Page 18 of A Twisted Arrangement

“Of course,” he replies easily.

“I left you a mess to clean up in the men’s room. Do you think you can handle it, or should I call someone else in?” I’m well aware that not everyone’s fit for this type of work, and I’m giving him an out.

“I’ve got it, sir.”

“Good. I’m trusting you.”

A slight flush covers his cheeks, and he lowers his head. “May I ask what he did?”

“He fucked with what’smine.”

Chapter 9

Scarlet

I relistento the message Liam left. I’ll admit Matthias works fast. I knew he’d get it done, but even I’m impressed by just how quickly he had Liam backpedaling.

My hands are still shaking a day later from walking into the Everette private room at Elysium and demanding he help me. There was an 80-20 chance he’d tell me to go screw myself. After all, I am just anotherLaurentto him.

Ten years,ten yearssince we spent that one horrendous week together, trapped in the hellscape of my family’s making. Since then, I’ve built a life around me, brick by brick, one where I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.

Which made it all the more humiliating to have to ask Matthias for help. Swallowing my pride had tasted sour, but there’s not much I could’ve done about it.

Getting the video wiped from existence isn’t something I could trust just anyone with, and despite the fact that Matthias has actively avoided me for a freaking decade, I knew I could trust him to get it done.

Of course, I completely overlooked the fact that he’d ask for something in return, and now I’m living my teenage nightmare, indebted to my childhood crush.

I pull my hand away from my mouth, realizing I’ve been chewing on my nails, and the once pristine blush polish is now chipped. Dammit.

Putting my phone down, I get back to my computer. We have a large potential client coming in who we’ve been working with for the last several months. He wants us to provide permanent legal counsel for multiple of his companies. It’s a deal that’s felt too good to be true, especially since he’s been anonymous this entire time, but he’s finally agreed to meet in person today.

I’ve been working on this presentation for weeks. As a junior lawyer on this team, I’m backing up the partners. The only reason I was able to land this job in the first place is because I did a yearlong internship while I was in my final year at Stanford, and I dipped into my family funds to sweeten the deal. I may hate my family, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make use of the privileges my inheritance provides me. Even with that, I know how precarious my job is and how important it is that this presentation goes well. The last thing I want is to make my boss look bad.

Morning light streams through my office window. It takes up the majority of the east-facing wall, never failing to make the room feel welcoming.

I’ve already sent the file over to my boss, but just in case I’ve missed something, I double-check my work for the fifth time.

There’s a light knock, and I get up, opening the door, expecting to see my boss. For a second, I forget where I am as my eyes skim over Matthias. He’s tall, dark, devious, a man who could eat me alive.

His large shoulders take up the entire doorframe, blocking the bustling office behind him. I groan internally, tamping down the heat swirling low in my stomach. The man’s grown into some kind of sexy, godlike giant.

I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that any way to welcome someone who just did you a favor?” He enters my office, the door closing behind him, and I involuntarily step back. A wolflike smile curls the corner of his lips, and he stalks closer, driving me back until the back of my thighs hits the edge of my desk, halting my retreat.

My breath catches as his presence surrounds me, causing my body to hum even without his touch.

I stare down at the buttons of his perfectly tailored crisp black shirt.

“Look at me, Little Sparrow.”

I clench my fingers at my sides to hide the way they tremble and shake my head. “Don’t call me that.”

He raises his hand, cupping my face, and guides it up with his thumb. “Don’t look away from me when I’ve come to see you.”

I rip my face away and stare right at him. Not looking away from his dark gaze. I push all my frustration into my voice, praying that it covers the slight shake in it. “What do you want?”

His teeth run along his bottom lip as he takes in my words before reaching into his pocket and handing me a USB.

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