“Because you can’t buy me,Nico,” I reply.
His jaw tightens. I watch the muscle flex beneath the scarred skin.
“Bree.” His voice is low and rough. “I’m not trying to buy you.”
I just look at him. “Oh yeah? But it kind of feels like you are.”
He leans forward, forearms on his desk, and the intensity in his gaze makes my stomach flutter. “As I mentioned in the letter, the position isn’t a gesture or an apology. It’s yours regardless of whether we’re together or not. Regardless of whether you ever want to see my face again. It’s yours, Bree. No strings attached.”
Well. That’s... not what I expected.
“Oh.” My voice comes out smaller than I intend. I clear my throat. “Okay. Well.” I open my folder. My hands are less steady now. “In that case, here’s what I need to add.”
I start listing my conditions. I get separate office space. I get my own assistant, someone who reports to me, not borrowed from his staff pool. I report to the board, not him. I control all foundation messaging and communications. I get a professional development budget for conferences, panels, and so forth.
He nods along to each one, no pushback, no negotiation.
Which is almost annoying, honestly. I prepared counterarguments.
I should feel triumphant. Instead I feel like I’m standing on the edge of something, looking down into a drop I can’t quite measure.
Because I’m not finished.
I hold his gaze. “Okay then. Well. Now. About Kendrick.” His whole body goes still. “I understand why you did it. Part of me is grateful. But you tookthat decision from me. I need to know you won’t do that again. That you won’t make decisions for me, even if you think you’re protecting me. Even if you’re right.” My voice catches slightly. “I need to know you’ll ask me first.”
He’s quiet.
I hear only the hum of the ventilation system, and the distant murmur of the office beyond the glass walls.
When he finally speaks, his voice is careful. “I can’t promise I won’t want to. But I promise I’ll try. And I promise I’ll tell you the truth, even when it’s hard.”
“That’s not the same as...”
“I know.” He meets my eyes, and there’s no mask now. Just Nico, raw and honest and so frickin’ beautiful it makes my chest ache. “But it’s the best I can do. Because if someone threatens you, Bree, I’m not going to stand by and do nothing. I can’t.”
I exhale slowly. “I know. And that’s what scares me. Because part of me is thrilled that you’d burn the world down for me.” The admission costs me something. “And part of me is terrified of being with someone who would.”
His hands flex on the arms of his chair. “I don’t regret taking him down. Making sure he’ll never do that again to anyone.”
He’s not sorry.
And if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not sure I want him to be.
That’s the terrifying part.
That’s the thing I’ve been wrestling with for three days.
The difference between Kendrick and Nico isn’t that Nico wouldn’t usehis power.
It’s that he uses itforme instead of over me.
I look at him across that expensive desk, this scarred, stubborn, infuriating man who lied to me and broke my trust and also made sure the monster from my nightmares could never hurt me or anyone else again.
“That’s the best I’m going to get, isn’t it?” I ask.
“It is,” he agrees.
“Then I accept.” I swallow. “The job. Us. If you in turn can accept that I’m not going to make this easy.”
