Page 17 of Twisted Truths

Liking the fact that I’ve finally managed to unnerve her somewhat, I decide to push it to the next level and step over to the row of drawers in the center island of the closet, guessing what I’ll find there. I slide one open and see that I’m right. Marcel has placed all her underwear in the top drawer. Various colors of lace panties and thongs are stacked, and I have to bite back a groan when my mind instantly goes to what they would look like on Ariana’s body.

I pull out one and make a show of studying it, then lift it between us. “Seems Marcel did an excellent job of unpacking all your things.” My voice is low.

Ariana’s face grows redder, but she lifts her chin in defiance. “I’ll be sure to thank him.”

Oh, she’ll be a fun one to break.

I drop the underwear from the end of my finger, and it falls back into the drawer. “I’ll leave you to get settled.”

“What about the tour of the manor and the grounds?” she asks.

I’d forgotten about that. More than anything, I’m surprised she’d want to prolong her time with me. “Ask Marcel to have someone else do it. I have things to do.”

I stalk out of the closet, out of the room, and out of the east wing entirely. Something about that woman gets under my skin, and I need whatever distance I can put between us now because beginning tomorrow, she’ll be by my side nearly constantly.

Chapter

Eight

ARIANA

At two minutes to six, I arrive in Obsidian’s office, and I’m not at all surprised to find that I’m alone.

When he told me what time to be here, I fully suspected he might be setting me up to run me ragged every day. But what he doesn’t know is that I’m determined to stay in his house for as long as possible. At least long enough to steal enough things to pay off my father’s debt to Uma.

I’ve thought about what might happen if I’m caught and decided I don’t care. What will these brothers do? Fire me? A much better option than what Uma will do. I just have to make sure if I get caught, it’s not until after I’ve paid off the debt. If I have to go to jail in order to ensure that my dad, my brother, and I can keep breathing, it will suck, but it’s worth it.

What Obsidian didn’t realize was that leaving me alone gives me time to snoop. I take the opportunity to study everything in the office. It would be stupid to steal something from this room, though. Given all the time Obsidian probably spends here, he’d be more likely to notice. So far. I’m surprised I haven’t seen any cameras.

But after a few minutes of studying, it’s apparent that my instinct to come here was right—the manor is filled with expensive items. I’ll have to go exploring whenever I’m done with work for the day.

I never did get a tour yesterday. My mind was preoccupied with whether Obsidian would recognize me from the beach. A part of me was disappointed he didn’t. It would have made all of this easier if I’d been able to say, “Yes, it was me who saved you, can I have a few million as a reward?”

Not wanting to venture out into the intimidating manor by myself last night, I remained in my room and watched a few shows on my laptop, then read. Thankfully, Marcel showed up and informed me that my meals would be delivered to my room. I have no idea whether everyone who resides here eats in their room, but I was happy to eat in solace.

A tour would have been useful, but I wanted the excuse to say I’m trying to figure out how to navigate the place if anyone found me skulking around while I was looking for things to steal.

In my short time in Obsidian’s presence yesterday, he made it clear that Asher was correct, he’s definitely going to do his best to make me quit. It was also obvious that I am going to have to watch myself around Obsidian. Intelligence and challenge gleam behind his dark eyes, and if I’m not careful, he’ll figure out there’s more to me than just a young woman who’s eager to do a good job for the billionaire brothers who hired her.

Then you add on his incredibly good looks, and it’s just another layer that makes him so dangerous. His suit fit him perfectly, showcasing his fit body. The way his dark wavy hair hung off to one side over the short hair on the side of his head made him look as though he was ready to step onto a runway in Milan. His entire presence is intense and dominating, as though he’s assessing everything around him at all times.

I give my head a shake. Enough of thinking about how my new boss is hot as hell. I need to prove to him that I belong here, that I can be a help to him. Doing so will only make things easier for me while I’m here.

So I get to work. I haven’t really been told what my daily tasks involve, but I open the laptop on my desk and use the password I set up with Voss Enterprises to log in, finding Obsidian’s email as well as one for me.

Obviously part of my job will be sorting through his emails, so I get to work. Once I’ve flagged everything that looks like something he should deal with directly, I print them and put them in descending order of urgency and set them on his desk. It’s obvious that he prefers hard copies of the things he’s working on. Then I forward any emails I can deal with to my email address, write down a list of questions I have about them, and forward them to my contact at Voss Enterprises.

Brynne is Obsidian’s main go-to at the head office. I have no idea how she feels about me being hired to assist him day-to-day in his home office, but she’s the contact HR gave me.

I’m just finishing when Obsidian decides to grace me with his presence.

“Good morning,” I say in a cheery voice, giving him no insight into whether or not I’m agitated that he’s showing up so late after instructing me to be here at six.

Today he’s wearing a black three-piece suit with a cream shirt and a red tie. I spot the tattoo on his neck as he walks past, and I suppress the urge to lick my lips when my mind conjures up an image of me running my tongue over it.

Jesus, get a grip, Ari.

“Have you been waiting long?” He takes a seat at his desk with a small grin.

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