Page 2 of Master Vidar & Vali

“I’m not overreacting. Endearments are not appropriate when referring to an employee. They make me uncomfortable. I’m not interested in you that way, Mihal.” Anger heated myskin. “I came here for a job, and so far, you’ve only paraded me around and insisted I attend personal functions while not giving me any training or assignments for the public relations job you hired me for.”

He leaned back, eyes narrowing. “Zara, you’re misunderstanding things. I only called you that because it was expected in that social context. Maybe you don’t understand what is needed in public relations, but all those personal functions are considered networking in my country.”

If I was more naïve, I might believe what he was saying. Might believe that it was inexperience, not my well-honed instincts telling me to run for the hills. Unfortunately for him, I’d been around too many immoral men in my youth to miss the way his family and colleagues laughed and looked at me like I was something on the menu. I would not let him gaslight me into staying. I straightened and tried to channel my inner bitch.

“Then I guess I’m not interested in PR after all. I’m sorry, but this job isn’t for me. I want my passport back. HR still hasn’t returned it to me. I’ll book my trip home.”

It would cut into my savings, but I didn’t want there to be any reason for him to delay my leaving.

“No.” The word hit me like a slap. “I’m keeping your passport safe. We wouldn’t want to risk losing it. As your boss, I’ll decide if you need access to it. I have to be sure you’re safe and don’t do anything reckless.”

A chill chased down my spine as my worst fear was realized. He was going to fight me on leaving. Determination strengthened my resolve as I shook my head. “I appreciate your concern, but I’ve made up my mind. I want to go home.”

Mihal’s expression hardened. “You’re making a mistake, Zara. You signed a one-year contract. Believe me when I say you don’t want to break faith with me.”

Fear spiked an adrenalin release that pulsated through me like a subway car zooming away from a platform in New York. What I wouldn’t give to feel the wind pulling my hair into a tangled mess from the rapid acceleration of the train. Instead, I was standing there fighting for breath as my throat closed in a precursor to a panic attack.

I’d spoken my feelings honestly, and he’d railroaded me. It was my worst-case scenario coming to life. Would he really try to keep me prisoner by holding my passport hostage? How could I get home without it? I was trapped in a country where I barely understood the language, and I’d stupidly handed over my passport when he’d said HR required it for the visa paperwork. Now it was probably stuck between four small walls in a safe someplace, but where?

The door sprang open before I could come up with a suitable response. My eyes darted toward the sound, and I saw a man step into the room. He was tall, with a confident stride that exuded an air of quiet authority. His blond hair and blue eyes marked him as neither Albanian nor one of the local employees. Something about his determined confidence had my fear easing back.

It was like the difference between seeing a hyena and a trained guard dog. You feared both, but with the latter you knew if you followed the rules, you would be safe. It was the first time in my life that the sight of a man made me want to relax rather than fight.

So many inappropriate thoughts chased through my imagination. Maybe it was the stress of the confrontation or the fact I hadn’t had sex in almost a year, but my mind focused on the tantalizing fantasy of the extremely fit blond in the gorgeous Armani suit, naked, between my legs. Would he worship my body or use it like his favorite toy? Either scenario had its appeal.My dirty thoughts were abruptly interrupted when my boss rose from his seat to greet his guest.

What the hell was wrong with me? It was not the time to get distracted. I had to focus.

“Ah, Colin.” Mihal’s smile looked forced, his words coming out from behind clenched teeth. “Perfect timing. Zara, this is Colin Kinnaird, the G&H security consultant we’ve been working with to upgrade our digital and physical security. Colin, this is Zara Foster, my assistant and a member of my PR team.”

I hated the possessive way he said the word “my” and fought the urge to roll my eyes. Had he added me in that possessive way, thinking it would appease me? Or was it a warning to Colin Kinnaird?

The handsome man in question gave me an evaluating look. If Mihal’s intention had been to pacify me, it failed. No amount of sweet-talking or possessiveness would change my desire to leave. Despite this man’s interruption of our discussion, I still needed to come up with a plan to get the hell out of the country.

Colin was in security. Would that mean he might know where Mihal was keeping my passport? Could I ask without coming across as obvious? It would be a fine line between appearing interested in something as an employee rather than a thief. He wouldn’t know that the only thing I wanted to steal was my passport.

The last thing I needed was to alert Mihal of my intentions. Trusting a stranger went against all common sense. He was a man, and life had taught me that men were dangerous and untrustworthy. Like my dickhead of a boss, they lied and kept their true intentions hidden until it was too late.

Colin extended his hand, and in reflex, I shook it. A bolt of electricity raced up my arm from where his hand touched mine. To my surprise, his grip was firm but not crushing. It conveyed respect without any hidden game of flirting or dominance.

“Nice to meet you, Zara.” The warm and steady tone of his voice held a slight Scottish brogue that both calmed and excited me.

I gave him my best smile. “Same. Security? Does that mean you are upgrading not only the servers but the locations where physical documents are kept?”

Okay, that wasn’t even a little subtle, and by the way Mihal’s head jerked, he knew what I was trying to do. His glare had my pulse kicking up a notch. Mihal stood and placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “You should focus on PR, Zara. Colin and I have pressing matters to discuss. We’ll circle back to what we were discussing later.”

The tightening of his grip told me clearly that if I pushed, things wouldn’t go well for me. It was tempting, but I had no idea if Colin would be an ally or enemy. I nodded to let Mihal know I wouldn’t make trouble.

His grip loosened, and he brushed his fingers over my shoulder in a too-familiar way before stepping back. A wave of helplessness washed over me as I put more distance between us and moved toward the door.

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Kinnaird.” Keeping defeat out of my voice was nearly impossible. I would need every ounce of smarts to find a way out of this situation. Being distracted by a hot man wouldn’t help.

“You as well, Ms. Foster.” The evaluating look in his eyes confused me as I left the two to have their discussion in the office.

Going back to my desk to worry was unappealing. I needed to be doing something active. Hoping to get lucky, I wandered the office complex and tried to scope out every possible location where Mihal might have my passport hidden. He might be treating me as an empty-headed woman, but he didn’t know ofmy past, the things I’d done to survive. I wasn’t as clueless as I’d allowed him to believe, far from it.

Unsurprisingly, my cursory search came up empty. Could he have taken my passport to his home? With all the dinner parties he made me attend, checking there would be complicated but not impossible. I would have to wait until his guard was down. My panic was bubbling back up, and I needed to keep it under control. Maybe when we talked again, Mihal would see reason.

And maybe unicorns would fly, my parents would be reformed by their jail time, and I would win the lottery. This wandering wasn’t doing me any good, so I headed back to my desk. I needed to come up with contingency plans.

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