Page 32 of My Ruthless Opponent

He draws back and meets my eyes. The husky tone he just threatened me in, is a contrast to the darkening of his eyes.

I was weighed down by responsibilities throughout my life. Even back then in New York, when my life wasn’t in shambles.

The past sixteen months of my life have been nothing but hell. A constant struggle of making it one day at a time.

Raleigh thinks he can show me worse circumstances than I am currently living in. He can try.

He is so close that I can feel the anger and hate that’s coursing through his veins.

Despite the impenetrable mask on his face, I can see it. The darkness. The ever-present rage that’s lurking behind his blue eyes.

“Is that supposed to scare me?”

“It should.”

“Maybe you should work on your lines a bit more and try again later. Because all I felt was amusement and pity at your desperate attempt to scare me away.”

I move to the side to walk past him. Raleigh takes a sidestep and blocks my way. His broad shoulder and height cast a shadow over me.

We have never talked this much before.

Yes, there were banters whenever one of us lost to the other but that was it.

We always steered clear of each other’s presence. Maybe he mistook my avoiding him as a sign of cowardice.

And now that I am not giving him any reaction, he is trying to get a rise out of me.

Raleigh needs a reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around him.

“Pity?” He is watching me like a hawk.

I blow out a sigh. “You have a hearing problem? Or is this another pathetic attempt to intimidate me?”

“Trust me, princess. If I were intimidating you, you’d know about it. You’d feel it in your delicate bones.”

Raleigh is crowding my personal space. He is doing that a lot nowadays.

A dangerous glint in his eyes is telling me that he is speaking the truth. His unflinching stare is making my blood boil instead of unnerving me.

“Try it and see its consequences, RJ. I am not one of your interns. I am not going to burst into tears.”

“We’ll see about that. Because I think you might cry on your last day here.”

“That was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my tears, RJ. You were lucky enough to witness the whole ‘breakdown’ you like to rehash every time. Don’t you think it’s timeIwatch you having one?”

Something unreadable flickers across Raleigh’s face. Something which he keeps hidden from the world.

But it is replaced by menace.

He bends his head. His eyes bore into mine. Lethal and intense. “It’s on, Hannah. I was being considerate by warning you to back off. Because I won’t stop until I get what I want. I can do anything when it comes to achieving my goal.Anything.”

“Good for you. You must do that.” I don’t gloat about how Mr. Smith is the biggest name in the world and how having him as our client would grant me access to my promotion.

He can try all he wants. I spent sleepless nights getting the pitch ready.

Saturday is just five days away and I can hardly wait.

He gives me an evil smile and steps back.

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