Read The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) for Free Online Page A

with Percy Cox. Just then the thought occurred to him that he was being taken advantage of, that the people in his life must view him as some kind of punk.
    Making no attempt to get out of the car, Steve gathered his thoughts, replaying scene after scene of his interactions with Cox. After long minutes of retrospection, he realized what Cox wanted, what he had been moving towards for the past year. He wanted their company. He wanted to discredit them to such an extent that their business was no longer viable. Their demise would see him well placed in the wings as their main supplier to take over what they left behind.
    With realization came vexation, followed immediately by a searing anger. He was sick and tired of being jerked around. First, Cox, then Hope, and then Jason speaking to him as though he couldn’t take care of his business.
    This was where all the shit stopped in his professional and personal life. If the people around him needed a bastard, then he was up for the job. Steve was unsure of when the people around him had lost respect for him, but what he did know was that he was unprepared to put up with it.
    Walking into his office, his thoughts still occupied by how he was going to deal with Cox, Steve was completely unaware of the looks he was receiving from the staff scattered around the open plan office.
    Even if he had been aware he probably wouldn’t have given a damn. He was a good employer but it had always been his philosophy that the demarcation between an employer and his workforce should leave no one in any doubt as to who worked for whom. Neither looking left nor right, Steve passed through the outer office space and entered the reception area that led to his office.
    As usual, Ms. Ellis sat at her desk looking as though she had everything under complete control. Steve knew that the impression she gave was in fact a reality. Sheba Ellis had been with him for the past five years, and whenever he thought of her first name, which wasn’t often, it made him smile. Yet somehow he had never been able to reconcile the name with the woman. She just didn’t look like a Sheba . Not that he knew what a woman with that type of name should look like.
    Shaking his head to dispel his random thoughts, about his assistant, Steve muttered a hurried good morning before continuing into his office.
    He had registered the shock on her face at seeing him in the office, as she knew he should have been on his honeymoon. Steve was sure that although surprised at seeing him, she wouldn’t comment or ask any questions.
    When she had contacted him, Steve had given her no indication that he was still in LA. Steve only had enough time to drop his briefcase and take his seat before his office door was thrown open. Standing in his doorway was a very disgruntled looking Ms. Ellis.
    “Why are you here?”
    Taken aback by the bluntness of her question, Steve was momentarily thrown. His assistant had never spoken to him in such a way, and for a moment he didn’t know how to answer her simple, if somewhat forward question.
    “The last time I looked this was my office.”
    “You know what I mean. I spoke with you this morning, thinking I was interrupting your honeymoon, and you were here all the time! What happened, didn’t you go?”
    “Ms. Ellis, my personal life is none of your business.”
    “You didn’t marry her did you?”
    Steve could see a look on her face that he likened to relief if he wasn’t mistaken. Stepping outside of the norm, Steve decided that he wanted to hear what she hadn’t been able to hide from her expression. “No, I didn’t get married. Does that fact please you?”
    “It’s not about being pleased. I suppose you feel devastated right now, but maybe one day you’ll see that you lucked out.”
    Steve knew he should have some form of adverse feeling at her words, yet somehow the only emotion he could conjure up was curiosity as to why she felt this way. In their five years of knowing each other,