Mr. King [Book 1]

Seventeen

Mr. King didn't speak to Katherine outside of work-related conversation for over five days – five tension-filled days she had to endure under his powerful stare, when she had absolutely no idea how to act around him. She didn't know if he was angry or upset. He was not himself – even though she was sure she didn't know enough about him to know what 'himself' was truly like.

But what she did know was the mood he was in had something to do with her – possibly because she let him spank her after being physically abused by her father during her childhood. She didn't even know anymore. Maybe he shouldn't want to spank women, or have safe words and all that shit.

And yet, even with that thought in the back of her mind, Katherine still went to bed for five nights with the image of the heart breaking anguish on his face after he pressed her for information about her father.

Mr. King's regret for what he did to her was enough to bring tears to her eyes. But she knew she was being foolish. He was her boss and they already crossed so many lines with one another. She needed to just drop the idea of anything having to do with them out of her mind. Surely he did.

But Katherine wasn't cold and callous like he was. And she couldn't just disregard her feelings, no matter how foolish they were.

It was nearly impossible to ignore the way he was treating her, how he practically acted like she didn't exist. He wasn't being fair. She didn't need to be treated like a victim just because of what she went through in the past.

She wished she hadn't told him anything. But he made it pretty difficult for her to keep any of it to herself.

She was just so frustrated. She didn't like living this way, afraid she was going to do or say something wrong at any moment. Sure, living with Mr. King always had some degree of that, but the fact that it seemed like he was mad at her just made it harder to deal with. At least before he learned of her past he would actually talk to her.

She knew she couldn't live like this anymore, so she decided to finally confront him. She wouldn't see change if she stayed silent.

But as she stood in front of his office door, she was quickly questioning her decision. She hadn't really thought it through. What was she going to say to get her point across? Would he even bother listening or would he shut her down immediately?

She knew this might end badly for her, but she also knew she couldn't handle living the way she had for five days. Something needed to change.

So before she could talk herself out of it, Katherine knocked on his office door. The nerves in the pit of her stomach made her feel nauseous. She actually thought she might be sick. But swallowed it down and persevered.

"Come in," she heard and she slowly opened the door, feeling her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Mr. King..."

"Miss Mason," he said curtly, his eyes penetrating her immediately.

"Can we talk?" She asked carefully, but he just stared at her.

"Candidly..." She added and watched his eyebrow cock slightly.

"Candidly?" He asked, narrowing his eyes in question.

"Yes," she said, swallowing hard. With his hardened gaze on her she was already regretting her decision to confront him. But it was too late to turn back now.

"What is it, Miss Mason?" He asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Stop doing that," she said quietly, hanging her head.

"Stop doing what?" He asked in a no-nonsense sort of way.

"Stop treating me like I did something wrong," she said through clenched teeth.