Page 5 of Sinister Devotion

"So, you're choosing who she's going to date? Isn't that one of the reasons you and your mother don't get along?" he asks.

"I'm not trying to get along with Claire. I'm trying to prepare her for life once she leaves me."

Edward scoffs. "If you think that lovesick girl is leaving you, you're an idiot. The only way Claire will leave is if you mysteriously fall in love with some other woman and get married."

That makes me laugh. Edward's not as ignorant to my feelings for Claire as I think. "That's never going to happen, Edward."

Our conversation is cut short when Fiona waltzes into my office like it's hers. She has a thick binder in her arms and pulls a folder out of it to slap it on my desk. Edward tips his head toward me and leaves the office.

"You should knock, Fiona," I tell her.

"And you should zip up your fly. New pants? Did our ruthless CEO have a little accident?" She teases with her eyes dragging their gaze up and down my body.

"Is there anything in particular I can help you with, Fiona?" I ask, leaning forward to adjust myself behind my desk and out of her view.

"The acquisition you demanded is initiated. We should have a response from the attorneys on file within the next week or so. The asking price versus your offer is obscene, Julian. Why are you insisting on buying a string of warehouses by the docks? We don't import or export anything which demands that kind of property development."

"Fiona, thank you for all of your work on this."

"Don't just brush me off, Julian. I'm your finance manager. By not disclosing your reasons for these purchases, you're making it difficult for me to do my job. How much company funding is going to go into the upkeep and maintenance of these properties? Are you going to sell them to one of your clients in the future or something?"

I understand her frustration, but I don't owe her the explanations she's demanding. "Fiona, please. I don't have time to review my corporate strategies with you right now. Just know that the properties will be put to good use and buying them is a personal pet project of mine. Now, if you're telling me that I'm somehow broke and can no longer afford said properties, I will listen. Am I running out of money?"

She growls. "No, but?—"

I cut her off. "Has anyone rejected my offers?"

"No, why would they? You're throwing money at these places, nearly eighteen% above market value. It doesn't exude fiscal responsibility."

I nod. "It's not supposed to, Fiona. All of my choices for this company serve a broader purpose. I am not ready to divulge everything to you right now, but please believe that I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to get burned. Thank you."

I tap the folder full of documents she placed on my desk and once again, my tone of dismissal is enough to send Fiona darting out of my office. She doesn't know it yet, but every property I'm buying is going to be put into a charity foundation. However, I only want that revealed once Carmine Scarpella's corpse graces a slab in the morgue.

3

CLAIRE

Fiona leaves Julian's office in a huff of frustration, passing me on her way as she juggles a binder in her arms. As the executive assistant, I can offer to help her, but something tells me it won't be accepted.

I try my best to focus on work instead. However, every time I blink, Julian's muscular legs with his thick member hanging between them appears like a fantasy I can't make go away. But the fantasy stops every time I see the flash. My virginity, the inexperience has my imagination lacking.

Memories from moments in high school flood my thoughts. Girls like Llana Conway gathering in the bathrooms to discuss their latest conquests would be the perfect way to find out what I'm supposed to do with Julian once he's out of his pants.

Llana Conway had every boy wrapped around her finger, and her tongue wrapped around every cock. At least, that's what the rumors said. She never denied them and actually leaned into her promiscuous reputation to get whatever she wanted. I, on the other hand, tied to the secretive Blackwell name, was kept to the outskirts of popularity.

The rumors around me were that I'd been taken in by a dangerous family. The Blackwell's wealth allowed them to get away with murder. I never saw anything to validate those stories, so I ignored them. It did little for my social life, much to Julian's delight. However, it kept me from being the prey to snooty elites who'd probably pick me apart if they knew I'd come from regular parents in an ordinary middle-class life.

Even though I ignored the rumors, I can never deny the air of danger hiding in Julian's demeanor. From our brief moment in his bathroom minutes ago, there wasn't anything sexual in Julian's eyes. It was more like a daring confrontation to challenge my flirtatious line about finishing. What do I do when staring at the object of my wet dreams? I run out of the room to get him clothes to cover it.

I doubt I'll get another opportunity. Julian probably thinks I'm some naïve little girl who has no idea what to do with it or him. I'll be replaying that scenario every chance I get until another chance comes along to do something, anything, but run away.

"Let's go, Claire." Julian's command is abrupt, breaking me from my musings as he power walks through an array of cubicles where people mostly ignore us. It makes me wonder what everyone is doing.

Nuvola Scura Industries isn't like a commercial brand that sells things, putting their name into everyone's home. The name itself means dark cloud, and from what I've learned over the past few months shadowing his last assistant. We specialize in mergers, acquisitions, and corporate culture consultations. What does that even mean?

Buying and selling other businesses, while telling some companies what's wrong with the way they treat their employees? That's the simplest way it was broken down to me, and honestly, I have no idea why doing any of that equals billions of dollars in profits every year.

However, there are some rumors floating around that Julian's money comes from the mob. There are others that mention when his father was a prestigious judge, there were talks of bribes and kickbacks for favorable rulings. I don't know how true any of it is, but even still, none of it adds up to Julian's success.

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