He Hurt Me, Now He Wants Me Back

Damien Shaw

My face pales for a moment. A restraining order against me? Is she listening to herself right now? I try my best not to explode: nothing good ever comes from being angry.

"Imogene, you don't have to do this. We can work this out. We can be a family-"

"Just leave, please Damien." Imogene says under her breath.

I exchange a quick glance with Breonna. Imogene is clearly out of depth and now isn't the right time to argue with her. It's not going to look good for someone like me who's trying to win her back. "Fine. I'll leave." I say and I turn towards the door.

When I get to the threshold, I give her one last look before stepping out into the hallway. I can hear Breonna muttering an apology again as she follows me.

"Well, that was a disaster." Breonna says as we both step into the elevator.

"I can't believe we thought it was gonna work. Now, Imogene hates me even more."

I can't help but think about how she could've figured this out. The only person that comes to mind is Elinor. She's a snake and has never had Imogene's best interests at heart. She even tried to get together with me after Imogene left town. But I turned her down just like I've done to every single woman that approached me these past years.

I just hope Imogene can see her for who she truly is sooner or later.

Elinor clears I throat. "Would you think I'm a psychopath if I told you I took a picture?"

I furrow my brows as I turn to her. "Of?"

"Lily." she confesses. "She's so pretty, I couldn't help it. And she looks a lot like..."

"Show me!"

She pulls out her phone and starts to look for it. "Oh, shit. I didn't save it."

My heart sinks. "Fuck you, Breonna."

She nudges my arm. "Lighten up, bro."

The elevator dings, we finally get to the last floor. Just when I thought my day couldn't get shitter, I run into Keith Jordan in the lobby. He's the snubby CEO of KJ Tech which is a rival company to IMU. We never get along because he always pisses me off any chance he gets. He also owns this building and it makes me wonder why Imogene had to move into this building of all residences in LA.

I ask Breonna to go wait in the car and as soon as she's gone, Keith's undesirable voice fills the space between us.

"I never thought I would ever run into you outside our usual professional environment." he says in that snubby tone of his.

God, I hate this guy.

"It's not nice to see you, Keith."

He frowns. "Are we close enough to address each other by our last names?"

"I shouldn't even be here talking to you." I say as I try to walk past him. He steps in my way.

"I heard your ex-wife stays on the sixth floor of my building." he says, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. And I've kind of developed a liking to her."

"Don't you dare come near Imogene." I snap, my jaw clenching.

"She's no longer your wife, Damien. Remember?"

Shit. I curse under my breath. "Just stay away from her and my daughter."

His smile persists. "We'll see about that."

I want to wipe that smug smile off his face with a punch. But we're in public and it's not going to be a good look for IMU. Plus, this year's tech convention is coming up and we're both co-hosting the whole thing. It might affect the convention if the main hosts are seen grabbing each other by the collar. So I hold

back and I walk past him, out of the

lobby.

I get to the car and finally let out a sharp breath. I start the car and Breonna continues to glare at me.

"What was that about?" she finally asks me as I stop at the green light.

"Nothing."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

I just have to prove to Imogene that I deserve her forgiveness." I say as I start the car again.

And with Keith in the picture, he definitely has something up his sleeve. The asshole danced with Imogene on the night of her grand opening. I should've known he's up

too good.

I need to stop whatever future interactions might occur between him and Imogene. But how do I do that. I can't get rid of him. Or can I?