He seemed to consider that for a second before that familiar tone seeped through, slick, dangerous and as soft as velvet laced with threat.
"Do you have a migraine? Or are you on your period? Nope, that’s not it. That’s not due for another week. Besides, that has never stopped us. Come on, Rune, open the door.” he cajoled.
She winced at how well he knew her body as her heart doing a tap-dance in her chest.
"I'm not your employee for much longer, Mr. Albury. I have been made redundant, remember?" she hissed, "Leave. Me. Alone."
"You're still under contract. Or did you forget certain parts which you are still bound by?"
Rune's breath hitched. Then she spoke as if through a mouth full of broken glass, "You broke the terms. Was Eve not satisfactory? Not submissive enough? You should be getting an STD panel, not knocking on my door."
A pause, and then a sudden bang that made the door shudder. It was the thud of his palm hitting the door in what had to be the first time she had seen him lose control.
Rune jumped back a step.
"Open the fucking door," he roared.
Her body froze.
He was drunk. He had to be.
Dorian never drank. He never lost control. He was predictable. What was this?
This was a side of him she had never seen. Something terrifying.
Rune backed away another step from the door. Her hands trembled as she grabbed her phone and dialled a number she had for emergencies.
"Rune?" Eli's sleepy voice came low and gravely.
"Dorian's at my door," she whispered. "And he's drunk."
There was a pause. Then, without question, "Don't open it. I'm coming."
She ended the call and stood still in the dark.
Dorian didn't knock again. But she could hear almost his ragged breathing like he was pressed against the wood listening.
She knew one thing for certain. He hadn't come for her. He'd come because she said no, because his ego couldn’t take the rejection.
Half an hour later, Rune watched nervously from her second-floor window as Eli's headlights cut through the narrow street, slicing gold into the dark. Rune waited by the edge of the window while gnawing on her thumbnail as she watched him step out of the car in a black coat. He looked up at her for a second before he disappeared into the building.
Eli had been Dorian's driver for years, the only person Rune suspected might know the full extent of what went on behind polished doors and inside penthouse walls. He was also Dorian's friend, just like Crispin was.
She opened the door cautiously, only to freeze at the sight of Dorian, slumped sideways against the wall outside her flat. His coat had ridden up. His knees were bent awkwardly, one shoe half off. His head lolled,and from his slightly open mouth came the unmistakable grunt of a snore.
Dorian Albury, polished and always pristine, now slouched like a drunk under a bridge.
"Bloody hell, what a knobhead. He must have taken a taxi," came Eli's voice behind her. "Didn't think it'd get this bad."
He stepped over with long strides, leaned down, and shook Dorian's shoulder. "Up, Boss."
Dorian groaned, opened one bleary eye, and blinked up at Rune. His lips curved into a dopey smile. It almost sent her into cardiac arrest.
"Mmm... you smell like coconuts," he mumbled, dipping forward to pull her towards him and bury his nose in her hair before she could move.
"Christ," Eli muttered. "Help me with him?"
She nodded, moving to Dorian's other side. Between them, they hefted him upright. Rune stiffened as he swayed against her, clinging weakly to her waist. He didn't resist, just muttered incoherently and sagged between them like dead weight. Dorian was a big guy, and it took both of them to navigate the narrow staircase with Dorian mumbling and stumbling every few steps. Rune's heart thudded hard with a strange emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on.
