Page 53 of Villainous Rise

Yes.

Just one word. So simple, yet it hit me like a punch to the gut.

I didn’t even thank you.

His response came quickly.

I didn’t exactly give you the opportunity. I barged in and ordered you around.

Still. You went out of your way and I was...

Stubborn? Difficult? Adorably resistant to basic self-care?

I was going to say ungrateful.

I don’t expect someone to thank me when I barge in and order them around. Unless it’s in the bedroom. Then gratitude is appropriate.

Heat rushed to my face. Memories flashed through my mind, his commanding voice in my ear, his hands pinning mine above my head, the way he’d made me beg...

That’s inappropriate.

Is it? You brought up gratitude. I just clarified when I expect it.

God, he was infuriating. And yet I couldn’t stop the flutter in my stomach, the warmth spreading through me.

I have to go. I have an interview to prepare for.

Wear the black lingerie. The set with the little bows and garters. Valor seems like one to love basics.

This was going to be the longest night of my life, and my fingers were typing faster than my common sense could intervene.

I’m not wearing lingerie to dinner with Valor. I’m being dressed by an Alliance stylist, thank you very much.

Let me guess. They’ll put you in something beige and forgettable. Wouldn’t want you outshining Golden Boy.

It’s a WORK ASSIGNMENT. It doesn’t matter what I wear.

Work assignments don’t typically involve candlelight and “gazing adoringly” at your colleague. I checked the Keeper handbook.

Pretty sure “appropriate lingerie for fake dating” isn’t in there either.

I could write that chapter for the next edition.

Why did I engage with him?

Did you know it’s incredibly easy to break a human collarbone. I wonder how his posture would look for the cameras after that.

I stared at the screen. Despite his joking around, I needed to remember that he was an actual threat to Valor’s wellbeing.

Stop it. You’re not breaking his bones.

I didn’t say I would. Though his jawline would look much better wired shut. It would certainly cut down on his monologuing.

Cipher. It is a work assignment.

I am just pointing out how fragile PR campaigns are when the talent requires reconstructive surgery. Hard to gaze adoringly at a man sipping his dinner through a straw.

Don’t you have a bank to rob?