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I fight the shiver in my spine at his tongue grazing my name again as he stands. I don’t, however, fight the urge to watch his perfect hands button his suit before he bows his head and exits the office.
“What the actual fuck?” I turn on Aria.
“I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but he told me to wait until he spoke to the board… I work for them first. Still friends?”
I swallow over a lump, hands gripping the folder tightly. “Of course. Jesus, I need a drink, and it’s ten a.m.”
“Tonight! On me. And don’t think you’re getting out of telling me how you already knew him, either.”
I wince, agreeing I’ll tell her everything before I make my way back to my desk, unable to get anything done for the rest of the shift.
When the day’s over, I stuff the folder I still haven’t opened into my bag and meet Aria near the elevator after clocking out.
“Drinks and appetizers?” she asks me, hitting the button for the ground floor.
“In that fucking order,” I agree.
“Whoa,” Aria says, white-knuckling her drink in her hand as her eyes flick down in contemplation of what I just told her.
“Yeah. And if your timeline is accurate, he came to you the next day about this job.”
“So, what, you think he wants you to become his live-in sex slave? Because I don’t even think Kyrin lives in town.”
“He doesn’t?” Well, there goes my theory.
“Not to my knowledge. No. He’s rarely seen there, other than when his brother fucks something up, which is a lot lately. He might really need the help. It’s honestly my fault he got your name. You whipped the office into shape in no time, and never once cussed me like the last girl who had your job.”
“Then, I’ll blame you if I take the position and end up dead. I’ll come back to haunt you.”
She snickers. “Or, what if you take it and are floating in a heated pool in the middle of a snowstorm next month, sipping a two-hundred-year-old whiskey?”
I smirk. “I’ll thank you then, too.”
Shaking her head, she presses her lips to her glass. “I think it could be great for you. I mean, you did mention that you haven’t had any luck finding a spot in town you like. Kyrin made living at the estate sound like a fucking dream.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare.”
Hours later, when I’m thoroughly buzzed and full of enough mozzarella sticks to hopefully starve off a hangover tomorrow, I open the folder Kyrin gave me earlier.
Inside is a job description of the duties I’ll be required to perform; they’re all run-of-the-mill secretarial tasks I’d expect. Still, there’s the matter of living on property for the needs and whims of the enigmatic Lucien Valdrich, the brother no one’s seen in years.
I’ll be expected to sign and submit an NDA form, which I assume is why there isn’t much information about the brothers in the media. Additionally, there are photos of the grounds, all in black and white, which give them an eerier feel.
The estate looms large over the sprawling grounds, atop what looks like a cliffside, and if I squint, I think I see a cemetery to the right of the house.
I shiver, my eyes flicking away from the documents in my hands to take in the state of my living quarters.
They’re meager, and by no means meant to be permanent, but looking down at Ironwood Estate, I can’t see myself living there either.
Still, I came here to get away from everything trailing me; I came here for a fresh start. What if this is precisely what I was hoping for?
What if I turn down what could’ve been the start of my next chapter?
Hand gripping the pen, I sign every document and text the number that was scrawled on the folder for Kyrin Valdrich that I’m in.
Not expecting a reply, I toss my phone onto the bed and pack up the documents, tucking them back into my bag to take to work with me tomorrow.
When my phone beeps, I almost knock over a lamp to reach it, collapsing onto the bed and wrinkling my shirt uncomfortably.
