Page 23 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

My heart pulses in my throat at the way he samples my name in his mouth. Like it is something he’s been dying to say.

“And if I don’t want to, Sir?”

Defiance licks my voice. I want the money. I’m taking his offer, but I’m not going to be obeying him the way he expects me to.

Luka and Julie have somehow started engaging in their own conversation, too caught up in themselves to listen in on my phone call.

“I didn’t phrase it as a question, Ms. Cavanaugh. Come to my office, or I will come get you myself.”

Fuck his tone. But I can’t necessarily tell him that if I’m going to accept his offer. The threat in his voice is clear, too. I go up to his office, or he comes down to get me. With the rumors still going around, the last thing I need is to add more fire to them.

Swallowing my pride and digging a hole in my heart to bury the rage coursing through my veins, I excuse myself from my friends, with Luka telling me our conversation isn’t done.

As much as I wanted to avoid Luka’s conversation, I would pick it any day rather than this.

The elevator up to Deacon’s office has hives breaking out on my skin, and my palms are getting sweatier than usual. I watch the numbers on the elevator ascend, and as those numbers near his top floor, my frantic heartbeat skyrockets.

The perks of being a boss are, unlike us employees, the boss gets a whole floor to himself that consists of his office, his secretary’s workstation, and a boardroom for meetings and presentations. While some of us suffocate in the stifling air we share with our co-workers, men like Deacon Cross get the luxury of fresh air and the best view money can offer.

When Mr. Wilfred owned this floor, I didn’t even care that he existed, but knowing Deacon Cross owns all of this makes me mad and more jealous than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

Why does he get the soft life? Why does he get to live like a rich bachelor while I’ve struggled for seven years of my life to make ends meet?

My thoughts are severed when the ding of the elevator announces I’ve reached the top floor.

It takes about fourteen steps to get to his office and another dose of courage to knock on the door.

“Come in,” Deacon’s voice vibrates from the other side of the door, and I obey his command.

The boss stands by the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, the city sprawling beneath him like a concrete and glass tapestry, and as beautiful as the city looks from up here, my eyes flick to the muscles that threaten to rip his well-tailored suit all the way to the back of his head, where his neatly cut dark hair lies.

He’s always been a handsome son of a gun, and the years we’ve been apart only prove that assertion.

“I’m assuming you showing up to the office today means you’ve taken my offer?”

I’m about to answer him, but Deacon turns around, his eyes chasing mine in a way that should be deemed criminal.

“Last I checked, you gave me forty-eight hours to make my decision, so I still have time to think about your offer, Mr. Cross.”

My words seem to have no effect on him because he moves around his desk, walking toward me, and with every step, I can feel my wolf begging me to at least ask him questions, to at least hear him out and let him in. I don’t listen to her as I take one step back.

“Delaying the inevitable doesn’t change the fact that my offer is the best one you’ve got.”

“Yeah? Then, why does it seem like you are the one who’s desperate to get me as your assistant instead of the other way around, Sir?” I ask.

He doesn’t have to move for me to smell his musky cologne in the air.

It’s everywhere. It’s on my clothes. It’s in my nostrils. It’s the only other thing that makes my body heat apart from his lingering eyes.

“I never sugarcoated anything, baby. I’m here to win you back, and if this is what I have to stoop to so that I can get you back, so be it.”

My knees nearly go weak when he calls me baby, but the incredulous laugh that bubbles from inside me comes from a place of pain. ” We were done the day you rejected me, Mr. Cross, and I’m afraid your money won’t be able to fix that.”

Something akin to pain flashes in his eyes, but he masks it within seconds.

“Yes or no, Winter?”

He knows my answer, but he wants me to say it, and I do it because I refuse to back down when this is my city, my job, and my new life.

---