Layla POV
“Are you shitting me right now?” I curse out loud as I look in the full-body mirror to see that I ripped my favorite tights all the way from the toes to the middle of my thighs. “Argh,” I said in frustration before taking them off again and throwing them into the trash.
I walk back to the drawers where my lingerie and tights are. I open the middle drawer and start moving around, looking for another one, but I can’t find any. “Fucking great,” I curse, walking out of my room and knocking next door into Jo’s room.
“Jo, open up,” I say as I pound on the door, and she opens it, one eye still closed and messy hair in front of her face.
“Who died?” she asks, and I walk past her into the bedroom.
“Hey, Leo,” I say as I walk past the bed and into the small closet she has at the end of her room.
“Hey, Layla,” Leo says, pulling his head out of the covers and watching me walk around in his girlfriend’s bedroom half-naked.
“What are you looking for?” Jo asks before she jumps back in bed and cuddles up to Leo. That has his eyes on me the entire time.
“I need these,” I say, holding her opaque dark black tights in my hand, and she nods.
“Hiding those legs, I see,” Leo says, and I flip him the bird before walking back into my room and closing the door before I go back to getting dressed. Today is my first day at the new job, and I can’t just show up showing my full legs tattoos. Unfortunately, having full-body tattoos is still not great in the corporate world.
I look at my reflection in the mirror, simple makeup with bright red lipstick. A dress that hugs my curves in all the right places and accentuates my prominent breasts. I tied my platinum blond hair into a sleek ponytail. The reflection made me smile. I grab everything else I need just before ordering an Uber.
Walking into the building, I can feel butterflies move in my stomach. I look around and don’t think I will ever get used to this luxury. They covered even the reception area of the building in marble. Everything is so sophisticated. I have never worked in a place like this.
I walk to the desk and politely wait to be acknowledged, but the girl behind the reception desk keeps her eyes on the computer, typing away while answering someone on her earpiece.
“Hi, Excuse me,” I say, but the girl raises her hand, stopping me, and I see red. If there’s something I don’t stand, it is when someone shoves their hand in my face, asking me to shut up. I smack her hand away, and her eyes meet mine, and I beam.
“I am here for Mr. Ashford,” I say, and her eyes almost come out of their sockets as she looks at me. I roll my eyes, changing the weight from one leg to another as she types again on her phone.
“Ashford Media, please hold,” she says before grabbing a magnetic card and giving it to me. “Thirtieth floor,” she says, and I smile, grabbing the card from her and following the sea of people that walk towards the elevators.
I stand behind a group of people waiting for the elevator, and when the doors open, everyone moves. I move to the back of the elevator, almost resting my back against the icy wall.
“Excuse me, can you please press number thirty please?” I ask, and the woman looks me up and down and clicks her tongue before pressing the button. I watch as she grabs her phone from her bag and starts typing a text straight away.
Everyone leaves the elevator on their floors, and I am the only one left, and when the doors open, I see Esther waiting for me with a broad smile on her face.
“Layla, I’m glad you’re here,” she says as she guides me through the corridor that is full of double doors until we reach a white room with windows from floor to ceiling. I can see the statue of liberty from here, and I can’t help but let a “wow” come out of my lips.
“This is beautiful,” I say, and Esther smiles as she guides me to the small room where we can leave our belongings.
“No cell phones allowed during work times,” Esther says, and I nod, grabbing my phone and typing a quick text to Jo, “Phones not allowed. I’ll message during lunch,” and I hit send. I shove it into my fake Celine bag and smile at Esther.
“Today is a good day for you to start, Richard. I mean, Mr. Ashford is out all week. He had to go to London”, she says, and I smile. Esther guides me through the floor, showing me around all the small offices and meeting rooms, the copy room, and the small cafeteria area, where we have a massive fridge, but the only food there is Esther’s.
“Make sure to bring something easy and quick to eat, and you will always have to eat while working, Ri… Mr. Ashford doesn’t like us away from our desk long”, she says, and I nod. Packed lunch it is from now on.
