The CEO’s Secret Wife

Secretary vs CEO

ADELINE

At 9:03 a.m., I realized two important things.

One: I had somehow landed a white-collar executive job in the exact same week I got fired.

Two: I had made a terrible mistake.

I had completely underestimated Declan Silver.

Not as a billionaire. Not as a husband. Not even as a complete and utter pain in the ass.

As a boss.

Because apparently, getting hired as his personal secretary wasn't a job. It was a survival challenge.

After Maya left, I sat at my desk for five minutes. Five. Then an email from my boss—who I was now convinced was Lucifer’s favorite child—popped up on my desktop. Seventeen tasks. What a fantastic start to my first day.

I stared at the mountain of folders sitting on my desk, already tall enough to bury me alive.

I picked up the top one: Thubberman Acquisition.

I flipped it open. Numbers. More numbers.

Then numbers that appeared to have been created specifically to ruin my day.

I sighed and pulled my keyboard closer. Fine. I had a talent for picking things up fast. If Declan Silver wanted to test whether I was competent enough to be his secretary, he was going to get his answer. I had zero intention of getting fired on day one—not when I was drowning in twenty thousand dollars of debt.

For the next forty minutes, I organized his schedule, cleared his inbox, and tried to fathom why one man needed seventeen meetings before lunch without a single break to eat.

At 9:47, the desk phone rang.

"Hi, I need to speak with Mr. Silver about the Wisconsin acquisition from the Hillman Firm," a male voice blurted out.

I scanned Declan's calendar. There wasn't a single free minute in it. "Do you have an appointment, Mr...?"

"Redley. And no, I don't, but it's urgent."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Redley, but Mr. Silver is unavailable."

A pause. "Listen, Miss, I'm a senior board member at Hillman. Put me through."

I rolled my eyes at the wall.

Ah.

The Do you know who I am? card.

My favorite.

"Then I'm sure someone of your stature understands the importance of appointments, Mr. Redley."

Silence on the line. Then a heavy sigh. "Fine. Put me down for noon tomorrow."

"I'll see what I can do."

I hung up, leaning back.

"Not bad."

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Declan was standing right beside my desk, leaning against the doorframe. I hadn't even heard his door open.

"Do you normally sneak up on people?" I asked, holding a hand over my hammering heart.

"No."

"Could've fooled me."

His cold eyes drifted to the phone. "Who was that?"

"A Mr. Redley."

"What did he want?"

"An unscheduled meeting."

"You denied him?"

"Yes."

He stared at me. For a second, I wondered if I'd broken some obscure corporate protocol. Then he gave a single, rigid nod. "Good."

I almost smiled. Progress. Maybe today wouldn't be so—

"Pull the Thubberman acquisition file," he cut in.

My smile vanished. "Okay."

"Review the last three quarterly reports and cross-reference them with the projections from the previous fiscal year."

"Okay..."

"Then prepare a summary of every discrepancy."

I glanced at the clock on my screen. "By when, sir?"

"Ten fifteen."

I stared at him. It was 9:49. A dry scoff escaped me before I could stop it. "You're joking."

I immediately remembered who I was talking to.

The man who was the reason I had a paying job instead of circling wanted ads.

Right.

"Sir," I added.

His gaze sharpened. "I don't jest."

I gestured to the stack. "There are over two hundred pages here!"

"Then perhaps you should read faster."

Watch how fast I can shove these documents up your ass, you— I clamped my lips shut, swallowing the wave of curses clawing at my throat.

He turned to walk into his office.

"Mr. Silver?" I called out.

He stopped, looking over his shoulder.

"With all due respect—"

I paused.

There was absolutely no respect involved.

"I'm going to need more than twenty-six minutes."

"You have twenty-five minutes now, Levine."

The heavy glass door clicked shut behind him.

I stared at it

I hated that man.

I truly, deeply did.

*********

Twenty-five minutes later, I marched into Declan's office and dropped the folder onto his desk.

He didn't look up from his laptop as he picked it up. Silence filled the room as his eyes scanned the first page. Then the second. The third. His face remained completely expressionless.

Then he stopped. "You missed the projected tax liability."

I frowned. “No, I didn't.”

His eyes lifted. “What did you say?”

"I didn't miss it." I stepped forward and pointed to the bottom figure. "You're looking at the original projection. The revised liability is right here."

He looked at the page. Then back at me. “Why wasn't it highlighted?”

Because I forgot my highlighters in my room. I didn't think I'd be doing this much work on my first day.

"Because you asked for discrepancies," I said flatly. "If we start highlighting every hypothetical problem, this report becomes useless."

Silence. His stare hardened. Read his mood before he bites your head off, Maya's voice echoed in my head. Too late. I was already halfway down his throat.

Declan leaned back in his leather chair. "Are you telling me how to do my job, Miss Levine?"

