It hadn’t occurred to her that her mother would be readingThe Hollybrook Herald, though of course, it should have. Her mother would have recognized those diamonds instantly.
Maybe she was more like her mother than she’d thought. After all the times she had accused Nicholas of trying to buy her,she had sunk to the same manipulative depths by turning his desire against him. It had been easy. And it hadhurthim—that was what surprised her most.
The betrayal in his eyes. Theanger.
As they had driven to work that morning, she had gotten the sense that he was still angry with her. She had worn a keyhole blouse and a short skirt, and all he had done was glance briefly at her legs at a red light until she had made a show of tugging down the hem in the parking lot.
Then he made a low sound in his throat, which could have been approval or rebuke.
Before she could escape the car, he reached over and snapped one of her stockings against the back of her thigh right in the middle of the lot. Hard.
Jay yelped and glanced over her shoulder accusingly. He had one arm draped over the steering wheel. The other was resting on the center console, flexed like he might just grab her again.
“Don’t think you can get out of this by flashing your garters at me.”
Jay was pretty sure she had stopped breathing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Is that how you’re playing it?” He gave her a slow once-over that made her think of all the times he’d yanked her into dark rooms and shoved her up against the wall. “Or maybe you’re tired of discretion and want Daddy to throw up your skirt where everyone see.”
It felt like he’d doused her in cold water.
(You used to be such a good girl)
When she slammed the door on his laughter—damn him, she thought angrily—her face was flaming, and when he came ina few minutes later, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
Coward.
She was relieved when the time came for her morning 1:1 with Arthur, if only for the reassurance of hearing one person tell her that she wasn’t a total fuck up today.
“I’m glad to hear that,” she told him, with a light laugh to cover just how relieved she really was. “And there’s no other opportunities that I could work on? I know you’re handling a lot of international clients right now. I could handle some of their portfolios if you want.”
“Everything’s fine, Jay. It’s all done and dusted. Was there anything else?”
“Um, yes, actually. Is it okay if I use about a week of PTO?”
“Of course. Have you taken my advice to heart and finally booked yourself a relaxing vacation?”
“I don’t know how relaxing it will be.” She fiddled with her notepad. “I’m going back to San Francisco for a few days. My old landlord wants my things out so he can sell the place and strike while the iron is hot.”
“That’s too bad. Where do you live?”
“South of Cesar Chavez, by Bernal Hill.” She blinked and caught herself. “I mean, Mission. It’s where all those murals are, if you’ve been.”
“Yes, a long time ago. I had friends who lived in the Haight. I’ve heard the city’s gotten quite expensive.”
“It has. There’s too many people and not enough affordable housing.” Jay thought wistfully of the anonymity of the city, and how refreshing it had been to walk through crowds unnoticed. Her only regret was that there had never been enough time and money to stop moving andenjoyit. She sighed. “It’s really toobad. I liked it there.”
“Good luck on the move. I hope you manage to enjoy yourself at least a little bit while you’re away. There’s certainly plenty to do.”
And I can afford it now, she thought guiltily. Even without Nicholas constantly spending money on her, living with him rent-free was saving her a ton. She’d never had this much in her accounts in her life. Damon had been as controlling with her allowance as he had been with everything else.
“You can go ahead and put your PTO in when this meeting is over,” Arthur said, cutting into her thoughts. “I’ll approve it by the end of the day. Oh, and since you’ll be leaving us for a little while, I’m adding something to your schedule. It was supposed to be for next week, but you can just move it up, timeline-wise, if you want to participate.”
Her phone buzzed. “The Administrative Lunch?” she asked, glancing at the notification.
“Yes, it’s part of the quarterly offsite budget. All you have to do is save your lunch receipts and send them to accounts receivable. Since you and Annica are the only C-suite administrative assistants, you’ve been placed on the same ‘team.’ It’s thirty dollars per person.”
“Wow,” said Jay. “That’s generous.”
