The world had vanished and so would I.
I'd come to Stone-Black with a plan. It may not have been the best plan but I was filled with cold fury over what they'd done to my home-town and so when the opportunity to get a job there came up, I took it. All I wanted was a low-level position so I could uncover something to hurt them. In the nights when I thought my plan over I had fantasized I'd find something to utterly destroy them.
But that's all it had been - a fantasy and a stupid one at that.
Everything had changed the day I met Jackson Stone and he'd made me his executive assistant. One day I pushed him to the edge and he'd spanked me. Then, instead of stopping, we'd gone further as he'd removed his armor piece by piece to reveal the man underneath.
He wanted me. I wanted him. And then I said yes to being his slave. To serving him.
But someone had known who I was. They knew about my past. And it looked like when they tried to blackmail me and didn't get what they wanted, they had decided on the next best thing: to reveal everything to Mr. Stone and ruin us forever.
Now I was in an elevator going straight down and when I got to the bottom floor I'd run out of this building and out of Mr. Stone's life forever. Then I'd run out of this city and be gone for good.
By the time the elevator reached the bottom I was sobbing so hard I could barely see. I just had to get out of the building, get away. I wanted to be at home but not even there felt safe. I wanted to be a million miles away.
I practically bolted out of the elevator and crashed straight into some man waiting at the door. A moment later a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and I realized it wasn't just some guy.
It was Mr. Stone.
"Never run from me," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
I pulled myself back from him. How had he gotten down here so fast?
I looked up into his eyes, expecting to see him furious but all I saw was pain.
"I let you down. Please come with me so I can explain," he said.
He let me down?
My protests died in my throat as he took me by the hand and led me to side of the lobby. There was a door over here that I'd never noticed before. Mr. Stone waved a fob at it and it opened to reveal a small elevator. He pulled me inside and pressed the button for the top floor. We shot up with such speed that I almost felt my knees buckle. So this is how he got down to the ground floor so quickly.
As soon as I realized that, something else occurred to me.
He'd followed me. I'd run out of his life and he'd come after me.
I didn't get to say anything before the doors opened into a small room leading to a corridor. Mr. Stone led me down it, past a door to the left and one on the right and then opened the door at the end to reveal his office.
I'd always been curious about what the room on the side of his office was but I'd never realized it was so large.
He pulled me out into his office and I saw the photo, the article and the key swipe log were all on the floor as though they'd been thrown there. Mr. Stone turned around and grasped me by the shoulders, gazing into my eyes.
"You should have come to me."
"I'm sorry."
I was sobbing now and not in that cute way you see in movies. This was full-on leaking nose, red eyes, blotchy face sobbing. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to his chest. I closed my eyes and felt myself relax into him.
"It was my fault Delilah. The world of business is cutthroat and rivals will use any means to get an edge. You wouldn't believe the number of hot young things who've been planted in my business. My house has been bugged, my car ... I've had girlfriends who ..." he trailed off and shook his head before sighing and kissing me on the cheek.
"They've used people I care about before. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. They'll do anything to attack me."
He let me go and handed me a silk handkerchief from his pocket. It probably cost like a thousand bucks but I was in no state to care. I wiped my eyes and then blew my nose on it.
Mr. Stone didn't understand. He thought this was some ploy by some business rival. Did he think the article was a lie? That the photo was?
I took a deep breath and cleared my throat before looking up into his eyes.
"That's me. I held that bottle of fire. I was there when Stone Pharma burned down. I don't expect you to believe me but I had nothing to do with it."
I saw Mr. Stone was about to speak but there was one more thing I had to say.
"Your businesses destroyed my home town. I came to work here so I could do the same to Stone-Black. Then I met you and ... and it just seemed impossible that you had anything to do with it. And I wanted you."
I started crying again but this time instead of pulling me close, Mr. Stone took me by the hand and led me back towards his side room.
Was he throwing me out?
He opened one of the side doors to reveal a sumptuous bathroom transcribed in gold and silver. My shock at finding a bathroom here was nothing compared to the view. The outside wall was glass so the giant shower looked out over the city.
Mr. Stone turned around and began to unbutton my shirt.
"No more talking now. Let's have a shower."
I nodded as he undressed me and then himself before he led me to the shower.
The water was hot and fell from the roof of the shower like rain. Mr. Stone took a bar of pale green soap with GUCCI printed into it and began to slowly soap up and down my arms and back. Under the hot water I felt myself relaxing, my nose clearing and a deep calm come over me.
Mr. Stone ran his hands down my back and around my waist, leaving a trail of bubbles that were soon washed away under the water. Even as his hands encircled my legs, all I felt was warm and safe.
I felt protected.
Soon, Mr. Stone was wiping the last soap bubbles off me and giving me gentle kisses. I'd seen him naked before of course but it was always right before some mind-melting sex. Now he was in front of me, water trickling down his muscular form. Even though I felt like I was on edge of a mountain, I felt no fear at all. I could see the street far below and the people scurrying about. Nearby there were storm-clouds approaching in menacing black and grey. I had no vertigo all the way up here. It was a just a shower ... with a billionaire ... on the top of a skyscraper.
Mr. Stone pulled me out of the shower and dried me with a rough but soft white towel. He still wasn't talking but every few seconds he'd give me another kiss. On my cheek. My palm. My shoulder.
Somewhere between a kiss on the hand and one on the neck, I started to kiss him back and then the kisses turned passionate. His soft strokes down my back became him gripping my waist, holding me against him. I felt his hard cock press against me.
"Come with me," Mr. Stone commanded and pulled me out of the bedroom. We crossed the narrow corridor and entered the other door. Behind it was a bedroom with a view that looked out over the city. Outside the window the storm-clouds were speeding towards us and as Mr. Stone pulled me down on the bed and slid inside me with one smooth movement, the first drops of rain splattered against the glass.