A Ruthless Bargain

Chapter Fifteen

Lucien.

Stephanie Russo was back. But that wasn’t what bothered me, it was her presence at Cross Estates. She rarely ever visited, but today she came looking for me.

“Let her in.” I replied to the receptionist over the telecom.

She had been made to wait in the lobby during my meeting and I could already imagine how furious she was. It was a miracle she hadn’t created a scene.

As expected, the door flew open a few minutes later and there she was. Red lipstick, hair in a ponytail, a dress so short you could see everything if she bent forward, and heels that cradled her legs in straps. She pointed a glare at me, one that could cut daggers into my skin.

“I was made to wait at the lobby for eleven minutes.” She walked closer, no hint of a smile on her face.

I sat there watching her every move. She walked closer until she stood facing me and brought her lips down to my neck.

“I thought you said she was just a contract,” I felt the venom laced beneath her words. “But what did I see on the news?” I felt cold metal pressed to my abdomen.

A gun. I almost let out a soft chuckle.

Stephanie was a Mafia princess, born into the world of blood and crime, but she was no match for me.

“Trying to kill me?” I tilted my head, meeting her eyes.

She held that ice-cold expression. She despised anyone getting close to me and for Amelia’s sake I had to play along with Stephanie to keep her safe.

“Protecting what’s mine.” She responded.

“By putting an end to my life?”

Something sparkled in her eyes for a moment before a sly smile curled up on her lips. “Should I end hers instead? She’s a threat.”

I kept my face as neutral as possible. Not showing that I wanted to push her against the wall and coil my hands around her throat until tears escaped her eyes and she begged to be freed.

But I remained calm. “Is she?” I asked instead.

“She isn’t anywhere close to you in power or status.” I tsked. “So how does that affect you?”

Her face softened for just a fraction. “Besides, I know you would always choose me.” She turned slightly and her ponytail swayed.

I knew what she wanted to do.

Her phone buzzed in that moment and her face morphed into a serious expression again. She walked toward the bathroom and clicked the door shut as she spoke over the phone.

The door to my office opened again and Dominic walked in, holding a pile of files.

“You need to select a personal assistant.” He dropped them on the desk and sat across from me.

“She’s here.” I informed him of Stephanie.

He nodded, something flickering across his face before his expression regained its composure. I knew he never trusted Stephanie but had no right to interfere.

“Victoria…”

“Bridget…”

“Dave…”

“Lisa…”

The list was endless. Names, ages, past jobs — pages of people blabbering about how efficient and fit they would be for the role. I kept going through, flipping pages and finding that their passports said the complete opposite of the résumés they submitted.

There were two left and I was about to push them aside when my eyes caught a photograph. A passport photo, but with familiar eyes.

Hazel-blue eyes.

I flipped the page open and her face stared right back at me. Amelia Nightshade.

My head swirled with a million questions but my fingers kept flipping. There was nothing elaborate, just her name, age, and photo.

Beneath it she had attached a short note.

“I have no qualifications whatsoever but I have the willingness to learn. I could work any kind of job so long as I am given one.”

That was it. No long paragraphs, no real qualifications, and not a single plea in her tone. That was bold. They must have mistakenly slipped her file inside.

I swiveled in my chair, holding the file up close, studying her expression through the photograph. She really had guts.

Was she stalking me? Or did she genuinely not know it was my company?

My lips stretched wider, a smile making its way in.

“Interesting.”

Dominic looked up at me and exhaled loudly.

“I choose her.” I handed him the file and he sat upright the moment he saw the name.

The surprise was evident on his face, just as it had been on mine.

“Do we trust her? What if she wants something from you?”

I played with the pen between my fingers. “I don’t care. Let’s see how it plays out.”

He was silent for a moment before his lips parted but I beat him to it.

“Send her an email. She has been given a job offer as Personal Assistant to the CEO and can start immediately.”

Dominic stood, arranged the files, and kept hers separately. He looked at it long and hard before bowing and exiting the office.

Alone, I finally exhaled. My mind drifted to how she would react when she got the email. How she would look dressed corporately, standing beside me in every meeting, stuck with me both at work and at home.

“What’s making you smile this hard?” Stephanie’s voice came from across the room.

I had completely forgotten she was there and how long I had spent lost in my own head.

“Fuck.” I groaned silently.

Stephanie was pleased at the sight, clearly assuming she was the reason for it.

She knelt down and set me free, her eyes holding mine. “Let me please you.” Her voice dropped low.

Her tongue worked slowly, along every nerve ending, every sensitive part, and I shuddered when she took me completely. She was skilled and she knew it.

I didn’t hear the door open. Just a soft gasp and retreating footsteps.

I looked up to find Stephanie smiling wildly past me.

Amelia.

She looked pale, her face drained of every drop of color.

Stephanie looked up slowly, her expression satisfied and deliberate.

“Look who we have here.” She sneered. “Our contract wife.”