Page 41 of The Deception: Hercules Valentine and I
I'm reading the numbers, getting closer to Hercules’s office. My breaths are uneven and my head dizzy. I massage one of my temples and circle my shoulders, trying to rid myself of the tightness. I can’t appear nervous. I want to show Hercules that I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m a woman who’s in control of herself, even after she screws up by banging him in all of hisexecutivenessin the elevator.
I cover my face and groan into my palms.Where was my judgement?I have to say something about last night. I know I do.But what?
I reach his door, and before I knock, his voice says, “Come in, Lark.”
I look up and see two tiny dots, one beneath the other. My chest tightens. The new Drexo microscopic camera-and-speaker unit is installed above the door. Drexo is an extremely intuitive surveillance system. The camera is able to capture 360-degree shots within the range of a mile. I wonder how long Hercules has been watching me. Now I’m worried that I looked too nervous—or even worse, not attractive enough.
I take a breath to get my bearings. I’m falling apart inside, and my worry about what Hercules thinks is sending me deeper down the rabbit hole. It’s time to behave like an adult. It’s time to be the sort of executive who can walk into her boss’s fancy office, even after banging him in the elevator, and be taken seriously.
Here goes nothing.Hand on the knob, I turn it and step inside, and something to my left catches my attention. My jaw drops.
“What in the…?”
