My Brother's Worst Enemy Craves Me

Chapter 1 Skye's POV I just got fingered by my brother's worst enemy. Thorne Damian Anderson. "Stay. Away. From. Thorne." My brother Ethan had only ever given me one rule that he never‚ ever bent on. I was fourteen when he drilled that into me. I remember because he never stopped ringing it in my ears. I never found out what happened between them. I asked once‚ a few weeks later‚ and the look Ethan gave me shut me up permanently. So I stopped asking. I stopped wondering. I just did what my brother told me to do. I stayed away. And honestly‚ that should have been easy. Thorne was Ethan's friend‚ not mine. He was ten years older than me‚ just like my brother. I was just the little sister who used to peek at him from behind the staircase railing whenever he came over to our house. But here was the thing nobody knew. Not my brother‚ not my mom‚ not a single soul on this earth. I had the biggest crush on Thorne Damian Anderson. It started when I was thirteen. He had come over for dinner one night‚ and he smiled at me when I handed him a glass of water. That was it. That was all it took. One stupid smile from a twenty-three-year-old man‚ and my thirteen-year-old heart decided it was in love forever. Pathetic‚ right? After the fallout‚ I buried that crush so deep I almost forgot it existed. For ten whole years‚ I trained myself to feel nothing when his name came up. I avoided every event where he might show up. I scrolled past every article with his face on it. I pretended he was nobody to me. And it worked. It actually worked. Until three weeks ago‚ when I accidentally ended up working for him. The thing was‚ I never applied for the job. It found me. During my convocation ceremony‚ while I was still smiling in my cap and gown‚ a woman in a sharp navy suit walked up to me and said‚ "Ms. Moore‚ your academic performance has caught the attention of our CEO. We'd like to offer you a position as his personal secretary. Starting salary‚ ten thousand dollars per month." I almost choked. "I'm sorry‚ did you say ten thousand?" She smiled like she got that reaction a lot. "That's correct. Full benefits included. Are you interested?" Was I interested? I was a fresh graduate with a degree in management science‚ a field my entire family believed was a one-way ticket to poverty. My brother had spent years telling me I had made the worst decision of my life by not studying medicine. "Skye‚ you're going to graduate and then what?" he had said during one of our many arguments. "You'll be lucky to get two thousand a month. Meanwhile‚ I'm pulling in thirty thousand as a surgeon. Mom was a nurse. Dad was a doctor before he died. This family does medicine. Why do you have to be so stubborn?" "Because I pass out at the sight of blood‚ Ethan. You want me operating on someone while unconscious?" "Then be a nurse like Mom." "I hate needles." "You hate everything useful." That one had stung. It stung for a long time‚ actually. So when that woman offered me ten thousand dollars a month at my convocation‚ I didn't hesitate. I said yes before she could finish her next sentence. I didn't ask about the company name. I didn't research the CEO. I didn't do any of the things a smart‚ cautious person would do because I was too blinded by the number on that offer letter. That night‚ I sat across from Ethan and Mom at dinner and dropped the news with the biggest grin on my face. "Ten thousand a month‚" I said‚ practically glowing. "As a secretary. Starting immediately after graduation." My mom put down her fork and stared at me. "Skye‚ that sounds too good to be true‚ sweetheart." "It's real‚ Mom. I have the offer letter." Ethan leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Ten thousand? For a secretary? With zero experience?" He wiped his eyes like I had just told the funniest joke of the century. "Sure‚ Skye. Sure." "I'll prove you wrong‚" I said through clenched teeth. "Just watch." And I meant it. I meant it with every single fiber of my being. Then my first day arrived‚ and everything fell apart. The building was enormous‚ a massive tower of glass and steel that stretched so high I had to tilt my head all the way back just to see the top. Inside was worse. The hallways split into more hallways. The elevators required clearance cards I didn't have yet. I asked three different receptionists for directions‚ and each one pointed me somewhere different. By the time I finally found the boardroom on the thirty-second floor‚ I was one full hour late. My hands were sweating as I pushed open the heavy glass doors. Every single seat at the long conference table was taken. Dozens of faces turned toward me at once‚ and at the far end of the room‚ a voice hit me like cold water. "You're late." It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. The entire room had already gone dead silent. "I'm so sorry‚ sir‚" I whispered‚ keeping my head down because I was too ashamed to look up. "The building was confusing‚ and I couldn't find the—" "I didn't ask for an excuse. Sit down." I rushed to the only empty chair at the far edge of the table‚ my heels clicking embarrassingly loud against the marble floor. I pulled out my notebook and pen with shaking hands‚ flipped to a blank page‚ and finally looked up. My pen hit the floor. The sound echoed through the silent boardroom like a gunshot‚ and every head turned toward me again. But I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything except stare at the man sitting at the head of the table. Thorne. He looked different from the man I remembered. Older. Harder. His jaw was sharper‚ his shoulders were broader‚ and his eyes‚ those ice-blue eyes that had haunted my teenage dreams‚ were completely‚ terrifyingly cold. He wore a charcoal suit that fit him like it had been stitched directly onto his body‚ and he sat in that chair like it was a throne built specifically for him. He stared right at me. Something flickered behind his eyes‚ just for a second‚ like a match being struck and then immediately blown out. Then it was gone‚ replaced by nothing but ice. "Ms. Latecomer‚" he said‚ his voice so calm it was almost gentle‚ which somehow made it ten times worse. "Since you've decided to grace us with your presence‚ tell me. What were the last words I said?" My mouth opened‚ but nothing came out. My brain had completely shut down. "Huh?" was all I managed. The silence in that room could have crushed bones. "I do not repeat myself‚" he said. "Ever." "I... I don't know‚" I whispered. My voice cracked on the last word‚ and I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. He stared at me for what felt like an eternity. Then he scoffed‚ a short‚ dismissive sound that cut deeper than any insult could have‚ and leaned back in his chair. "I built this company from nothing‚" he said‚ addressing me but speaking loud enough for the entire room. "Every person at this table earned their seat. They showed up early. They prepared. They proved they deserved to be here." His eyes locked onto mine‚ and I felt my chest crack right down the middle. "I will not carry dead weight. Especially not in the person who is supposed to be my right hand." My eyes started burning. I blinked rapidly‚ trying to hold it together‚ but the tears were already forming and there was nothing I could do to stop them. Then the next two words he said shattered me completely. "You're fired."