Aftershock by Laurie Roma Read Free Book Online Page B

floor, and with a ding, the
elevator doors slid open.
    Four men stood in the doorway and
Caitlyn blinked at them in confusion as all four men sighed with relief. One of
the security guards rushed forward. “Thank god you’re okay, Mr. Steele! We’re
so sorry for the inconvenience. The system is up and running again.”
    A man in a suit stepped forward,
laughing. “Inconvenience? Hell, I would love to switch places with you if I
could get stuck in an elevator with this beauty.”
    In a split second the bubble of security
Caitlyn had felt burst as the stark reality of what they said hit her full
force. “Mr. Steele?” Caitlyn whispered.
    Tag cursed softly. “Caitlyn, I
can explain.”
    “The building is secure again.
The backup generator needed some tweaking, but everything—” The security guard
continued on.
    Not listening to a damn word the
guard was saying, Tag cursed again as he grabbed Caitlyn’s hand in his, pulling
her forward into the top floor office lobby.
    Caitlyn tried to jerk her arm
free, but his hold was too tight. She tried digging her feet into the plush carpet
to stop herself from being pulled with him as they entered the main office
area, but Tag just swung her up into his arms as he continued forward with
confident strides. With a shriek of outrage Caitlyn tried to free herself from
his hold, but he simply kept walking.   
    “Put me down, you son of a
bitch!” Caitlyn snarled.
    “Well, well. Nice of you to finally
show up,” a smug voice said.
    Caitlyn froze, going deathly
still. She let out a low sound of distress before she could stop herself as she
turned her head. Carl was standing in the doorway of what looked like a
conference room off to the right with Ryan leering at his side. 
    Tag frowned down at Caitlyn then his
head whipped around to arrow straight at the bastard that had spoken. An
overwhelming wave of protectiveness had Tag’s eyes narrowing on the two
sneering men.
     “Who the hell are you?” Tag’s
voice was like the crack of a whip.
    “Put me down. Put me down now .”
Caitlyn kept her voice low, so only Tag could hear it, but he could hear the anger
in her tone. Tag looked back down at her, his arms tightening reflexively, refusing
to let her go.
    “No.”
    “Let me go!” Caitlyn shrieked as
she swung her legs trying to get free. Tag relented, putting her down, but kept
an arm wrapped around her waist to hold her at his side.
     Carl was obviously stupider than
he looked as he glared at them. “Would you shut up, Caitlyn. My name is Carl
Lowenbaum. I’m one of the department heads of Manchester Klein. Who the hell
are you?”
    Tag’s smile was feral. “Tag
Steele. Grayson Taggart Steele.”
    Carl blanched, but he recovered
quickly. He shot Tag a nasty smile as he chuckled.  “Mr. Steele. Well, it seems
as though you have already met my…colleague. I’m sure she has shown you just
how…thorough she is at her job.”
    “What?” Caitlyn gasped.
    “Enough!” Such icy fury filled Tag’s
harsh voice that it made both Carl and Ryan take an unconscious step back. “Get
the fuck out of my building.”
    Carl’s jaw tensed. Switching targets,
he shot Caitlyn a look filled with such hatred she was shocked by it. “So that
ice bitch routine at work is all show, huh?  You just save it for people who
can help your career. At least now I know how you really keep your clients
happy.”
    Ryan snickered at Carl’s side. “I
knew she had to be doing something…extra.”
    Caitlyn’s eyes went glacial. “Go
fuck yourself. You’re just bitter because I’m better at what we do and all our
clients know it,” she snapped. She was past the point of caring that Carl was
her boss. Fuck it, he could fire her right now. She would not let Carl or Ryan
talk to her that way. 
    “You little bitch.”
    Caitlyn tried to leap at Ryan,
hands reaching out as if she could already imagine them around his scrawny little
neck, but Tag easily held her in place at his side. The icy