Page 56 of By His Rule

I pause with my fingers wrapped around the door handle, unable to take another step until I’ve heard the end of Kingston’s statement.

“I don’t know,” he mutters, forcing me to look back at him. “Stressed, I guess. He’s not a bad person. He’s just…”

“An infuriating jerk who makes rash decisions and has a hot head?”

Kingston throws his head back, his laughter bouncing off the walls around us.

“You two are either going to be a match made in heaven or you’re going to kill each other by the end of the year.”

“He’d better watch his step then because I won’t be the one losing that battle.”

Kingston shakes his head, amusement still dancing in his eyes. “If you need anything, call me, yeah?”

“I can handle your little brother, Kingston. You just focus on looking after Tate and my future goddaughter,” I tease before finally pulling the door open and going in search of my boss.

I have to navigate my way to the exit alone, but it doesn’t take me long to discover where Kian is hiding, because as I emerge from the elevator, I find Jamie standing beside the car with the door open, waiting for me.

“Thank you,” I say sweetly as I step inside to find a brooding billionaire in his fancy suit.

“Where have you been?” he snaps.

“I’m your assistant, not your slave, Kian,” I counter.

He turns his eyes on me, and I swear I feel his wrath all the way down to my toes.

“I was talking to your brother. Problem?”

“We have another meeting to get to.”

“Then maybe you should have said that before storming out and expecting me to follow you like a little puppy. And to think, I fucking agreed with you,” I add quietly.

“Agreeing with me would have been telling my brother that it’s a stupid idea.”

“You mean lie, then?”

He sucks in a deep breath as he straightens and stares out the windshield.

“We’re meeting with our accountant to review the past quarter,” he tells me, all back to business.

“Fantastic. Looking forward to it.” The sarcasm is heavy in my voice, and if the way his jaw ticks tells me anything, it’s that he didn’t miss it.

Silence falls and the air turns heavy and oppressive.

Long, painful minutes pass, allowing me to lose myself in my own head and attempt to forget who I’m sitting beside.

Our next meeting isn’t nearly as short as the last, and despite there being cup after cup of coffee, no one delivers any food.

I scribble down notes about the previous quarter’s performance like they’re going out of fashion, but two hours in and my concentration is shot.

I couldn’t eat this morning, I was too nervous, and now, I swear I’m bordering on passing out.

Thankfully, the men sitting around the table before me haven’t stopped talking, ensuring my growling stomach has gone unnoticed. Or at least, I hope it has.

By the time the meeting is drawing to a close, my hands are trembling with my need for food.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Kian says, his voice firm and unwavering. “I’ll get back to you by the end of day tomorrow with those outstanding queries. Lorelei?” he questions, watching as I make quick work of putting everything away.

This time, he waits for me, and once I’m on my feet, he gestures for me to leave first.

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