Love to Hate: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Only Him Series Book 3) Read online

  “Wait, no, that isn’t what you want to do here,” Gio stood up with his hands out in front of him in a surrendering gesture. His tie hung loose, his hair stood up on ends, and his shirt was untucked in random places. He really didn’t want to be here, but he’d remained to ensure that I did the right thing.

  Maybe it was time for me to listen to him.

  “So what would you have me do?” Anger fell out of my mouth, pure unbridled rage tainted my tone. My hot, boiling blood bubbled, a red mist clouded my vision. I needed to take this anger out on someone...

  “Hmm? How do you think that I should tackle this?”

  “I think,” Gio’s tone was calculated, and his expression was serene. All he wanted to do was calm me down. Unfortunately for Gio, all that served to do was piss me off further. “That you should sleep on it. You need a space, some time. You’re a logical man, Jamie, and you always do the right thing. The reason you’re so successful is that you have great instincts. What you need to do is breathe first. Don’t act until you’re sure that it’s the right thing to do.”

  I nodded slowly, his words resonating deep within me. I was great at acting in the best way possible. Gio was right. I really did need to breathe. “Okay,” I agreed, cooling down just a little. “Okay, maybe I will. I might even take a couple of days off, and take some work home with me to do there. Get some distance from this place.”

  Relief flooded Gio’s expression; finally, I was acting sane enough for him to feel comfortable enough to grab hold of his jacket.

  “Yes, that sounds great. I’ll make sure this place is well looked after while you’re gone, then when the time is right, we’ll take action when it comes to Ashton, okay? You won’t need to worry about anything else.”

  He patted me on the back as I nodded, confident that he’d gotten through to me, then he walked from the darkened office and left me by myself. I was supposed to start rooting through my work, to see what I needed to give myself something to do at home to prevent me from going crazy, but something deep inside of me was preventing me from taking that step. I just hadn’t quite managed to get my head around Ashton yet, and what he’d done to me.

  When I recalled that networking event, where I first met Ashton and I assumed he was going to be a great person to be around, when I found myself incredibly turned on by his sweet, savvy attitude, my fists automatically balled up by my side.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. We were supposed to be friends, or at the very least rivals who respected one another. I just couldn’t believe how jealousy had changed everything.

  It just wasn’t right.

  “I can’t have this,” I hissed to myself, my rage swallowing me up whole all over again. “I can’t stand it.”

  I was so afraid of looking weak, so terrified of losing everything I’d worked for, that I felt the need to act instantly.

  I stood up rapidly, scraping my chair backward as I moved, and I shifted my body over to the window to stare at the glittering lights of the city that lay beneath me. It was dark now, late enough in the night to be able to do something bad, something taboo, something I would never want to talk about to anyone. It was only the late hour that made me feel confident that I could do something crazy enough to make a difference, which meant that I needed to act right away.

  I almost couldn’t stop myself. The temptation was too much. I grabbed my car keys and I stalked towards the door of my office, my heart hammering loudly and my ears buzzing with the betrayal. I knew that I needed to get this done immediately, that I had to go while I felt this way or I’d probably talk myself out of it.

  Gio was right about one thing: I was usually a very rational person, which made this need to act out of character even more overwhelming. The desire to stand up for myself pumped the blood through my body. It dug deep into my chest, and I couldn’t resist it... not that I was trying. I’d worked for this; I made it my own. The bones of the business were handed to me, but the rest was my own. I wasn’t about to let some idiot asshole get in the way of that, just because he was feeling petty.

  Ashton Carnn was going to pay, in one way or another. I wouldn’t let him get away with this. I needed to regain what was mine, and it was the only way.

  Ashton

  The cell phone clung between my fingers, the weight of what I had to do next almost crushing my fingers. The phone call that I’d had in the office was still freaking me out. I felt like things were starting to spiral out of my control and I needed to take action now before I drowned with it all. My lungs were already filling up with metaphorical water, leaving me barely able to breathe, and there was only so much more I could take.

  I didn’t like to ask for help, especially since I’d had to do it an embarrassing amount of times in my past, but what other choice did I have? Screwing over Jamie to make the company better wouldn’t work quick enough. I needed action now, and unfortunately, there was only one person who I could think of to dig me out. I’d tried everything to avoid having to do this, but it was never enough. This was all I had left.

  I hit the dial button and pressed the phone so hard into my head I felt like the imprint left behind would remain forever. As the ringing sound rang out, nervous vomit burst into my throat, and I felt compelled to clamp my lips shut just to stop it all from spilling out.

  I had to stop panicking. This would work; I needed it to.

  It was the only way.

  “Ah, Ashton, so nice to hear from you.” The sarcasm dripped off of every word. “What could I possibly have done to deserve a phone call from my youngest son? Why don’t I have a guess? Maybe it’s thanks for raising you by myself all those years, or perhaps it’s to wish me a happy birthday for the last three years, or maybe, just maybe you’re contacting me because yet again you need money.”

