Chapter 4: Fragile Tension

There's a strange obsession
That's drawing us nearer
We don't understand it
It never gets clearer

There's something mystical in our genes
So simplistic it kicks and screams

- Depeche Mode

Bonnie

I sat rather heavily in the chair at my desk, not sure my legs would hold me up any longer. I wasn't even sure how I managed to walk out of Enzo's office. I'd never been so close to begging a man to take me as I just was. The reaction to my boss was so not good, but no matter who he was, I was still in a relationship with Matt, even if he had been acting like a first class jerk. But I couldn't ignore the strong attraction I had to Enzo, even if I wanted to.

"You ready?"

Shit. I hadn't even heard him walk out of his office. I quickly stood and collected my notebook and pens from my desk, then joined him. "Ready as I'll ever be."

We walked side by side down the corridor, which I presumed led to the conference room. I could smell him – all man and cologne. There was nothing sexier.

As we rounded the corner, Enzo opened the door for me. I started to walk through and stopped dead at the sight of Matt, sitting in the conference room. His expression changed from confusion to fury. Enzo walked into me and just about stopped me from falling flat on my face.

He had an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me tight against his body. He didn't let me go. I turned my head to look behind me and clashed with Enzo's eyes. Our faces were inches apart, my heart pounded and all I wanted to do was lean that little bit closer and taste him, but instead, I came back to my senses. "Let me go," I whispered.

He briefly tightened his arm around me, then very slowly unwrapped himself and ushered me further into the room. Matt was sitting with two of his colleagues, Finn and Elijah. He looked…. speechless. "Hello Matt. Finn. Elijah."

Enzo took hold of my elbow and pushed me into the chair to his right. Matt still seemed at a loss for words.

"I hope the fact that Bonnie is now my assistant, won't cause problems. I know Bonnie had nothing to do with your bid, so it certainly shouldn't cause a conflict of interest," Enzo told them.

I watched Matt glare at me, which was starting to piss me off. I lost my job, so why shouldn't I have found another one? Okay, perhaps I should have told him about it, but I really didn't want a lecture, which is what I would have gotten.

"How long have you been here, Bonnie?"

I knew that tone of voice. He was pissed. "I started here this morning."

His eyes narrowed. "So... while we were being intimate this morning, you didn't think to tell me?"

Bastard.

"Enough." I jumped when Enzo banged the table with his fist. He looked just as pissed as Matt. "Do you have a bid to make or not?" Enzo demanded.

Elijah cleared his throat at the little confrontation and started waffling on and on. All the time, Matt was sitting glaring at me, giving his input for his company's proposal here and there. He was an ass. Why was I only just seeing that now? How the hell can anyone who gave a damn about someone blurt something 'intimate' out?

Enzo sensed my unease and slipped his hand under the table, then caressed my hand before he entwined his fingers with mine. I held tight and caressed along his thumb. It was so wrong, but it felt so good. It was soothing, but my blood still sizzled.

If holding hands with Enzo made me feel hot and bothered, what would it feel like to be held by him, skin to skin? He squeezed my hand and released me, then he ran the back of his hand along my thigh and hip before he brought his hand back above the table. The trail his hand left me quivering with need.

He looked at me, his gaze scorching. "Can you make a note of that?" He smiled, knowing what he'd done to me.

With a shake to my hand, I started to put pen to paper, but couldn't remember what was said. My mind had been on Enzo and not on the meeting. He realized my predicament, so he repeated what he wanted noted.

We didn't touch for the rest of the meeting, which carried on just fine, and Matt seemed to have stopped being a jerk. I still couldn't believe he announced to everyone that we had sex this morning, something I really would have preferred Enzo not knowing. Admittedly, I should have corrected him and pointed out that Matt was the one being intimate, while I'd just laid there and accepted him.

Finn passed Enzo the copies of the documents and drawings he was keeping for his meeting with his brothers, so I stood and hoped for a quick escape. I glanced towards Enzo and realized he had too much to carry back to his office.

"It's okay, Bonnie. You head back if you want. I can come back and retrieve the rest," he said.

I couldn't do that. I really just wanted to stay close to him. It had felt good having him touch me during the meeting and I wanted his hands on me again.

"It's okay. I'll stay and help." He frowned over my shoulder. I turned around and saw Matt standing there.

"Bonnie, can I have a word please, before I leave?"

I sensed the tension between Enzo and Matt. I turned to Enzo. "I'll only be a minute." He looked worried, which made me hesitate, then I turned back to Matt. "Let's go over there." I walked off and left him to follow.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bonnie?" He was still furious with me.

"I needed a job. I applied and got it. It's a good company to work for and you should be happy that I've found another job so quickly. It pays more as well."

"Well, I'm not happy. Why can't you just let me work, while you take care of the apartment or something?"

What the hell! "I can't live on fresh air, Matt." I was astonished. He wasn't even pissed because I'd kept the job a secret, but because I wasn't jobless and free to look after the apartment or something.

"I would give you housekeeping." He was still pissed.

Well I was too. "I'm too old to get 'pocket money' and what the hell was that in there about this morning?" I asked as I poked him in the chest with my finger.

"St. John was looking at you, so I wanted him to know who you woke up with this morning."

"You're an ass. Considering he knows I live with you, I guess he already knew I would have woken up with you this morning. That really was uncalled for."

