Chapter 72
She cleared her throat, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. “Right. I better go give this to Kylan.” She picked up the tea and smiled gratefully at Ryan.
“Kylan isn’t here yet, Katrina” Ryan frowned at her, the blonde of his brows drawing together.
“It’s after right o’clock, Sir.” She looked at her watch for a second time that morning, her frown mirroring Ryan’s
“I can call him if you would like,” Ryan offered.
She shook her head firmly. “No, that’s alright. I’m still has assistant right now. I’ll worry about it. Thank you, Ryan.” before gathering Kylan’s tea and heading for his office, forcing herself to not walk too quickly.
ve him one more smile
This was completely unlike Kylan. Entirely out of character for him. He was never late. He valued punctuality
Upon reaching his office, her stomach dropped when
There was nothing out of place. Nothing that would indicate that he had yet to be here today, either
in above
all else.
en she realized it was indeed empty. She set down Kylan’s tea, her eyes scanning across his desk.
Where was he? It was nearly eight–thirty. A sick Feeling clawed through her chest, and she pulled her phone from the pocket of her skirt, poised to call her boss
“The hell are you doing behind my desk?” Kylan’s brisk voice surprised her from his doorway.
She jumped slightly, fumbling with her phone, and putting it back in her pocket at once. “Sir, where have you been? Did you have an early morning appointment I wasn’t aware of?” She couldn’t hide the relief from her voice at the sight of him, stepping away from his chair and standing next to his desk instead.
He didn’t make eye contact with her, ignoring her questions entirely and brushing by her to reach his seat.
She frowned at him but tentatively sat down in her chair, grabbing her tablet, and settling it on her lap.
It was then that she looked at him. Really looked at him.
And damn, if he didn’t break her heart.
His eyes typically carried dark circles beneath them, but these. The ones under his eyes right now! They were ghastly, Purple and blue hues contrasted strikingly against his pale skin. His hair was also a bit damp, and his tie was slightly crooked.
He looked like he hadn’t slept or eaten in at least two days if she had to guess.
What was he going through? This couldn’t possibly be because she resigned. She wasn’t so arrogant to believe she had that much sway over a man. like Kylan Ross.
She ached to comfort him. To hold him. To tell him she was there. That she always wanted to be there.
His shoulders were hunched a nearly imperceptible amount, his cheeks sullen while he logged in on his desktop computer.
“Sir..” She
the tablet down on his desk and hesitantly stood from her seat. Slow, deliberately, she walked to him. She had to do something. To calm even one of has aching heartstrings.
she reached him and then paused when he looked up at her, his eyes dull and his frown lines pulled tautly.
“What are you doing, Katrina?” His voice even sounded tired, and she sighed.
With a shaking hand, she carefully reached down and adjusted his tic, allowing her fingertips to graze the silk of his shim for a moment. Kylan watched her, his eyes narrowed and trained on her.
Then, he grasped her wrist and peeled it away from him. She winced and dropped her hand to her side immediately. For a second. Katrina and Kylan only stared at one another, neither of them speaking a single word.
“Don’t touch me, Katrina,” Kylan finally spoke so quietly, she only heard him because she was standing right in front of him.
“I–I’m sorry. Sir. That was inappropriate of me. I just.. Are you okay?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking him, though she knew he likely wouldn’t answer her honestly.
“I’m your boss for another three weeks, am I noit Perhaps we can focus on work and less on f*cking feelings,” Kylan snapped at her.
She sighed and shook her head, walking back to her seat and gathering the tablet once more.
more. “Drink y your tea, Sir. It’s likely close to being too for your liking.” She didn’t look at Kylan anymore, ignoring his huff in favor of scanning over his schedule.
being too cold
-0-0-0-
0
Aaron, do you even know what seasoning is?” Katrina giggled, bumping her hip against her friend while she peeled another potato over the trash
Aaron rolled his eyes and scoffed at her “Of course, I do. Don’t question my methods, Katrina Morgan, he chastised her, tapping an alarmingly small amount of salt into the bowl of stuffing he was currently starring together.
