“Ms. Rutherford, he just rushed right on in,” Liza was protesting. She was in shock as well, her face pale. “I told him Mr. Rutherford wanted to talk to him first, and he ignored me.”
Chase stayed in front of Kia’s desk as Drew glared at him, hatred surging in his eyes as Kia moved cautiously from behind the desk.
“What are you doing here, Drew?” she asked him carefully.
“It doesn’t matter why he’s here, he can leave,” Chase said coldly. “Get the hell out of here, Stanton.”
Drew’s fists clenched at his side, his eyes moving from Chase to Kia.
“My God, Kia, how can you actually think I’d hurt you? I just spent the morning at the police department. I was being interrogated, for God’s sake. Where the fuck is your mind?”
“Where the fuck is your common sense?” Chase’s muscles bunched, tensed to move, when he felt Kia’s hand on his arm.
He stopped and glared down at her. “Don’t try it,” he warned her. “Don’t even try to protect this little bastard.” He turned back to Drew. “Get the hell out of here before I throw you out.”
“You don’t have the right to throw me out, Falladay,” he sneered, before turning back to Kia. “They accused me of attacking you. How the hell do you know you weren’t attacked because of him?” His finger stabbed in Chase’s direction. “The son of a bitch manages to piss off everyone he comes in contact with. And it’s not as though it’s a secret you’re fucking him and Khalid both. That Middle Eastern bastard is a walking target himself. You don’t know what he’s capable of, Kia. I wouldn’t doubt if he arranged it.”
Chase moved. He jerked his arm from Kia’s hold and jumped for the bastard. And would have had him if she wasn’t in front of him just as quickly, her hands pressed to his chest.
“Get out of here, Drew,” she snapped. “Dammit, Chase, stand back. This has gone far enough.”
“Far enough is when he thinks he has the right to talk to you like that,” Chase said coldly. “Get out of my way, Kia.” His hands were on her arms, firm, pushing her away.
“Damn you, you and that bastard Khalid are the reason I was dragged into interrogation,” Drew snapped furiously. “Do you think I’m running from you, Falladay? Fuck you, we can finish this here.”
Chase grinned. He stared down at Kia, saw her pale face, the fear that flashed in her eyes, and bit off a curse. Dammit, she would never let him slug that pitiful little bastard while she was standing here.
“Dammit, Drew, you’ve lost your mind.” Kia turned, bracing her back against Chase as she faced her ex-husband.
“Have you lost yours?” Drew accused, his fists doubled up at the seams of his immaculate gray slacks, and sneered at them. “I’d never hurt you, Kia. You know that. I’d do anything to protect you. Just look what leaving me got you. If you had just stayed with me, just stayed faithful, none of this would have happened.”
“If she had just let you rape her?” Chase growled as Liza closed the door behind her, evidently deciding it was best to leave them alone in this fight. Chase agreed with her.
“Chase, that’s enough,” Kia argued as she pressed her back more firmly against him.
His arm moved around her, holding her to him, daring Drew to make a comment.
Drew’s face drew into lines of shock. “She was my wife, Falladay. It wouldn’t have been rape.”
Chase saw red.
“Chase, stop!” Kia yelled out the order as he tried to push past her.
The thing about pushing past Kia was that it was damned hard when she was wrapping herself around him like a vine and digging those sharp heels into the carpet. If he pushed too hard, there was no way he would get past without hurting her.
“Stanton, I’m going to kill you.” Chase said it coldly as the door opened and Timothy Rutherford stood in the doorway, his jowls creased with rage.
“What the hell is going on here?” Timothy boomed.
“You’re about to lose a security and sales associate,” Chase drawled menacingly. “As soon as your daughter stops imitating a vine.”
Timothy took in the situation quickly. Liza’s call had been frantic, her voice quavering as she reported Chase’s drawing his weapon on Drew. Rushing to the office, Timothy had expected to see blood until he saw his daughter holding on to Chase with a force he hadn’t known she had.
“Stanton, my office,” Timothy ordered him.
“Like hell,” Drew replied. “Do you know what they accused me of, Rutherford?”
“I’m well aware of it,” Timothy snapped.
He didn’t like Stanton. He had never forgotten the bruise on his daughter’s face or the fear in her eyes, compliments of this little bastard. He’d kept him on because of Kia’s furious protests. Because she had asked it of him, demanded it. But the time for that was coming to an end as he had prayed it would.
“My office. Now,” Timothy told him. “Or you can turn in your resignation.”
Drew’s mouth worked furiously. A red flush filled his face as Chase gave him a tight-lipped, cold smile. Falladay was going to rub it in, of course, not that Timothy blamed him, but it wasn’t going to make settling Drew down any easier.
“Now, Stanton,” Timothy repeated, stepping back from the door. “You know the alternative.” Oh, it was finally time. Time to get rid of the bastard who had hurt his daughter.
“Screw you!” Drew glared back at him. “You and this fucking job.”
He stalked from the office, rage tightening his shoulders as he stomped from the outer office and slammed the door closed there.
Timothy breathed in heavily.
“You have a handle on this one?” he asked his daughter, almost grinning at Chase’s scowl.
“For now,” she said. And she did, indeed. Her high heels were digging into the carpet, one arm wrapped around Chase’s neck, the other around his waist.
Timothy nodded and left the office.
Kia almost breathed out a sigh of relief before Chase lifted her bodily, set her aside, and stalked to the door, where he twisted the lock viciously.
She shouldn’t have followed him. She should have moved to her desk rather than fearing he was going after Drew, because before she knew it, he had her against the door, his body pressing into hers, one hand buried in her hair, the other pressed against the door behind her.
“I’m going to kill that little prick,” he said softly, dangerously. “The first chance I get.”
Kia forced back her trepidation, knowing that if she didn’t distract that fury, then Drew just might end up dead.
“You know, Chase, for a man who stated he doesn’t want a relationship, you’re becoming rather high maintenance as far as relationship matters are concerned. Especially other men. You better watch it, or before you know it, you’ll be putting my name on that little black mailbox outside your apartment.”
His eyes narrowed. Icy green flickered over her face, her breasts as they rose and fell due to the panic rising inside her.
He didn’t even flinch at her accusation.
“You’d better be very very careful, Kia, or I’m going to have you bent over that desk with my dick buried so deep inside you that you’re not going to remember how to access that smart mouth of yours,” he warned her with chilling politeness, with arousing arrogance. “And if I ever find out Drew was the one who attacked you, then when they find his body, there won’t be enough left to identify him.”
She didn’t have time to argue, didn’t have a chance to berate him.
His lips slammed over hers, his tongue parting them, pushing inside as she gasped and felt the flames beginning to race through her, over her, between them and around them.
A second later he pushed away from her and stalked back to his chair. “Leave the door locked. I’ll answer it if anyone needs to come in.”
She didn’t argue.
She pressed her fingers to her sensitive lips before moving slowly back to her desk, her eyes on his, aware of how he watched her, the promise in his gaze.
Something darker, more forbidden, had risen inside him. Something she wondered if she was really equipped to handle, though she knew handling it was something she would give her all to.