Page 8 of My Temptation

He smiled. “How was the trip?”

“Uneventful,” I replied.

He nodded. “And how’s New Hope? Do you like North Carolina?”

I really wanted him to care. I would love to tell him how much I was beginning to appreciate the small town I was settling in. It would be nice to tell him about all the people I was meeting and even the stories of living in a small town when all I’d ever known was city life, but I couldn’t. It wouldn’t matter to him. We were past the point of him caring about anything other than my choices that directly impacted him.

“It’s nice. The weather is definitely better than DC.” I sat back in my seat, forcing my body to relax, and crossed my legs. “How have you been?”

“Good,” he replied automatically.

“And Eileen?” I asked about his girlfriend. I’d only met her once, but she seemed nice. She was quiet that day, and it made me wonder if he was as controlling with her as he’d been with me. I could only assume he was. He wouldn’t tolerate anything less than absolute allegiance.

“She’s good.”

“What does she do again?”

“She’s a teacher.”

I hadn’t known that. I guess I never really asked. “How did you meet a teacher?”

“We have a mutual friend,” he answered simply.

He didn’t want to talk about her, which was the only reason for the short replies, but that only made me want to ask more questions. Knowing that would just prolong the visit, I moved on. “So, Dad, why did you need to see me so quickly?”

He glanced at Beth before putting his elbows on the desk and leaning in. “I called you in to offer you a job.”

I was shocked but attempted to keep my expression neutral. My father was elated when I left the FBI. He hadn’t tried to hide that, so I was having a hard time with his request. “I have a job.”

“Not one like you had before.”

“You’re right. This job doesn’t require me to do things I wouldn’t normally do.” I studied him closely. “Why am I really here? You don’t want me to work under your supervision again. You were very clear about that.” His jaw tightened, and it finally dawned on me that this wasn’t coming from him. I leaned forward. “Who wants me back?”

He paused briefly before replying, “The director feels you had a certain skill set we’re lacking now that you left the team.”

The director. His boss is the only man he has no authority over in his department. I knew the director well, and he wasn’t a man who took no for an answer, so I could only imagine my father’s expression when he was told to get me back.

I could be petty and take this opportunity to gloat that the director appreciated me in a way my father never would, but I decided to take the high road. “I appreciate the offer, but please tell the director I’ve moved on and am happy with my new employment.”

My father's jaw tightened further. “The director was adamant I find a way to convince you to come back.” His gaze hardened. “What’s it going to take?”

“I’m sorry, but I have no interest in coming back.”

“You can name your price, Mila.”

“I don’t have a price—” I began.

“Everyone has a price.” He interrupted.

“That’s not actually true,” I rebuffed. “And there isn’t an amount high enough to make me come back.”

“The director feels?—”

This time, I interrupted him. “The director wants someone they can throw in situations in which they would never put a man. Isn’t that what this is really about?”

“You had the ability to get close to our targets in a way no one else had been able to.”

“Yep, that’s what you all said.” I held up my finger. “Except Nick actually got a lot closer than I ever did. Taking my clothes off for those men didn’t give me any information that helped Nick, but it did put me in situations where at any moment I could’ve been raped.”

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