Page 12 of Traitor

I can't let myself be stupid about this.

I slip out of bed, moving quietly, grabbing my dress from the floor. My fingers are shaking as I pull it on, my heart hammering way too hard.

I ruined everything.

I just threw away my only chance at making a life here.

A hand clamps around my wrist.

I freeze.

Bones is awake.

His fingers are firm but gentle, his grip keeping me in place but not trapping me. His blue-grey eyes are clear, sharp with understanding as he studies me.

Shit.

"Going somewhere?" His voice is rough with sleep, but there's an edge to it—like he already knows why I'm running.

I force myself to meet his gaze. "I—I need to go. I shouldn't have—"

His grip tightens slightly, but not in a way that scares me. Just enough to anchor me. "You think you fucked up."

I swallow, nodding once. "I came here for a job. This was stupid. I—" I exhale, trying to steady myself. "I need a job. I need to survive. And now I just—"

"Complicated everything?" he finishes for me.

My throat closes up.

"Yeah."

Bones watches me, his gaze unreadable, but not cold. Then he does something that throws me completely off guard.

He cups my cheek, his thumb dragging gently over my skin, soft, reassuring. I stare at him, my chest tightening. He shouldn't be like this. I expected him to be rough, demanding, detached, like most of the men in my past. Like Jinx.

But instead, he's calm. Steady.

I don’t understand.

"I want to keep seeing you," he says simply.

My stomach clenches. He... what? I blink, searching his face, looking for the lie, the manipulation, the hidden meaning. But there's none.

"You don't have to," he continues, reading me too easily. "If you don't want this, I won't push. It won't affect your job, I promise. But I'd be lying if I said I don't want more."

I don't know how to process that. No man has ever given me a choice. No one has ever told me,"You get to decide."

"You really mean that?" I whisper.

He nods. "You need a job? You got one. Bartending. If you can handle it, it's yours. You just need to talk to Grizz at the bar."

I inhale sharply, hope mixing with disbelief. I came here to beg for a job. Instead, I woke up in the president's bed. And now he's offering me both, without conditions. Can I be this lucky?

I bite my lip. "And if I say no? If I don't want to... keep seeing you?"

A flicker of something dark passes through his gaze, but he nods. "Then I walk away. I won't bother you again."

My heart stutters.

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