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Melody looked between us, frowning. “I’m so confused.”
“She’s my cousin.” Harvey grinned, cocking his thumb back at me. “My mum is her dad’s sister. Can’t you see the family resemblance?”
Her head went from left to right and back again several times before she said in a very flat tone, “No, not really.”
Harvey’s shoulders sagged, and he sighed. “It’s all right. I know I got the lion’s share of the looks.”
“Mr Park, perhaps I should call your mother and ask her to book you a doctor’s appointment. Your delusions are more vivid than usual.” I glanced at the clock as it flicked over to seven-thirty and got to my feet.
Daniel and Melody were used to it and quickly followed suit, but Harvey stared at us all as if we had two heads until the doors swung open. He quickly bounced up off my desk and lowered his head as The Bastard was kind enough to grace us with his most fabulous presence.
There were three things that were unequivocally true about Theodore Philip Black, the Vice-President of the Black Ink Corporation and second-in-line to the dukedom of Ruxleigh.
He was talented. He was intelligent. He was handsome.
He was, quite literally, the outward picture of a perfect man—he had it all, from the looks to the money and the reputation. Despite what his detractors said, he really had earnt his position as Vice-President of Black Ink Corporation. I knew that firsthand after spending six years working on the previous President’s assistant team, and I’d seen with my own eyes as his then-executive assistant just how much work Theodore had put into securing his place.
The unspoken fourth truth was that he was a huge fucking pain in the arse.
I suspected that was exactly why his grandfather, the previous President and Duke of Ruxleigh, had begged me to transfer down to the Vice-President’s office. On paper, it was a demotion, but he’d treated it as a promotion instead. I’d gotten a salary raise, a new company car, and since the Duchess of Ruxleigh was the owner of the building that provided cut-rate rent to employees of the corporation, I’d also had my rent slashed to the bare minimum of utilities and taxes for twelve months.
I should have known back then that the offer was too good to be true.
Now, ten months after accepting it, I wasregrettingit big time.
Because Theodore Black was a bastard of the highest order.
I didn’t much care for his six-foot-two, leanly muscular build. Nor did I have any interest in his dark brown hair or his silver-blue eyes that went from calm to cold in a heartbeat. The same went for his sharp jaw and stupid downturned lips that were slightly heavier on the bottom half.
He was usually scowling or frowning, anyway, so what good were his pretty lips?
His cold and aloof personality was one thing, but his complete lack of disregard for anyone else’s time was the worst, as shown by his demand that I pick him up after his family dinner last night. He’d specifically told me to go home but had expected me to be at his beck and call all the same.
And let’s be real—the hotel would have happily called a driver service for him, butnoooo. It had to be poor, overworked little me. All I wanted to do was drink liquor and eat good food, but even that’d been ruined by his selfishness.
It wasn’t just all that. He was overtly picky in reports and proposals to the point of being an obsessive perfectionist, and not in a good way. He changed his font preference and size on a regular basis. In the summer he wanted things on paper so he could work without a glare on a screen, but in the winter, everything had to be electronic so he could move quickly in the cold.
He was a coffee in the morning and tea the rest of the time kind of guy, but only one coffee shop was acceptable outside of my own brewing skills. His tea had to be a specific brand teabag and brewed for an exact amount of time, and he was even picky about the brand of sweetener.
He was a fucking living nightmare.
And that was exactly why I’d spent the past three weeks trying to resign.
My almost-free apartment? I’d forfeit it. I’d even pay the remaining rent if I had to.
The company car? The keys were available at any point. I could walk.
The salary? I’d be sad to see it go, but it was what it was. I couldn’t put a price on my sanity.
I wouldn’t die if I didn’t have this job, but there was a very real possibility that Theodore Black might die withoutme.
It was a risk I was willing to take.
“Good morning, sir,” I said, gathering the files I knew he was about to demand.
“Is it?” He cast his gaze towards me. “Do you have the files prepared for this morning’s meeting?”
“Right here.” I held them up. “I also have a coffee for you.”
