Page 3 of Bought

“It would be the right thing to do.”

“You,” he says, “are a danger to yourself.”

I pull my hooded sweater a little tighter. He’s sort of right. I can feel the danger in the room, but it’s all coming from him.

“Are you going to have me killed?”

He snorts. “No, I am not going to have you killed, Cassie.”

“Casey. You know my name is Casey!” I add a silentassholeto the end of the sentence.

“Yes, Casey, of course,” he says in a way that strongly implies that it doesn’t matter to him at all. “You come to see the CEO of the largest tech firm on the planet, asking him to shut down an alleged technology that would allow him to make the people who use his platform puppets of his will, and you think that has a chance of working? You’re a very naive little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl.”

My voice shakes with fear as he takes a step forward. He’s even taller than I thought. I am not a tall woman, and he is a giant of a man.

“Yes, you are,” he says softly, his fingertip running beneath my chin to tip my head up. “You have no idea how small you are.”

I had no idea it was possible to be this afraid, this pissed off, and this aroused all at the same time.

He’s not just sexist. This goes so far beyond sexism I don’t think it even matters whether I’m female or male. Everybody is small compared to Ethan Keller. He has shrunk the whole world to the point nobody can touch him.

At least, that’s what he thinks. I can’t fucking wait to prove him wrong.

“I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” I say, reaching for my laptop.

He shuts it and pushes it away from my hands.

“We’re not done here, little girl,” he purrs in that dangerous tone. “I have a proposition for you, and a lesson to teach you.”

The breath catches in my throat.

“A lesson?”

“Proposition first,” he says. “I’m prepared to offer you a job here at Vipyr. You are obviously a talented coder and…”

“No, thank you.”

He cocks his head to the side. “No? I haven’t even mentioned remuneration.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Now I know what surprise looks like. This is the expression I wanted to see on his face when I told him what his code does. Brows up, eyes wider, his mouth slightly ajar. He recovers quickly, but for a fraction of a second, I get my satisfaction.

“You are either more innocent even than you look, or you are…”

“I earn enough money from my own work,” I tell him. I know he won’t understand. Men like him accumulate wealth and power almost compulsively. My not being interested in a share of it doesn’t make sense to him.

“I would triple your income,” he says. “And offer you shares in Vipyr too.”

He doesn’t get it. He thinks it’s about numbers. It’s not.

“You can’t buy me, Mr. Keller.”

He smiles broadly, white teeth flashing in a dangerous smile. “Everybody has a price, Casey.”

At least he’s finally managed to remember my name. That’s something.

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