Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
I actually laughed in surprise. Definitely didn’t see that coming.
“You can’t handle being questioned, can you?” she asked. “Did I give your precious ego a boo boo when I stood up to you out there? Do you feel like you have to make an example of me so you can still stroke that swollen pride of yours when you go to bed tonight? Well, go ahead, asshole. Ruin my life if you want. I started over once. I’ll do it again if I have to.”
To tell the truth, she was making me think about something else that was in danger of becoming swollen. I liked her backbone, even if it pissed me off. I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my chin as she got up and reached for the door. “Or,” I said. “My secretary put in her notice a few days back. You could work for me.”
“What?” she asked. “One minute you want to make sure I never work again and the next you’re offering me a job? So you’re a narcissist and insane?”
The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with her. Yes, it was complete insanity to hire this woman. It was true that I valued backbone and grit. I could use someone who wasn’t afraid of confrontation. Coleton Publishing was just the first stop on a long journey to the head of the snake, and I needed to collect every capable body I could along the way.
Except part of me knew that was bullshit. Part of me was very much aware that I was already finding this woman distracting. She pulled me out of the illusion in dangerous ways. She made me feel like Adrian Terranova, the man who set out to do something completely insane ten years ago—the man who had been neglecting his personal life and desperately needed a good fuck.
A few minutes ago, I was completely willing to keep putting that off. But one look at the rogue princess here and it had all gone out the window. My body was practically humming with need and hiring her was the last thing I should’ve been considering. It wasn’t just a bad idea. It was a potentially disastrous one.
“Why would I work for you?” she asked. “All you’ve done since I walked in this room was show me how horrible a boss you are.”
“Take the job and I’ll go tell Walker out there he’s un-fired. And if you care so much about protecting those people out there from me, what better way than to stick around?”
She shook her head, eyes searching the floor. Her hand was still on the doorknob. “What happens if I say ‘no?’”
I folded my hands in front of my mouth, leaning forward. I’ll keep thinking about you until it drives me crazy. “Then you get to go back to your boss and tell her how you fucked up the contract at Coleton.”
That same rage rose up in her face again. It was adorable. The woman had absolutely no control when it came to hiding her emotions. She was an open book, and one I had a feeling I’d enjoy diving into regularly.
“So you’re blackmailing me? Join you or you ruin me. Is that it?”
“No. You lost my business as a client. If your boss chooses to keep you employed, good for you. I’ll leave it at that. But if you’re looking for work, I’ll hold the position for three days. It’s not blackmail. It’s an opportunity.”
“It’s an opportunity that smells a hell of a lot like blackmail.”
I shrugged. “It’s your choice, Miss Adams. You know where to find me.”
“What about Walker?” I asked.
“What about him? If you take the job, I’ll call him up and tell him to come back.”
She scrunched those pretty lips up, giving me a glare that I thought might ignite the papers on my desk. “You’re a horrible person.” She pulled the door open and slammed it behind her.
Maybe, I thought. But in real life, you don’t get to take down the villain by being a hero. Heroes can’t afford to get their hands dirty. They can’t do what it really takes. They can’t cut the corners and make the sacrifices to get the power they need.
Maybe I was a horrible person, but I was going to use every fucking ounce of that power it had earned me to burn what Russ Coleton cared about to the ground. That was a promise.
3
Juliette
I hadn’t even made it out the front door of the bosshole from hell’s branch of Coleton Enterprises when my phone rang. I braced myself. It was Maxi, the other bosshole from hell.
“Hi,” I said, trying to force a cheery disposition I didn’t feel.
“Let me guess,” Maxi said in her deep, no bullshit voice. “The meeting with Mr. White went horribly wrong?”
There were about a dozen things I could’ve done to figuratively get on my knees and beg forgiveness. I could’ve made excuses, tried to explain he was a prick, or even made the most obvious point about how she’d sent me to do something I was completely unqualified for.