Chapter 52 Chapter Fifty-one
ARA
The soreness between my legs didn't go away until later in the morning. My brain tried to come up with an explanation as to why Thayne had fucked me in the elevator as if he was trying to steal some part of me and bury it inside his soul forever.
I couldn't forget the way he'd growled that I was his, and not even Nadia or his father could change that. Did that mean I was to remain by his side even if he was forced to marry Nadia?
She was carrying his child already, and Thayne certainly didn't want a baby mama, not when he was desperately in need of an heir and a wife.
I suddenly began to feel foolish for giving in to the desire that had flooded my veins the moment he'd turned me around in the elevator.
I could have asked him to stop when he gave me a choice. I betrayed myself by giving in to the carnal cravings of my traitorous body.
My head ached from the mental whiplash. I needed to distract myself from thinking about everything that had to do with Thayne. He was a living nightmare wearing a hot-to-hell body.
I headed for the kitchen. Perhaps I could ask the staff on duty to take a little break today so I could bake and cook.
Three hours of cooking and baking would be enough time to banish the self-destructive thoughts swimming in my head.
When I entered the kitchen, I bumped into the one person I never expected to see ever again. Claudia.
Didn't Thayne tell me that he fired her after I sneaked out of the penthouse?
Guilt dug its wicked, sharp talons in my chest. Claudia began to apologize, as though she'd been the one to bump into me instead of the other way round.
I'd been too busy overthinking again to notice that she was coming in my direction.
“Claudia, I'm really sorry. I did something bad, and it's very unfair that you're paying for it.” I told her.
"You're sorry? About what? Oh, dear. I'm the manager of the kitchen affairs now. I came for the weekly inspection.” She said, smiling broadly.
"Manager? I thought you were fired?” I asked her.
"Fired? Oh no. Mr. Slade Junior gave me a promotion after your return. I must confess, I thought I would lose my job after you went missing. I was supposed to be keeping an eye on you. But Mr. Slade Junior has a big heart. He promoted me instead.” As she rambled on, I tried not to let the shock show on my face.
Thayne had a big heart? He had a big cock, but his heart definitely wasn't one of the big things he possessed. Claudia was wrong, but she couldn't know that.
But why did Thayne mislead me into thinking he'd fired her? Was it to stop me from making any attempt to leave without his permission?
Perhaps he thought that telling me he'd fired Claudia would make me think twice about implicating his staff.
“It's nice seeing you again, Miss Irvington. I hope I'll be seeing you around." She made to move to the side, but I touched her elbow.
"Actually, I'm in the mood to bake. Can you show me where to find the baking ingredients and utensils?” I asked, giving her what I hoped was my best smile.
Claudia looked like I'd just told her I was pregnant with an alien baby. Her brows were sitting on her hairline.
“No, no, no baking or cooking or any of that for you. The kitchen staff will see to your needs. Thayne will fire me for real this time if he comes by and sees you with a cooking spoon.” She began to protest, trying to lead me away.
But I was a woman on a mission, and I couldn't give up just because Thayne wouldn't approve. Fuck him and his approval. Okay, I'd done the former many times, we could do the latter today.
"Claudia, it's just a way of trying to remember and honor my mother. She owned this restaurant before she left us. I managed it for years before I met Thayne.” I said in the softest voice I could manage, I even gave her my best puppy-dog eyes.
She sighed. Yay! I won her over.
“I understand, dear. If you will just follow me," she turned, gesturing for me to follow her.
I didn't even need the gesture. I was already following her like an obedient dog.
“Hello, everyone,” Claudia said as she led me into the most beautiful, tastefully arranged kitchen I'd ever seen.
All the staff turned their heads in unison.
"Miss Irvington will love to bake today, please, show her everything she needs.” Claudia told the wide eyed kitchen staff who all had their mouths hanging open.
Forty minutes later, I was kneading and rolling and mixing. The kitchen staff watched me arrange cupcakes on the baking tray with wonder in their eyes.
I had black and white cookies getting ready. I chose Valrhona cocoa and split the fondant with a straight line using the offset spatula one of the staff handed to me. I added a drop of Flori di Sicilia to the vanilla side so it tasted like Seinfeld's dream.
I made Babka from scratch, then Rainbow cookies—the Italian-American kind. My mother loved the ones with the natural juices so much.
I was on the Cacio e pepe when a hush fell over the kitchen and I lifted my head from the toasted pepper I was scooping from the plate.
Nadia. She shoved staff out of the way as she passed, even though they really weren't in her way. She pushed the lady holding out a pan of hot oil to her neighbor, and the pan tilted sideways, spilling hot oil on her arm.
She let out a blood curdling scream that scraped at my insides.
“Why do you enjoy torturing people? Why are you here?" I asked her, hating her for enjoying people's pain even when they'd done nothing to her.
“Is there a part of the building that is forbidden? I go where I want. Besides, I should be the one asking you why you're here. You shouldn't be allowed to come close to the kitchen. Lord knows what infections are swimming in your veins."
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, summoning my self-control from deep inside my bones.
When I opened my eyes, Nadia was already sniffing the cupcakes. Before I could warn her to watch her nose—her nose was just one breath away from rubbing the top of the cupcake—she swept her hand over the counter, and everything I'd worked for in the last four hours crashed to the floor.
The kitchen staff let out a collective gasp.
“What. Did. You. Just. Do?" I bit on each word, moving and walking, marching towards her with heavy steps.
“Who was even going to eat those? We don't want people dying of food poisoning here, unless of course it'll be you and your sisters.” Every word she spat fanned the flames of the destructive fire burning inside me.
I'd poured all of my love and memories of my mother into everything now a squashed mess on the floor. Every single recipe was in honor of my mother's cooking legacy, and Nadia had just defiled it.
“Leave this kitchen before I do what we'll both regret, Nadia. Leave now." I warned her despite seeing only red.
I was warning her for both our sakes.
She scoffed. “Remind me, what will you do? Grovel at my feet like the street rat you are?" She snickered.
She raised her leg, and with her eyes on me, she brought it down on the upturned tray in front of her.
“Come on, slumgirl. You fight dirty, don't you? Show us how much of an uncouth thing you are. Come on, do it." She goaded, grinning maliciously and stomping everything on the floor.
She stomped the trays all the way to the one right in front of me. And just when she lifted her leg, I bent and scooped up the tray. She missed and lost her footing. She slid backwards like a figure skater and fell sideways.
She smacked her forehead on the counter and the loud crack that followed was almost sickening.
Blood was already pooling on the floor, staining everything red. It looked like someone had baked with red flour and spilled everything on the floor.
I stared at Nadia's unmoving body in horror.
“Call the doctor!" Someone screamed.