Flesh: Part Nine (The Flesh Series Book 9) Read Online Free

hoped
it could wait until at least lunch time.
    “ Derrick,
this can wait.” I roll my eyes, using rudeness as a defense
mechanism.
    “ We
talked about this,” his tone raises an octave, then he looks
towards the door to make sure that no one can hear us. Everyone is
staring.
    “ We'll
talk about this at lunch,” I growl.
    “ Did
you fuck him?” Disgust is written all over his face.
    For a moment, I
think about lying. It will calm him if I say no. Then we can go back
inside and work peacefully until lunch. I'm really not up for the
tension of telling the truth. But at the same time, I just want to
get this over with. Telling him now will be like ripping off a
band-aid. Plus, I don't want to string out the betrayal of his trust.
    “ Yes,”
I admit, keeping my nose up. I'm not ashamed that I slept with
Lucian. Perhaps if he had been dismissive as usual, I would be. But
things were different last night. Worlds away from what they have
been.
    Derrick draws his
hand up to his face, and I can almost feel the anger radiating off of
him. I stay silent, waiting for him to say something—to pitch a
fit or have an all-out fight with me. He doesn't say anything though.
And after about two minutes of just standing there looking angry and
wounded, he steps past me to pull open the door and go back inside,
not even glancing at me.
    Inside I crumble.
It's entirely unexpected, the pain that comes from him not saying
anything at all. His disappointment in me is crushing, almost
suffocating. Tears well up in my eyes, and I know I'm going to need
another minute before I can go back inside. I don't get that minute
though. Tyra pokes her head out the door, and I have to suck up my
emotions immediately.
    “ Is
everything alright?” she asks though she looks more irritated
than concerned.
    “ Yeah.
I'm fine.” I wipe my face with the back of my arm, praying that
I don't smear my makeup.
    She holds the door
open for me, practically forcing me back inside. Silently, I curse
her for not giving me a few more minutes to recover. This is her job
though, making sure that I'm doing my job.
    “ I'm
not sure what's going on with you two,” she tells me softly,
though her softly is still loud enough for everyone in the office to
hear. “But I need you to separate your emotions from work.
You're here to do a job, remember.”
    “ Mhm.”
I nod weakly, biting back the vile things that are rolling around in
my mouth begging to be spat out. I am doing my job. My job is to keep
Lucian Reddick happy, and that's exactly what I've been doing all
morning. And it's kind of hard to separate my emotions from work when
they're entwined with the project. This fucked up love triangle I
have going on. I don't know how to deal with it. Everything would
have been fine if she hadn't said anything about me being with Lucian
this morning. If Derrick hadn't been nosy and come into her office
trying to figure out what was going on.
    I suppose it's just
deserts though. Only yesterday, I was in Lucian's bedroom turning
over all of those pictures. I had no business to do it, yet I did it
anyway because I desperately wanted to know his secret. Everything
turned out alright though. Better than alright.
    This is my karma.
Not all secrets revealed have a happy outcome.

    ***

    Even though I came
in to work late, the day seems longer than usual. At lunch time,
Derrick whizzes past my desk to go eat alone. It hurts, but I
understand. The wound of knowing that I spent the night with Lucian
is still fresh. Hopefully, he'll get over it in a day or two. He told
me before that we could still be friends even if I wasn't interested
in him. I hope that holds true.
    I text Lucian
periodically throughout the day, though he never responds, which only
makes me feel worse. By the time I get off from work, I'm beginning
to think that he played me again. It wouldn't be an unrealistic
possibility. He's very good at pulling me in and pushing me away. At
least now I know that he does it