Borden (Borden #1) (9 page)

“What did you hear then?”

Now
this
was the question I’d dreaded the most. I opened my mouth to answer, but then closed it when I discovered that my eyes were wandering. I looked back at him and knew he noticed. His probing eyes roamed my face, distracting me for a moment when he absently ran his tongue along his bottom plump lip. Wow, he had particularly nice lips.

“Nothing,” I finally said, looking away from that mouth that seemed to be demanding attention. I couldn’t tell him the truth, not when I knew what it might mean if I did.

He was an impossible man to read. He stared at me harder with each passing second, as if giving me one more opportunity to correct myself, and then he nodded. “Good,” he said, but his voice wasn’t as stern as before. “I’m hoping you told the officer that when he went to your apartment the next morning.”

And just like that, I felt the wall I’d been putting up crack. My shoulders slumped in disbelief. I was being watched…

“You need to breathe,” I heard him say. I was having another anxiety attack and breathing was the last thing on my mind. “Calm down.”

His eyes travelled to my shaking hands. I immediately hid them under the table so he couldn’t see. Jesus, what the hell was wrong with me? I never allowed anyone to see my weaknesses. This was obviously different, I know, but still, I’d always prided myself on being strong, on being able to keep it together under adversity. And I always had.

Keep it together, Emma. You’ve endured worse things before.

“I didn’t tell him anything,” I speedily said. “Nothing. He said someone had called to ask for my wellbeing. He said he saw your man—”

“Lower your voice.”

I shut my mouth hard and glanced around us. I could see Blythe standing half a room away with a look of concern. Everyone else was watching too. When Borden followed my gaze, they quickly turned away and resumed their conversations, but they were nowhere near as loud as before, and I knew they were still trying to listen in.

“I didn’t say anything,” I managed to whisper, looking him square in the eye. He needed to know this was the absolute truth.

He swept the diner once more, making sure nobody was looking at us. It dawned on me how out of place we looked. I was a struggling waitress earning fuck all an hour and he was possibly the wealthiest man in New Raven.

Oh, and he was a bloody criminal! Yeah, let’s not forget that important bit of information, shall we?

“Where’s an office?” he suddenly asked. “Is there one in this shithole, or no?”

My brows came together in confusion. “Um… yeah, beside the kitchen.”

Looking thoughtful, he abruptly stood up and grabbed me by the arm. I gasped as he hauled me to my feet and demanded, “Lead me to it now.”

I moved, but my brain was racing. Faces looked back at us, and Borden snapped, “Look at your fucking food.”

They did.

Of course they did.

Blythe shot me a pained expression, and I merely shook my head at her. I didn’t need her to catch his attention. Tessa forcefully turned her away, whispering in her ear. Whatever she said made Blythe reluctantly nod.

I stopped us at the office door and weakly said, “My boss is in there –”

Borden interrupted me by letting me go and shaking the knob. When he discovered it was locked, he stepped back and kicked it harshly. It took one kick for the lock to break and the door swung open. Denny the Dick jumped out of his chair, quickly zipping up his pants as he gawked at Borden with shock.

“What is going on –”

“Get the fuck out,” Borden interrupted, glaring at the man.

Denny hesitated for a moment, glancing between us, but he did as he was told. I glared at Borden just then, wondering just how far that power of his extended. When Denny walked out determinedly not meeting Borden’s eye, Borden slammed the door shut and turned to me. By then, I was taking steps back, moving toward the desk, and stopping when it hit the backs of my legs.

Silence filled the room for several moments. Silence and…

Moans. Light sounding moans, the sound of flesh against flesh, and a girl screaming out.

I grimaced, and Borden’s face fell.

“What the fuck?” he barked out.

I motioned to the computer behind me. “He…He watches stuff.”

He paused and glanced around the room, as if it was suddenly necessary to take in our surroundings. His nostrils flared in disgust, and yeah, it was gross in here. You could tell it was Denny’s little shrine with his posters of nude women up and high school pictures a million years ago when he was part of the football team.

As the moans continued, he sighed and shook his head. “This is so beneath me.”

“I-I can turn it off, if you want –”

“Yeah, turn it off, doll. Turn it the fuck off.”

Too shaken to walk, I bent down and pulled the computer plug out from the wall while he mumbled a few colourful curses. Then real silence took over, and I stood back up, leaning my weight against the desk for some support. This man was a ticking time bomb and I needed to get this shit-storm smoothed out A.S.A.P.

I repeated what I said before. “I didn’t say anything, Mr Borden. To the police officer, I mean. I didn’t say a word.”

“I know you didn’t say anything,” he told me, moving slowly toward me while he levelled me with a deep stare. “What I’m more concerned about, Miss Warne, is you opening your mouth when what happened eventually hits some moral button inside you and you feel you have the responsibility to say something.”

I scoffed. “If you knew anything about me, you’d know that’s not going to happen.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I think for myself, and I know the difference between being stupid and smart.”

“Then you know why I’m doing this.”

“Yeah, and I think you’re being paranoid.”

His brows shot up, like I’d just insulted him, and I probably had. Maybe I wasn’t all that smart after all.

“I’ve been in this situation more times than once, doll,” he explained. “I have a reason to be paranoid. I know how this will play out. You go to the police, you tell them what you
think
you saw or heard, and then I get a case on my back. The police proceed to tear apart my businesses, fuck with every part of my life, all because of one little mouth opening. No one’s been successful, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. I’m no stranger to the law jumping me from behind–”

“And you’re here to intimidate me,” I interrupted. I was surprised at my outburst, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. All I kept thinking about just then were Granny’s words echoing inside my mind.

