into taking this job, but to be… I didn’t want that, did I?
“I don’t need you to do anything else today. I simply needed to prove a point.”
“That you’re scary?”
He gave me a true smile then, and it made him even more beautiful. “I’ve proven that you will obey me.”
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“Is that true, Peter? Did I threaten you?”
“Maybe not technically, but—”
“Did I hold a gun to your head?”
“There are guards outside the door.”
“Who are there to protect me. Did I say they would prevent you from leaving?”
He’d implied it. He’d said he always got what he wanted, and… he had. I’d done what he asked and part of me had fucking wanted to.
He smiled as if reading my thoughts. “So now I know you’ll do what I ask. As long as you remember what I expect from you, you and I will have a lot of fun together.”
“What do you mean exactly?”
He laughed, the sound unexpected. “You might be the most innocent man to ever enter this office, but I think even you can figure that out. You know what I want to do to you, and I don’t think you’re going to fight me.” His gaze ran over my body until he was looking at my erection pressing against the front of my pants. The room wavered. I needed to run, but I was too scared to move.
When our eyes met again, he held my gaze. I felt my rapid heartbeat pulsing in my ears, and the edges of my vision began to darken.
He clapped a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. “I’m a scary man, Peter, but you have no reason to fear me as long as you do what I ask.”
What he was asking was wrong. So very wrong. He stepped away suddenly, and I wavered.
“Easy. Take a breath.”
I did, obeying him without even thinking about it.
“That’s better. I want you to get some water in the lobby before you leave. Be back here at nine tomorrow morning. You’ll be here until six at least. I have a lot for you to do.”
“Wait. You really are hiring me as your receptionist?”
He gave a slight nod. “I already told you that.”
“But I thought…”
“Goodbye, Mr. Kelly. I have work to do.”
Somehow I managed to leave his office without tripping over something or passing out. When I passed by a water fountain in the lobby, I stopped and drank from it, just as I’d been commanded. Then I walked out, grateful for once for the cold since the sting of it snapped me out of the spell Lucien Marchesi had me under. I wasn’t going to obey any more of his commands. I wasn’t going back there. I didn’t belong in his world. I wasn’t a plaything he could own, and I knew better than to think I would ever be anything more to him. Danger was something I ran from, not to. I’d learned to keep my head down and stay out of trouble, and that’s what I would continue to do.
I want you, and I always get what I want.
Would he come looking for me if I didn’t show up the next day?
No, surely not. He was a busy man. He’d enjoyed toying with me, but I couldn’t possibly be that important to him. When I didn’t show up, he’d find someone else to play with if he hadn’t already forgotten me by then.
The next day, I felt even more depressed than usual as I walked to yet another temporary work assignment. I should’ve been thankful the agency hadn’t listened to the asshole I’d worked for two days ago, but all I could think about was Lucien. Jimmy had called me several times the night before, but I’d erased the messages he’d left without listening to them. I wasn’t going to let him involve me in his problems any more than he already had. I didn’t know what kind of trouble he was in, but if it involved Lucien and his family, it was serious.
I was doing the right thing by not going back. I knew that, but I couldn’t help being a little disappointed I wouldn’t get to see Lucien again. I didn’t want to work for a man like him, and I would never intentionally take a risk like that. I should have been thankful I’d gotten away, but Lucien’s presence was so electrifying. I would never know what he might’ve done to me. The night before, I’d dreamed about him… more