C H A P T E R - - - - F I F T E E N - - - - R E I D A N
He couldn’t force himself to move into action, nor even to say a word to his mom. Instead, he just stared at her sadly, while in the back of his mind he thought about Selena, about how much this job meant to her. He couldn’t take it away from her, especially not after he realized how perfect she was for him. Even if it meant losing his mother forever… he couldn’t act against the will of his own heart.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, rubbing his mother’s shoulder gently. “I can’t do that, Ma.”
“Well, then, I suppose our meeting for today is concluded,” Reidan’s mother said in a stilted, stiff tone of voice, a forced polite smile appearing on her face as she unlocked the door in front of her. “So long, Reidan. I expect to see you at the funeral.”
Before Reidan could come up with anything else to say or do to stop his mother from leaving on such bad terms, she pushed the door open and strode out imperiously into the compound, ignoring various servants who called out to her to say hello.
Reidan blew out his breath, watching as his mother’s slim figure receded from his line of sight. He shut the door after her instead of watching her disappear completely from view. He didn’t want anyone at the Bianco compound to think that she’d run out on him and cut their meeting short. It was better if everyone thought that they were on good terms, especially since many of the servants were still loyal to her.
A few minutes later, he finally decided he’d had enough time to reflect on the encounter and exited his old office, stepping out into the main hallway where a large group of people had gathered, turning to look at him expectantly as he appeared. His mother must have paused in the main room to talk to somebody, as he could still hear the click-clack of her heels disappearing towards the main exit. Reidan decided to just smile reassuringly at the crowd of various employees who looked to him, obviously detecting the tension between Reidan and his departing mother.
“Everything’s fine,” he announced to the room. “Business as usual.” As soon as he said the words, he realized that he believed them. He’d directly disobeyed his mother, and the world hadn’t ended. In fact, everything was perfectly normal. Everything was totally fine. Nothing bad was going to happen to him just because, for once in his life, he didn’t do what his controlling mother wanted. He had the power here.
There was practically a spring in his step by the time he crossed the hall back to his new office where Selena was waiting for him. He felt weirdly excited to get to work today, to spend the day torturing himself with close proximity to Selena, letting himself smell here but never actually touch her. He’d make up for it tonight in the playroom. Reidan already knew what he was going to do—kick the domination up a notch by binding her hands and feet at the same time. God, it was going to be so fucking hot.
“All right,” he said, shutting the door behind him and putting a lock in place for good measure. He didn’t want to be interrupted, even if he couldn’t allow himself to touch Selena while at work. “Now let’s go ahead and handle—”
Selena jumped up from her desk, arranging piles of papers in place before stepping away from her workstation, going to meet Reidan in the center of the room.
What was this all about? Was she trying to change the rules on him or something?
“Mr. Bianco, I’m afraid—” she started to say, cutting herself off to swallow visibly and shaking her head. “I quit.”
Reidan wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, even though she looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes, like she was awaiting her death. “Selena… I don’t… What?” he stuttered out, totally confused as to what was going on.
“I’m sorry,” Selena said, ducking her eyes so that they weren’t looking directly at each other anymore. She leaned over and grabbed her purse from off the floor, then reached into the bag and pulled out a badge. “Here. This is what I use to get into the building. You should take it back. I won’t be using it anymore.”
“Selena, what’s going on?” Reidan asked, dropping the boss act as panic started to set in, making him feel like his bones were being licked away by flames. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
“No, no, I can’t.” Selena shook her head, but then sighed and added, “I mean, nothing’s wrong. I just need a change of pace, that’s all. I realize that I can’t work here now that Giovanni is gone, and well… I just need to be somewhere else. Okay? That’s what I have to do. Goodbye.” She moved to walk around Reidan to the door, but Reidan stepped in front of her, refusing to let her pass that easily.
“No. I deserve an explanation. What did I do to make you do this? Is it the pay? Do you need more money? I can help you if you have financial problems—”
Selena raised one hand in the air, shaking her head furiously. “No. Let me out. I have to leave now, okay? I have to go.”
“I’m not going to let you just cut and run on me without even telling me why,” Reidan said, once again trying to step in front of Selena when she tried to walk around him. But this time, she evaded him more successfully, walking rapidly across the room towards the door.
“I just need to go. That’s all you have to know, okay?” There was an edge of urgency in her voice as she unsuccessfully pushed the doorknob.
Reidan walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, mostly to keep her in place but also just to feel her, one last time. “Can I still… see you at other times?” Reidan asked, his fingers tingling where they brushed up against Selena’s shoulder.
There was a long moment of silence. Selena’s head fell forward between her shoulders, sagging like she had no longer had the energy to hold it up. She slowly lifted her hand to unlatch the lock on the door, and then she whispered, “I’m sorry. Really. But no.”
Then she opened the door and marched out, gripping her bag in a tight fist, leaving Reidan to stare after her helplessly.
Thirty seconds later, Selena was no longer visible, the sound of her footsteps fading until Reidan could no longer make them out.
Just like that, she was gone. And Reidan had no idea why.