Chapter Six

Abigail

The events of the previous night flood my head the moment I open my eyes. The space beside me is empty, but I can feel the heat of his body and smell his lingering scent. A silly grin spreads across my face, and I bury my face in my pillow to hide it.

Last night was beautiful… Everything felt so special, from the way he held me to his gentle thrusts and passionate kisses. And the tenderness in his eyes as we orgasmed together… It's a memory I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

It felt so right being with him. Even now, I'm craving the feel his strong arms around me. I want to feel the prick of his stubble as he nuzzles my neck. I want to feel him kiss me like he did last night, over and over again until my body combusts in a flame of pleasure.

My heart lurches with excitement at the thought. Everything feels so surreal, especially the fact that I'm feeling this way about Cade King. He's exactly the kind of man I used to avoid, yet here I am, shamelessly pining for him. It's like I've felt this way forever instead of just a few days.

I glance at the bedside clock to see it's just 5:30. The sun hasn't even fully risen. I frown slightly in the direction of the bathroom, but I can't hear any sound to suggest he's in there. I decide to go look for him, so I shrug on the shirt that he discarded the previous night. I stop to wrap my arms around myself for a moment, closing my eyes and inhaling his intoxicating scent.

When I'm finally able to drag myself out of bed, I slip my feet into a pair of oversized indoor slippers and head out into the corridor that houses both of our rooms, hoping that I don't get lost in the intricate turns of the hallways.

Finally, I come to a door standing ajar. I peep inside to see Cade standing by a large window of what seems to be a study. He has his back to the door, holding a phone to his ear with one hand while the other is jammed deeply in his pants pocket.

I let my eyes linger on his broad shoulders, remembering how they'd hunched and bunched beneath my touch the previous night. Images flood my head, and I close my eyes to relive them for a moment. He barely flinched when I dug my nails into his skin; instead, he'd held me so tightly that I felt safe. Protected.

I start to push the door open, but then his voice stops me in the process.

"You know how I feel about journalists, Amber…" Cade says in that cold voice that takes me back to the first day in his office. "They disgust me."

My heart drops to my stomach at his words. I press my lips together, my grip on the doorknob tightening unconsciously.

"Find everything you can on her and get the lawyers prepared in case we need to retaliate," Cade continues after listening to the person on the other side for a while. "We can never tell what she's found while snooping around."

Could he be talking about… me?

"Trust?" he says with a loud scoff. "Please. She doesn't mean anything to me. I barely even know her."

I raise a shaky hand to my mouth to muffle the cry that rises in my throat. A lone tear slips down my cheek.

Why the hell am I crying?!

Swiping angrily at my face, I step away from the door and run back to the guest bedroom as fast as I can on my tiptoes. There, I grab my bag and throw all my stuff in as fast as I can, then quickly book a cab on my way out. I glance at my phone screen to see it's already a little past six. I hope Mary and the other workers aren't awake, because it'd be awkward explaining to everyone why I'm leaving the estate with my bags at six in the morning. Thankfully, I don't run into anyone on my way out, and by the time I make it to the main gate, my cab is already waiting for me.

It isn't until I'm safely in the cab, away from Cade King's imposing estate and the memories I made there, that I allow myself to fall apart. I bury my face in my hands and let out loud, shoulder-wracking sobs. The driver turns on the radio, turning it up until the metallic sound of rock music drowns out my sobs. I'm grateful; at least the gesture allays my humiliation…

The humiliation of falling carelessly in love with Cade Kings in just two days?

"What the hell is this?" Terry Coleman asks three days later in his office, gesturing wildly at his computer screen with a displeased sneer on his face. "I got all excited for nothing when this arrived in my inbox. Is this all you have, Winston?"

"You wanted me to do a profile story on Cade and that's exactly what I did," I respond, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's a good interview and a good article. He opened up to me."

"About what? So he's sad about his dead mom. Big surprise."

I grit my teeth. I want to argue, but I don't have the energy for it.

I feel like shit, but I sure hope I don't look like it. The past three days have been hell. I can't stop thinking about Cade no matter how hard I try. I've thrown myself into my work, ignoring everyone – including Grace and Derek.

Cade tried to contact me a few times, but I blocked him everywhere and left my apartment to stay in one of Derek's rental condos just so I don't have to deal with him if he visits my place.

But my efforts were futile. He's all I can think about. The nights are worse; I don't have control over my dreams. He's always there, waiting to torture me with his wickedly sensual mouth and hands.

"What happened to digging through his stuff?" Terry asks, his scratchy voice effectively cutting into my thoughts. "Hell, you didn't even have to do it for real. You could've made something up!"

"I can't do that," I respond quietly. "It's unprofessional and disgusting."

I'd never betray Cade like that, even if he's a jerk who doesn't trust me anyway.

"Disgusting?" Terry snorts. "Well, newsflash, Winston… We've all had to roll in the mud at some point as journalists. That's our job."

"No, it's not," I counter, raising my chin to meet his hard gaze. "Our job as journalists is to write stories based on facts and not to cater to the whims of a rumor-hungry audience! Shouldn't we have integrity as journalists?"

"I'm really disappointed in you, Winston," Terry says, shaking his head slowly in that self-righteous way of his. "Good thing I took the initiative to promote Ethan Cowell to Editor-in-Chief."

I blink at him, wondering if I heard his words right. Ethan Cowell is a junior journalist who joined the company two years ago as a contract worker. There's no way Terry is making him Editor-in-Chief. It doesn't matter that Ethan is Terry's distant cousin, right? He simply can't get the promotion I worked my ass for.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, just to be sure.

"I knew you'd be too emotional, just like you're being right now," Terry replies with a careless shrug. "Somebody like Ethan is in a better position to make sound decisions for the company."

"You mean somebody with a dick!" I snap, enjoying the shocked disbelief on his face. "How dare you pull this stunt on me?"

"You won't talk to me in that manner, Miss Winston."

"I'll talk to you any damn way I see fit, Mr. Coleman!" I reply coldly, fisting my hands to contain the anger seething in my chest. "I gave up my life and worked my ass off for this magazine all these years, and this is what I get in return?"

"I only made the best choice for the company," Terry replies in an equally icy tone. "Don't blame me for doing my job, Abbie."

"Of course, Terry. How dare I blame you for being a misogynistic bastard with no sense of integrity or decency? You'll end up running this magazine into the ground, but you know what? It's none of my fucking business anymore, because I quit!"

And with that, I spin around and walk out of his office, my heart breaking just a little more with every step that takes me away from the magazine.

I've lost control of every part of my life.