His face darkened with every swipe.
After a moment, he handed the phone back.His expression was unreadable.
“I didn’t read messages from anyone else,” he said absently, though his eyes never left hers.“Just his.”
Jemma stared down at the phone.Her hands trembled slightly as she closed the message app.
Her cheeks were flushed with humiliation—and something else.Anger.Shame.
“Why are you getting business messages on your personal phone?”he asked, his tone almost mild.“Does Mark reimburse you?”
She snorted, the sound sharp and bitter.“Not likely.”
Then realization hit.
Her arms tightened around her stomach as the meaning of her words sank in.She’d just confirmed it—just handed him more proof of how low she’d fallen.With a sigh, she rubbed her forehead and leaned forward, elbows braced on the table.
“Saif, just… leave it alone, okay?”Her voice was quieter now.Not pleading.Just tired.“I don’t want to lose this job.”
“Why?”His voice was low but laced with fire.“Because you’ve got such an amazing supervisor?A man who cusses you out when you don’t fetch his coffee fast enough?”
She flinched.Not because he was wrong—but because he’d hit the part she hated the most.
“Isthiswhat you wanted, Jemma?”he pressed.“Less responsibility?Was I putting too much pressure on you?Was I—what—too much?”
“No!”she gasped, eyes wide.
The anger in his voice, the disbelief—it caught her off guard.He hadn’t said it to wound her.He’d meant it.Somewhere deep inside, he still couldn’t understand why she’d walked away.
“Good.”His jaw clenched.“Then explain to me why you left a well-paying job where you were respected, relied on, and damn near running things—just to work for a smug, insecure piece of garbage who wouldn’t know a profit margin from a dinner roll.”
Jemma looked away, her breath uneven.She stared out the window, but the world on the other side blurred into nothing.
For a long moment, she didn’t speak.
When she finally turned back, something in her had shifted.Her posture sagged slightly.Her expression was hollowed out, the weight of months pressing down on her shoulders.
“Mark doesn’t want my opinions,” she said, voice low.“He hired me as a business analyst… but what he really wanted was—”
She stopped herself.
Her mouth pulled tight, as if the truth left a bad taste.
“He wanted a beautiful woman to sit outside his office and make him look good,” Saif finished for her.
The disgust in his voice was unmistakable.He leaned back just as the waitress arrived and placed their orders in front of each of them, oblivious to the tension at the table.
When she walked away, Saif nodded toward her phone.
“And based on what I read a few minutes ago, I’d say Mark Sinstack is giving offtiny dick energy.”
Jemma blinked.
Then—too fast to stop herself—she let out a laugh that turned into a snort.Her hand shot up to cover her mouth, eyes wide in surprise at the sound.She glanced around, hoping no one had heard.
Saif only smirked and cut into his food.“Eat,” he said, motioning toward her untouched plate.“You look hungry.”
Jemma’s hand dropped to her fork, but her appetite wasn’t there yet.
