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I almost can’t believe that I’m going to be on my own for a whole weekend with the man of my dreams. I can’t help but hope for the best, but I push my wants aside. There’s no way he wants me the way that I want him. To him, I’m just some girl who works for him. I’m nothing more than that to Magnus, but it doesn’t mean I don’t take my job seriously. I don’t take it lightly at all.
I need to go prove to Piper that she made the right choice in hiring me, that I’m a woman that gets things done. I need to talk to Magnus about what he’ll need during his stay at his father's estate. I push my feelings to the back of my mind and focus on work.
The door to his office is open when I walk down the hallway. I still knock on the door before stepping in.
“Cassie,” Magnus says as soon as I make my way in. “I need you to pack these away for me.”
I try to ignore how much I like the way the words I need you sound coming from his lips.
“Of course,” I say, coming over. “Do you want them in your briefcase?”
Magnus looks me up and down where I stand in front of his desk, letting his gaze track over my thick, comfortable sweater and my soft, black skirt. I keep my eyes on the documents scattered over his desk. I catch the edge of a deed, but I try not to look too closely. What Magnus has in his possession is none of my business, but I assume it’s his father’s house.
Magnus nods at me, distracted. “Please do. Thank you, Cassie.”
For a moment, I feel stupid. This man is obviously not interested in me.
“I’ll just get out of your hair, then,” I tell him, hurrying to gather the papers and shifting them under my arm.
“Cassie,” Magnus says, pausing.
God, I want to kiss him so badly that it physically hurts but I was brought here to work not to fantasize about my new boss.
“Yes?” I ask. “Did you need something else?”
Magnus stares at me and I see the flicker of something in his gaze. But it’s gone before I can figure out what it might be.
“Pack warm,” is all that he says.
He looks back down at whatever he’s putting away, and I turn on my heel, leaving the room.
Someone catches my arm, and I turn quickly just outside of Magnus’s office.
“Dad,” I say in surprise. “I thought you were going into the city today on business.”
My father stands in his freshly pressed suit with his face pinched into a tight frown. For so many years I wondered what it would be like to grow up at his side. I knew nothing about him then, and I know just as little about him now.
“I worry about you,” he says, leaning towards me. “I don’t think your mother would like this.”
“Dad,” I answer him with a sigh. “I don’t mean this to sound rude, but you don’t know anything about mom, at least not now.”
I regret it as soon as it’s out, but I won't take it back. It’s the truth and he knows it too. Even if he thinks he does, he doesn’t know all that much about me either.
“No, you’re right,” my dad says, nodding. “But she told me what happened with your boyfriend. And I know Magnus, and while he’s not a bad man he likes to take and take.”
My cheeks heat and my whole body pulses with nail-biting fear. Is it that obvious?
“Dad—” I begin, ready to defend myself and Magnus.
“Don’t let him involve you in whatever disagreement he has with Piper,” he says sternly, and I want to let out a sigh of relief. “He has a lot of enemies, so you need to be careful.”
“I will be,” I tell him. “You don’t have to worry about my safety, Dad.”
He looks at me and I know that he’s imagining the years we could’ve spent together, but didn’t get the chance to.
“Just be careful,” he says, letting out a sigh. “I know that you’re no stranger to dangerous situations, but you need to keep an eye out.”
“He never hit me if that’s what you’re worried about, Dad,” I tell him. I’m uncomfortable thinking about the past, how my ex made me doubt my confidence, making me feel small and weak. “He was never violent with me.”
“He didn’t have to be,” my dad says through his gritted teeth. I watch his fits clench and I know that he’s itching to hit something. “He’s lucky he’s not rotting in the dirt right now.”
When my dad found out how my ex-boyfriend treated me, his anger was hot enough to burn. He had to be physically restrained by my uncle so that he didn’t take a knife to Cameron, but it was a very near thing. My ex-boyfriend’s constant need to belittle me was almost his downfall.
