Contract Marriage with My CEO Boss (Kylan and Katrina)
Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Walking behind the pair of them as Kylan showed Nishel Titan Enterprises, was nothing short of humiliating agony

Were Kylan actually her husband. Katrina could imagine how much it seemed like he didn't care about her. Not with the way Nishel had her hand practically groping the bottom of Kylan's back.

"The f*ck is this shit?" /

Aaron hissed from next to her

She looked up at her best friend, replaceing he was staring at Nishel and Kylan with a pointed glare. "It's nothing, Aaron. It's fine. I'm sure he's just trying to be polite," she whispered back to him, not fully believing the words as she said them.

"He's being a dick, Kate. I know things have been weird between you since Portland, but this is disrespectful. Let me say something to hum, please. 1 don't give a f*ck if he fires me because of it." Aaron sounded like he did mean what he was saying, and she would be lying if she didn't think about taking him up on his offer.

"It's fine, Aaron. Really. It's fine." she murmured to him, turning down another row of machines behind Rylan and Nishel

"Gardner, up here with me. Nishel has some questions," Kylan barked back at Aaron.

Aaron sighed but then listened to their boss

She watched the three of them walk, feeling entirely alone as she did.

-0-0-0-

Oscar drove them to the French restaurant that Kylan had taken her to at the beginning of the contract. She ignored the way he stared at her in the rearview mirror periodically.

Kylan wasn't sitting next to her in the SUV, instead, he was next to Nishel whilst she sat by Aaron. She was in the row behind them, watching as Nishel sat far too close to Rylan. Watching as she openly flirted with him. Watching as she put an arm around the back of his seat, and he didn't push it away.

She felt sick to her stomach. Dizzy. So dizzy and untethered.

Aaron leaned forward without warning and sneezed directly onto Nishel's arm. She stared at him, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry. Gotta be winter allergies. Terribly sorry, Miss. And so sorry, Sir." Aaron feigned innocence, but she knew he had done it all

on purpose.

In worked, though. Nishel withdrew her arm with a disgusted glance back at Aaron. Kylan also made sure Aaron saw his own disdain, but Aaron merely smiled at him sheepishly.

And then Aaron put his hand on her knee and squeezed lightly. She put her hand over his for a moment and squeezed back

It was nice to know someone was thinking of her. Even if it wasn't the person who should have been taking her feelings into consideration in the first place.

Kylan didn't sit by her side at lunch, either. Instead, he sat across from her and let Aaron sit next to her once more. She ordered a bowl of soup and Kylan didn't a glass of water, hardly having the stomach for anything more.

She listened to Nishel talk about herself too much, the Nightfall too much, and Kylan too.

much.

"Tell me, Katrina.. How is it being married to New York City's most eligible billionaire! He's fantastic in bed, isn't he? I myself couldn't walk for two-days after our night together." Nishel was staring at her, her blue eyes bright and glinting in the low lighting of the restaurant She felt so small. So small and unimportant. Especially when Kylan still did nothing to stop her from talking to her like she was

"He's. He's exactly as you would expect him to be in a relationship. Cold Aloof. Arrogant." She shouldn't be saying any of it. She should be praising him. "He's full of surprises, Kylan Ross. One minute his tongue is down your throat and then the next, he won't look at you. You know? It's quite the game, really. Quite the experience. But I'm certain you know all about his bedroom antics, don't you, Nishelf"

She ignored the way Kylan was finally looking at her, only to glare at het now.

Nishel merely smirked at her, leaning forward to see her more fully. "My, my, Kylan, I can see your desire for feisty women hasn't changed since we slept together, she drawled.

She clenched her jaw, willing herself to remain calm. To not unleash a month's worth of frustration on this pathetically desperate woman.

-That's enough, Nishel," Kylan deadpanned.

She turned her gaze to his, startled when he looked back at her for the first time in a month. He was frowning, his grey eyes completely unreadable "Oh, thank you, Sir Thank you for speaking up on my behalf" Her tone was clipped and crisp, all pretenses were thrown out the damn window. "If

Chapter 33

you'll excuse me. I'll be in the car.

-

She wiped her mouth with a napkin and then stood from the table grabbing her briefcase and jacket.

Aaron made to stand too, but she shook her head. "Enjoy your lunch," she instructed him briskly

With that, she left the restaurant, making herself stare straight ahead and not back at the man who was playing her heart like a fiddle.

-0-0-0-

The drive to headquarters was riddled with unspoken tension. Tension from Kylan, from Nishel, and from her best friend next to her.

Once back at Ross Corp, she followed both Mishel and Kylan up to his offer. Aaron took his leave along the way, quietly promising her he would come over that night

She

e sat in her chair, watching silently as Nishel walked around Kylan's desk and stood near where he was situated in his own seat.

"If you don't mind filling out these questions and enuiling them to me, I'll have the article done by the end of the week. Nishel rested a hand on Kylan's shoulder, seemingly not caring that Katrina was still around. She stranghaened up and cleared her throat, smoothing down her dress. "Do you still have my number, Kylan?" she asked him with feigned innocence,

Her mouth dropped open, staring at this.. This woman practically openly propositioned her husband. Because to her, that's what he was to her

Kylan's jaw clenched, his gaze faxed on his desk. "I do not be responded, his voice low and careful.

Nishel smiled, reaching into her bag, and withdrawing what looked to be a business card. She placed it on Rylan's desk and then leaned down near his ear. "For later, if you want," she whispered.

She stood and directed her smile at her. "A bit of advice for you, Katrina. A man like Kylan Ross is far out of your league. You're an a But I do hope you perform your wifely duties at home" assistant, boney.

