My mind blanks. An actual job? Not torment, not control, but a job? My heart pounds, and I’m torn between shock and distrust. “Is this your idea of a joke?” It’s not funny to me. It’s as if he’s dangling a lifeline that can save me. “You blame me for your collapse.” My voice is flat. “There are plenty of other people who can fill the role.” Rumor had it, he’d replaced me in less than five minutes of that board meeting ending.
“There are.” He shrugs. “Keep your friends close.”
And your enemies closer. I know where I stand.
“I don’t trust you, Seraphina. But I trust your mind. And I want it at my disposal.” He studies me carefully, and I hate how my pulse races. “Fifty thousand.”
“Fifty thousand?” God how I need the money. It’s a lot more than I’m making right now.
He lifts a shoulder easily, as if this isn’t my whole life we’re talking about. “To start. Benefits. Prove yourself, and you could get more responsibility.”
But he has to know his offer is an insult. “I made sixty as your intern. And that was before you torched my life.”
“And I’m taking a risk of you being disloyal.”
“Eighty.” What the hell am I thinking, bargaining with a demon? He has nothing to lose. And I have everything.
“Seventy.”
My knees go weak. That’s more than I dreamed of making ever again.
With that kind of income, I could pay my rent, fix my car, and end the grind of delivering mocha frappes to shitty tippers. But it’s him. And his offer is nothing more than a trap.
At one time, I used to dream of his nod in that boardroom, and I lived for his rare praise when I nailed a presentation. Now his voice, his proximity, stirs all my feminine responses, and that makes him more dangerous than he ever has been.
He takes a step closer to me, and his breath is warm on my cheek.
I should have accepted the cup so I’d have something between us.
“Do you really want to spend the rest of your life scrubbing floors?”
“Arrogant, much?” Once again, he’s managed to annoy the hell out of me. “There’s no shame in scrubbing floors. It’s an honest day’s work.”
Irritation flashes in his eyes. “Of course it is. But you’re exhausted enough to fall asleep in a stranger’s bed.”
As his intern, I’d been tired all the time too. He was a demanding boss.
“Final offer.”
The number in my bank account flashes in my mind. Through the windows, Houston’s skyline glints as downtown towers pierce the morning. The air is as heavy as my desperation.
“Take the job, Seraphina. Or walk away.” He shrugs, as if he doesn’t care that my entire life hangs in the balance. “Your choice.”
Chapter Four
Seraphina
My heart hammers as Xavier’s words—“Take the job, Seraphina. Or walk away.”—hang between us, sharp as a blade poised to cut my future open.
I’m still trapped against the wall, and he’s filling my vision.
His presence brands the atmosphere, the air thick with Blackwell’s power and the rich aroma of fresh coffee
And that’s a reminder of his mouth on mine, as fierce as he was demanding.
I can’t survive the tsunami that is Xavier Blackwell. I managed to escape once, but there’s no telling the amount of damage he’d cause if I gave him a second chance. “Thank you for the offer.” I have nothing left, except a sense of self-preservation. “I’m afraid I have to refuse.”
Urgency driving me, I angle past him and dash toward the door.
