Page 24 of Donut Overthink It

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I walk into work the following morning with my head held high, determined to make this day my bitch, when Millie stands from behind her desk. “Mr. Kyle and Mr. Kyle are waiting for you in the break room.”

My stomach drops. Why would both brothers wanna see me? I never meet with them together. I mean, yeah, I sit in on their meetings and take notes, but we didn’t have one scheduled for this morning. “Thank you, Millie,” I say roughly, and she frowns.

“Hadley!” Bianca, Asher’s assistant, comes up to me. “Good morning. How are you doing today?” She smiles brightly, and I wanna slap it off her face. Sometimes she gets on my nerves. “Asher and Aiden were looking for you earlier.” Then she lowers her voice. “You’re late.”

I refrain from screaming in her face. She doesn’t know I was almost arrested last night. And that my boss wants me to fuck in exchange for legal help. Pretty much the same thing I was almost charged for. “Millie informed me,” I say.

“Here. I’ll take those from you.” She removes the box of donuts from my hands and then bounces off toward the break room.

I swallow nervously and walk down the hall on shaky legs. Taking a deep breath before I open the door, I can hear the blood rushing in my ears.

I fumble to a stop, my heels unable to stop as quickly as my legs when I see them both sitting on the far side of the conference table. Facing me.

Aiden is sitting back in his chair, his hands casually behind his head, and it makes his dark blue button up pull against his muscular chest. His head tilts to the side as he stares at his brother, who is turned in his seat, facing him.

“I said no.” Aiden sighs before rolling his eyes.

I clear my throat, not having the courage to say anything.

Aiden sits up quickly, removing his hands from behind his head and placing them on the table. His eyes meet mine, and they’re his usual hard eyes, but now I feel like he’s judging me.

I look at his brother, and he clears his throat. It’s crazy scary how identical they are. They both have the same dazzling blue eyes. Square jaw and GQ smile. But Asher doesn’t have any facial hair. He’s been clean shaven for the three months I’ve been here.

“Have a seat, Miss Burns,” Asher orders softly.

“Are you guys firing me?” I ask roughly, wanting to just get this over with.

His brother opens his mouth, but Aiden speaks. “No.” The single word is said as if it’s a challenge to his brother. And I understand the meaning. Asher wants to let me go.

Asher sighs and gestures to the seat across from them. “Please sit.”

I make my way to the chair and fall into it, dropping my purse at my feet.

“Aiden has filled me in on what took place last night,” Asher informs me.

I swallow. “I didn’t do it—”

“We both believe you,” he interrupts me. “But he made a call,” he says through gritted teeth, and I feel like whoever he called cost them both. “And I made another one this morning. And although that seemed to have bought you some time, they won’t drop the charges.”

My heart pounds at his words. “Why not?”

“Because they have probable cause with evidence …”

“Bullshit!” I say, standing quickly. “I’ve never had sex for money,” I all but shout.

“Hadley.” Aiden says my name softly, and my watering eyes shoot to his. So do his brother’s, but his are large in surprise. Mr. Kyle never calls me Hadley. The first time had been last night when I was getting arrested, and that was a growl. This was almost … lovingly. “We know you’re not a prostitute,” he adds.

“Then why are we here?” I hate that my hands are shaking. Aiden looks down at them, and his jaw tightens when he sees the very visible marks that remain.

“We’re here because Aiden has asked me to represent you,” Mr. Kyle says.

“Isn’t there a law against that? I work here.” I state the obvious.

He nods. “There are rules, but I can get around them. That’s what I’m paid to do.” He gives me an evil smile, and it makes him look just like Aiden—crooked and gorgeous.

At the mention of money, my shoulders drop. “How much?” I ask the same question I asked Aiden last night, and I plan on doing anything and everything I can to physically pay him so I don’t have to spread my legs for Aiden. Just ’cause I fantasize about it doesn’t mean I have the guts to go through with it.

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