FOREVER LIES

Part 21

Taehyung

"Get your fucking hands off her." The words were a savage growl, ripped from me as fury colored my vision.

I'd gone to Lisa's office, upset about her little attempt to walk away from me, planning to put her in her place. Her office had been empty, but her purse and phone were still there at her desk. She had to be nearby, so I prowled from room to room in search of her. When I peeked inside the bathroom, I never expected to find Lisa being assaulted by some dickhead in a cheap suit.

I thought I'd been mad when I arrived—that had been nothing.

Seeing his hands on her, the black tears streaking down her face, I rocketed past mad and went straight to blinding rage. I was doused in boiling anger so blistering, I was two seconds from going feral.

The only reason I didn't immediately launch myself onto the piece of shit and beat him to a bloody pulp was because Lisa ran into my arms the second he released her. It had given me pause just long enough to remember one of the fundamental lessons I'd learned long ago—never dish out payback when the insult was still fresh. It sounded lofty but had nothing to do with making rash decisions and everything to do with not getting caught. No threats, no evidence at the scene—then I would be free to do what I wanted later when the time was right.

Lisa needed me. I would get her out of there and deal with the asshole later, even though my head pounded with the need to rain down vengeance. The best I could do at the moment was glare at him with a promise of retribution. He seemed to get my meaning. The fucker looked about ready to piss himself.

I ushered Lisa out of the bathroom. "Let's get your things—we're leaving." My words were clipped, too much anger pulsing through my system to give her gentle and soothing like she deserved. Fortunately, she didn't argue, simply gathering her things and allowing me to lead her to my car outside.

Neither of us spoke for most of the ride. I tested the V10 engine, swerving in and out of traffic with the grace of a hummingbird weaving from one flower to the next. I was driving like a lunatic, but I didn't care. I needed the rush to help rid me of the excess adrenaline lighting my skin on fire. "Taehyung, you're scaring me," Lisa said softly.

Exhaling the stale air trapped deep in my lungs, I made an effort to slow down. "That was your boss, wasn't it?"

"Yes." She bit down on her bottom lip and peered at me anxiously.

"He didn't just say something to upset you the other day, did he? When you wandered off and ended up under the overpass. He's been harassing you, hasn't he?"

"He didn't touch me—it was just something he said—but, yes, he made a sexual comment that upset me." Her voice was so small, I wanted to scoop her into my lap and never let her go.

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long has it been going on?" I bit out.

"It was just little comments at first. Until a few days ago, the only time he's tried to touch me was at the company Christmas party," she explained in a rush.

"How. Long."

"A year," she breathed.

What. The. Fuck.

Just when I thought I was cooling down enough to talk, I was straight back to suffocating fury. My knuckles bled white as they clenched the steering wheel, my nostrils flaring as I tried to breathe through the pounding anger. That asshole had been making her life hell for a solid year, and she had been taking it. Why hadn't she put a stop to it? Wasn't her father the fucking CEO?