Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Desperation nipped at his heels as he redialed Pippi's number, but when his call went straight to voice mail, Acheron knew she had already blocked him from contacting her. He had the ruinous urge to throw something against the wall, followed by an equally ill-advised urge to march straight into Evans' office and leave her no choice but to face him.
But if he did that, Pippi would only have more reason to despise him - and transfer her affections to someone else.
Pippi might insist on seeing Evans as harmless, but Acheron had seen the way the other man had looked at Pippi, following her like some stalker as she headed straight into the lion's den.
While Evans' track record with women might be a lot less tarnished than Acheron's, it didn't mean the man was a saint, and Acheron was damn certain the asshole wouldn't hesitate to pounce on Pippi the first chance he got.
"Goddammit."
The thought of any other man making a move on his woman had Acheron surging to his feet in a fit of impotent fury, and when his fist connected with the wall in one powerful blow, the frighteningly forceful sound echoed past the four corners of his office and had everyone outside jumping in their seats.
In all the years Acheron had taken up the company's reins as its CEO, this was the very first time for his employees to witness the more violent side of his nature, and they found themselves looking at each other with trepidation and not a small amount of fear.
While Acheron had never kept his checkered past a secret, his polished and impressively urbane demeanor had made it easy for everyone to forget the darker truths of his life.
This time, however, was different.
When the CEO came striding out of his office, the deadly look on his handsome face had everyone cowering, and it was only when he disappeared into his private elevator that the employees sighed in relief.
Wickham didn't bother hiding his surprise when Acheron came up to his penthouse apartment well before work hours were over.
The last time this happened, Wickham thought, the boss had ended up hospitalized. Then again, that was also because he had come straight from a remote region in Africa, and as far as he knew, the farthest Acheron had been to in the past few days was the picturesque beachside town of Isla de Flores.
Following Acheron inside, Wickham saw his employer yank his tie off in a rare gesture of edgy impatience, and his concern deepened into worry. "Anything I can help you with, sir?"
"Just keep everyone out of my way." He still had four hours to kill before Pippi was set to clock out, and until then, burning calories at the fucking treadmill was the only likely thing to keep him from going insane.
Sixteen
I THINK I'M STILL IN shock. The words echoed endlessly in Pippi's mind while she went through the motions of acclimating herself with what would be her workplace for the next thirty days. The framed portrait of her family went to one corner while her wooden box of pens and highlighters went to another. She pulled her drawer open and started mechanically organizing the items that made up her survival kit at work. Her pad of sticky notes went to this side while her can of page tabs and metal clips went to the other. Her writing board went under this, and her dotted notebook went over that.
It was a mindless routine, which was unfortunate since this gave Pippi too much time to dwell on the four-minute conversation she had with Acheron. Even now, she had a hard time understanding how a day that had started so wonderfully could end in such a spectacularly dismal way. She had heard of relationships having its expected share of ups and downs, but surely this was too much?
Or maybe she had just been too blind and naive that she hadn't seen the trees for the forest, and Acheron really was a jerk, just like how all wealthy men—-
"Everything alright there?" Her new boss had come up to her desk, a puzzled look on his good-looking face. "You don't seem yourself somehow..."
Pippi took a deep breath, preparing herself to make up some lie, but the next thing she knew, she had her boss sputtering as she burst into tears. If she hadn't been so miserable, she might even have managed a teary laugh at the stunned expression that crossed Gareth Evans' face.
You're not alone, Pippi wanted to say. Because she was honestly shocked at herself as well.
Pippi had been alone at home when Great-Aunt Agatha had suddenly keeled over in front of her. Terrified out of her wits, she constantly fought against the urge to go into hysterics as she called 911 and did first aid while waiting for the paramedics.