Page 64 of Wicked Proposal
She needs it for something.Suspicion oozes at the back of my mind, dark and cloying.Something that wasn’t in the file.
“It’s quite the request.”
“I told you,” she mumbles, “I need to know you’re serious. I?—”
“Done.”
“—what?”
I enjoy watching her flounder. She wasn’t expecting to win this—that much is clear. And whatever that sum is about, I’ll find out. Maksim will make sure of it.
“I said I’ll give you your advance.” I glance downward. “Provided I can get my sleeve back.”
She blushes furiously. “O-of course! I—sorry, I just?—”
I fix my cuff. “My turn now.”
“I—sorry, what?”
“You’ve got your rules. I’ve got mine.” I turn fully towards her, towering over her as I speak. “A daily selfie with geolocation, to prove you’re still here.”
Mia blinks. It takes a moment for my odd request to sink in.
Then, once it does, she bristles. “And where else would I be?”
“You could run off with the money.”
Her face colors even harder, but not from shame. “You?—!”
“Second,” I interrupt, “no skipping assignments. Ever. I’ll be demanding that advance back if you do, every cent of it.”
“Yulian, I have a kid! I work in the E.R., I?—”
“Every. Fucking. Cent.”
Her brow creases, her cheeks puffing up like a hamster’s. It’d be cute if she wasn’t absolutely fucking furious, but that’s none of my business.
This is life or death.
Whether she realizes that or not.
“Third,” I drawl, tilting her chin up with my fingers, “no gettingideas.”
I can feel the heat of her skin where our bodies touch. It’s such a small connection, but I’m already burning from it. I’ve never toyed with an employee like this. Never thought I’d be doing it with her of all people.
But now, I find myself getting high on the thrill of the chase.
Even though it won’t lead anywhere.
Even though Ican’tlet it.
“You’re not allowed to fall for me,” I whisper, inches away from Mia’s full, plush lips. “In lust, or in love, or in anything between.”
She glares at me, like a caged beast ready to maim as soon as I set her loose.
And yet, I can see the truth in her eyes. Her pupils, pinpricks until moments ago, have eaten away at her irises almost completely. A black hole, swallowing the sea.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she snaps.