She watched as Nishel left the room, completely unable to say anything to her. Katrina blinked, her mouth open, her brows furrowed

She let her talk to her like that. Kylan let her.

"Katrina." Kylan's voice was uncharacteristically quiet in front of her.

Her fists were clenched in her lap, her fingernails digging into her skin. Her heart was racing. So many feelings, so many unsaid words. All of it was swirling within her. All of it was begging to come out. To be released. To be said. "Katrina, I'm sor-"

Her eyes snapped up, immediately replaceing Kylan's. She'd never yelled at her boss. Never talked back to him, not really. Never stood up for herself when he reprimanded her. Now though? Now she needed to

She had been humiliated Degraded Disrespected. Right in front of Kylan. And he had done next to nothing to stop any of it.

"Planning on calling her number, Kylan?" she asked him, her voice a mere whisper right now. He was Kylan right now. Not her boss. Not her superior, Just kylan.

"Why the f*ck would I do that?" Kylan asked as if it should be obvious

It was anything but, not after his behavior or lack thereof. She heard herself laugh sarcastically. "Why the f*ck would you do that? Why the f*ck would you do that! She was hanging on you all day! You didn't push her away one single time."

Her voice was steadily gaining in volume, but it felt like an avalanche was cascading in her mind. In her heart. Her soul. She was tired of pretending Kylan wasn't hurting her

woman." Kylan was staring at her, his eyes ablaze in a way she hadn't seen

"I needed to impress her if you didn't realize. I don't give a f*ck about that woman for a month now.

"Bullshit, Kylan. Bullshit. There was no reason she needed to hang on you like that. You should have told her to stop. You should have pushed her away. You should have been holding my hand." She stood from her chair, walked around Rylan's desk, and stared down at him.

"You got upset with me for innocently sharing a bed with two of my friends. Yet you allowed that woman to touch you and caress you in wars you haven't allowed me to do for a month now. You let her. You let her get close to you. Why? Why could she be close to you?" This was so much bigger than today, and they both knew that. He had to know that, surely.

Kylan rose from his chair, standing so he was nearly chest-so-chest with her now. She glared at him and took a step back.

"She humiliated me today, Kylan. She made me feel small, unimportant, and like a damn burden. I'm worth more than the way you've been treating me. I'm an asset to both this company and to you. I expect to be treated as such. You've not looked at me, not talked to me, not 1- touched me for a month. I'm trying. I'm trying to keep up pretenses. To fuel the public's interest in your social media. To keep the contract going But you...you're letting a woman you've previously f*cked, hang all over you. Right in front of me."

2.52 PM

Chapter 55

Katrina was crying, tears falling from her eyes before she could stop them. She should feel embarrassed, but she couldn't. She couldn't feel embarrassed right now. Not when she was hurting as she was

"There's so much you're not telling me. I get that, I understand that. You don't have to talk about things you aren't ready to talk about. You don't have to address your nightmares. But Kylan.. This.. This is awful. I feel awful. To have her actually teach me how to become a wife and rub on my face how you two had been in bed? I feel so... So insignificant." She shook her head, looking out the window at the softly falling snow

She jumped when she felt a hand on her cheek, and she turned and met Kylan's gaze. He wasn't emotionless. For the first time in a month, he was looking at her with anything but apathy.

"Katrina... I don't... P*ck. I don't know how to talk to you." He gripped her face with both of his hands, moving to put his forehead against hers.

And for a moment, she let him. It was the first time he had touched her since her trip. Part of her wanted to revel in it, but most of her were still incredibly angry with Rylan. She pulled away slightly, frowning at him.

"It's simple. Kylan. You don't treat me like shit. You don't ignore me. You don't let a woman flirt with you in front of me or insult me and my being as a woman in front of you." Her voice broke at the end, and she groaned. "I hate this. I hate how you're treating me."

She lifted her hands to move his away from her face, and her fingers brushed something along his right wrist, just beneath the gold watch he was wearing. She pulled his wrist away and looked down

And then she gasped. Openly, and loudly. She gasped. It was the bracelet. From the Cracker Jack box. He was wearing it

Katrina pulled her hand back and slapped Kylan across the face before she registered what she was actually doing.

She stumbled away from him, her hands over her mouth in horror, her eyes wide. "I... I'm so sorry, Kylan." She panicked, absolutely panicked. She slapped him. Her boss.

Kylan's eyebrows were raised in quiet shock, his eyes fixed on hers but hard to read. "It's nothing I didn't deserve," he surprised the hell out of her by saying

"I'm... Christ. I'm sorry," she reiterated, tears falling from her eyes all the more steady now.

"Don't be sorry, Katrina. I'm the one who should be sorry" Kylan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't talk to you, okay? There's There's a lot of shit that I can't say. That I don't know how to say. That I'm not comfortable saying. I'm not. I'm not good at talking." Kylan frowned at her, but her eyes could only focus on his pale cheek which was slowly turning a bright red.

"I shouldn't have slapped you, Sir. But I also deserve to be treated with more respect. You didn't do that today. You haven't really been doing that for a while now. I can't make you talk to me, but I can demand respect." She squared her shoulders and wiped the tears away from beneath her eyes. "If that isn't something you can do, I'll be resigning as your assistant, effective immediately." She didn't want to leave Ross Corp, but she would. She would if Kylan wasn't planning on changing how he treated her or allowed others to treat

her.

"I'll Christ, I'll be better. Don't Just don't leave m......... almost pleading with her.

Don't leave Ross Corp. Please?" Kylan's voice was surprisingly quiet and docile, his eyes

"I'll give you one more opportunity to prove me wrong, Kylan Ross."

Katrina

gave him one last, lingering look, and then she turned around and left his office with her head held high, tears still drying on her face, but a smile nearly working its way onto her lips.