like she's made up her mind. That just means I'll have to work on things from the other end—harass Piper until she quits of her own free will.

To do that, I'll have to find her at Club Fet. The memory of Piper's breasts pushed up in that tight corset and the curvature of her ass in that leather skirt sends my mind in the wrong direction. She needs to be punished for speaking to me the way that she did at my mother's house. No submissive should ever talk to a Dom like that under any circumstances.

I'd like to bend her over my knee and give her a spanking that would leave her backside swollen for a whole week. Then I'd hike up her skirt and plunge my fingers into her, feel her warm, wet body wrap around me. See those perfect lips in a pretty little O all because of my touch.

Fuck! Would she even let me get her over my lap without a fight? Probably not. She'd likely defy me every step of the way. But I would win. I
always
win. And then I'd make her a slave to my pleasure. I'd make her beg and writhe and cry for my dick.

The bulge in my pants quickly becomes uncomfortable. I stand and go to close my office door, locking it before returning to my chair. It's almost 7 PM. Everyone has already gone home for the night. I've lingered behind to look over the details of a few other companies that were submitted to me for consideration. There was nothing impressive on the list. Not like the pharmaceutical company. I still need to make a decision on that. It can wait for a few days though. For now, I have more pressing business to take care of—namely the raging erection that's bugging the shit out of me.

I unzip my pants and lean back in my chair, shoving my hand into my fly to pull my cock out. I keep my gaze up to the ceiling, imagining that it's Piper's hand instead of mine. I doubt she'd be so gentle, especially since she hates me now. The fantasy of her on her knees glaring up at me with so much hatred makes me smirk. She'd probably rather break me than pleasure me.

Just because we hate each other doesn't mean we don't still want to fuck though. I saw the way she looked at me, not only at Club Fet but when she opened the front door at my mother's house.

That's all in the past. Realistically, I probably can't have her now. All I can do is pretend. Pretend and stroke myself off to thoughts of her, forever wondering how it would feel to be inside of her. To taste her sex. To listen to her moaning as she orgasms. The thought makes my dick ache with desire.

It's quite the conundrum, when I think about it. I'm so used to getting what I want. The two things I want are conflicting this time though. I want Piper's body, but I also want her to stop working for my mother. I likely can't have both, but I can certainly try.