My jaw didn't just drop; I’m pretty sure it hit the expensive Persian rug with a dull thud. I stared at him for what felt like an eternity, searching for a "just kidding" or even a hidden smirk in those cold, dark eyes. There was absolutely nothing. His face remained as expressive and welcoming as a slab of granite in a graveyard.
"You’re letting me go?" I croaked. My voice sounded like I’d swallowed a handful of gravel and washed it down with battery acid. "Just like that? No catch? No fine print?"
He leaned back in his chair, the heavy leather creaking under his weight. He looked so effortlessly powerful, so entirely in control of every molecule of my existence, that it made my skin itch with a deep, primal discomfort.
"You have a life to settle," he said. His voice was a low, vibrati
