Page 18 of Burning Your Lies

“No,” Ray declares.

“Hux,” she pleads.

“No!” he snarls. “We’re not doing that. Take this as her formal resignation, effective immediately.” He stands. “Let’s go.”

She remains in her seat, staring up at her husband. A fire of smugness spread through me because her hesitation onlyreaffirms his belief; shewantsto be my PA. Shewantsto spend all hours with me. “Let’s just—”

“I said no! You can find a job somewhere else.”

And there’s the first crack in their marriage.

Putting on my best face of innocence, I clasp my hands together. “Why don’t you think about it? Take a few days and then come back to me with a decision.”

I know what the decision will be because it’s Savannah nature to rebel. He will be forced to accept it and seeing us together will drive him insane. When he walks past the office and sees her leaning over so her breasts are on show, jealousy will consume him. When I call her to the office in the middle of the night for something, he’s going sweat with worry that I have her bent over the desk, fucking her like he never could. And it will build until he can’t take it anymore. He will explode and she will come running back to me.

“There’s nothing to think about. The answer is no.”

“It’s nice of you to check in, Maria. Elise and I are both fine.”

“No problem, Mr Rivers. I missed her today. Will she be back in daycare tomorrow?”

“I hope so. She seems to be feeling better. Perhaps it was just a slight spike in the morning.”

She hums. “Better to be safe than sorry. Well, I hope to see her tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” I hang up the phone with an eye roll. Grabbing my laptop bag, I head into the house. It’s pin-drop silent for a few seconds, and then I hear the giggles coming from the kitchen. “I’m home!”

“Daddy!” She comes bounding towards me and wraps her arms around my legs. “Cake!”

Brynn leans against the wall and laughs. Flour covers her clothes and her hair pulled into a messy bun. “I think she’s had a littletoomuch sugar.”

I press my lips against her temple. “It’s going to be a late night, huh? What did you and Brynn get up to today?”

She walks into the kitchen, and I follow behind her. “Shall we tell daddy what we did today? We ate some breakfast, played some games, and then Elise had a nap while I cleaned up. What else did we do today?”

“Book!”

Her smile is breathtaking. “Yes! We did a little reading. Ate lunch. Played some more and then we cooked dinner and baked a cake for daddy.”

Elise wriggles free and runs to the living room.

“Thank you,” I say.

She waves me off. “No problem. It’s not your fault that your nanny needed a sick day.”

Maintaining the lie, I let out a sigh. “I know, but I’m sure you had better things to be doing today.”

Brynn props her hand on her hip. “It’s no bother. Honestly, I had a great time with her. She’s so sweet and intelligent. I had a lot of fun with her today.”

I stand back and watch as she works her way around my kitchen as if it’sours.I don’t need Savannah. Not when I have the perfect Brynn. Brynn doesn’t need to be taught how to cook and clean. Brynn is always dressed immaculately. Brynn looks at me like I’ve given her the world.And we haven’t even fucked yet.

“I hope after all you’ve done today, you’re joining us for dinner.”

She tucks the escaped tendril behind her ear. “I have to be up early tomorrow. And I’m really exhausted from Elise,” she laughs.

“We have plenty of spare beds here.”

She lets out a soft sigh and avoids my gaze. “We’ve only known each other for two months.”

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