  It was his fault that I felt like I could only talk to him when I was desperate because he didn’t give a shit about anything else I had to say. If this wasn’t such a dire situation, I might’ve said all of that, but now wasn’t the time to voice my opinions. Not even the one about the snarky comment referring to the mom I never got to know, the one who died giving birth to me, leaving me the butt of a whole bunch of resentment. That was something I could deal with later on... or never.

  “Your silence says it all,” he sighed angrily. “So, how much do you need this time, and why?”

  My chest warmed, and my heart pumped grateful warm blood around my body. After all the crap we’d been through in our lives, however separated me and my father became, he was there for me when things got really hard. “Dad, I’ve got myself into a bit of a mess.” The weights floated off my shoulder as I unloaded my problems. “As you know, I’m in marketing now.”

  “Oh, are you? I thought that apps were going to be where you made your fortune.”

  I ignored that dig, because it didn’t serve any purpose to acknowledge it. “And my company is doing well. Or, it was, but my dreams are bigger. I want more. To try and achieve that, I made some investments.”

  “Oh God.” My father knew me well enough to know this story had no happy ending. “What did you do?”

  “Well, they weren’t good investments,” I decided to reply diplomatically. “And now I have a loan shark on my back. I’ve taken steps to ensure that I can pay them off in the long run, but I need just a little something to get them away from me now. Whatever I can borrow from you, I promise I’ll pay you back...”

  “No.” My Dad’s answer was so short and sharp that it actually took me aback for a second.

  “No?” I queried breathlessly. “No? What do you mean, no?”

  “I mean no. I’m not giving you any money. As usual, this is your own mess, you’ve gotten yourself into it. It needs to be you to get yourself out of it. I’m tired of bailing you out. I never have any of this nonsense from your siblings.”

  Urgh, my perfect brothers and sisters who never seemed to do anything wrong. It had always been that way, and it seemed that age hadn’t done anything to d
ull that. A lot of me trying to make a success of my life was just to impress my shitty family.

  “Plus, you never pay me back. I’m done bankrolling your idiocy.”

  “Dad, I don’t think you understand.” I grew desperate, as the magnitude of his ‘no’ hit me.

  If he refused, then I was stuffed. I honestly hadn’t even considered that an option. “I have people working for me, people who need me, and the loan shark...” I gulped noisily as I remembered his terrifying words to me. “His threats are getting more violent now. I’m scared that he’s going to really hurt me.”

  “I repeat, this is your mess, you get out of it.” Dad’s tone was ice cold, he really seemed to mean what he was saying. “I’m not doing it again.”

  “But there are others who will be affected...”

  “Then you shouldn’t have been so selfish if you have people relying on you. That’s one harsh life lesson that you need to learn. I really mean it, Ashton. I know you say that you’re trying this time and that it’s different, but I’ve heard it a million times before. I keep bailing you out and nothing ever changes. You need to grow up and to learn how to be a proper adult with your own responsibilities.”

  “No, Dad, please. This is serious. I have changed. I’m better now. This company means the world to me and so do the people within it...”

  “Then you will find a way to fix it. I don’t ever want you calling me for money again. You need to grow up, Ashton. I hope this situation makes a man out of you.”

  Then he was gone, leaving me totally alone with no safety net to fall back on. I stared at the blank screen of my phone, ferociously wondering what I should do next. My body was tumbling into the abyss. For the first time since I’d been alive, I felt truly and utterly afraid.

  The loan shark might actually kill me.

  My dad could’ve effectively signed my death warrant for me. Maybe he didn’t understand how serious I was. Maybe he assumed that I was being dramatic, but I really wasn’t. The death threat still filled my eardrums.

  I collapsed onto the bed beneath me, shock rendering me speechless and a little breathless, too. My eyes flickered desperately from side to side as my brain scanned through the Rolodex of my memories, searching for a solution, but of course, there wasn’t one.

  This wasn’t like anything I’d ever been through before.

  I’d had bad times, but it had never gotten to this stage. I’d never gotten so desperate, and other people had never been involved.

  How the hell was I supposed to go back into the office tomorrow, and to act normal when I knew that the walls were caving in? That it wouldn’t be long until everything fell apart and I lost everything, effectively dragging them down with me?

  This was a nightmare, and there really was no way out.

  Jamie

  I hated how much our security system matched Ashton’s.

  It made me realize just how easy I’d made it for him, but luckily in that moment, it meant that I didn’t have to struggle too much either. All I needed was one code to get in, and fortunately for me, Ashton was predictable. The date was his birthday.

  I wasn’t trying to figure out why I could remember Ashton’s birthday after all this time. It might’ve made me accept a truth that I didn’t want to admit, that I would never want to admit.

  My heart skipped about ten beats as I finally crept inside; excitement burst like mini fireworks in my stomach.

  Logically I knew that this was the maddest plan ever. I didn’t even want to think about what Gio would say to me if he could see me right about now, but it thrilled me to know that I was taking control of the situation. I was getting revenge for a wrongdoing performed on me, and in that moment, it really did feel like two wrongs would make a right.

  Or at the very least, made me feel a whole lot better.

