Forbidden Pleasures (NSC Industries Book 11) (7 page)

Mr Carter narrowed his eyes on my turtleneck sweater when
he entered my office two days later. I coughed and pushed my shoulders back,
“Good morning Mr Carter, how can I help you?”

For a long moment he said nothing, his intense gaze
making me squirm in my seat. The action rubbed at the sore skin on my backside
and I sank my teeth into my lip to hide my discomfort. Without saying a word,
he strolled around my desk and placed a file on my desk.

Relieved for the distraction I picked it up and flicked
through it. “Yes, I’m aware of the allegations,” I divulged as I leafed through
the papers concerning a complaint I had received a while ago about one of the
security men assaulting one of the receptionists in the wages department.

“What procedures are in place?”

“Max King has been suspended on half pay while I investigate.
I’ve connected Sarah DeBourges and our counsellor, she’s undertaking a full
assessment and luckily Sarah went straight to the police so there is recorded
evidence, including logged images of her injuries and semen samples. She also
has my personal line if she wishes to be open about the incident.” It was all
said very mechanically and I winced at my own words, my mind replaying two
nights ago.

Mr Carter nodded, his eyes still studying me closely.
“Thank you Beatrice.”

“No problem, it’s my job.”

“Mmm.” I tensed when he perched on the edge of my desk
and folded his arms over his chest. “And how is your brother?”

“He’s still in a coma. Although the doctors have every
confidence his body will make a full recovery.”

“Ahh,” he sighed loudly, “And that’s all the doctors are
interested in, eh? The body? What about the lad’s emotional scars?”

I gulped and looked away, “We all have to learn to accept
those, Mr Carter. I’m sure Noah will be fine.”

He nodded in agreement but then pursed his lips. “And you
Beatrice?”

“Me, sir?”

“Will you be fine?”

I nodded. “I’m here for Noah…”

“I’m not talking about Noah,” he said angrily and swiftly
as his hand shot out and he yanked down the neck of my jumper.

I swallowed and jumped back, the wheels of my chair
skidding across the carpet as I tried to get away. “Jesus fucking Christ!” he
spat with a rage I had never witnessed in my boss.

“I’m fine,” I defended as I pulled the wool back up and
covered the angry bruises across my throat.

“He swore to me! He fucking swore to me!”

“I’m fine!” I blurted as shame heated my face. “It’s my
own fault.”

“How the hell can that be your fault? I knew something was
wrong when the fool took off. Don’t you dare defend him, Beatrice! Don’t you
dare!”

“But it is my fault,” I shouted back angrily. “I told him
to show me who he was. I fed the animal, Mr Carter and I got my hand bitten.
That’s all. That’s all.”

He closed his eyes and sighed softly. “Do you wish to
press charges?”

“What?” I spluttered. “No. No, of course not.”

“You should,” he barked out as he stormed from my office,
the hinge on the door cracking with the force of his slam.

Fran scurried inside quickly, her astonished gawp
notifying me that everyone else in the department had heard as well. “Are you
okay?”

I nodded, unable to speak as the restriction in my throat
tormented my already sore oesophagus. “What the hell crawled up his arse?” she
asked as she shook her head in mystification. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

“It’s just this Max and Sarah stuff, he doesn’t like his
employees hurt.”

She nodded, “Well we all don’t but that’s no reason to
shout at you, you didn’t rape the poor girl, nor did you egg Max on.”

I smiled to cover my distress. “I’m fine.”

“Oh,” she turned back quickly when she made to leave.
“Mia is downstairs, she said you have a lunch date.”

“Oh shit,” I grumbled as I plucked my bag from the floor
and put my PC into sleep mode. “I forgot.”

“She thought you had,” Fran chuckled, “that’s why she
phoned me, apparently you weren’t answering.”

I frowned and studied my phone, surprised to find six
missed calls from Mia that I had never heard ring. “Miles away today,” I
explained as I hurried down to the lift, feeling lazy as I descended all of one
floor to the ground.

Mia glared at me as she stood from one of the huge white
sofas in the foyer. “About time, I was just about to give up on you.”

“I’m sorry, busy day.”

She froze and quirked a brow at me, “What the hell is
that?” Her lip curled in disgust as she flicked at my sweater with her fingers.

“You don’t like it?” I asked awkwardly as I smiled at
Bert, the NSC doorman, when he politely opened the heavy glass doors for us.

“It’s something my frigging grandmother would wear. It’s
bloody awful, Bea.”

“Well,” I shrugged, clenching my jaw in annoyance, “I
happen to like it.”

“It’s also the middle of a heatwave,” she droned on as we
ran across the road to The Late Lounge. “I’m surprised you’re not sweating like
a pig in an orgy.”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring her as I placed our order with
the barman then found a table in the window. “So,” Mia probed, “Bring me up to
speed.”

