Page 36 of Reckless Hearts

“Excuse me?”

I flinch as his slow, methodical walk brings him to a stop directly in front of me.

“What the hell does that mean?” I breathe.

“It means whatever I want it to mean. You’ll do everything I ask. Answer my phones. File my paperwork. Clean, cook, do my fucking taxes if I ask you to. I’llownyou, completely.”

I bristle, my teeth flashing as he slowly moves around until he’s behind me.

“I’m not—”

“You’ll even be mywhore, if I ask.”

My breath catches with a sharp inhale as the words rasp directly into my ear. The heat of his body and the bergamot, spice, and leather scent of him drowns me in his proximity as the empty office goes silent.

Sweet fucking God, he really did just say that.

You’ll even be my whore, if I ask.

I want to say it’s rage and indignation surging inside of me. And maybe part of it is. But that’s not the only cause of the sudden explosion through my core.

“You—”

“Can’t? Oh, but I can.” He comes back in front of me and stops again, looming over me with his black eyes stabbing into mine. “Yes, Dahlia, I fuckingcan. The choice is yours.” He hands me a plain, matte black business card with nothing but his name and an address printed on it in gold leaf. “Be at my place at eight tomorrow night, or there is no deal.”

I’m speechless, my pulse thrumming in my ears as Deimos turns and casually begins to head over to the elevator.

“I’ve got some business to attend to.” He turns to smile cooly at me. “You see, I have six brand new companies to familiarize myself with, after all.”

It’s an effort not to scream.

“Why don’t you stay here, though…” He frowns, gesturing broadly past me at the completely empty office space with his hand. “If you could get everyone settled, maybe get IT in here to get the email system up and running. Oh, and if you could color code my schedule for the next week and maybe get a general org chart going, that’d begreat. Thanks abunch.”

He’s crazy. Not just an asshole, and a narcissistic egomaniac with a God complex. He’s legitimately fuckingnuts.

“Any questions?”

I slowly shake my head, staring at him in disbelief.

“Is that a no—”

“What thefuckis wrong with you?” I breathe.

His cold, malevolent smile drops in a flash. I shiver as that cruel, shark-like gleam flickers in his eyes like black mercury. His jaw tenses up, and I jolt as he suddenly surges right into me. His big, strong hands grip my face tightly at the jawline, making my eyes bug out as his power envelops me in its black cloud of poison.

“I told you what would happen if we ever crossed paths again,” he snarls viciously. “I fuckingtold you.”

“I lived here first!”

“And nowIdo too.”

“That’s not my problem!” I spit back.

His lip lifts in a slight snarl. “Oh yes, it is,” he murmurs dangerously. “Yes, it is very much your problem. Now, again: what did I say?”

I swallow thickly, feeling my legs shake and my skin throb where he’s touching my face, consumed by an illicit heat and naked fear.

“What. Did. I. Say. Dahlia.”

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