“Miss Quinn, I am offering you guidance.”
“You’re offering me a collar,” I said. “You just want me to like it.”
Something flickered in her expression—annoyance, maybe. Or fear.
“Your father would be very disappointed in this tone.”
I laughed out loud. “My father is always disappointed.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Then perhaps you should try harder not to be the cause.”
That did it.
The pressure in my chest tightened, burning beneath my ribs.
“I’ll spend time with whoever I choose,” I said quietly.
Wild smiled like I’d said something adorable. “Not until your father gives permission.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
She leaned forward, eyes glittering.
“Then you won’t see them again.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Not from her.
From the certainty in her voice.
She meant it.
I stared at her. “If I don’t listen to you… what happens then? What exactly will you do?”
Her smile sharpened. “Well, there is the matter of your name. We could make things a little more complicated around here.”
“So you want to blackmail me,” I said, voice flat. “I can’t use my name because it shames my family, but you’ll expose it the moment I don’t obey. Tell me—do you think my father would like that?”
“Miss Quinn—”
“No.”
I leaned forward, planting both hands on the table.
“Let me make something clear. You don’t scare me, Ms Wild. If you want to release my name—do it. I don’t care. Don’t you see that?”
Her nostrils flared. Her eyes thinned to razor slits.
“You know what I am,” I said softly. “You know what I can do. Remember that next time you try to threaten me.”
“Tread carefully, Miss Quinn,” she hissed.
I straightened. My shadow stretched long across her desk.
“No, Ms Wild. The only one who needs to be careful… is you.”
**
