Final Call (The Call #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

from the other night.
    “And then I fired
her.”
    “Excuse me?”
    Aaron smirks and
loosens his tie. “Our lawyer, Mr. Carlisle Sr., pulled out the
documents and I took over the company. Then I fired her. She no
longer has a place at Stone Advertising or modeling.”
    “Making your mark
quickly, aren’t you? Starting off as ruthless as you intend to
carry on?”
    He rests his elbows on
the table and leans forward. “She fucked with you, Dayton. I don’t
take kindly to people fucking with the most important person in my
life.”
    “Are you firing
yourself then? Because you fucked with me pretty damn good
too.”
    His eyes darken. “I
don’t need to. My punishment is my own personal pain in knowing I
hurt you. Not to mention the way your eyes haunt me. I can’t close
my eyes without seeing your face as you found out about her.”
    “Good.” I grab my glass
tightly. “I hope it hurts like a bitch.”
    “Worse,” he says
honestly. “Being without you is like my soul has been shredded in
the most brutal way. There isn’t a second where I’m not thinking of
you and the way you feel in my arms or the way you taste when your
lips are against mine. Being without you is the worst kind of
torture, and I brought it on entirely by myself.”
    I swallow. I know, I
want to say. I know because I feel that and more.
    “So why are you here?
In Seattle? Other than to harass me, of course.”
    “I control the Seattle
branch now. The person in charge here before me was all too happy
to relocate to New York.”
    “Happy to relocate? I’m
sure he was.”
    “I may or may not have
convinced him a false happiness was better than no job.”
    I shake my head.
“You’re a bastard in and out of the boardroom.”
    His lips quirk to the
side. “I prefer powerful or influential, personally.”
    “I’ll stick with
bastard, thanks.” I meet his eyes. “You should have stayed in New
York, Aaron. It would have been better for us both. You should have
stayed just like you did the first time around.”
    “And the first time
around, I made a colossal mistake. I fucked up. I should have come
running after you and never let you out of my sight, but I was too
weak to do that. I didn’t realize you were the best thing I would
ever have in my life. Now I know differently. Now I know that
nothing or nobody will ever compare to you, and I’m not giving you
up again.”
    “It’s not a choice,
Aaron.”
    “I’m not giving you up.
Hear that, listen to it, understand it, and accept it.” His eyes
are focused, his voice edged with a rawness that hits me hard. “No
matter what you convince yourself, Dayton, you’re mine. Your heart
and your body belong to me. You know it as well as I do.”
    “I’m not convincing
myself of anything. Only what I know to be true.”
    He stands now, leaning
closer to me—so close I can feel his breath across my lips as his
eyes search mine. “Then start convincing yourself of how entirely
you belong to me and the fact it isn’t changing anytime soon.”
     
    ***
     
    The cab pulls up
outside Monique’s house, and I slam the door behind me. Anger is
circulating crazily in my body, so much so I can barely think. Yet
again, she knew. She knew he was there and she made me go.
    I see red as I storm up
to her house and shove her door open.
    “Monique! Monique! Get
your ass here now!”
    Her husband, Ross,
appears in the living room. “Dayton? Are you okay?”
    “Where the hell is she,
Ross?”
    “She’s upstairs. Hang
on.” He eyes me curiously as he passes me, and I take a deep
breath. My fists are clenched at my sides, and footsteps on the
stairs alert me to her presence.
    “Dayton. What a
surprise.”
    “Surprise? I’ll give
you a fucking surprise, Monique!” I follow her into the kitchen.
“What the fuck? Are you trying to drive me insane?”
    “You’ll have to explain
yourself.” She pours herself a cup of coffee. “I’m not
following.”
    “Of course you’re not
following the fact