Page 54 of Preferential Treatment

He paused, staring for a long time at the tea. Finally, he looked back up at her. “I would like to renegotiate the terms of our agreement.”

Her heart skipped again, then resumed beating in a frantic, staccato rhythm. “Oh?”

“I want more than what we have right now.”

Kate couldn’t speak. Happiness and excitement and a healthy dose of fear all collided chaotically inside her mind, turning her lungs to rocks and her stomach to a riot of butterflies.

“I want you with me always. When I travel, I want you to come with me. When I’m home, I want you home with me.” He paused. “At your leisure, of course. I’m not looking for a slave.” A rakish smile curled his lips. “That’s my role.”

“What exactly are you asking for?” Kate asked, helpless to conceal the excitement in her voice, in her eyes. “Spell it out for me.”

“I want you to own me full-time, knyazhna. Leave your job—you won’t need it when I’m serving you. You’ll have a new job title, with a queen’s salary, and better benefits than anyone could ask for.”

It took Kate a second to realize that he wasn’t speaking figuratively. He meant that she would have an actual job and an actual compensation package. “A job title?” she repeated slowly, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“Yes. I’ve had my assistant put a few different options together. You can choose whichever one you like. I’ll have her email the proposals to you.”

Proposals—as in, business proposals. Still just a job. Kate shook her head slowly, not quite able to process what he was saying to her. “I don’t understand. Why do I need a job title? That seems more complicated than—” Than what? Just being his girlfriend? Just being cared for because he wanted to, and not because he was contractually obligated to?

“Maybe it is,” Mikhail acknowledged calmly, oblivious to the pain twisting Kate’s heart. “But this is still an arrangement, and a job title reflects that. Plus, it protects you. All the money I give you will be legally accounted for and taxed, so no financial gray areas to contend with. And, when our time together ends, you’ll need something to put on your resume so that you don’t have a gap in employment.”

Kate couldn’t think of a single thing to say to that. She was hurt, but she shouldn’t be. Their relationship had been a financial transaction from the start. It was silly of her to feel so blindsided by the fact that it would continue to be nothing more than business. It was foolish of her to have thought that when he said he wanted “more” that he wanted a real relationship, and not just more of the service she was already providing.

“I…” She blinked, and then blinked again. She was not going to cry. “I don’t know. I don’t think…” Oh, god, she was definitely going to cry. “No,” she said abruptly.

Mikhail frowned. “No?”

Kate got up and crossed the kitchen to the sink. She poured the tea out. “You should go. Naomi will be back any minute.”

His frown deepened. “Have I insulted you? What I’m offering is much more—”

“No. I’m not insulted. But I’m also not going to leave my current job to be your full-time mistress.”

“But you’re fine with part-time?” Mikhail asked incredulously.

As well he might. It was a ridiculous line to draw, from a purely pragmatic standpoint. But pragmatism hadn’t entered the equation at all. Instead, her leaden stomach and bruised heart had made the call immediately.

“I can’t be entirely dependent on your goodwill for my survival,” Kate told him—a half-truth that hadn’t occurred to her until she’d had to find a way to explain her rejection.

“Women all over the world depend on a man’s income—and I have far more income than most. You could do worse than me.”

“Are you talking about marriage?” Kate stared at him.

“No,” he answered quickly, a flash of shock breaking through the usual stoniness of his expression. “Marriage is… I will never marry. But this is better, Katya. Safer. Clearer. More reliable.”

A pang of sympathy prevented her from answering right away. Safer. Clearer. More reliable. He’d rather pay an employee to perform all the duties of a lover, than to take the risk of having a real relationship.

“Not for me,” she finally said. “I can’t upend my whole life for a crazy job that isn’t even going to last.”

Mikhail visibly flinched at that, looking stricken.

“You said it yourself,” Kate reminded him, feeling a stirring of anger. He wasn’t the one who ought to be hurting right now. “You said it was temporary—that I’d need a job title to put on my resume after you cut me loose.”

He ran his hand over his head, raking furrows in his short, dark hair. “Katya, I didn’t mean—” He cut himself off, staring helplessly at her, brow furrowed as if she were a puzzle to be solved. “What do you want, then?”

She wasn’t about to bare her heart just so he could stomp on it. “I want things to stay how they are,” she lied. “I keep my day job. We keep… doing what we’re doing.”

“You don’t even know what I’m offering. The salary, the benefits—”

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