Page 3 of Savage Little Lies

No. He can’t possibly know…

“You may as well admit it,” he adds.

My eyes drop from his to the floor. “I-I don’t know what you mean…”

“There’s no point lying to me.”

With one commanding finger pressed underneath my chin, he lifts my face back up to his, then does that silent, intense stare thing again, as if he thinks waiting long enough will make me confess everything to him. I grit my teeth to keep my mouth shut.

Inhaling as if annoyed by my silence, he says, “You drive a twenty-year-old Miata and carry thirty thousand in student debt.”

How the hell…

I guess his background check included a credit check as well. Why am I even surprised?

“You need money,” he says. “And maybe you’ve heard that I generously reward those who work hard and are loyal to me.”

It takes everything in me not to let my body deflate in relief.

When I swallow down my nerves, and he finally removes his finger from my chin, I nod. “You’re right. I…desperately need this job,” I say softly. “I also want to be paid what I’m worth.”

“And? What do you think you’re worth?” Dmitri asks.

Here we go. I can’t go too high or lowball myself. “Fifty thousand a year to start, and a ten percent raise every six months.”

His blue eyes widen a split second before his face returns to his typical, cold expression. “You actually think you’ll last six months with me?”

Somehow, he manages to make the question sound a little filthy.

“Yes, I do.” Another lie. If I’m still here in six months, then I’ve failed horribly and I’ll be halfway down the aisle headed toward the worst man willing to line my father’s pockets.

Dmitri takes two steps backward and then holds out his hand toward me. “The job is yours then, Miss Reynolds. You’ll start right now.”

He’s actually hiring me?

The rest of his words begin to sink in when he grasps my much smaller hand in his. His grip is firmer than it needs to be and sends tingles all the way up my arm.

I can’t even speak until he releases his hold on me.

“You-you want me to start now?” I ask him.

“Yes, now,” he replies like it’s an order, leaving no room for discussion.

“Okay,” I agree.

When he turns around to walk around his desk to his chair, I use the few seconds his eyes aren’t on me to collect myself.

By the time he takes a seat, I’m cool, calm, and ready. “What would you like me to get started on first, sir?” I ask.

“You’ll stay in here with me for the rest of the day to observe how I do things,” Dmitri replies before opening a drawer and pulling out a laptop. He drops it down on the desk in front of me. “You’ll have access to my schedule and certain internal documents. The laptop remains here in the office at all times. You will not ask questions you don’t want the answers to. You will not repeat anything you hear in this office to anyone, ever. And you will remember”—his eyes lock on mine—”that I do not tolerate betrayal.”

I nod. “Understood.”

I can only guess that there’s a tracker in the laptop, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not after his confidential information about money laundering and fraud scams that he’s running. My mission is very specific.

Before he can say another word, there’s a quiet knock on the double doors. Dmitri exhales heavily through his nose in annoyance. “What?”

The secretary opens one of the doors just enough to pop her head in. Gone is the haughty blonde woman I met moments ago. Now she looks like a frightened child. “I’m very sorry to interrupt, sir…”