Nothing to Lose (BWWM)

Ten

Marco looked between the both of them and left, not wanting to argue with his older cousin. The two squared off in the middle of the kitchen, neither backing down.

Imani stared at her boss, his towering frame and intimidating stance not scaring her. In fact, It did the opposite. She could feel the heat pooling inbetween her thighs as she completely took him in. He looked as if he belonged on the cover of GQ. Even in sweats and a plain t-shirt. His stubbled face was stern, his jaw locked and his eyebrows furrowed. Imani's gaze fell to his lips. The lips that had been on hers and made her want more.

When she had reached home, that was all she could think about. It was all that was on her mind. Before she fell asleep she pictured the kiss again and remembered how his lips felt against hers. At first, she had wanted to push him off but then she started to enjoy it. She couldn't bring herself to end it and when it did she was not only shocked but she wanted him to kiss her again.

Staring at his pink lips, she couldn't help but think how much she wanted him to do it again.

"Before I get you fired, pick up that coat." Vincent said forcefully.

Imani felt a surge of confidence and stepped towards him. "You wouldn't dare try and get me fired. I have been doing my job amazingly and even you can't deny that."

She had a point. Vincent had to admit that she was running everything so smoothly for him and making his life a lot easier in terms of work. In all other aspects, she was complicating everything. She was doing her job so well in fact that she knew his next move before he even thought about it. He couldn't afford to fire her.

"I believe that I can do whatever I want. Pick up the coat and clean the mess, Imani or else I will suspend you without pay." He said threateningly. Imani gasped. The man had a serious problem where he had to always be in control and dominating things and she was beginning to get tired. Not forgetting to mention the fact that she expected a different attitude from him following their kiss. Although they'd agreed to brush it off and she wasn't expecting him to show her affection and do a complete 180, she hadn't expected him to return to being his usual rude self.

She shook her head. "You wouldn't dare."

He raised an eyebrow. "Try me." Imani stood in her place for a few moments before snatching the coat into her hands. She stomped out of the kitchen, making her way towards the door. "Where are you going, Imani?"

"Away from you. I'll work at the office today. I can't stay here with you, I might strangle you." She said as she swung the door open. As soon as it opened, he shut it, blocking her from going anywhere.

"You're not going anywhere. Today we're working in the home office." She ignored him and reached down to open the door again to no avail. "If you leave, I will have no choice but to suspend you."

Imani sputtered. "For what?!" She yelled in exasperation.

"For disobeying my wishes. You and I both know that the last thing you need at this moment is a suspension without pay. You have a son to look after."

Imani breathed heavily, fists clenching and unclenching. She felt a range of emotions for the man standing in front of her. Anger, spite, aggravation and something she could only describe as a sudden attraction. She didn't know which one of them was going to come out at that moment.

It turned out to be anger. Anger that she had kept inside ever since her first day meeting him. "You know what, Vincent? Suspend me. You have some serious problems, do you hear me? You are just an evil, rude and cold man who has no consideration for anybody else. You're so damn inconsiderate of other people's feelings!" She screamed. "I cannot believe I tried to defend you when all of your employees talked smack about you. I see exactly what they mean now. You're an asshole. A complete and utter asshole. You show no emotions towards anybody! Is there anybody that you actually care for apart from yourself?" She asked to no reply. "I didn't think so. One day Vincent you're going to end up alone and when you do you'll realise that it was all because of how much of an asshole you were to people."

She huffed and ran a hand through her wet locks. "'For disobeying my wishes'? What is wrong with you? You just love to be in control, calling all the shots and ordering people around don't you?" This time when she placed a hand on the handle to leave, he stepped to the side, giving her space. "I'll take the suspension without pay. Good luck on the next week on your own."

"Think about what you're doing, Imani, look at the rain." He finally said, holding her arm and preventing her from going any further.

She scoffed and shrugged out of his hold. "Oh, so now you want to be considerate?" She shook her head before digging into her purse to retrieve the key to his house. Imani threw it at him, not caring if it hurt his chest or not. "See you in a week." She raced out of the house and into the heavy rain, her trench coat over her head.

"Imani, get back inside." Vincent ordered as he watched her continue to walk. She ignored him. "What are you going to do, walk home?"

"It's none of your damn concern." She yelled.

Vincent shook his head at her stubbornness and shut the door. "Well that was explosive." He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice of his cousin, who sat at the top of the stairs. "Truthful but explosive."

Marco watched as Vincent grabbed his phone and dialled a number, making orders and screaming down the line for a temp.

He watched his cousin do this for 5 minutes straight. "So you're just going to let her walk out into this rain on her own? Knowing full well that there's going to be a storm soon?" Vincent shrugged as if it wasn't his problem. "She was 100% right." He said before retreating upstairs.

Vincent rolled his eyes. They were both wrong. Especially Imani.

He wasn't considerate to those who didn't show that they deserved his consideration. Was it his fault that nobody deseved it? So what if he liked being in control? That was what he liked.

The suspension had been the first thing to come to the top of his head. As of late, his behaviour was becoming more sporadic. He didn't want her to leave but he wanted to make her stay in a way that wouldn't make him lose his control over her.

He didn't want to suspend her but this week without her would allow his attraction towards her to cool down and pass. At least he hoped it would.

Imani sighed as she relaxed in the bath. After walking to the nearest bus stop which was 3 kilometres away and then having to walk home as the bus broke down, she needed a bath.

She sank into the warm water that was relaxing her muscles and shut her eyes.

She felt a weight lifted off her shoulders because of her rant to Vincent. All her pent up anger, thoughts and feelings had finally come out and she had spoken her mind. He wouldn't miss her. She knew that for sure. Imani knew that the only thing Vincent would be thinking about was himself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud ringing of her mobile phone. She reached over carefully and answered it hesitantly after seeing an unknown number on the screen. "Hello?"

"Imani."

"Marco?"

She didn't understand why he was calling her. "Yeah, look there's been a problem and Vincent is in the hospital." Her mouth dropped open as her mind started to fill with worry and horrific thoughts about Vincent's condition. "How quickly do you think you can get here?" He asked as Imani stood and rushed out of the bathroom.

"I'm on my way."