Don’t let anybody walk all over you.

I wondered if she would feel the same way if she knew it would be Borden walking all over me.

Probably not.

“Isn’t that right?” I pressed, swallowing hard.

He tilted his head to the side and his lips twitched. “I’m here to tell you I can do a little more than just intimidate, Miss Warne. I can do pretty much
anything
I want.”

Right there he was demonstrating his power over me, and I felt a slither of anger at his cockiness.

“Anything,” he proceeded to say, his eyes roaming every part of me, sending my heart rate on overdrive and at the same time making my skin flush from the intensity of his gaze. “And you know what I mean about anything, don’t you, Miss Warne?”

I gripped the edge of the desk behind me tightly with both hands as I retorted, “I know that you’re threatening me.”

He licked his lips again,
those fucking lips of doom
that made my own tingle. “I’m simply stating the facts, doll. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

I blinked. Did the asshole just quote one of Newton’s three laws of motion to me?

He continued to move toward me, and I was suddenly very mindful of that. Completely frozen in place, I watched him cut the distance, part of me wondering what he was going to do when he reached me…and why I was so interested to find out.

“Am I making myself clear, Emma?” he asked, stopping in front of me, leaning forward so he was standing over me. His arms were outstretched on either side of me, gripping the desk behind me, calloused fingers lightly brushing against mine.

I tilted my head up at him and felt my body tremble under the weight of his gaze. To submit, or not to submit? That was the question.

And I kinda fucked it up.

“No, Borden,” I bit back without thought. “You’re just being a bully, and it’s ridiculous because
you’re
the one that fucked up. I never asked to hear what I did when I walked out of your club; it just happened. If something like that jeopardises your business, your reputation, or your interests, then maybe you ought to start strangling people
off
your premises.”

Silence.

Dear God, what had I just said? Truth was, his words had hit a nerve. There was nothing I hated more than somebody inserting their authority over me. Someone that made me feel trapped and degraded, like scum that could be bossed around anytime he liked, and you know what? I’d been looked through enough the last two years working at this dump of a place, being bossed around by a dick who thought I was nothing. But being passive at work was a necessity. I needed income and I needed a job, and it didn’t matter what that was.

But this wasn’t work. This was a man that wanted to control me by frightening me, and I certainly was not brought up to take this kind of abuse. Marcus Borden or not, it was unacceptable, and, admittedly, it was killing what little pride I had left.

When his captivating eyes widened even just a little bit at what I’d said, I knew I could corner him. I knew he was trying to intimidate me and make me feel like I had no choice, but I did. This newfound realization toughened me up
just
enough for me to lean forward, until we were inches apart, and return the severe look he was now giving me.

“Do you think I’d have walked out that door if I knew what was going to happen?” I asked him. “Do you know how deluded I would have to be to talk about it too? I’m well aware of what you’re capable of, but you’re misplacing your blame, and it would be wise if we both just stop and forget whatever happened, or whatever we
think
happened the other night.”

If he had chosen to talk right then and there, I’m not sure I would have heard him over the sounds of my own heartbeats whooshing in my ears. My fingernails dug into the wood of the desk painfully as my heart nearly shot out of my chest.

His expression remained the same, and I was beginning to wonder whether he even heard a word I said, until he made a slight nod. Then, without warning, his hand reached up, capturing my chin possessively in his grip, forcing me to look at him as he stared into my eyes. There wasn’t anger there, but there was a curiosity that went layers deep. I gasped, shocked by the warmth in his touch, at the startled warmth in his gaze, at how near he was to my face, as he whispered, “You’re feisty, aren’t you, alley cat?”

I blinked in surprise, utterly speechless.

“You’re a little kitten. You think you’re vicious, but you’re fucking adorable instead.”

Now I glared and he inched even closer, until I felt his body pressing against the front of mine. I tried not to react to the feel of something hard and long against my stomach. Frankly, it was so unexpected, my brain simply could not compute, but my body…well, my skin flushed and my heart paced even harder, and still, he drew nearer.

“Let me go,” I whispered to him, fighting hard against the strange flutters in my belly.

“Why?” he asked quietly, those blue eyes digging into my own. “You’re excited, aren’t you? I can see it on your face. You’re all red and breathless.”

“Let me go,” I repeated.

He was delusional. I wasn’t excited. At least… the logical part of me wasn’t. Yet my body…well, my fucking body was reacting like an animal would, all instinct and without rational thought.

It didn’t
mean
anything.

“Maybe we can rectify this some other way,” he murmured, his breaths hot on my mouth, his other hand slowly roaming from my hip and up my waist. I tried not to think about how warm and good his hand felt, or how weak a part of me wanted to be in order to accept this. Just as his fingers brushed against my breast, something in me snapped. Angry, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

Hard.

I slapped him really,
really
hard.

The sound was loud, like a whip, and it made my goddamn ears pop. It was sort of like the aftermath of a bomb exploding. That ringing in the air, the shock of what had happened, the discombobulated feeling of being outside your body instead of within.

And then, sheer terror.

Oh, shit. Shit, shit, fucking shit. What the fuck have I done?

His hands instantly dropped, and he took a step back, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. His cheek went crimson red, and his face was a mixture of downright rage and…something else. Something…
delicious
and…
primitive
and…