“Noah’s the same,” I sighed as I peered out to the
passing world, my heart aching with the thought of my brother’s denial to open
his eyes. “But the good news is he is mending well and the docs are confident
he’ll make a full recovery.”

“Have you heard anything about who did it?”

“Nothing,” I sighed. Jay had mentioned to me he had a
friend looking into it as well but as of yet, I had no news from either source.
“To be honest, the police don’t even seem bothered.”

She tutted and shook her head angrily. “And Ollie?”

“Ollie is still his usual happy self. Although Alex is in
love.”

I hid my smirk when she took the bait. The way her eye
twitched and her face paled verified what I had suspected about my best friend’s
feelings towards my younger brother. “Right,” she coughed, “And who’s the lucky
girl?”

I shrugged casually, “No idea,” I uttered as I leaned
back and smiled at the waitress when she placed our sandwiches before us. “He
hasn’t mentioned her but he’s in his own world all the time. I can see it in
his eyes, he’s lusting after someone.”

She nodded slowly and swallowed before picking up her
sandwich, staring at it then dropping it back on her plate. Picking up her wine
she downed it in one mouthful. “So have you got your outfit for Saturday?”

“Saturday?”

“Emma’s party,” she prompted. “Oh bloody hell, Bea, don’t
tell me you’ve forgot.”

I groaned and rubbed at my forehead. “I’m really not in
the mood…”

“What the hell is with you lately?” she griped. “You need
to get laid, maybe that will force your miserable face to actually break into a
smile!”

I glared at her, my temper frayed and my emotions on a
dangerous ledge. “You know what, Mia!” I spat as I threw a ten pound note on
the table. “Fuck you! Fuck – you!”

She gawped at me, along with every other person, as I
snatched up my bag and stormed from the pub. Two cars blasted their horns at me
and Bert wisely jumped out of my way when I thundered through the doors and
took the stairs up to my office.

Kicking the door shut behind me, I quickly lowered the
blinds, locked the door and turned on some loud music via my iPod, then sat and
cried.

***

Saturday night I sloped into the function room in the
loft of The Loft, my eyes scanning for my best friend. She spotted me, blinked
then turned on her heels and carried on her conversation with Emma who grinned
and waved at me.

“Go talk to her,” Leo urged when his husband, Hamish,
went to the bar to order our drinks.

“I can’t,” I sighed.

“You can,” he urged. “I’m sure you were both overdramatic.
I know how you girls are.”

I stared at him. “Leo, you’re the most melodramatic
person I know.”

“Well, I’m gay,” he divulged. “I’m supposed to be intense
and theatrical.”

“Theatrical!” I scoffed as I took my drink from Hamish
and chuckled. “That’s cutting it fine.”

“Darling,” he smirked, “Hamish loves my flamboyancy.”

Hamish grinned and I rolled my eyes when the pair hooked
lips and showed everyone in the room they were still enjoying the honeymoon
period. “Get a bloody room,” I mocked.

“You’re just jealous cos’ you’ve had none for years,” Leo
countered. He froze when he caught the way I tensed and my eyes glinted.

“Oh my god,” he squealed, “My girl got her vagina
serviced!”

“Will you shut up!” I seethed as I slapped my hand over
his mouth.

“You did, you so did,” he mumbled around my palm, his
happy eyes dancing with delight.

“I… fine, I did. Now let’s forget it.”

“No bloody way,” he grinned, “I want to know the juicy
details. Who was he? Was he good? Was his cock big? Did he give you everything
you needed?” I glared at him and spun around but he followed me. “Come on Bea,
gimme a name. Oh, was it him from the cinema? I saw the way he looked at you
and Mia told me he was whispering in your ear during the rude parts and then
the both of you took off. It was him wasn’t it, Mr Sex fucked you like a good
one! I knew he…”

“LEO!” I cried, making him jump back. His shocked
expression turned to sympathy when he saw the big fat tears rolling down my
face. “Oh honey,” he fretted as he shovelled me into one of his famous hugs.
“It’s okay, don’t cry.”

Ushering me over to a table in a dark corner, Hamish left
us as Leo took my hand and squeezed. “You want to tell me about it?”

“No! Why does everyone think I need to talk? I don’t need
to talk, I need to bloody forget. I need to forget it all!”

He shook his head sadly, his eyes full of a misery that
reflected my own. “Bea, I love you, you know I do, but honey, you have to let
go of the past. It’s torturing you. It’s over, Graham is gone and now it’s time
to move on.”

I choked out a sob but nodded. “I know, but I can’t fight
the anger inside me, Leo. It hurts so hard that it takes my breath. I can’t
push it away no matter how hard I try.”

“You’re angry, Bea, I understand that. The one person you
trusted took you to a place that no one ever wants to be, but I think you need
to make that place be something else, something new that only you can
manipulate into a different emotion.”

I blinked at him when he wiped my tears. “I know,” I
nodded. “But I don’t know how.”

