“Get up, baby doll, before I break my word,” I growl.
She launches herself off my lap, fixes her suit, grabs the ice pack, and rushes out into the hall.
I let her retreat solely because any amount of friction—even just from walking—will tip me over the edge.After dropping my head back on the couch and taking a few calming breaths, I rise, adjust myself, and settle into my office chair.
Work demands my attention for a while, but not long after, my curiosity gets the better of me, so I pull up Audrey’s files.Skimming through her information, I do a double take of her address.
Disbelief halts my thoughts.I recheck her address, pull it up on maps, and check again.
If she truly lives where her records state, then something is terribly wrong.Not quite in the slums, her apartment complex is on the edge of the least favorable section of the cheapest area within a reasonable daily commute of the office.
She must have lived there when she was first hired and failed to update her address over the years.
It may make me a creep, but I’ll either follow her home after work in secret or find some reason to drive her.
The initial employment date cannot be correct either.Someone in records must have been having a bad day when they input her information.According to the form, she was fifteen when she began working for the company.
Movement on the hall security feed catches my attention.Ms.Baker rises from Audrey’s old desk and reaches for my office doors.I close all tabs pertaining to my baby doll and sign off the computer as Ms.Baker knocks.I bid her enter and rise as she notifies me of the next meeting with impressive punctuality.
Biting back a sigh, I drink half my water bottle, set it on the corner of my desk, and thank her on my way into the hall.
A tedious half hour later, I shake hands with the last meeting attendee and stride back through the open double doors of the CEO’s office, expecting at least Mr.Williams inside, but silence hums through the empty room.
No one has moved any of the papers on the coffee table either.My water bottle no longer sits on my desk, but the folders remain untouched.
Premonition settles in my gut.
I sign in to the computer and pull up the security feeds.When I can’t find Audrey in the main areas, I scroll through the rooms with less traffic.
She leans over the open printer, her focus on fixing a jam.Edgar closes and locks the door to the copier room.For a horrible moment, my feet remain rooted to the floor as she remains oblivious to his approach.My heart screams for her to rise and face him.He reaches for her.
I vault over my desk, dart through the double doors, sprint down the hall, swing around the corner, and kick the copier room door directly under the knob with all my strength.The wood splinters and swings open as my momentum carries me through into the room.
Edgar lies on his side, cradling his crotch with both hands.
I place a foot on either side of him, grab his collar, lift him half a foot off the floor, and bury my fist in his face.His nose shatters.Blood pours down from his nostrils.I rear back and punch him again.His eyes roll back as his hands flop to the linoleum and his entire body goes lax.I pull my fist back again.
Cold, trembling fingers close around my wrist.
I lift my head and meet Audrey’s dazed green eyes.Her normally pale face is paperwhite, making her freckles appear darker.She blinks, takes a slow glance between Edgar and I, then lists to the side.
I wrap my arms around her and shuffle her to the far side of the room, blocking her away from the world with my bulk and offering her all my support as other workers fill the hallway.Ms.Baker’s face catches my attention.Her unimpressed expression turns sour as she focuses on my arms.Blood drips off my knuckles.
“Ms.Baker, call security,” I demand.
She turns and disappears down the hall.
Audrey stands as stiff as stone with her fists tight at her sides despite the tremors wracking through her body.
“You’re okay, baby doll.I’m here.I’ve got you.Breathe.”She swallows and shakes her head.“Just hold it together for a few more minutes, and I’ll get you somewhere quiet,” I murmur against the top of her head.
A walkie-talkie chirps as three men push through the crowd and enter the room.
The Hispanic man Audrey was flirting with at the wedding this past weekend—his name badge reads Carlos Lopez—notes the shattered door with neutral eyes as he strides past it.His expression hardens when he recognizes Audrey.I tighten my arms around her.
Her pupils shrink and she shakes harder when she notices him, but she doesn’t pull away from me.
“What happened?”Mr.Lopez asks.
