The Beast of Stornoway

Chapter 39: Amani

It had been two weeks since Lady Blarcum came for her surprise visit and Lord Blarcum hadn't spoken a word to her since. Amani pursed her lips and looked at the last message she sent him—fourteen days ago—to ask if he was okay. He just left the message on read.

That jerk.

She hated being left on read. He could at least respond with yes or no. It wasn't that damn hard.

But nooo, not Lord Dickhead.

She shoved her phone back in her coat pocket. No, not him. He'd rather ignore her and speak to her through Benny and Rory. It made her feel like she'd done something wrong and to make matters worse, Rory couldn't relay a message from him without flirting with her.

Rory was a nice guy and he was very attractive, but she didn't like him in that way. The way he flirted reminded her too much of Tye. They had a lot of the same mannerisms, especially when it came to women. She had to keep Rory firmly in the friend zone. There would be no intimate relations with that man.

She sighed as her eyes drifted out the car window to the manor coming into view. It really stung her that Lord Blarcum was behaving like this. She didn't understand what happened after his mother left. It was like he was isolating himself.

He was in the fields early in the morning and when she came out to train Max and learn how to ride, he would leave and shut himself in his office. He wouldn't say hello or even look at her. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. She thought they were friends. Maybe she was wrong. 

Get it together, Amani.

She wiped a stray tear rolling down her cheek and took a deep breath. It didn't matter that he was acting like an asshole. It didn't change the fact that she still had to do her job.

She looked at the black folder in her hand. She'd just returned from a Blarcum Industries board meeting and they'd needed Lord Blarcum's signature for a few new business acquisitions. They'd needed his signature for a few weeks now, but he'd been neglecting it and the deals would fall through unless she managed to get him to sign the acquisitions by Friday. 

And it was already Wednesday.

Great.

She opened the car door and wished Gerard a goodnight.  She ran a hand over her face as she walked up the steps to the manor and went inside.

How am I going to get him to sign these papers? 

She could give the paperwork to Benny and he could get Lord Blarcum to sign them. She clenched her teeth and ripped her bedroom door open.

I'm not doing that.

She kicked off her shoes, threw her coat on the back of her chair and flopped on her bed. She turned over and stared at the ceiling. Lord Blarcum couldn't keep refusing to talk to her. She shouldn't have to go through someone else to speak to him.

She sat up and glared at the black folder sitting on her desk. The gold Blarcum Industries symbol glinted in the light as if it were mocking her. Just like the board members did.

Those pompous assholes.

They were already resorting to calling his mother to force him to sign the papers. She couldn't let that happen, not after the way he'd been acting. She pleaded with them not to get Lady Blarcum involved and promised she'd get his signature before the closing date. They scoffed at her and begrudgingly agreed but made a caveat to her request. She was to have his signature to them by nine o'clock Friday morning.

Fuck it.

Lord Blarcum couldn't ignore her forever. She was going to prove all those assholes wrong. She'd get him to sign these damn forms tonight. She got up from the bed and snatched the folder off her desk. She yanked her door open and stormed downstairs. She slowed her steps as she neared his office at the sound of a loud crash followed by an angry roar that boomed through the hallway.