Don’t Open That Door
Andrea was about to come over to his side when he said, ‘I’m okay. Sit.”
“But your hand.”
Austyn grabbed a tissue from a box on the desk and roughly wiped away the coffee stain. ‘I’m fine. Sit down. Continue.”
“Um, okay, uh, as I was saying…”
Austyn tossed the balled–up tissue at Kira, who swatted it away.
Intent on taking his revenge, Austyn wrapped both legs around her shoulders and pulled her in.
A lesson had to be taught.
Kira, unprepared for the sudden attack, lost her balance and pitched forward, planting her face right between his legs.
Austyn’s body stiffened all at once.
His breath caught.
Kira’s eyes widened.
She tried to pull back, but the man’s legs were pressed together instinctively.
A warm flush crept up her neck and flooded her face.
Meanwhile, Andrea was racking her brain for more things to say.
Daley had been on the job for less than a week.
What else was there to report?
Finally, the president said, ‘I see. You can go now.”
‘Yes, McCarthy.”
Andrea breathed out, grateful.
She left quickly, closing the door on her way out.
Kira clambered out from the cubbyhole and sucked in a deep breath.
Her face was beet red.
She pointed a trembling finger at the man. ‘You pervert!‘
“What did I do?‘ Austyn leaned back in his chair, looking at her with a faint trace of a smile.
“You know what you did!” she glared at him.
The man was shameless.
Kai walked in and paused. ‘Er, shall I come back later?‘
‘Don’t you know how to knock?” Austyn shot his assistant a look.
‘Ub, I did. You probably didn’t hear me.”
Kira stood with her back to Kal.
She didn’t want him to see her flushed face.
Kai held up the tray in his hands. ‘I brought lunch.”
“Take it to the lounge.‘ Austyn stood up. ‘Come.‘
‘I don’t want to intrude.‘ Kira eyed the door.
Don’t Open That Door
2
“Young Madam,‘ Kai said, ‘Boss has asked me to prepare lunch for two,‘
Was that why he sent Kai to bring her up here, just to have lunch?
Kira followed Austyn reluctantly to the adjoining lounge.
If she left now, she’d be confronted with curious glances from the secretaries.
Kai removed the dishes from the tray, arranged them on a round glass table and pulled out two chairs. ‘Enjoy.”
He left.
Kira picked at her food.
She observed Austyn.
The man was very fussy about what he ate.
He didn’t touch any of the spring onion or garlic and pushed aside fatty Ibérico pork cubes.
This was obviously a man who never starved a day in his life.
Kira swallowed a forkful of chilled somen noodles.
Thinking of the call she received an hour ago, she said, ‘Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
‘Did you…did you do something to Veron Enterprise?‘
She vaguely recalled the name of Georgina’s father’s company.
Austyn took a swig of his lemon seltzer. ‘Did your mother call you?”
‘No, it was Georgina…Wait, does that mean it’s true? You tried to bankrupt her father’s company?”
“I didn’t try,” Austyn said. ‘I succeeded.‘
He tapped a finger against the glass. ‘It will take Michael Vaughn…let’s see…about two months, tops, to fold his
business.‘
Kira was open–mouthed.
Austyn raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to punish the Vaughns after what they did to you?”
‘I…” Kira was at a loss for words.
“You couldn’t do anything in the past and had to let them bully you. But now you have me.‘ Austyn leaned forward.” And all the resources of the M Group at your disposal. If you want, I could do more than just bankrupt their company.”
His voice was low and tempting. ‘Don’t you want to get back at them? Don’t you hate the Vaughns?”
Kira lowered her eyes. “Who said I hated them…‘
“You can drop the act.‘ Austyn curled his lip. “Your mother abandoned you and your father for Michael Vaugh. After accident, you went to the Vaughns for help, didn’t you? What did they do? Did they give you a cheque, or kick you to the curb?”
His words brought back the humiliating memory.
Kira had knelt in front of Helen and Georgina, begging for money to save her father.
Her half–sister spat at her and called her a leech.
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