Gone - Part One Read Online Free Page A

supposed to be getting my position into another division. I realize the lengths she's going to help me and I know that it's based primarily on her miscalculating my connection to Clive's brother. With the number of employees that walk through the turnstile in the lobby each day, I doubt that I'll even pass her in the hallway during my time here. I'll quickly become just another payroll number.
    "Do your parents live in Boston?" she asks, catching me off guard. "Is this going to be your first time away from home?"
    I reach for the edge of her desk to steady my knees. There's no possible way she can understand the tidal wave of emotion that races through me whenever anyone asks about my parents. It's something that I should be accustomed to by now. Friends and classmates asked the same thing on graduation day when I crossed the stage to accept my degree. "I've lived in an apartment near campus for a few years."
    She nods and I instantly recognize that the answer matters little to her. She was asking merely as a courtesy. "I'll be in touch tomorrow. I have your cell number."
    I take the hint and move towards the open door of her office. "You can reach me at any time. I work tomorrow but I always have my phone in my apron."
    "It's been great meeting you, Lilly." She reaches towards me with her hand outstretched. "You're a very welcome addition to our family."
    I turn to leave after shaking her hand briskly. I freeze in place, my eyes stuck on the buttons of a crisp, white dress shirt that is covering the chest of a man. I breathe in deeply inhaling the intoxicating scent of expensive cologne. My gaze follows the path of the buttons to his neck, before it rests on his neatly trimmed beard and a pair of blue eyes that I'll never forget.
    "Lilly," he says my name in a low rasp. "I'd like a moment."
     
    ***
     
    "Would you like something to drink?" Clive asks me from where he's sitting in a leather chair behind his massive wooden desk." I can have my assistant bring you another glass of water or maybe something stronger is in order?"
    The glint in his eye suggests that he's testing me. My racing pulse suggests that I'm on the brink of having a heart attack. When he'd asked Rowan for the papers I'd just signed, I saw all my aspirations being handed over to him. I'd silently followed him down the corridor to the bank of elevators and rode helplessly up to the thirty-seventh floor with him knowing that my brief moment of jubilant celebration had crashed into a million non-repairable pieces. My life, as I'd hoped it would be, was no more and it was all because of my stupid need to flirt with some random online.
    Way to fuck yourself over, Lilly.
    "Lilly?" He leans slightly forward, his elbows catching on the edge of the desk. "Can I get you anything?"
    "No," I say sullenly as I try to sink into the chair across from him. There's no way I can hide my embarrassment and disappointment. I feel as though the brass ring I'd always wanted was firmly within my grasp for a mere ten seconds before it was jerked violently away by a gorgeous man who can't take his eyes off me right now. Normally, I'd be flattered by that. It's hard to feel anything but regret and humiliation.
    His eyes finally leave me as he leans back in his chair, crossing his legs. "Let's talk about why you're here."
    "I was hoping to talk to you," I offer because it's the truth. My initial reason for making this trip was to secure a meeting with him under the guise of explaining why I sent Parker that package filled with erotic delights. I was going to skillfully use that to segue into a discussion about my merits as a potential employee. It's a huge leap but I know if I choose my words carefully, that I'll make my point and convince him that Corteck needs me.
    "Why would Rowan offer you a job?" He picks up one of the pieces of paper and tilts it towards me. "Did you bring up Parker's name during your meeting with her?"
    I touch my forehead briefly before I trace a path down my