Breaking All the Rules (Billionaire Romance) (The A List Series (Book 2)) (5 page)

Chapter SEVEN

Cora

I had nearly made it to the onramp for the 405 when I reached for my phone and realized it wasn’t there. Crap! I left it in Breccan’s office, sitting on the pile of receipts I was filing for the accountant. I so didn’t want to go back and face him again, but I couldn’t go all weekend without it. I made a U-turn and headed back to his beach house.

I was ecstatic when I pulled up and saw that Miranda’s car was gone.
Thank God for small miracles.
Using my key, I entered the house and slipped out of my flip flops, padding barefoot down the hall. “Breccan?” I called, but got no response.
I know he’s here still. His car is in the driveway.
The office was empty when I entered it, but my phone was right where I thought it was. Grabbing it, I peered back down the hallway into the master bedroom. The door was open and the lights were off, so I didn’t think he was there either.
Where was he?

I debated just leaving, not wanting another confrontation, but as I headed back into the living room, I heard a noise coming from the left wing of the house. “Breccan?” I called softly again.

As I tiptoed closer, a low voice was mumbling.
Was something wrong? Was he okay?
The blue door, the one I wasn’t allowed to enter, was open. I paused, wondering what to do next. He clearly didn’t want me in that room.

The low mumbling got louder, angrier, until I could discern every word. “I don’t give a shit what that asshole says happened. It’s your job to make sure these things never happen. Never! Do you hear me?”

I paused, not sure what to do.

“Do you have any idea how much I pay you people? Any idea at all? It’s your job to make sure this type of thing
never
happens. NEVER! You need to control this. I cannot control everything. Do you understand me? I cannot control this!”

Something shattered, making me jump where I stood in the hallway.

“FUCK!” Breccan yelled, before something else was thrown against the wall, followed by a “Shit! Fuck!” There was a second of silence, and then the hairs on my airs raised as a very primal growl came from the room.

I didn’t even think, rushing into the room to make sure he was okay. “Breccan? Oh my God, are you okay?”

His head whipped around, his eyes wide and furious. “What the fuck are you doing here, Cora?”

I halted in my tracks. Holy shit. I was in the room. I wasn’t supposed to be in this room. “I… I heard you scream. I thought you might have been in trouble. Or needed help. Are you okay?”

My eyes roamed the forbidden surroundings, but there was nothing forbidden about it. It was just a bedroom with outdated furniture. Immaculate, but outdated. Everything, from the wallpaper to the shag carpet, screamed 1970’s. Breccan knelt on the floor, picking tiny shards of glass out of the thick fibers. “You’re bleeding, Breccan.”

He looked down as one tiny crimson drop slipped off the tip of his finger and onto the pristine gold carpet. A low growl emanated from his chest, rising with each passing second. I wasn’t sure if he was angry at me, the blood on the carpet, or whoever he’d just hung up on, but either way it wasn’t good. I backed out of the room and headed for the front door, locking it behind me. I didn’t look back. I was too afraid of what I’d see.

For the next week and a half, I worked closely with Chase while barely speaking with Breccan. When he wasn’t moody and brooding, he was distant, barely speaking more than a few words at me. Pristine

I was over whatever crawled up his butt, and was more than ready to give him a piece of my mind—and my notice that I was quitting. The only thing keeping me from going off on Breccan was Simon’s threats to send me back to Ohio and live with Mom if I lost him his best client. Of course, he just thought Breccan was being his usual overbearing, controlling self. He had no idea what really happened between us, or why I was truly so heartbroken. Because that’s what I was: heartbroken. We’d had this amazing night after two months of growing closer and then for him to just completely cut me off, I felt… crushed. Bamboozled. Stupid.

So Stupid.

Chase was doing a great job at keeping me distracted. He was smart and funny and ridiculously hot. Every day for the past week we’d spent going out to happy hour, watching a movie in my apartment, or enjoying take out pizza. Since both of us were relatively new to town, it was nice to finally find a friend to hang out with, and better yet, vent about horrible bosses.

And even though Chase had a serious girlfriend back home and we were strictly friends—having more of a brother/ sister relationship than anything remotely romantic—I still enjoyed the view whenever he was around.

I typed out an email, putting out a small fire as I watched Breccan give an interview to
Entertainment Tonight
on the small prompter. He was amazing, bright eyes full of life with just a hint of mischief. He played for the camera, flirting just enough with the interviewer and really amped up the charm. It was easy to see why everyone loved him. He was magnetizing. The entire crew, and I’m sure the audience, were eating out of the palm of his hands.

I slipped my phone back in my pocket and walked closer to the set, watching the interview live for myself.  Miranda was back at hair and makeup with Chase, giving me free time to watch Breccan without her hanging all over him.

As Breccan answered the interviewer’s questions, his gaze caught mine, holding me captive. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t look away. His eyes were so expressive, his emotions practically spewing out of them as they spoke everything I’d been longing to hear him say for weeks.

I didn’t breathe. I didn’t move, just letting the emotions of his gaze fill me, conveying everything that we’d left unsaid for the last two weeks. Regret, longing, and desire swirled together and poured out of them and reflected in my own. Everything else faded away except for Breccan. His voice filling my ears, though his words weren’t directed at me. I wanted to go to him, to run into his arms, but it wasn’t possible.

