7
1461 Words
Chapter 7
Skye's POV
I didn't sleep that night. Not even for a minute.
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling with the contract sitting on my nightstand like a ticking bomb. Every time I closed my eyes‚ I saw the number. Thirty thousand dollars. Every time I tried to think about something else‚ my brain dragged me right back to that office‚ to his voice‚ to the way he looked at me when he said he wanted every single inch of me.
By five in the morning‚ I gave up pretending I was going to rest and went to the kitchen. I made coffee I didn't drink and toast I didn't eat‚ and I sat at the table doing math on the back of a grocery receipt.
Thirty thousand dollars a month for six months. That was one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
I wrote the number down and stared at it until my eyes burned.
One hundred and eighty thousand dollars could change my whole life. It could help me start my life running without having to always depend on Ethan. It could put a down payment on an apartment so I could finally stop sleeping in my childhood bedroom at twenty-four years old. It could change everything for my family.
And all it would cost me was six months.
Six months of belonging to Thorne Damian Anderson.
I pressed my forehead against the kitchen table and groaned.
This was insane. I knew it was insane. A normal person would have torn that contract in half and thrown it in his face. A smart person would have walked out of that building yesterday and never looked back. A good sister‚ a loyal sister‚ would have remembered every warning Ethan had ever given her and stayed far‚ far away from the man who made her brother's blood boil just at the sound of his name.
But I wasn't thinking like a good sister right now. I was thinking like a woman who had spent her entire life being told she chose the wrong path‚ who graduated at the top of her class and still couldn't land a job that paid more than two thousand a month‚ who was tired of being broke.
And the truth‚ the ugly honest truth that I didn't want to admit even to myself‚ was that I didn't hate the money. I didn't hate it at all. In fact‚ the money was the only part of this entire situation that made perfect sense to me.
So I made a plan.
Six months. That was it. I would sign the contract‚ do whatever Thorne wanted me to do‚ collect my paycheck every month‚ and the second those six months were up‚ I would walk away from him for good. No looking back. No attachment. No feelings. I would treat it like a business transaction because that's exactly what it was. He was buying my time‚ and I was selling it. Simple.
And Ethan would never find out.
That part was crucial. If my brother ever discovered that I had signed a contract agreeing to be Thorne's personal anything for six months‚ heaven itself would crack open. Ethan would lose his mind completely. He would probably try to kill Thorne‚ and then Thorne would probably kill him back‚ and I would be left standing in the middle of a war that I had started because I wanted to pay off my mother's hospital bills.
No. Ethan could never know. Not ever. Not during the six months and not after. This secret would go to my grave.
I picked up the contract from the nightstand‚ put it in my bag‚ and got dressed.
By eight forty-five‚ I was standing outside Thorne's office door again. This time I didn't hesitate. I knocked twice‚ hard and firm‚ because if I was about to sell six months of my life to this man‚ I was going to do it standing straight.
"Come in."
I pushed the door open and walked in. He was sitting behind his desk in a navy suit‚ reading something on his phone. He looked up when I entered‚ and something shifted in his eyes‚ just barely‚ like a flash of light behind a closed curtain. Then it was gone and his face was stone again.
"Have a seat‚ Skye."
I sat down and pulled the contract out of my bag and placed it on his desk between us. He glanced at it‚ then back at me.
"I'm guessing you've made your decision‚" he said.
"I have a few questions first."
He leaned back in his chair and gestured for me to continue‚ looking almost amused‚ like a king entertaining a peasant's request.
"The professional duties‚" I said‚ keeping my voice steady even though my pulse was racing. "What exactly does personal assistant mean in this context? Am I actually going to be doing PA work‚ or is that just a title on paper?"
"You'll perform real PA duties‚" he said. "Scheduling‚ correspondence‚ meetings‚ travel arrangements. Everything a normal personal assistant would do."
"And the other stuff?" I asked‚ and I hated how my voice dipped on those two words. "The personal and intimate parts. What does that actually mean?"
He studied me for a long moment‚ his blue eyes unreadable. "It means that when I want you‚ I'll have you. When I call‚ you come. When I need you beside me‚ whether that's at a dinner or in my bedroom‚ you'll be there. For six months‚ you are mine‚ Skye. Completely and without exception."
My stomach flipped. I swallowed hard and forced myself to hold his gaze even though every cell in my body wanted to look away.
"And after the six months?" I asked.
"The contract ends. You walk away."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
I nodded slowly‚ processing. My fingers itched to reach for the pen sitting on his desk next to a crystal paperweight‚ but I held back. There was one more thing I needed to know.
"And if I say no to something?" I asked quietly. "If you ask me to do something and I don't want to do it. What happens?"
"You breach the contract."
I looked up. "What?!"
"Once your name is on that paper‚ you cannot breach it. You cannot walk out halfway through because you changed your mind or because you're no longer feeling it. If you violate any clause in this agreement‚ the breach fee is triple the total compensation."
The air left my lungs.
Triple.
Triple of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars was five hundred and forty thousand dollars.
"That's over half a million dollars‚" I whispered.
"I'm aware‚" he said‚ completely unmoved.
"I don't have that kind of money. I would never have that kind of money. If I breached this contract‚ I would be in debt for the rest of my life."
"Then I suggest you don't breach it."
I stared at him‚ searching his face for any sign that this was a negotiation‚ that there was room to push back‚ that this was the part where he would smile and say he was being dramatic. But there was nothing. His expression was stone. His eyes were ice. He meant every single word‚ and he wanted me to know it.
This wasn't just a contract. It was a trap with golden walls.
Once I signed it‚ I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Not unless I was willing to drown in debt so deep I would never surface. He would own six months of my life‚ and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it once that pen touched paper.
My hand was shaking when I reached for the pen.
"Skye‚" he said‚ and the way he said my name made me pause‚ like he was giving me one final chance to walk away. "Are you sure?"
I looked him dead in the eyes.
"Where do I sign?" I asked.
He held my gaze for a long‚ heavy moment. Then he pointed to the line at the bottom of the last page.
I pressed the pen to the paper. The tip trembled against the signature line for just a second before I forced my hand steady and wrote my name in full.
Skye Elaine Moore.
- Writer