He smiled softly, “Just find a way to deal with the anger
and let it take you with it. Don’t try and change its course, honey, just allow
it to lead you.”

We both looked up when Alex looked down at me with a look
of concern, “What’s up?”

Leo shot me a cautious look but I smiled at Alex, “I’ve
just had a row with Mia. I’m okay.”

He peered at me then touched the lace that covered my
neck. “I like this, it suits you.” When I just gave him a stiff smile and
swallowed nervously, he interpreted it the wrong way and pouted sadly. “You
want me to talk to her?”

I tried to hide my smile with his hopeful expression. “Oh
would you?”

“Of course.” He couldn’t hold back his grin. “I’ll get
her a drink, soften her up a bit.”

“Just flash your baby blues at her,” I mumbled under my
breath. Leo snorted in understanding but Alex frowned.

“What?”

“I said, good idea,” I lied.

He wandered off quickly and Leo squeezed my hand again,
“You okay now?”

“Yeah,” I nodded and smiled. “Listen, can you tell Emma I
had a headache.”

He smiled and winked. “Yeah, go on, go home, take a
relaxing hot bath and drink lots of wine, then tomorrow get out of bed on a new
day.”

“I love you,” I whispered as I kissed him lightly on the
cheek.

“I love you more honey,” he replied before Hamish dragged
him onto the dancefloor.

As was my luck, all the usual waiting taxis were nowhere
to be seen when I exited the club, the early hour seeing them on their break at
different pizza places and burger huts. It was a warm night and my mind
desperately needed the diversion, so slipping off my heels, I decided to take a
slow walk home.

I refused to allow my mind to relay the last few days, it
did me no good. My heart hurt when I recalled the look of sheer rawness on
Jay’s face when whatever was inside him clawed its way to the surface and revealed
its true self. I knew he hadn’t meant to hurt me, and I knew I should have
heeded his warning but something inside me told me that wasn’t the real him,
the true Jay Carter was a timid boy, hurting from the shadows of his past,
whatever they were. The devastation on his face when he witnessed what the
demon inside him had done would haunt me forever. Yet, I knew I could never be
who he needed and that hurt me as much as what his monster had.

I looked up at the stars twinkling brightly in the sky
and smiled at the moon as the memory of it shining through the window in Jay’s
house caused me to shudder. My arousal confused me. Although I hadn’t coped
well with what Jay had done, I couldn’t deny the flint that had kindled inside
me alongside the pain and the disgust, the spark igniting some dormant embers
inside my belly.

Shaking my head, I pushed the thoughts aside and walked
faster, the call of a hot bath making me speed up.

I only got around the corner when someone jumped me from
behind.

I was exhausted, bruised and still angry as I pulled the
bike onto my driveway. I froze when Jack, Bea’s brother, stood up from where he
had been sat on the steps. Pulling off my helmet I looked at him as I tried to
get a feel for his mood. I wouldn’t fight back, I didn’t have the energy or the
justification to defend what I had done.

I pulled back my shoulders and prepped ready for his
beating but when I caught his red rimmed eyes my heart surged up my throat.
“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Bea.”

Hot blood rushed around my body in a panic that forced my
lungs to constrict, trapping what little oxygen they held inside and making me
lightheaded. My mouth wouldn’t move and ask him what was wrong but I knew she
was hurt from the anger and anguish behind his eyes. For a minute my gut told
me it was my fault, that I had gone past what I had remembered and blanked out
the moment I had punished her too far.

“She’s…” He swallowed and my gaze dropped to the way his
hands clenched, his fingers white with the tightness of his fist.

“She’s what!” I shouted as terror seized my sanity.

“She’s been attacked.”

The ground seemed to disappear from under me, my
instincts correct. The thought of hurting her sickened me and I turned quickly
and vomited into the hedge. “What the fuck have I done?” I panted as the world
blurred before me and every single cell in my body splintered in agony.

“Eh?” Jack spluttered in confusion. “She was jumped last
night on her way home.”

For the longest moment my heart stopped. My mind was in a
turmoil, grateful of the fact that it hadn’t been me but terrified of what had
actually happened.

“Jumped?” The word came out choked and full of hate as my
heart pounded in a rhythm that my body struggled to cope with.

I braced myself when he lowered his eyes, a lonely tear
drifting down his face. He nodded, “Yeah, she was mugged and...”

I swallowed and closed my eyes for a second before I
reopened them and pressed him with a question I didn’t want to know the answer
to. “And?”

Jack cleared his throat but nodded, looking away when he
couldn’t voice the rest.

Everything swayed as a rage slowly curled its way through
my veins. My soul cried out in agony as my spirit heaved with a fury that
became uncontrollable. My body became a puppet for the wrath inside when a fierce
growl roared from me and my teeth cracked with the clench of my jaw. My vision
blurred as a haze descended and everything went black.