"No."

"Because it sounds like you are."

"I'm telling you how I executed your instructions."

His jaw tightened. Then, annoyingly, the barest ghost of a smirk twitched at the corner of his lips before vanishing.

"Redo page six."

My jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

"I don't like the format."

I stared down at the perfectly formatted page. “You joking, right?”

His eyes narrowed. I sighed. "Right. You don't jest."

I fought back an eye roll so hard my head hurt.

“Is that mockery in your tone levine,”

I'll show you mockery, you arrogant SOB— I flashed a discreet middle finger behind my back, plastered on a tight fake smile, and snatched the report off his desk. "No, sir."

I fought the urge to swat his perfect, evil face with it.

Happy thoughts, Adeline.

"Redo page seven, too."

I froze. "You've got to be kidding me; that's totally unfair.”

"Page eight."

I turned around slowly. "Do you enjoy this? I didn't even ask for this job."

"You are free to quit whenever you like," he said coldly, looking back at his screen. "You have thirty minutes."

I blinked.

He went back to his laptop.

I turned on my heel and walked out before I said something that would destroy my entire life.

By 10:30, I had rewritten the report three times.

At 10:47, I was questioning every life decision that had led me here. And all the different ways I’d kill Leah when I found her.

By 10:45, I was convinced Declan Silver had a personal vendetta against me

By 11:00 a.m. I finally slammed the finished folder onto my desk.

I deserved a medal. Or a shot of tequila.

Preferably both.

"Is that the famous Thuberman report?"

I looked up. A man was leaning against the frame of my doorway. He was tall, dark-haired, and looked like he'd rolled straight out of a nightclub into a board meeting. His tie was loosened, his suit jacket slung casually over one shoulder, and a lazy grin was plastered across his face.

"Please tell me he hasn't killed you yet," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

He extended a hand. “Xavier.”

I looked at his hand, then at him. "Not an answer."

He laughed. “Xavier Reed.”

My face lit up fake-brightly. "Ohh, wow. Xavier. I haven't seen you since—" I put on a thinking face, then I looked back at him seriously. "Oh, wait. I still don't know who you are, Hotshot."

What?

I was having a particularly shitty day.

That anger had to go somewhere.

He raised his hands in mock surrender, chuckling. "Feisty! I like you already. I'm Declan's best—and only—friend, and I can tell he's responsible for your dark mood, sunshine."

I let out a long sigh, blowing a stray strand of hair out of my face. "Tell me about it. Sorry for snapping; I'm Adeline."

"I know."

Something about the smooth confidence in his voice made my stomach tighten. "Have we met before?"

"Are you a regular at nightclubs or bars? I doubt it. I'd definitely remember a brunette like you."

"Then how do you know my name?"

He tilted his head toward Declan's office. "Because you're his new secretary."

“Oh.”

He leaned over the desk, dropping his voice to a whisper. "And his fake wife."

I froze. "You know about that?"

"Apparently, I do."

"How?"

Before he could answer, Declan's office door swung open. Declan stood in the threshold, his eyes locking onto Xavier, then onto me, then back to Xavier.

"What are you doing?" Declan asked coldly.

Xavier smiled. "Good morning to you, too."

"I asked what you're doing."

“I came for our eleven o'clock meeting.”

“You're seven minutes early.”

“I'm trying something new.”

Declan's eyes narrowed.

“Try it somewhere else.”

"Still terrifying his employees before breakfast?"

"Still talking when nobody asked?" Declan retorted, cold as ice.

"See?" Xavier grinned at me. "He missed me."

I lowered my voice. "Is he always this pleasant?"

Xavier turned to me. "No," he whispered back loudly. "Today's a good day. Normally, his horns come out before seven."

He glanced at Declan, chuckling. "So, Adeline, what crime did you commit to earn the privilege of being his fake wife?"

My sister set me up.

"I didn't read the fine print in the contract before I signed," I murmured.

Xavier nodded solemnly. “Terrible crime.”

“I know.”

“You might get prison time.”

“I'm hoping for parole.”

Xavier let out a genuine laugh, and for the first time all morning, I actually smiled.

Declan's gaze snapped directly to me. "You seem to be having a blast, Miss Levine. I assume that means you've finished with the file?"

My smile died instantly. I sat up straight, clearing my throat. "Yes, sir."

Declan looked at Xavier. "Xavier."

"Yes, Satan?"

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

"My office. Now.”

"You're no fun," Xavier sighed dramatically, turning toward the double doors. He paused, tossing a wink over his shoulder. "See you later, Adeline. And good luck finding your sister."

I nodded automatically. "Sure, then she can fake-marry Declan while I keep the salary an—"

I stopped dead.

My blood ran cold.

Wait.

My sister.

How the hell did he know about Leah?