“Sure, no problem,” I say just before the phone starts ringing, and Esther gives me a headpiece like hers just before she answers the phone.
“Richard Ashford office, how can I help?” she asks, and I take notes on the small notepad she gave me. I expected technology to be used here, so I could do things faster, but I have to accept that they do everything by hand.
At the end of the day, I leave the office, and I have to say I am enjoying the job. There’s always something to do, and I know it will never bore me like I was at my previous job. I never felt challenged there, and Esther said that I might be able to hire some help. Mr. Ashford doesn’t look at expenses when it’s making his employees work better and give their best.
“Taxi,” I shout, lifting my hand, and one stops right in front of me. I open the door and give him my address. The driver rolls his eyes, and I know what he is thinking. Just great driving to Brooklyn. I am so tired that I can’t even begin to think how I would feel if I took the subway.
“Finally,” Jo says as I walk into the house. I look at her, raising my eyebrow, and she passes me a glass of wine.
“How was it? Did you meet him?” she asks, making me shake my head. I know that Jo has been following everything about the Ashford brothers on the media since I can remember; that’s why she is so excited for me to work there. She has a massive crush on Frederick Ashford. He is a New York ranger, and she is utterly obsessed with him.
“I don’t think I will ever meet him, Jo. He doesn’t work there. He is just my boss’s brother”, I say, and she rolls her eyes, flopping on the couch and resting her feet on the coffee table.
Layla POVIt’s finally the weekend, and I can’t wait but to relax. I am wearing my most comfortable yoga pants with an oversized t-shirt that hits me almost on my knees. I am lazily lying down on the couch watching tv when Jo comes out of her room with tears in her eyes.“That bastard,” she curses, sitting on the end of the couch, moving my feet and resting them on her legs. I raise an eyebrow, looking at her, and she takes a deep breath, cleaning her tears with the back of her sleeve.“We’re going out,” she says, and I can’t help but laugh out loud. She must be on drugs or something. There’s no way in hell I am going out tonight. She looks at me, and it seems like she is reading my mind.“Come on, Layla, I need this,” she says, and I sit up on the couch, moving my knees against my chest and hugging my legs as I look at her.“And why is that?” I ask, and she bites her lower lip, looking at me. I keep looking at her, waiting for the bomb to drop. And fuck me, and it does drop.“I caugh
Richard POV“Come on, we have to go,” Dylan says, and I put my glass back down on the coffee table in front of me, “Jude is already there, and Fred should be arriving soon,” he says as I roll my eyes. If it weren’t for Dylan, I wouldn’t be going. Today is his birthday, and as the bohemian playboy he is, he decided to have a masquerade sex dungeon kind of party. I shake my head mentally. When is he going to fucking grow up?“Who thought that a sinners’ party was a good idea?” I ask dryly, and Dylan laughs.“It’s fucking genius. There’s nothing better than sex, brother”, he says as he puts a hand on my shoulder before he starts walking out.“You need to chill and get fucking laid,” Dylan says, and I shake my head. The thought of a random woman touching me makes my entire body shiver. I push away the idea and follow him out of my house. We walk straight to Nando, who is waiting for us by the car with the back door already opened.“Nando, my man, how are you?” Dylan asks, shaking his hand
Layla POVOnce inside, I look around. This is the craziest place I have ever been to. I look at the entrance wall, and it has a map with all the different rooms and what happens in them. I smile, realizing that quickly this is becoming a sex party and not just an ordinary party. Whoever came up with this party is a freaking genius. I have never done anything like this before. People might think I am outgoing because of my looks, but I am kind of an introvert. I like staying home cuddled up with a pleasant set of comfy pajamas and watching TV. “This is insane,” Jo whispers in my ear, and I nod in agreement. It really is. She holds my hand, and we walk inside. I can feel the butterflies dancing in my stomach. “Ladies,” a man dressed all in black with beautiful green eyes approaches us and smiles, “There are some rules I need to explain,” he says, and we both nod. “Rule #1, your phones need to be turned off, and a sticker will be placed in front of your cameras.”“Rule #2, Masks need
