Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“Since when do you care about what people think?” I snorted.
“Since my lawyers tell me it’d open me to potential legal issues.” He laced his fingers together. “This is nonnegotiable. You’re leaving.”
“You can’t fire me. We’d agreed you’d let me keep my jo—”
“Firing is a strong word. I prefer relocation.” He raised a palm up to stop my panicked rush of words. “I’m transferring you to the HR department, which is employed by a sister company.”
“HR department?” I scowled. “I know nothing about HR.”
“You won’t need experience for the job I’m assigning you to do.”
“Which is?”
“Terminating employees I find unsuitable.”
“You’re making me fire people?” My voice pitched high. I couldn’t recall the last time that had happened. I usually prided myself on my tranquility. Said tranquility was no longer in the building.
Or the city.
Or, let’s admit it, the planet.
“Yes,” Tate replied tersely.
“I won’t do it.” I collected my notebook, pressing it to my chest. “I won’t ruin people’s lives just to please you.”
He ignored me completely, sorting through the paperwork in front of him without lifting his gaze. “HR is on the tenth floor. Your new employee pass is being prepared as we speak. Oh.” He snapped his fingers. “You’ll need to find and hand over all calendars and responsibilities to Rebecca.”
Rebecca was his second assistant. She had the measurements and wheat-blond hair of a Malibu Barbie and the exact same number of brain cells.
Maybe if they were in forced proximity more often, he’d start an affair with her and leave me alone.
“Not a chance in hell. She doesn’t hold a candle to you,” Tate said regrettably. “Even if she did, the idiot would probably set herself aflame accidentally.”
Did I say that out loud? Or could this human viper read minds now?
“Tate,” I spat his name out through clenched teeth. “I don’t want to fire people. Hurt people. I don’t know what you’re punishing me for, what I’ve done to deserve this unwarranted attention from you, but if you won’t stop pushing, I will leave.”
“You won’t run away from me,” he said calmly. “I have something of yours you love dearly. Your mother.”
He was right. I realized I had played right into his hands. Tate helping me get Mum into the program was entirely selfish on his part. A way for him to have leverage on me.
I couldn’t run. I couldn’t hide. I was his.
“Besides, if you do run, I will find you. And when I find you…” He trailed off, giving me one of his infamously callous scowls. “Well, it’d be a crying shame. A woman so young. So pretty.”
“I’d call the police,” I threatened.
“Please do,” he encouraged. “You are complicit in every single thing I’ve done to secure your mother’s spot at the experimental treatment. Would you like to know how many laws we’ve broken together, fiancée?”
I was trapped, and we both knew it.
My knees buckled, and I became lightheaded.
I stumbled back, searching for the nearest wall to lean on. But I was so frazzled that I missed. I stumbled backward.
Tate stood up, moving so fast he left skid marks on the floor.
He caught me by the arms, his touch cold and impersonal, and righted me against a glass wall.
“Why are you doing this?” I whispered.
He stared me down serenely. He oozed power, this unabashed male roughness that made me swallow a whimper.
“You cannot be all good, and I cannot be all bad. We have to meet somewhere in the middle for people to buy this marriage,” he said, ignoring my question.
“But you are all bad!” I protested, balling my fists to pound his chest. It was as solid as stone beneath the rich fabric.
The notebook slipped from between my arms between us.
“That’s not true. I am very good with giving women earth-shattering orgasms. References are available upon request.”
He smirked, his face still dangerously close to mine. What lay behind his eyes made my pulse quicken. Possessiveness mixed with something else. Desperation maybe.
His marble cheekbones were flushed, his nostrils narrow. For a brief moment, I thought he’d lean down and kiss me. I’d let him too.
Because even though I hated him, even though I loathed the idea of his very existence, I was curious to know what it felt like.
To be kissed by a man who owned the entire world, who had infinite power, no limits, no restraints, no conscience.
My lips parted. I could feel his breath against my own. I would find a way to get him back tomorrow. To punish him for what he was doing to me. But right now, in this minute, I wanted him like air. Like oxygen.
“One step at a time.” He captured my chin between his thumb and finger, tilting my head up. His mouth curled in sardonic amusement. “If I kiss you now, you won’t writhe in your bed tonight, wondering what it feels like. What I taste like. How much pressure I use with my tongue. How many sensitive spots I can find on your body.”