Page 34 of Her Boss

A sudden burst of panic tightened my chest at the thought that I had somehow unknowingly become embroiled in the affairs of some shadowy criminal organization.

Rick finally spoke, his voice deep, steady. “You probably think I’m some sort of contract killer, or other sort of scumbag. Truth is, it’s not that sexy. This isn’t Hollywood. This is the real world. It’s dirty. Complicated. And it sure as hell isn’t pretty. But what I don’t do is anything unethical. I have a code—and I live by it.”

“Unethical… but what about illegal?”

He paused, glaring at me for a long moment. “I run a legitimate company, with legitimate clients.”

That answers that question.

Still, the tension within me eased, if only a little. There was a lot more he wasn’t disclosing, but that was something I was beginning to get used to when it came to Rick Trafford.

I watched him, waiting to see if he might tell me anything more. It was futile.

Finally, he broke the silence. “My clients trust me with their problems, with their security. Nothing more, nothing less.” He paused again. “Still ready to walk out?”

I was still in a bit of shock, but somehow, I knew he wasn’t lying. That would have made things easier. What bothered me the most was how badly I’d misread him. How far off I’d been in sizing up the man.

It’s his job to be unreadable, Genie. Don’t forget it.

Rick cleared his throat and continued. “There is a lot more that I do, that my company is asked to do, that I’m not going to talk to some girl about. At least not until I can trust that she won’t walk right out my door the instant things get a little real.”

A chill ran up my spine at the thought of what those other things might be. I didn’t have to exercise my imagination much to come up with some pretty grim possibilities.

Then leave, stupid. Why are you still here?

My face flushed fiercely hot at the full implication of what he’d told me.

I’d been interning with him for days now, but had never bothered to simply ask him why it was that the place he’d chosen for his business was in such a desolate part of town. It was a depressing stretch of bombed out turn-of-the century stone-clad low rises, a sea of ramshackle, anonymous warehouses as far as the eye could see. Hardly seemed like the playground of a powerful underworld figure.

He had kept the truth hidden from me. But why?

My voice rose an octave as I spoke, waving my arms in frustration. “Why the fuck… why would you do this? It makes zero sense. At all.” It was stupid of me to feel anything like betrayal—he was simply my employer, after all—but after what had happened between us? Didn’t I rate at least a little honesty from him?

How can you ever trust him again?

Rick’s expression hardened, his gaze narrowing as he leaned closer to me. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” he said, his voice low and serious. “You are in way over your head here. If you think you’re in any position to demand anything from me, then you had better walk out that door right fucking now.”

Stunned by the sudden change in his tone, I kept quiet. The gravelly note in his voice was doing things to my insides I didn’t want to think about.

Why did he have to be so gorgeous? Why couldn’t he just be a hideous piece of shit you could hate?

He was right, much as I was loath to admit it. I didn’t understand, well, anything that was happening. But that wasn’t quite enough to stop me from pressing still further.

I strode away from his desk, running my fingers through my hair, trying to regain my composure.

“You need to know something.”

I grunted, hating the sudden bitchiness in my tone. “There’s more? Great…”

“You keep that up and your cute round ass is going to be upended over my knee again a lot sooner than I’d planned.”

Planned?

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, my mouth suddenly dry.

“Look at me, Geneva.”

Turning to face him once more, leaning my back against the cool plane of one of the huge plate glass windows, I crossed my arms. “Okay. I’m listening.”

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