“Meet me in the freezer. Now.”
He turns and strides toward the cooler area, clearly expecting me to follow. The kitchen staff parts like the Red Sea. Everyone is suddenly very interested in their mise en place. I catch Chef Rubio’s eye as I pass—she gives me a look that’s halfyou’re so deadand halfthat was freaking awesome.
I gulp.
I steel myself.
Then I walk.
12
ELIANA
walk-in freez·er: /'wôk in 'frez?r/: noun
1: a refrigerated room used for storing perishable ingredients at sub-zero temperatures.
2: a cold, dark, soundproof place where people who work in the food service industry often go in order to cry tears they should not be crying, have sex they should not be having, or both.
I follow Bastian’s back as he stomps through the kitchen. No one we pass will look at me, as if my bad vibes might be contagious.
When we get there, Bastian yanks open the giant silver door to the walk-in freezer and steps inside. I follow because what other choice do I have?
The door seals behind us with a pneumatic hiss. Just like that, we’re alone. Trapped in this narrow, frigid tomb of hanging meat and frost-covered shelving, our breath forming clouds between us.
He turns on me so suddenly I nearly collide with his chest. “You think you’re clever?”
“I think I understand reality,” I shoot back. “Which is more than you can say when you’re lost in your fantasy of?—”
He moves forward and I move back until my shoulders hit the stainless steel door of the walk-in. It’s cold enough to make me gasp when it touches the bare back of my neck. “You want to talk about reality?Realityis that I’ve built this company from nothing.Realityis that every single concept under the Hale Hospitality umbrella has exceeded projections because I don’t compromise on quality.”
“Quality doesn’t matter if you can’t deliver it consistently.” I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. God, why does he have to be so tall? It’s like arguing with the Jolly Green Giant, if the Jolly Green Giant was neither jolly nor green. “Your truffle supplier?—”
“—will honor our contract, because I have leverage you know nothing about.” He braces one hand against the wall beside my head and stoops to my level. He’s everywhere—blocking out the fluorescent lights, filling my vision, overwhelming my senses with kitchen smoke and wintergreen and fiery masculine frustration. “You think you see everything from behind your desk, but you don’t know half of what goes into making this work.”
“Thentellme!” It sounds way more like a whimpering plea than I intended. “Stop treating me like a temp secretary who backslid her way into a big girl job and actually tell me what I need to know to do my job.”
His free hand comes up to brace on the other side of my head, caging me in. “That truffle supplier’s son has a cocaine problem. I’m the one who got him into rehab—quietly, discreetly, without destroying their family business. They’re not going anywhere. The sea bean facility lost their investor because I convinced him to pull out. Why? Because I’m about to offer them a better deal—exclusive supply rights in exchange for expansion capital.”
Silence.
The hum of the freezer.
The crackle of ice crystals.
The blue of Bastian’s eyes, going deeper, deeper, gone.
“You… ” I swallow hard. “You orchestrated all of it.”
“Every. Single. Detail.” He leans closer. In the midst of all this frigid air, he’s somehow still a furnace. “So before you stand in my kitchen and tell me my signature dish is a disaster waiting to happen, maybe consider that I didn’t get here by accident. I got here by being better, smarter, and more ruthless than everyone else in this city.”
“Must be lonely,” I whisper, taking both of us by surprise.
He blinks. “What?”
I swallow. I ought to turn back, but it’s too late now. “I said, it must be lonely, being that much better than everyone else. Is there anyone there to keep you company when you’re ten steps ahead all the time?” God, I should shut up. I should definitely shut up. But something about being this close to him, here in this dark, freezing cell with no one to witness, makes me reckless. “When’s the last time someone surprised you, Bastian? When’s the last time someone told you no and meant it?”
“You seem to be under the misconception that our contract gives you the right to disrespect me in front of my staff.” His tongue darts out to wet the corner of his mouth. “Is that what you think, Eliana? You think that a million dollars buys you the right to undermine my authority?”