She exchanged a worned glance with Maine, both of their eyebrows raised in quiet amusement. “Right, well, I would actually like to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner for once, and not have to order pancakes from the diner down the road because we screwed it up y carried a few potatoes to a waiting cutting board, carefully picking up a nearby chef’s knife and then beginning to chop them
again.” She
“Oh, scram off. Kate. I’ve got this, okay? And you, Ma’am, you make the fruit salad and stop looking so damn smug, Aaron grumbled to his gulfmend
Maine laughed, raising her hands in surrender before maneuvering to gather the fruit from inside her fridge
She smiled at her friends, her heart feeling warmer than it had in weeks
Kylan had grown progressively more distant, and more withdrawn over the last couple of days at work. He was on edge, never looking like he slept hardly rating, and always short with her now.
thurt her. It hurt her because she knew he was hurting. It hurt her because the shouldn’t be his punching bag.
She was thankful for the respite that the holidays were going to provide her, though both Oscar and Kylan were often at the forefront of her mind She was worried about them for different reasons, and she felt like she really couldn’t help either one of them right now,
She was looking forward to hearing from Oscar after Christmas and asking him what the hell was going on, though
It wasn’t lost on her that tomorrow was also Kylan’s thirty–third birthday. She hoped he had someone to celebrate with. To be happy with. Though. she likely knew that he didn’t. That he wouldn’t allow himself to indulge in things like that, really.
“Don’t cut the pineapple like that, Maine.” Aaron groaned loudly
She smiled at them, reaching into a lower cabinet, and pulling out a large enough pot to house the potatoes she cut. She placed it under the running sink water and waited for it to fill up enough. Her phone buzzed repeatedly in her back pocket, and she absently removed it to look at who was calling her. She assumed it would be her father, who was unfortunately not able to travel to her this year.
She was surprised, to say the least when it was Rylan calling her,
She stared at his Ross Corp. CEO contact picture, debating whether or not she wanted to take his call. He likely needed to ask her to do something work–related for him, and she was off the next two days, by all accounts.
She bit her inner cheek, already knowing she would answer his call.
“I’ll be right back guys. Can you get this pot situated over a burner, please?” She looked over her shoulder as she began to walk down the hallway to her bedroom
“Everything okay!” Aaron asked her, both he and Maine staring at her with worried expressions fixed on their faces.
“I’m fine. I just need to take this.” She waved her phone at them, gracing them with a reassuring smile, and then entered her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The call had gone to voicemail before she could answer it, but Kylan was already calling her again. She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and then finally answered the buzzing.
“Sir?” she asked as soon as her phone was to
here
гаг
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment too long.
She frowned. “Sar are you there?” she repeated herself.
More silence. Her heart began to race,
“Kylan, are you there?” her voice was becoming more frantic now
Katrina, you answered. I didn’t. You’re okay.”
Kylan sounded. Off. Not at all like homself and it did nothing to
ching to quiet her nerves. She was on edge. Something was wrong:
“Of course, I answered What do you need, Sue” she attempted to keep her voice level
“Mmm, what do I need? I need he began to swear under has breath, “I need I need you a not fuking die, Katrina. That’s what I What I need? She paused her wa waware she had been pacing, su ingin with. What did he just say? He needed. He needed her not to die?
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Sar” Hervsce was stated Sourthing really was wrong, Bylan sounded almost. He somuskel.
3:00 PM
Chapter 72
almost drunk. His words were slurring together, of that she was certain.
“Stop calling me Sir, Kate. I’ve been… I’ve been inside of you. for f*ck’s sake.”
Her eyes widened at his crassness. Their shared night together. Their passion. The memories, the happiness, and the heartache it all brought. She didn’t talk about it. He didn’t talk about it.
“That’s inappropriate, Kylan. What’s going
gon? Where are you?” She attempted to bring the conversation back to something she was comfortable with.
“Inappropriate. Don’t make me laugh, Kate. None of this. None of this has been appropriate. And now you’re… You’re leaving me too”
Kylan’s voice broke at the end and her stomach clenched. He wasn’t okay. It was painfully obvious.
