Page 6 of Their Arrangement
“Because,” I said, voice shaking, “no one else will even look at me.”
And there it was.
Laid bare.
The silence that followed wasn’t cruel.
It was calculating.
Like they were all turning the idea of me over in their hands.
“Let’s say we said yes,” Wolfe murmured. “Let’s say we did. What wouldyoudo for it?”
“I told you,” I said, lifting my chin. “Anything.”
Barron didn’t blink.
Behind me, Royal’s voice was softer now. “That’s adangerousword, sweetheart.”
Barron held my gaze.
Then turned to his brothers. A silent message passed between them.
When he looked at me again, his voice was colder.
“Be here tomorrow. Eight a.m. Sharp.”
“I—thank you,” I breathed.
“I didn’t say youhadthe job,” he added. “I said we’d see.”
Wolfe pushed off the glass wall.
And as I turned to leave, I felt his eyes trail the length of me. Slowly. Deliberately.
I walked out of the office on legs made of glass.
And I didn’t breathe until I hit the elevator.
Everything inside me wanted to run. My body remembered the kind of danger these men carried, even if my pride didn’t. The scent of them—cologne and control—wrapped around my lungs like a noose. My feet didn’t move, but my resolve did. It cracked, just slightly.
But when the elevator doors closed behind me, I wasn’t sure if I’d just been hired…
Or claimed.
My hands were trembling. I didn’t realize how much until I missed the button for the lobby and had to jab it twice.
I swallowed back the taste of shame and sweat.
The moment the doors opened at the bottom, I walked fast. Too fast. I didn’t glance at the receptionist. I didn’t look at the polished women who glided across the marble floor. Or the sleek men in perfect suits who barely noticed me.
I kept my head down.
Out the doors. Onto the street.
Into the chaos of car horns and smog and heat.
And that’s when I cracked.
