71
HAYLEY’S P.O.V
My father was in my boyfriend’s living room.
It took me longer than it should have it process what I was seeing because for a full minute, I just stood there staring and wondering if what I was seeing was an apparition or a figment of my imagination.
Dad was in a tailored suit and he sat at the counter with Jake. They were looking over the files together and I just stood there watching until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Kate handed me a mug of steaming hot coffee with a smile.
“You look like you’ll need that,” she whispered and I couldn’t help but laugh. I did need it.
The sound caught my father’s attention and he turned to me with a smile. He walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. I was suddenly so grateful that I decided to put on something before coming down. It would have been incredibly distasteful for my father to see me in nothing but Jake’s shirt.
“Did you bring clothes for me?” I asked and his brows furrowed in confusion. “Work clothes, dad, today is Monday.”
“You’re not going into work today.”
I snorted. “Like hell I’m not. I have a job, dad.”
“It isn’t safe. I’m your boss as well as your father-”
“You can’t be both right now,” I cut him off. “I’m not going to hide because some overgrown bitch decided to air my relationship all over social media. I don’t care if you stick me with a bodyguard or two but I won’t sit here, I will go crazy.”
He pursed his lips. He clearly didn’t agree with me and I knew that left to him, I would have spent the rest of my life locked indoors. I understood his fear and frustration but keeping me inside was only going to make matters worse. They wouldn’t stop until they got what they wanted and that was a glimpse of me. They wanted to see my reaction and I wasn’t going to give them the credit of dictating how and when they saw me. It was going to be on my terms.
“You can go, but with four guards,” dad argued and I snorted.
“One.”
“Three.”
“One.”
“Three, Hayley.”
“Two,” I bargained and he hesitated before nodding.
“You have a deal. What clothes do you want? I can ask Alana to give them to the driver for you.”
I held up a hand to stop me. “I’ll handle that, don’t worry about a thing.”
I was ready for work about an hour later and for once, I went the simpler route with cream colored pants, a matching jacket and a black sleeveless top.
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” Dad asked and I nodded slowly. “I can’t be at work today because I have to-”
“Help your client dad,” I cut him off with a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be safe.”
“You’re taking the driver.”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Whatever you say. Where am I going to meet my bodyguards?”
“They’ll be waiting for you at the office,” it was Jake who spoke. “You might recognize them.”
My brows rose. “You’ve had me trailed, haven’t you? How long?”
“For years,” he didn’t even hesitate. “It was one guard at first but I doubled it after we started-”
He trailed off not knowing how to finish. I wanted to be pissed at him but for once, I couldn’t. I understood why and I was grateful for it. it was a lot easier to have guards who were used to me than to have fresh guards watching over me.
Jake kissed me softly, not caring that my father was watching. “About last night-”
“I have to go to work,” I cut him off. “Can we talk about this later?”
He sighed before nodding. “I’ll be right here.”
The drive to work was nothing short of tense and the entire time, it felt like I was being watched. Our driver- Lucas- had been in the family for a long time. He mainly drove my father around but when I was younger, he used to drive me to and from school. He had to be in his fifties at least but somehow, I had never asked.
“You’ve seen the news, have you, Lucas?” I asked and he hesitated before nodding. “What do you think?”
“I’m not allowed to have an opinion.”
I snorted. “Please, you always have an opinion, especially when it comes to my love life.”
He laughed loud. “I’ve known Mr. Ryker for a while now, he seems like a decent guy, but you’re young and that’s always going to be what I see first.”
“You think I’m making a mistake.”
“You never make mistakes, Miss. Davis and even if you are, it’s one you can definitely bounce back from.”
He pulled into the office and my eyes widened when I saw the number of people standing outside. It wasn’t just the paparazzi, it was normal people as well, they had their phones up trying to get pictures of me through the car.
“”I can go in through the garage,” Lucas offered but I shook my head. I had no intentions of hiding.
“I’m good here.”
He sighed but parked in my usual spot and as soon as he turned off the car, two men were by my side opening the door. I recognized one of them, I had seen him twice- once at the coffee shop where I met Kate and the other time at the restaurant where we did our tem building exercise.
“This is a shitty place to park,” he drawled as soon as he opened the door. “It’s a frenzy out here.”
I could already hear the people screaming.
“That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?” I asked with a small smirk. “It’s your job to get me to safety.”
“You’re a walking hazard.”
I just shrugged. “That’s what makes it all the more fun.”
They steered me into the building, trying to keep me shielded from the flashing cameras and the screaming people. I was used to the noise and it was very easy to tune out but that didn’t mean that I didn’t get a headache from all the lights and get irritated by some of the questions.
It had been a while since I experienced this and I had never learned the art of schooling my expression. Their questions bordered on invasive and downright disrespectful.
“Hayley, are you really sleeping with a man twice your age?” someone asked.
“How do you feel being a home wrecker?”
“Wouldn’t you be better off with his child? You’re closer to his age.”
“Is your father bankrupt? Is that why you’re with an older man?
It took everything to not respond to the questions and just walk into the office. As soon as the door shut behind me and the silence descended, I let out a sigh of relief.
“After work, you’re going out through the garage,” the man from earlier hissed and I took the time to look at him.
He was tall with an athlete’s body. If I had to guess, I would have said he ran or something. His brown hair was cropped short and he had honey colored eyes that were currently staring at me with slight annoyance but also amusement.
His partner looked older than him with a bald head and light blue eyes. He was better at schooling his expression and just looked around, carefully assessing the crowd for any potential threats.
“What’s your name?” I asked the brown haired guy.
“Nick,” he answered easily. “If you want to report me to-”
“I have no intentions of reporting you,” I cut him off. “If I’m being honest, I quite like you.”
Without another word, I headed for the elevator.
Everyone was staring at me. I had to say that I expected it but I didn’t expect the outright hostility in their gazes. All I did was fuck a man, I didn’t steal someone’s husband or poison their spouse. I was living my life like I deserved to and yet, everyone looked at me like I was public enemy number one.
I found Sienna leaning against my door. She was the only one who seemed somewhat excited to see me.
“Do you want me to get rid of her?” Nick began but I stopped him.
“She’s a friend.”
As soon as I was close to her, she looked over me. “Are you okay?”
“As good as I can be, why?”
She let out a squeal. “Jake Ryker? You’re a lucky bitch. He is so hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad to see that you keep up with the tabloids.”
“Your face was on every social media I own. Are you alright? The media out there is a nightmare.”
“I’m fine, I-” I trailed off when Greg walked past me with a hateful look in his eyes. “I’m used to it.”
“They’ll come around soon,” she tried to assure me but we both knew it was a lie.
“Thank you for checking up on me but I have to go, I have a lot of work to get to,” I didn’t wait for her to respond before walking into my office and locking the door behind me.