Page 29 of Shâhzâdeh

“Is it impact resistant?”

“What?”

He stood taller, jaw set, dark brows quirked. I felt like I was under interrogation and failing. “Zhe glass? Is it impact resistant?” His hand was over his shoulder pointing to the glass that made up the front of my office.

“Mr. Cann—”

“Xerxes, Vanya. We are far too familiar now and will be even more so in the future for you to continue to keep zhis professional distance between us.”

My walls clenched as I relented especially since I had bigger battles to fight. “Xerxes—”

“If you don’t have impact resistant glass, zhen someone could kick zhe door in fairly easily. I am not trying to be high-handed,ziba, but I need you to understand zhat I vill protect you at all costs. If zhe guard is too much, allow me to handle zhis for you as a small token of my appreciation. I require excellence from everyone around me, and alzough I’m sure you’ll deliver, I want you to be as unbothered as possible while you put in your work in on my behalf. Now, should we talk about an exclusivity agreement?”

“Exclusivity?”

He nodded as he sat back down in his seat. “Yes, for zhe length of time I need your services I will require you to be on call at all times.”

I sat back down and booted up my laptop to pull up my service contract. “My service is already boutique—”

He smirked looking around before focusing on me again. “Cute. Boutique is for zhe rich. A place zhey can shop because zhey can afford zhe price tags. I am a man who doesn’t look at price tags when I want something. And zhe boutique comes to me no matter what country I’m in. Not to be arrogant, simply stating a fact. When I want somezing, I have no issue paying for the expense. So name your price. Are we looking at 40%?”

“Forty percent of what?”

“Of zhe purchase price.”

“No seller is going to pay me forty percent of a sale price to sell a property. They’d be losing out exponentially on the sale.” I was laughing at him but his face was just as serious as it had been before. Which made me uneasy for what he was going to say next.

“Zhat’s why I’m covering your fees.” His face remained blank but I couldn’t believe he was being serious.

“Xerxes!”

“I am doing my best to do zhis at your pace. Please do not call out my name in zhat breazless way. Zhe way zhat makes me zhink of passion. Of having you vhisper my name zhat way as I help you see heaven our first time togezher. My self-control is intact but you are temptation in its purest form.” He subtly shifted in his seat and I had to thank God I couldn’t see his lap over this desk.

“My standard fee is seven percent.”

“Far too low for zhe work you do.”

“You haven’t worked with me before so how do you know that?”

“If you are successful enough in zhis city to build a name for yourself large enough to be your own broker at such a young age then yes, you are grossly underpaid. If I had to guess, you kept your fees low to attract clients. And zhen once you established yourself, you zhought zhat raising it to seven percent would be a good median between practical and luxurious so you stayed zhere. Well now, I’m here to tell you it’s far too low. You can’t build an empire trying to please everyone. What is the lowest priced house you currently have listed?” It was obvious that Xerxes made deals everyday because he came prepared for any argument I seemed to have.

“It’s in the low fives.” It was a temporary home one of the players on the city’s football team had purchased before he met his wife. He was selling it now because I’d sold them their dream property in The Sanctuary.

“Fine. I will purchase zhe home so zhat you can clear your schedule.”

“Xerxes, the house is already under contract.”

He worked his jaw almost stubbornly at not being able to get his way immediately. “Zhen I ill pay zheir closing costs after zhe due diligence is performed so zhat we may get zhis expedited. Vanya, I am not a man who likes to have anyzing in his way when he has put his mind to somezing. I have put my mind to you. Having you.”

“Having me.”

“And your talent to assist me in finding what I need. Zhis is zhe type of project zhat can guarantee you win your award next year as well.”

“I can’t believe you remember that.”

“It was a cause to celebrate. Zhe fragrance was a gift of congratulations. You smell divine, by zhe way.” His eyes seemed to land on the spots where I’d sprayed his perfume.

“How can you tell? You’re not sniffing my neck.” I was trying to be flip, but he got that look in his eyes again.

---