Layla POV“That is something I have never been called before,” he whispers, and I smile as his hands keep moving up and down my body, exploring every inch of it.I gather the courage and move my hands down his arms and then up again, moving them to his chest and undoing the buttons from his shirt, exposing his tanned skin covered in a small layer of chest hair. I can’t help but pass my fingers over them. His skin is hot, and his chest is hard. I move my hands to his shoulder and peel his shirt off, leaving him completely exposed to me. His skin is clear of tattoos, and I can’t help but kiss his shoulder.His hand moves further along my pussy. He can feel how wet I am because slowly, he slides one finger inside of me, making me squirm, while with another finger, he plays with my clit. I close my eyes, moaning, and he covers my mouth with his hand. I can’t help but lick him, and he smiles. Too bad it is so dark I can barely see his facial features. But let’s be honest, and I don’t need
Richard POV "Good morning," I hear Mrs. Nichols say as I walk into the kitchen. I smile at her as I grab a cup from the cabinet. "Good morning," I reply as she pours me coffee. It smells amazing. I grab my cup and walk to my office. I put the cup on the coaster, sit on my chair, and turn on my laptop. I open my email and immediately regret doing so, I have already thirty-two, and it's only six thirty in the morning. There's one from Dylan and another from Jude. I decide to open those first and regret immediately opening Dylan's. "Hey bro, I thought you would like to have a look at these pictures that I got my hands on. Don't worry; I took care of them, and no one got to see them, but damn…." I open the attachments to find two pictures of me and the mysterious brunette at the party. The first photo is of her pressed against the wall while I fucked her from behind, and the second one is of
Layla POV He's a dick. I shake my head as I walk to the elevator. I press the button and realize I have no idea what floor IT is. I walk back to the desk to ask Esther, but she is not there. I looked all around the floor, and I couldn't find her. Is she in there with him? I take a deep breath and walk to the door stopping a few inches away, my shoes almost touching the door. As I raise my hand to knock, the door slams open, and a big Richard Ashford slams his massive body against mine, making me take a few steps back. His fist grips my arm, keeping me in place, and the warmth of his hand irradiates through my arm. My eyes lock on his deep blue eyes, and he is very serious. "Where have you been?" he asks, and I blink a couple of times, trying to make my brain function again. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, and when I realize he is looking at me with a death stare, I take one step back, making his hand fall on his side.
Layla POV It's almost eight o'clock when I finish everything I have to do at work. I had to stay a few extra hours to sort everything out and get all the paperwork into the appropriate folders on the iPad. I have a banging headache, and I am starving. I didn't have time to eat. The phone kept ringing non-stop with the people I canceled the meetings with complaining they waited months for the appointment. Well, they were lucky I managed to squeeze them where I did. Ricard will be finishing work later every day for the next three weeks. It was that or made everyone wait months again. I sit back on my chair, stretching my arms above my head and moving my neck from side to side. I turn my iMac off, and as I place the iPad on the charge, the elevator door opens, and Richard walks in. He is holding his jacket in his hand, and on the other hand, he has his phone while he scrolls through.&nb
Richard POV "How is Esther doing?" dad asks, and I put my fork down and look at him. He hasn't been to the hospital to see her yet. The man hates that place, and I can't really blame him. She worked for him for so many years that you would think he would have the consideration of going to visit her. But no, his fear of hospitals is more significant than his affection for Esther. "She's doing better, but she can't go home on her own, so I have my secretary looking at somewhere good for Esther to go live," I say, and dad nods. I can't have Esther struggling, and she will not be able to care for herself, so I am looking into an assisted living situation. Somewhere she can rest and enjoy painting as she loves. "She's a good woman," Mom says, and I agree with her. I grab my fork again and bring a piece of roast beef to my mouth. She really is, but at work, she was bec