CHAPTER 14 PART 1

C H A P T E R - - - - F O U R T E E N - - - - S E L E N A

Selena was practically bouncing on the heels of her feet as she walked out of Reidan’s playroom, wrapping her coat tightly around her body as she headed for the front door, preparing herself for the chilly air outside. “La di dah di do,” she hummed to herself, unable to fight the wide grin that was splitting her face in half as she sang to herself. “La di dah di dah…”

But before she could make it to the front door, the doorbell rang, freezing her in her tracks, uncertain of what to do. It would feel weird for her to go back to the playroom. Would she have to take her clothes off again, just to inform Reidan that the doorbell rang? Or what if she walked back in with clothes on? Would he punish her? A shiver ran down Selena’s spine as she considered that possibility, but it wasn’t due to fear. The thought excited her, made her turn on her heels and head back in the direction of the playroom, going back to get her ass slapped around some more—

She slammed right into Reidan’s chest, not seeing him in time to stop her movements before colliding with him. “Oof,” she groaned as she backed up, rubbing her head where it smashed against Reidan’s muscular torso.

“You okay?” Reidan asked, but his voice didn’t have the same soft tenderness as it had in the playroom earlier. Selena swallowed the vague pained feeling that created in her and nodded, gesturing behind her towards the front door.

“Um, the doorbell rang.”

“I heard it,” Reidan said, a little curt. He sounded like he was on edge, a little like he did when they were in the office together. What could be wrong? Selena suddenly felt a wave of insecurity crash over her. Did she mess something up? Did she not leave the playroom in time? Or did she leave too soon? He seemed like he was mad about something, but she couldn’t figure out what she had done to make him feel that way.

“Um, okay, well, I guess I’ll just go now…” Selena started to turn back around, right when the doorbell rang again. She figured she’d let the impatient ringer in to talk with Reidan and then just head downstairs and go home.

But Reidan stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, pinning her in place, even as the doorbell rang a third time. “Wait. Head back to the hallway. Across from the playroom is my bedroom. You can wait in there while I get rid of whoever is coming by at this time of night.”

“I can just go; it’s no big deal,” Selena argued, flinching a little bit as the doorbell rang again. Whoever was on the other side of the door clearly had no intentions of leaving anytime soon, at least not until they got an acknowledgment from Reidan.

“I insist,” Reidan said, his tone hard and unflinching. He wasn’t going to budge on this, Selena could tell. She just sighed and nodded, walking around him to head to his bedroom.

She stepped into the luxurious room, shut the door softly behind her, and took a look around. There was a gorgeous full canopy bed in royal blue against the wall, with shining mahogany furniture pieces surrounding it. Selena tentatively walked over to the bed, feeling a distinct heaviness in her head that told her she needed to sleep soon. The bed was just so tempting. She couldn’t help but picture Reidan curled up under those covers, all of his defenses falling away as he sunk into the mattress.

Selena practically jolted as soon as she realized what she was thinking about. Snap out of it, she berated herself, turning around to face the door instead of the bed. She couldn’t afford to get mushy already, especially since she only just fucked the guy one time. They hadn’t even kissed on the mouth yet, for God’s sake. Why in the hell was she getting all soft-hearted and picturing the guy sleeping? There wasn’t even anything sexual about that. She had no excuse for being such a little bitch when it came to her inner monologue.

She exhaled deeply and walked closer to the door, putting more distance in between herself and the bed in an attempt to protect herself from the temptation to indulge in more of those mushy thoughts. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to repeat her mantra to herself as insistently as possible until it truly sunk in. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want one.

But in the process, shutting out all other sensations, she picked up on some noises from the other side of the door. “What are you doing here?” It was Reidan, taking a rather rude tone of voice to someone. Judging from the distance of the sound, Selena figured he hadn’t even invited the intruder in, keeping him or her installed near the doorway of the penthouse.

“Just checking in on my brother. Can’t I do that, or is that not allowed under the new leadership?” It was Matteo. Selena would recognize that squirrelly, desperate tone of voice anywhere. Her upper lip curled in disgust, and she backed away from the door a little bit, no longer invested in the conversation she was overhearing.

Still, though, that didn’t keep her from picking up on some of the things that were said in the following minutes. “… you can go now,” Reidan said from somewhere on the other side of the wall.

“I just worry about you, that’s all. Aren’t you going to let me in?” Matteo asked, an edge popping up in his voice like he was beginning to get frustrated.

Selena rolled her eyes, checking her phone to see the time. She needed to get home and check on her father. Matteo was just holding her up at this point. She was annoyed, but weirdly, she didn’t feel like blaming Reidan. If the late-night visitor had been almost anybody else other than Matteo, it would have been fine for her to head out the front door, but Matteo would be so goddamn smug about Selena fucking a guy she just met at the office, not to mention that guy was Matteo’s brother.

On the other hand, he might have even gotten angry, given the fact that he’d spent the last year hitting on Selena mercilessly without ever reaping any benefit. He’d probably get mad at Selena and maybe even try to get her fired. She rubbed her shoulders, feeling a dark cloud of worry descend over her head. She wished that Matteo would just disappear already. She didn’t know how she would handle it if he found out about them.