  I moved through the office in the dead of night, the darkness swirling around me, but I didn’t need any light to know that I had so much more. This company might’ve been the closest thing that Spark Enterprises had to a rival, but it was small fry, nothing more than a fly buzzing around my ears. Yes, every so often Ashton would win a client over me, but never enough for me to truly care.

  Clearly, jealousy was key here. Gio was right about that.

  His employees kept their desks messier than I would’ve allowed. There were files stacked in the corner of the room, rather than in locked filing cabinets. Even Ashton’s office door remained open. If anyone was asking for a security breach, it was him, not me. My fists balled up by my sides due to the injustice of it all.

  Right, I hissed inside my mind.

  Stop messing around. Just get this done.

  If there was even a tiny doubt in my mind that I should continue, all I had to do was remember all those horrible phone calls, the lost artwork, the dreadful press conference. People looked at me like I was a liar, and scum, and that was all because of him.

  I wasn’t really sure what I was searching for. I hadn’t planned that far ahead, so I snuck into Ashton’s office and began poking around in there. He might not have been as organized as me, but it was every manager’s duty to keep their most important information with them. I hoped he was sensible enough to at least think of that.

  I found endless boring bits of paperwork detailing accounts and sensitive information that should’ve been locked further away. It was the sort of stuff that Ashton had taken from me and revealed to the world, but finding it in his office only filled me with frustration. I didn’t want to do to Ashton what he’d done to me.

  I wanted to do worse. The burning rage inside my chest demanded it of me.

  Huh...

  My fingers clutched onto one piece of paper that seemed a little... unusual. It wasn’t an invoice, but a demand for payment. Not the sort that would usually be associated with a company like this one. Something about it intrigued me and drew me in further. I wasn’t sure why, but I got the sense that Ashton was involved in something that he shouldn’t have been, something potentially illegal.

  If I could find evidence of this, it would put any focus on me far from anyone’s mind. People would be far more interested in this. Revenge sat happily on the edge of my lip.

  I slumped into Ashton’s chair and leaned over to start reading, but before I got a chance, a sound struck the fear of God into my chest.

  Instantly, I ducked down out of sight, practically hiding under the desk like a frightened little schoolboy. My heart hammered loudly, my breaths were coming out of my mouth much too loudly and raggedly. If someone was in here, then they would hear me through that alone...

  I strained my ears, practically leaning towards the main office in Ashton’s building, but the only thing that greeted me was a loud, resounding silence. It must’ve been my unwelcome conscience, trying to shake me out of it.

  There was no one there.

  I chuckled quietly to myself as I stood upright, trying to laugh the terror away from me, but it stuck there in my chest all the same. I couldn’t stay here; it was all too much. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this revenge plan after all.

  I held onto the paper, wondering whether or not to take it with me when I left. If I didn’t, I gave up any chance of making the man who tried to destroy me pay, but if I did then I’d have to act quickly before Ashton noticed it missing. It wouldn’t give me much time to decide whether my morals or fury should win out.

  In the end, I dropped it and moved briskly. Maybe the knowledge of Ashton’s dodgy dealings would be enough to get him off my back. I didn’t have to sink as low as him to get my revenge, I could just tell him to leave me alone, threaten to reveal him if he didn’t, and work on rebuilding my company. Maybe the threat would be meaningless without any evidence but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t do it.

  “Oh, I...” the words trailed off as I noticed a figure standing in front of me, blocking the doorway. I’d been right before, there was someone here, and judging from his threatening stance, he wasn’t happy about me being in the wa
y.

  “I’m sorry, I...” How could I explain this? There were no words to justify what I’d done, even if Ashton had done it to me first.

  I should’ve listened to Gio, why didn’t I?

  The man moved closer to me, allowing me to see his face, or lack of it. He had a dark mask covering him, and that seemed odd for a security guard. What was he trying to hide?

  “I didn’t take anything,” I said morosely, holding up my hands in a surrendering gesture. “You can check me if you want. I just... I was stupid...”

  I got nothing back, no talk, just the intimidation as he moved even further into my personal space. Maybe this wasn’t a security guard; maybe it was Ashton ready to exact his revenge upon me, which I suppose would explain the mask. I never had him down for a man who would behave like this, but then I didn’t think he’d leak information from my business either.

  I couldn’t ever trust anyone.

  Then, without any warning, a hot radiating pain slammed into my left cheek so hard that my body flew from the ground. My eyes blurred, my head pounded, my mouth wanted to scream but didn’t quite know how. All of a sudden, everything became extremely confusing. I didn’t even know what to think.

  Then my body hit the ground with a terrifying crack, and blackness claimed my eyes, blocking the world out completely...

  Ashton

  I clicked the door open to my office easily as the morning light shone on me. At first, I panicked, thoughts of revenge plots and break-ins circling my mind, but as it turned out that was just my guilty conscious freaking out on my behalf. My biggest fears were screaming loudly into my ears, making me regret absolutely everything.

  “Hi, Tara,” I said with utter relief as I stepped inside to see the whole place illuminated with lights. “You’re in early today.”

  Her presence was a welcome one, because it meant I wasn’t alone to drive myself insane. Maybe it was time to invite her to live with me, just so I could stop going crazy at night time.