Page 146 of Just One Little Bargain

“And now you have it,” Krell says pleasantly. “So perhaps we can avoid turning this into an exhausting discussion about Zavian’s communication failures.”

Evie recoils when he addresses her, one hand rising to her chest. “Stay away from me.”

His smile drops, more affronted than wounded. “That seems unnecessarily rude.”

“You pretended to be someone else. You came to my home. You’ve been asking questions about my business and family.” Her gaze darts toward the festival only yards away. “How long have you been stalking me?”

“Stalking is such an ugly word.”

“How long?”

“Two weeks.” He rolls one shoulder. “Not constantly. I have other obligations.”

Her face twists with disgust. “You’re trying to take my soul.”

“I was cultivating an opportunity.”

“She is not an opportunity.” I step closer. “Leave.”

“And abandon weeks of preparation because you’ve finally decided to bare your teeth?” He clicks his tongue. “That hardly seems fair.”

“Fair,” I scoff. “You broke every rule you could get around, and tried to steal an assignment that was never yours.”

“Right,” he sneers. “Because you believe things belong to whoever they’re handed to. The rest of us learned to seize an opening before someone else closed their fist around it. We clawed for every scrap of influence we had, lost it, burned for it, then came back ruthless enough to hold on the next time. But you could fail as often as you pleased, and they still placed another chance directly in your hands.”

“I’d have traded all of it to be left alone.”

“That is precisely why I can’t stand you.”

Then he turns to Evie, and all that rancor disappears behind a polished smile.

“Evie, look at me.” His voice turns coaxing. “I want you to hear this from me rather than Zavian, because he’ll frighten you, and there’s no need to be frightened.”

“Stop this,” I say.

He doesn’t so much as glance at me.

Evie folds her arms over herself, but it does nothing to contain the trembling.

“Everything I offered you is real,” he tells her. “Every part of that future can be yours.”

Her brow pinches. “Can be?”

“What you experienced was a demonstration.” He opens his hands between them. “A glimpse of what the contract can secure for you. Think of it as a sample. I allowed you to step inside the life you’ve been killing yourself to build, so you could understand that it isn’t some impossible fantasy. It’s attainable.”

“A demonstration,” she echoes. “So none of it was real?”

“You aren’t listening.” Krell’s patience frays. “It was real, in the way a test drive is real. It’s simply not yours until you agree to the bargain and sign the paper.” He glances at me. “Zavian hasn’t explained any of this to you, has he? He’s spent his days here playing house instead of doing you the courtesy of the truth.”

“Stop talking to her.” I pull Evie to my side.

Moisture gathers along her lower lashes. “Then what happens if I don’t sign?”

“I take it back.”

A faint tremor starts in her fingers. “You cancel everything?”

“I remove what I gave you.” His tone is patient, almost soothing. “Hell takes care of the rest.”