Sin She is exactly fifteen seconds late. I pace the floor in front of my desk. Glance at the watch on my wrist.
Twenty seconds now.
How dare she ke ep me waiting? I drag my fingers through my hair. And she threw my entire morning off course.
I’d missed the second meeting of the day, because I’d been sidetracked. At 9 am in the morning, which was
arguably the time of day I was at my sharpest, I hadn’t been able to function because I had taken one look at her
and all thoughts had drained from my head... leaving me with a part of me that throbbed and ached, and was very
alive.
My dick twitches again. My fingertips tingle. I bring my digits to my face and sniff. The scent of her arousal
clouds my senses. My cock lengthens immediately. Damn it, why didn’t I wash her off of my skin?
I’d wanted to hold onto some evidence of how I had made her writhe and throb under me, had her begging for
more, if that call hadn’t interrupted me—fucking Saint.
Remind me to take him on the next time we meet— Yeah, if he hadn’t phoned with some negotiation detail or the
other... We won, by the way, and will be expanding our presence in South East Asia. Another market, another day.
World domination is what I live for, right? We had been negotiating this acquisition for the last six months, and
things had gone our way. Another billion in the bank by the end of this financial quarter; we’ll be richer. Have
resources to go after the bastard who caused us so much grief. And I have the biggest pawn in this move right
where I want. In my grasp. At my mercy. I roll my shoulders. So why am I not satisfied? I rub the faint sensations
that stab at my chest.
There is nothing personal about what I am doing. She is a means to an end. It isn’t her fault that she is the
personification of my worst nightmares. I just need to use her to break my enemy. So why am I pacing back and
forth, wearing a line in the wooden flooring? Everything in the space is muted—wooden paneling, plush leather
sofas, floor to ceiling books.
This is one corner of my domain which I haven’t hesitated to furnish to my taste, given the amount of time I spend
in it. The armchair is made to order, and opposite it, a wide settee, big enough to double up as a bed on the
occasions I’ve had to sle ep here.
The dark leather would highlight her creamy skin beautifully; set off the freckles on her arms, lend a sheen to those
glossy pink curls on her head... unlike her pussy where she is as bare as the day she was born.
My dick lengthens, stretching the crotch of my pants.
Fuck the woman for worming her way into my thoughts. I pivot toward the door, walk toward it, just as there’s a
knock.
I pause, roll my shoulders. "Come in."
Silence stretches for a beat, another.
So, she is gathering herself too, huh? Game on, little Bird. I pivot toward the table... Nah, best to put a barrier
between us. I round the expanse of the desk and drop into my chair.
She st eps through, pauses inside the doorway.
I lower my eyes to the chair opposite, then back to her face.
Her lips tighten. Fire burns in those eyes. My dick instantly stretches my pants. Damn, the spirit of this girl.
She is a fighter through and through. Good. She’ll need every bit of that strength to hold up to what I have in store
for her.
She stomps to the desk, plops her bag on the floor, then drops into the chair.
"Ms. West."
"Mr. Sterling." She pulls out a brick-like device from her bag and places it on the desk.
"What the fuck is that?"
She flips open the cover, presses down on a button. "It’s a time machine." There’s a grinding noise as the machine
boots up. "What do you think?" She frowns down at the screen.
"It certainly seems to be something that’s tel eported forward from the eighteen-hundreds."
There’s a whirring sound and she frowns.
"No, strike that." I rub my chin. "It’s from way earlier."
"Ha, ha," she deadpans.
The laptop makes crackling noises; she rolls her shoulders, "Come on, come on," she mutters under her breath.
There’s a wheezing sound and she stiffens her spine. "Not now." She slaps down the cover, turns the brick over
and proceeds to punch it.
"What are you doing?" A headache begins to pound at my temples.
This entire scenario isn’t going as I’d planned. I am so close to getting my revenge... Not just mine, but a
comeuppance for all the Seven, and this tiny thing is threatening to destroy every inch of my carefully orchestrated
scenario.
I lean forward and grab her wrist; she freezes. Her shoulders go so rigid, I am sure she’s having a seizure.
"Relax." I place my fingers on the pulse that flutters against her skin.
She tugs at her hand and I release her. What is this weird compulsion to touch her, huh?
"You don’t need that... that device for our discussion."
"But," she shuffles in her seat, "I had a presentation, all pr epared for the social media plan."
"Bet you have all the highlights up here." I tap my temple, "Give me the key points."
"I don’t do impromptu." She wrings her fingers together.
"Mr. Sterling, I put a lot of thought into that deck."
"So you must be bloody familiar with the gist of it.
Summarize it for me."
Her chin wobbles and a bead of sweat slides down her cheek, "I... my mind is a blank."
Stage fright? More likely, she's still riled up about what happened in the boardroom. I lean back in my very
comfortable leather chair, place my elbows on the armrests.
"You are going to learn a few things in the time you are with me, Pink."
"You mean like how to misuse your power." She starts ticking items off on her fingers, "How to use your money to
buy the silence of your team, manipulate people’s lives as if they were mere playthings..." She draws in a breath.
"Is that how you speak to the man who holds your future in his hands?"
She blinks, looks down. "I'm sorry... I am not always this impolite; it's just, you can be annoying."
"Oh?" I tilt my head.
"I am also not used to losing." She juts out her chin.
I peruse her features, "Neither am I."
I hold her gaze for a beat, then ste eple my fingers together. "Better?"
Yeah, so that little diversion had been to take her mind off of the task at hand; one way to get past nervousness. A
little trick I’ve learned along the way, and apparently, it worked for her.
Her forehead furrows. She peruses my features, then nods. "As we’ve already agreed, I’ll be shadowing you—"
"Living in my house" "—for six days more."
"Six days and three hours" "Right." She opens her mouth as if to tell me off, then squeezes her lips together.
I frown. Is she going to behave herself? I hope not. It was more interesting when she was fighting me, hmm?
She sits up straight, "The original strategy had been to humanize the face of FOK Media, in order to generate
positive PR in the hope that it would rub off on the faces of the people in volved i. e., the same people who are the
promoters of the 7 A company."
"Agencies are always good at this, huh?"
"Huh?"
"Summarizing the brief I give them and throwing my words back at me."
She balls her fingers into fists.
I raise an eyebrow.
She stuffs her hands in her lap, then seems to compose herself.
"As I was saying, that was the purpose behind FOK Media, exc ept I don’t think your idea will work."