Page 21 of Corrupt Game

After escorting Collette to the basement and showing her the assets available to her, I left her alone to adjust to the new surroundings.

I headed off, back to my condo in the city, as the helicopter took off I considered how the afternoon had gone.

She was an intriguing woman. Something I hadn’t expected to find in the crop of women that were vying for my attention in that outer office room. It would normally take countless interviews to find a suitable match. It had never occurred on the first day, let alone with one interview.

That was what appealed to me right off the bat with her. She wasn’t demanding. Just considered the facts, weighed them as if they were only a portion of the final decision.

When we’d walked through the door earlier, she’d considered the basement arrangements without a fuss. She hadn’t asked any questions.

None.

Which struck me as curious because most women had questions. They always wanted and needed something when I was gone. A list of things to make them more comfortable.

Food, snacks, and a television were generally at the top of the list. What they didn’t know was that I wouldn’t be giving in to their requests. It wasn’t part of the conditioning that needed to occur for them to be completely mine.

Though I didn’t think she had any idea what she’d gotten herself into. She seemed to be genuinely certain it was an assistant position. It made me wonder, again, what kind of motive she might have for wanting to get close to me.

After reading the contract with her for the second time, I was certain she hadn’t even read the details beforehand.

Several of the items, including the sexual stipulations had seemed to surprise her.

I wasn’t going to enter into anything that wasn’t mutual and consensual. It wasn’t my style.

She recovered well, not really having an issue with sex, but more that it was in the contract to begin with. But I never moved forward with an arrangement without a contract. I needed anything I could to protect my company and myself.

In my line of work, I had learned to read people. There were too many situations where I had to make decisions based on someone’s answers. She took everything I threw at her and kept going. All of the others had paused and reconsidered when sexhad come up. When I’d mentioned the ban on social media, she hadn’t batted an eye. It was when we’d found her personal phone that she’d lost her calm.

A text to Rossi would fix that problem.

We needed to have her phone analyzed to find out what she was hiding.

Her hesitancy to do more than skim the contract seemed to contradict the fact that research was her specialty. One would presume that as a research assistant, she would be more detail oriented.

Especially when signing a contract—most researchers I’d come into contact with had been meticulous in their methods.

Why did she want this job so badly? Was it simply a way to get closer to me? Could this be another company wanting dirt on my personal life? Did we have a connection I couldn’t recall?

I ran a weary hand over my face. I wanted this to work. She drew me in and I wanted to experience everything about her, but I would throw her away if I had to.

No one knew what my assistants were to me. Anyone that had been a previous assistant had not only signed the NDA, but was monitored so that they didn’t turn on me at a later time. So far, nobody has wanted to spill any details. The bonus package was very lucrative and made life easier for every previous assistant.

It wouldn’t matter anyway. Whatever game she was playing, I had way more practice at it.

I’d had years of practice at hiding my feelings or trying not to have feelings at all.

She might appear to have a hardened or tough exterior on the outside, but with a little pressure applied to the right points, she would crack and come willingly to me.

I needed the naivete that she seemed to exude. Something in her life had made her extremely self contained, though she was still soft in a womanly way.

My body ached with the need to lose myself in her. It’d been awhile since a woman had drawn such a reaction from me. I had control, but she pushed that boundary which I craved and knew would be addicting. I didn’t let myself have random dalliances with women. There were too many possible problems that might come up.

It wouldn’t do to be accused of rape, or impregnating a woman without plans. As the CEO of Holdt Tech, there were enough other types of scams to fend off, that I didn’t need the addition of a group of money hungry women trying to distract me from my work.

Trust was a huge part of the bond between me and the woman I chose for a year. They had to want to be there. Most had a small adjustment period, but after the first few weeks, they were willing, if not eager, to do as asked.

Not a partial trust, but complete trust. Trust with total surrender to me.

I had to know that she would follow my instructions to the letter. It could mean the difference between life and death. It was also important for my need to have control in all things.

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