"Bonnie. We need to get back to the office." Enzo called. Thank God. I really didn't want to be anywhere near Matt.

"Okay. I'm done here."

I started to walk back to the table to collect my belongings and some of the papers for Enzo, when Matt took hold of my arm.

"I'll see you at home, Bonnie. Don't forget we're meeting Jeremy and Anna tonight," he said, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

Enzo looked about ready to lose it. I pulled my arm away. "Whatever."

I followed Enzo out of the conference room.

Enzo

What the hell did Bonnie see in that bastard? I'd never felt like hitting anyone before like I did him. All through the meeting he glared at Bonnie, making her feel uncomfortable. I'd wanted her to know she had some support, so I'd slipped my hand under the table and ended up holding her hand, which had felt damn good. She caressed my thumb, while I imagined it was my cock.

I already felt possessive of her. Back in the conference room, all I'd wanted was to punch the bastard and to tell him to stay away from her. I'd lost all reason. I should have listened to Tyler the other night going on and on about the fact that I needed to get laid. It had been a hell of a long time and perhaps if I hadn't felt so damn horny, I might have actually been able to act like a CEO and not a hormonal teenager.

"Are these all right on here?" Bonnie asked.

I nodded and watched her place the documents onto the conference table in my office.

"Do you think you'd be able to type the notes up this afternoon?" I smiled at her and wanted her to smile in return. She did and it set her whole face alight. She was beautiful.

"No problem." She held her hands up and wriggled her fingers. "Super quick fingers here."

I laughed as I watched her leave, and before she shut the door, she winked. Bloody hell!

There was a lot of paperwork she'd stacked on my desk, but instead of sorting through it, I left that and checked my email to see if there was anything from Damon. Nothing. I picked up my cell and dialed his number, and was shocked as hell when he answered.

"Damon, where the hell are you?" I ran my fingers through my hair.

"I'm still in San Diego and our pal Julian is standing guard. What the hell is going on?"

I smiled. He didn't sound too happy. "Mason called. He wants you to fly to Chicago. Don't ask why, because I have no idea. He just asked me to get you on a plane. So now you're found, Julian will give you a ride to the airport so you can go and calm the baby down."

He roared with laughter. "You did not just call our eldest brother a baby? That was a good one. Just wait until I tell him."

I groaned.

Mason used to be just like Damon, but all that changed when he got torn up in a car accident. He now hid from the world in Illinois. He visited, but preferred his own space.

"Just go Damon, please. Make sure he's okay, then bring him home, if you can, for the picnic in a couple of weeks."

"Shit. I forgot all about that. Okay, will do."

After I'd disconnected, I tried not to think about Mason and how broken my brother was, and started to go through the spreadsheets John Gilbert had prepared for me yesterday. It turned out to be easier said than done thanks to the image of Bonnie in my head.

The thought of her going home to that idiot was making me see red. I didn't have the right to react like I did, but I couldn't stop myself. The attraction was instant, on both our parts. I hadn't mistaken that. There was something about her that called out to me and for once the thought of having more than a one-night-stand didn't leave me running scared. I knew that with Bonnie, once she came to me, I wouldn't let her go, because she would be mine.

With a heavy sigh, I decided to distract myself with work. But before I started to sort the paperwork out, I transferred the spreadsheets that I really needed to work on to a USB, so I could work on them at home. I then stood and walked towards the conference table to sort through the documents and sketches from Mikaelsons.

Four hours later, Bonnie entered with her arms full of paper. "What on earth do you have there?" I asked, going over and taking some of them from her.

"A cup of coffee," which she passed to me. "The typed notes, documents that a courier brought over, and the post, which I discovered, unopened, in a filing cabinet, I didn't even know existed," she said breathlessly while sorting them out into neat piles on my desk.

"Wow, you have been busy." I took a sip of coffee, which felt damn good going down my parched throat.

"I don't like sitting around doing nothing." She smiled at me. "It looks like you've been busy as well."

I laughed. Not one bit of the conference table was showing because of all the paper spread over it.

"Your brother rang."

Those three words froze me, mid-drink. "Which one?"

"The one who likes to flirt."

I saw red. "Damon," I said in a tight voice. "What did he say to you? I'll kill him."

She walked over to me and placed her hand on my arm. "Enzo please. He didn't offend me. He just wanted to know who I was, although I did draw the line when he asked for my dress size."

Shit. "You need to stay away from Damon. He goes through women as fast as people go through bread."

"That's a new one," she chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in your brother."

I couldn't look away from her. She was standing so close to me. I reached out to her and my hand caressed her face. She turned into my hand and kissed my palm. I put my cup down and moved closer. I took hold of her hand and laced my fingers through hers. My blood heated at her close proximity.

My cock was ready to burst free and wouldn't stop twitching. God, with one touch I would come.

"Enzo, what's happening?" she whispered.

I sucked some much needed air into my lungs and moved my hand from her face, then rested my forehead against hers. "I don't know…. but you need to go home. Now." I stepped back from her, which was the hardest thing I'd ever done. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bonnie." I watched the woman I wanted more than anything, leave my office. Knowing she was going home to the bastard who didn't deserve her, bothered me more than it should.

Author's Note:

Lovely reviews and all, thanks to everyone who is still reading. Next chapter we'll have Bonnie confront Matt, and Enzo finds out the real reason Bonnie was fired.