Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Um, hello?” Cassi waves a hand in front of my face. “Did you short-circuit?”
“No,” I reply. My voice comes out squished and wrong. I clear my throat. “And I’m applying because I need the money!”
“That’s true.” She’s grinning at me. “But you’re also drooling over that guy’s photo.”
I’m not drooling. I’m all warm inside. There’s a big difference…
…I think.
I click submit before she talks me out of it. The page blinks, and Dominic Blackwood vanishes, leaving me feeling strangely hollow.
Get a grip. He’s a stranger who runs a hedge fund. And you’re never going to hear from him.
“You have zero qualifications for that job,” Cassi says cheerfully, going back to her makeup.
“Yeah, well I need money.”
She points her mascara wand at me like a mini sword. “That’s a big red flag, babe.”
“You wanna pay my rent for me?”
Cassi frowns. But it’s not like I was really asking.
My folks got divorced when I was twelve. Mom works constantly but doesn’t have anything to spare. And my dad remarried and started another family on the other side of the country. He sends the occasional fifty bucks, which I obviously appreciate, but it’s not enough to make a dent in what I owe.
I go to the cramped kitchen and make tea. Ginger-orange for her and a regular green for me. She takes hers with a queenly nod specifically designed to make me roll my eyes.
She looks like a million bucks, and I look like I haven’t left my apartment in three days. But that’s basically how our friendship is. She shines, and I fade into the shadow behind her. But you know what? I’m fine with it.
I’m nineteen, and I’ve never had a boyfriend. And I’m fine with that too.
The right man is coming. He just hasn’t noticed me yet.
I raise my cup to my lips to take a sip. But before I can, my phone dings, signaling I’ve just received an e-mail. Cassi raises an eyebrow. “You got hired?”
“Yeah, right,” I reply, brushing her off as I open it. “Probably somebody telling me to look somewhere else—”
My voice breaks. My body goes rigid.
Right there, at the top of my inbox, is a return e-mail from Blackwood Capital: Your application has been approved. Congratulations.
“What?” Cassi asks. She leans over my shoulder, glances at my phone screen, and gasps. “No way!”
“Can’t be…” I mutter.
My thumb hovers over the message. I’m desperate to see what’s inside, but I can’t bring myself to actually look. Thankfully, Cassi takes over for me and swipes it open herself.
There’s a single paragraph, and it’s short. I mouth the words, like even whispering them might shatter their reality.
Miss Briggs. Your application to Blackwood Capital has been approved. We believe you will be a perfect fit for the job. Attached is a digital contract for e-signature, along with a standard NDA.
A perfect fit. Me. No one has ever called me a perfect fit for anything.
My jaw drops, and I turn to Cassi in disbelief. “I got the job!”
“Babe, it’s been like ten minutes—”
“I know, right!?” The tears come up fast and hot, and I don’t even fight them. All I can see is my first paycheck and the look on my landlord’s face when I hand him a check.
I scroll and sign, my thumb moving on its own.
“Wait,” Cassi snaps, but it’s too late. I’ve sent the forms back. “Did you just sign that NDA without reading it?”
“Yeah?” I’m already up on my feet, nervous energy bubbling through me. “I’m sure it’s just standard stuff for a firm of their size.”
Cassi shakes her head at me, but I’m not listening. My heart feels like a bird in my chest, and I’m too busy leaping all over the room like a crazy hamster, celebrating the monumental shift my life’s about to take.
I see her filming me on her phone out of the corner of my eye, and I know this will probably end up on her Instagram, but I don’t care. I’m going to get my rent paid!
A perfect fit. Dominic Blackwood thinks I’m a perfect fit.
The warm feeling is taking over, low and secret, as I tell myself the job is all about the money.
Well…mostly about the money…
2
DOMINIC
I fired three people before nine this morning.
Two new analysts that missed a position that would have netted fifty-five million for the fund and the one trader who lied to me about it.
The only reason we aren’t hemorrhaging cash is because I caught the mistake myself. Just like I catch everything because no one in this building works harder than me.
That’s how I built Blackwood Capital—on the strength of my back and the sharpness of my mind. I’m no trust fund kid. I didn’t catch a lucky break. I worked my ass off, sixteen hours a day, eliminating any and all distractions from my life.