His gaze flickers down my body, a knowing look that sends sparks right to my core.
I open my mouth, lost between outrage and desire, but he cuts me off, his voice low and intent. “For all your troubles, I’m going to give you a serious raise. Triple your current salary.”
I blink, stunned. “I just started.”
“And I’m the CEO,” he says smoothly, rising from his chair, and coming around the desk, every inch of him radiating command. He doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of me, so close I can feel the heat coming off his skin. “I can do anything I want.”
His confidence radiates, dark and magnetic. He’s close now, so close I can see the play of light over his cheekbones, the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Is that going to be a problem?”
The way he says it—rough, edged with a challenge—makes my pulse skip. It would be so easy to get lost in this, to forget all common sense. Yesterday, I saw what he wanted. Today, he’s daring me to step into the fire with him.
I swallow, nerves sparking into something hotter, hungrier. “No,” I whisper. “No problem at all.”
But in my head, a single thought blazes.
God help me.
And the nerves have my mouth moving without a filter. “Who was that man in your office earlier?”
The words hang between us, the wrong question at the wrong time. Aleksei’s jaw tightens, his fist curling on the desk. For a moment, I think he’s going to snap. Instead, he releases a breath, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“That’s none of your business,” he says, voice clipped. But then, almost as if he catches himself, his tone softens. “Let’s keep our focus on your job, Zatanna.”
He gives me clear instructions—criteria, the kind of woman he’s supposedly looking for, the level of discretion required. I nod, scrambling to keep up, my mind racing.
“Should I be taking notes?” I ask, reaching for my phone.
His mouth quirks. “That’s up to you. I can have a database sent over—profiles of the most eligible women in New York. Backgrounds, connections, reputations. Everything you’ll need.”
I glance up, trying to make sense of it all. “Honestly, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding a wife.”
He arches an eyebrow, curiosity flickering in his gaze. “And why’s that?”
The answer slips out before I can rein it in. “Look at you.”
Heat floods my cheeks. I want to swallow the words back, mortified, but it’s too late.What happened to your filter, Zee?I scold myself.
To my surprise, he laughs—a real, deep laugh, rough around the edges. The sound rolls through me, warming everything it touches.
He leans in, his presence filling the space between us. “That’s sweet. But in my world, reputation is everything. And mine makes me… less than eligible.”
My curiosity flares. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His eyes hold mine, steady and unblinking. For a moment, it feels like he might actually tell me. The air is thick, crackling with something dark and dangerous—something I want to know, even if I shouldn’t.
He only says, voice low, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
11
ALEKSEI
Zatanna leaves my office,her perfume lingering in the air long after she’s gone. Sweet, light, just a hint of something floral. It’s a fucking torment, how delectable she is—so soft, so real, a reminder of everything I can’t let myself want.
I wait until the echo of her footsteps fades before I grab my phone and dial Ilya. He picks up on the second ring.
“What’s happened now?” he says, weary but curious.
I keep my voice low. “There’s another clause in the will. If I don’t marry and have an heir in a year, everything passes to myfather. All of it.”