Right then, in that moment, it didn’t matter to me what happened after our night together or why Miranda came back into the picture. His eyes conveyed everything he’d held back for weeks and I knew with every ounce of my being that all of this had been a giant misunderstanding and that Breccan truly wanted to be with me. Wanted us. Together.

Suddenly, I couldn’t wait for this interview to be over. I practically bounced on my toes, ready to jump into his arms the moment the camera’s turned off.

I didn’t even notice when Chase slid beside me. “Hey, darlin’,” he whispered in my ear, causing me to jump.

I put my hand over my pounding heart, irritated that my intense connection with Breccan had been broken.

“Hey. What’s up?” I whispered back. We were live on set, where chatting was heavily frowned upon due to open mics.

Chase bent, speaking directly in my ear. “I just heard from my girlfriend, Meg. She was able to get the rest of the week off and is flying out here. Tonight. And…” he paused, turning my body a bit and grabbing my hands. He pulled them against him and slipped something into my palm. “I got the ring. I’m going to propose.”

My face lit up in excitement and I threw my arms around him. “Oh my God!” I squealed ever so quietly in his ear. “That is amazing. I’m so happy for you!”

I wrapped one arm around him, pulling him into a hug, but ended up pulling his face almost directly to mine like we were kissing. As I let go, Chase flew backwards, being knocked into the ground.

“You keep your fucking hands off of her! Do you hear me?” Fire raged in Breccan’s eyes. His breaths coming in short and heavy, shouting as he pulled a fist back, punching Chase in the eye.

“Oh my God! Breccan, stop! What the hell are you doing?” I cried.

Breccan didn’t let up, pulling back for a second punch. “If I ever see you try to touch her again, I’ll kill you. I swear to God I will. She’s mine, you piece of shit. Mine!”

I didn’t know what to say or do, just standing frozen on the set as Breccan punched Chase again, and a third time. Security came running to break them apart, but I couldn’t move, too in shock.
She’s mine
. Breccan’s words echoed in my head, but I didn’t understand them at all. Why was he so angry? Why did he go off like that?

Just as security separated Breccan from Chase, Miranda grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin as she whirled me around. Venom spewed from her eyes and she slapped me hard across the face. “You fucking cunt,” she swore. “You’re not good enough for him. You’ll never been good enough. He belongs with me!”

I brought my hand up to my stinging cheek, wiping blood from my nose, too taken aback to say or do anything. A third security guard wrapped his beefy arm around Miranda’s tiny waist just as she struck me a second time. Her nails scratching down my arm as he hauled her away, screaming profanities at me the entire way.

“Are you okay?” someone asked me, handing me an ice pack. “Do you need medical attention?”

The sudden chill from the ice on my cheek knocked me out of my haze and back into the present. I shook my head. “I’m… I’m okay,” I managed to get out.

My jaw nearly dropped on the floor when I looked at the scene around me. The floor was stained with drops of Chase’s blood. Equipment and tables had been knocked over in the struggle, broken glass was strewn about. The entire back side of the set looked like a bomb had gone off.

It was then that I saw the red light atop camera one. It was recording. It was still recording. My eyes flashed to the host, who had a handheld microphone up to her mouth as she reported live, exclaiming, “Breccan Laughry goes off the deep end, violently attacking an innocent bystander. And that’s not all; his on again, off again girlfriend Miranda Deveraux got in on the action too, slapping this woman here and calling her names we can’t mention on TV.”

The reporter shoved the microphone in my face, the camera and lights wheeling around as they focused on me. “Miss, can you tell us your name? What’s your relationship to Breccan and Miranda? What set them off?”

“No… no comment,” I stated, holding my hand over my eyes as the lights blinded me. It was all I could think of to say.

“Is Breccan on drugs? Can you tell us anything?” she tried again.

I needed to get out of there, fast. I pushed her microphone out of my face and turned on my heel, practically sprinting out of the studio and not stopping until I got into my car.

I had no idea what happened to Breccan. Or Miranda. Or Chase. Oh my God, Chase! I needed to find out if he was okay.

I got in my car and plugged in my Bluetooth, dialing his number. It went straight to voicemail. I tried a second time and then a third, but each time it went directly to voicemail.

Assuming they took him to the nearest hospital, I set my navigation system and began to drive to Cedar Sinai. I found a spot in the garage and made my way to the emergency room.

“Can you tell me if Chase Walker has been taken here?”

The receptionist barely glanced up at me. “Are you family?”

“No, but—”

“I can only give that information out to family. Sorry.” She didn’t give me a chance to argue, calling “next” to the person behind me and I was shoved aside.

Grumbling, I went back to my car, trying Chase on his cell again. I drove to another nearby hospital, but he wasn’t there either. Still not answering, I had no choice but to head back home.

What awaited me as I pulled up to my crappy apartment was insanity: pure and simple. At least a dozen news vans had set up on my street, with twice as many photographers and other nosy busybodies milling about. “Ho-ly shit.”

They were here for me. I knew it. I stopped my tiny Honda Civic hatchback in the middle of the street and put it in reverse, but another car had pulled in behind me, blocking my escape route. I had no choice but to move forward, directly into the eye of the storm.

I managed to pull into my designated spot and stepped out of the car. I was swarmed immediately, microphones shoved in my face, and flashes blinding me as people screamed my name. Guess they figured out who I was. I held my hands up and ducked my head, not replying at all and rushing as quickly as possible into my building.