Page 42 of By His Rule

Am I going to turn it down?

Fuck no.

“Mr. Callahan, with all due respect, I think assisting you will require an increase in the benefits I’ve been promised for this role.”

Something akin to pride flashes in his dark eyes before he finally takes a step back, leaving me with enough space to draw in a breath that isn’t laced with his scent.

“One thing you need to learn about me, Miss Tempest, is that I’m always one step ahead,” he says, his tone oozing arrogance.

He stalks around his desk before pulling out a black folder with “Callahan Enterprises” in raised gold foil shining in the corner and sliding it toward me.

“I suspect you’ll be more than happy with the benefit that comes with working closely with me.”

“I’m not sure that’s actually possible,” I mutter under my breath, although loud enough for him to hear every word before swiping the folder from the desk and flipping it open.

I scan the page, shamelessly looking for the most important piece of information to me right now.

And when I find it, my eyes practically pop out of my head.

“Holy shit,” I breathe. My knees give out and I crash very inelegantly into the chair behind me. “That’s?—”

“Agreeable?” Kian asks smugly.

“Um…” It’s fucking crazy. There is no way on earth that I deserve a salary like that for following him around like a puppy and doing his bidding. Not unless— “What exactly do you expect me to do for that figure?” I ask suspiciously.

I swear to God if he’s expecting “benefits”, then he’s about to find this entire folder shoved so far up his ass that he’ll never be able to retrieve it.

“You’ll find your roles and responsibilities listed on the next page,” he says without bothering to look at me.

Instead, he presses a button on the phone console sitting on his desk before demanding that someone bring us both a coffee. He rattles off both our orders as if we’ve been working together for years, not the last thirty-five seconds.

“How did you know?” I ask once he’s hung up.

“I always do my research, Lorelei,” he says, holding my eyes across his massive walnut desk.

A wave of nerves rushes through me as I think about all the things he could discover about me. About my family.

Internally, I cringe. Girls like me don’t belong in fancy offices like these. I’ve felt out of place since the day I left my hometown. Not that I’ve let anyone know that.

Holding my head high, I keep my mask firmly in place.

If he didn’t like what he found, then I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. My past holds many, many reasons as to why I shouldn’t have a job like this, but he’s allowing it nonetheless.

“Of course you do. Heaven forbid the great Kian Callahan isn’t fully in control of everything at all times.”

He glares at me—and probably questions his life choices and decisions.

This is on him, though. I could have been downstairs right now, being welcomed into the finance team. But no, here I am, sitting in his fancy office, discovering what this all-powerful man requires from his assistant.

His jaw ticks with annoyance, but he refrains from responding. Instead, he turns to his computer and allows me to continue reading the list of requirements he has of me.

Most of them are to be expected. Managing his schedule. Monitoring email, mail, phone calls, and other company logistics. Providing administrative support. Attending and minuting meetings. Planning events both on and off-site. And then there are a whole host of finance-related tasks that I’m not sure a standard assistant would ever be expected to do, but the sight of them warms something inside me. Maybe he doesn’t just want me to be his little bitch. Maybe there is more to this than I first thought.

“What’s this?” I ask before reading a line about travel.

He glances up, studying me for a beat before he responds.

“When I need to travel, you’ll make the arrangements and then travel with me.”

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