Words could not describe how I was feeling as I walked out of that room. Though I was able to pull myself together and fix my appearance well enough to hide the events that played out moments ago, I still felt like everyone was staring at me with judgement in their eyes.
But I knew it was all in my head. At least for the most part. I am quite sure all four of his guards knew what went down behind the doors they stood in front of.
Before I could walk away to finish my job, Don grabbed my arm.
I turned back to him and frowned. "What is it?"
"I will be here at the end of your shift. I expect you to be here as well."
I pulled away from his hold. "And if I'm not?"
"More punishment is in order" he said in a lowered tone for only me to hear. He stepped closer and bowed down to my height. "Or was it not enough for you?"
I rolled my eyes, stepping away from him. "Fine, I'll see you after I'm done."
"Do not keep me waiting, Aurelia."
I walked away and took the tub of dirty dishes to the kitchen. Well... the dishes that were still in one piece.
How was I going to explain that to Mr. Simmons? Hey sir, I am sorry to say this, but I destroyed a butt load of dishes while getting railed by the boss man! Is there any way we can keep this from coming out of my check?
Yeah... no. It was not going to work that way.
As I walked out of the kitchen to continue my chores in cleaning the mess Don made, Mel grabbed me. I jumped, still fidgety from the past encounters and she looked at me as if I lost my mind.
"Are you okay? Where were you for the past half hour?"
I drew my lower lip into my mouth and sighed. I could feel my cheeks heat and Mel's face fell from one of concern to that of knowing. She stepped closer to me, sniffed, and pushed my collar to the side to expose a hickie. She gasped as I slapped her hand away.
"No fucking way!"
"Shut up," I squealed pulling her towards the back. "Don't say another word!"
"Oh, fuck that! Lia, done you have sex with him? Again? And while at work?"
I ran my hand down my face and groaned. "He made it hard to resist. He threatened my job!"
"What? Does he know how much trouble he can get in for doing that?"
"Oh, he knows," I said raising my hands. "In fact, he suggested working off his debts in between my legs" I hissed.
Mel gave a huge gasp, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she fanned herself.
"Oh honey, you have to tell me everything!"
"I wish I could, but I cannot. At least not here. Besides, he is waiting for me to finish my shift that – thanks to him - I only have ten minutes of. There is no way I will be able to clean the mess we made in that time."
"The mess? What?"
I rolled my eyes and waved her off. "Just know that he put in a lot of work towards his debts. In fact, he is all paid up."
"See? I told you! I so told you! I knew he was gonna want a break off that Kit-Kat bar!"
"Ew," I groaned. "Please stop. I am too tired for this right now."
"Yeah, I would be to if I had to tame that beast of a man." Mel threw her arms around me, and my eyes went wide. "Aw, Lia, I am so proud of you! You are breaking out of that little book nook of a bubble you are always in. I cannot wait to watch you experience new things! And to think this would not have been possible if I had not of talked you in to moving out of old suburbia and into the big city with me!"
I rolled my eyes at her and pried her arms from around me. Just as I did so, Mr. Simmons turned the corner and caught my gaze. I was not ready to tell him about the room yet!
"Oh Lia," he called out. Mel stepped back as he raced to me. He grabbed my arms and began inspecting them for injuries. "Are you okay? You are not hurt too badly, are you? Thank goodness you are scheduled off for tomorrow, so you can go home and get plenty of rest."
"Uh... Mr. Simmons" I called out in question.
"Oh, do not fret, child. Mr. Don told me all about it. He said that he suggests you leave right away! I did not think you would exasperate yourself to the point in passing out and dropping a bucket full of dishes. Mr. Don said that you were very proficient in your duties and performed extremely well. No wonder you were so tired!"
"Proficient, eh," Mel questioned, again, with her signature brow waggle.
"Yes," Mr. Simmons said, not thinking twice about what Mel was hinting at. "Well, I already arranged for the mess to be cleaned up. You go ahead and head home. Mr. Don offered to escort you home. He deemed it unsafe for you to travel alone, seeing the circumstances. He is truly honorable man."
He is many things, but I am not sure about honorable – wait what?
"He offered to take me home?"
"Yes! He said it would not sit well on his conscience if something were to happen to you after witnessing what he did. So, go along now! He will be waiting for you at the service entrance."
I looked at Mel, and she mouthed "Get it girl" to me as Mr. Simmons ushered me to the lady's locker room.
The door of the lady's locker room closed behind me. I blinked at my surroundings, unable to process what just happened. Slowly I made my way to my locker and changed back into my street clothes. My phone beeps with a text notification. It was from Mel insisting I tell her everything later.
I walked out the service entrance and was met with the sight of Don leaning against a large SUV staring at his phone. He had two of his men – one standing on either side of him – and the remainder in a separate car behind them.
Just how important was he?
"Boss" one of them said, alerting Don of my arrival.
He looked up, brows raised and looked at me. At seeing my face, his softened to an expression I had never seen before. I never knew he was cable of showing an expression other than stoic.
"Do you have everything you need," he asks, slipping his phone into the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket. I gave a nod, and he opened the door, holding a hand to me. "Then let's get you home, then."
Hesitantly, I took the offer. He assisted me in climbing into the large vehicle and climbed inside after me. The door was closed after him, and we waited for the guards to get into the front. There was a partition in between the back and front seat with a window for him to utilize when he wanted to provide instructions. He closed that window and turned to me.
On guard, I pressed up against the door I was near and watched his every move. I was not equipped to go another round. I worked an entire shift after walking there prior to the gut blasting I just had. I do not have it in me like drunken Lia did.
"Relax," he said with a chuckle. "I can tell that you are exhausted. I am not trying to try anything. I just did it in case you wanted privacy."
"Good because we can't keep doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Don" I began. "You are a very rich man which begs me to assume that you are far from stupid."
"Abaddon."
I closed my eyes and shook my head before returning my gaze to him. "What?"
"My name is Abaddon. People call me Don because I refuse to reveal my identity. I introduce myself to you as D because I did not know your intentions. But you may now call me by my name, Abaddon."
My mouth hung open as I stared at him. "First of all, why hide your identity? Are you some criminal or something? Two: you still do not know my true intentions. You do not know me! And three: I will continue to call you Don if that is what everyone calls you because we are not on familiar terms."
"I hide my identity because if someone were to discover my net worth, I would be a target for many things. That is why I always keep four guards with me. It is a precaution. And I do not have to know you. If you were after my money, you would not have left my hotel room and ignored me for a month. You would be nipping at my heels as other women often do. You can address me in any way you are comfortable with."
Not long later, we arrived at my home. It took me by surprise because I never gave them my address.
"How did you know where I live?"
"Background checks are performed on anyone I affiliated myself with."
"Creepy."
"No" he corrected. "It's caution." I moved to let myself out and he caught me. "Would you like for me to walk you to your door?"
"Why so you can barge in and punish me some more" I laughed out. "I think not. But thanks for the offer."
"But what if I wanted to make sure you home is safe?"
"It's safe," I said with a frown. "I have and extremely terrifying guard dog named Stitch who makes sure of it."
"Stitch" he questioned. Tilting his head with a frown.
"Yeah, I named him after my favorite Disney character. I must go." I climbed out of the car and made my way to my front door. I looked back at the SUV as I unlocked my door. Once I cracked it open, I raced inside and slammed it shut behind me. Locking it, I moved to peek out a nearby window. They were pulling off.
I turned around to meet a pit bull and dachshund mix. I fell to my knees and began petting him.
"Oh Stitch" I began. "You will not believe the shit that I got myself into. Or... what shit got into me..."