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Before he could respond, his phone started to ring. Glancing at the screen, he stood up and said, “Excuse me, I have to take this.”
Brad tapped on the door to have the guard let him out, leaving her alone in the room. He hadn’t taken the file, so she started thumbing through it. It was about her, after all. She had every right to look at the contents.
Her stomach sank as she read through the evidence. Her pimply-faced lawyer was right; it didn’t look good for her.
She wrapped her arms around her stomach and subtly rocked back and forth as she chastised herself.
Why did I have to go and erase all those debts? I can never quit while I’m ahead.
Her thoughts once again went to Liam. She wondered if he’d found out yet that she was behind the hack that put his job in jeopardy.
How much was he going to hate her?
Probably a lot.
Not that she could blame him, but it still hurt to think about him hating her. He’d been good to her, and she’d betrayed him. She knew all too well how that felt.
The door opened back up, and she didn’t even turn to greet Brad. The little twerp better come up with something better than paying the hospital back.
Her blood froze when she heard a deep voice that she recognized say, “Well, little honeybee, it looks like My Liege might be an appropriate moniker for me after all.”
****
Liam
She looked so tiny in her baggy, orange jail jumpsuit, he had to clench the file folder in his hands to keep from reaching out to pull her protectively against him. He needed to remind himself that he was pissed at her for what she did. But looking at her for the first time in over a month, that was easier said than done.
Maybe playing the part of pissed off CEO was enough. He was in a position of power, and he was going to take full advantage of that.
Perhaps that made him an asshole, but he was okay with that.
“Well, little honeybee, it looks like My Liege might be an appropriate moniker for me after all.”
“Liam?” she gasped as she turned to watch him walk around the table opposite her. “What are you doing here?”
No sense beating around the bush. He dropped the file onto the table as he announced, “I came to offer you a deal.”
She slumped back in her chair, crossed her arms, and snorted defiantly. “Uh, in case my Honda Civic and one-bedroom apartment didn’t give me away, I don’t have the money for a restitution deal.”
He sat down, unaffected by her attitude. “My offer isn’t about money. Not exactly, anyway.”
That made her sit up straighter while she narrowed her eyes at him. “What is it about?”
He opened the folder and took his time as he scanned the offer he’d helped the attorney general’s office put together.
Finally, he started, “In exchange for a jail sentence of time served and probation, and not pursuing charges against the Kazmers, you’re going to work in the hospital’s IT department—pro bono—for the next six months. Your only job will be ensuring we’re not vulnerable to another attack. And when I say only job, I mean just that. You won’t work for anyone else during that time.”
“So, you want me to work for free for six months, but I’m not allowed to take on paying clients?” she scoffed. “How am I supposed to, oh, I dunno, eat? Keep a roof over my head? Put gas in my car?”
“That’s the next part of the agreement. You won’t have to worry about food and rent because when you’re not at the hospital, you’ll be under house arrest—at my house.”
Her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot to her hairline as she deadpanned, “House arrest. At your house.”
He closed the folder and leaned across the table to pin her in place with his stare. Lowering his voice, he replied, “Yes, little honeybee, my house. And you’ll be serving your penance in and out of my bed.”
“For six months?”
He’d half-expected her to object to the very idea of being back in his bed, so the fact that she was only questioning the length of time was a good sign.
