The Desire Variable - Vol. I

【15】NAM-MOT-AAA-AAA

When I turned my head to face Alexander again, his gray eyes were darker, like a stormy sky, and I worried about the hurricane coming my way.

"This will be your first and last warning, Andrea," he finally declared after a long silence. "You are here to work, not to mingle, to make friends, to play games... From now on, no more flirting, no more playing, no more social calls during work hours."

I frowned, scandalized by the injustice of this. This wasn't Soviet Russia or North Korea. And I wasn't particularly known for my social calls or flirting. During my two weeks here, I had seen the guys waste company money by not working more often than I had. It was clear this was targeted at me specifically. He was being a sexist prick, and I couldn't stand this.

"Before you say anything, because I can see many thoughts are crossing that pretty head of yours, let me remind you I can replace you like this," he added, lifting his hand and snapping his fingers. That worked particularly well on me, and I bit my tongue to prevent whatever I wanted to tell him from spilling out. "Now that things are clear. Get back to work and stop distracting your coworkers with your frivolity."

My hands clenched on their own, forming two fists on each side of me. This was a fit of anger like I'd never experienced before.

He was right, and I shouldn't have kept playing. But anyone with a little compassion would have understood where I came from. It was twenty minutes. In two weeks, I'd arrived so often in advance that this extra time of break was already paid for. Maybe I wasn't right for still being here, but he wasn't right for treating me so unfairly.

As I looked into his murderous eyes, I wanted to rip his spine out and strangle him with it. I wanted to slap that attractive face of his, to kick him where it hurt, and keep kicking. I wanted to hurt him like I'd never wanted for anyone to suffer. Ever since I'd met him that first time in the elevator, I'd grown accustomed to this man making me feel ungodly things, but this anger was something entirely new to me. I'd never felt so dangerously hateful toward anyone before.

Keeping all that inside of me, and after one last hateful glare toward him, I turned around like a well-trained dog, to head back to the Lair. When I entered, the guys sent me worried looks. They waited for me to be seated, anxious to ask.

"So what did he say?" Brian asked.

"Apparently, I'm too frivolous and have to stop distracting you guys," I declared, trying to remain calm despite my voice trembling with contained anger.

"I had never seen him so angry," Steven pointed out. "I get how you probably shouldn't have been playing during work hours, but this was disproportionate."

"Yeah, I don't know what's his problem lately," Mason agreed.

"From my perspective, women are his problem," I said dryly.

"No, Lex isn't sexist. Ask any woman here, he's never been out of line."

"Then I guess it's me. I'm his fucking problem."

Without a word, Oliver got up and came next to me. He turned my chair and forced me on my feet, then wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in a reassuring embrace. With his familiar scent filling my lungs, my anger melted slowly. Behind me, someone else joined in on the hug. It was Mason. Soon enough, all five of them were hugging me, and their affection helped calm me down.

After a while, they let me go to get back to work, except Oli, who bent to level his face with mine. "Are you feeling better?" he asked. Forcing a smile on my lips, I nodded. "Do you want some tea or something?"

I shook my head this time. "I'm good, thanks. I've wasted enough of your time as it is."

"You're never a waste of time."