My Human Tranquilizer

Chapter 3 The Only Exception in the Room

I stayed where I was and did the math. A thousand dollars for a hug was ridiculous, demeaning, and very hard to refuse.

Victoria looked between us, waiting for me to be ashamed.

“The clock is ticking, Mr. Sterling,” I said coolly, pointedly looking at my watch. “My hourly rate is prorated to the minute.”

Arthur almost smiled. He held out his hand, and I let him pull me into a stiff embrace. His chin rested on my head while I watched Victoria's reflection in the glass of a framed painting.

I kept both arms at my sides. This was a paid transaction, right down to the minute. Victoria looked away first.

The next day, David told me I was attending Arthur's quarterly board meeting. “You’re a human fire extinguisher, Hazel. We can’t have him go off in a room full of sharks.”

They gave me a plain black dress and a chair in the corner of the boardroom, where I was supposed to remain quiet and out of sight.

A dozen silver-haired men sat around a long mahogany table. Every one of them watched me take my seat and tried to work out why Arthur Sterling needed an intern at his elbow.

Halfway through the financial projections, Victoria entered with a silver tray, one coffee pot, and one cup.

“I thought you might need a refill, darling,” she cooed, walking toward Arthur.

Arthur kept watching the European division's CEO on the conference screen.

“Get out.”

Victoria stopped. “But, Arthur, I just wanted to bring you coffee.”

“Now.”

She left the tray on a side table and hurried out. The board members returned to their papers. No one asked why Arthur's fiancée had been dismissed while the intern stayed.

The meeting continued. An older board member named Mr. Davies began questioning a risky acquisition.

“This kind of aggressive expansion is the gamble your father would have made, Arthur. And we all know how that ended.”

Arthur went rigid. His hand tightened against the tabletop, and his next breath caught.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Arthur surged to his feet and heaved the two-ton mahogany table over. Laptops, crystal glasses, and papers hit the floor.

Two bodyguards rushed him. He drove one backward over a chair and threw the other across the room. The second man's shoulder struck the wall with a c***k.

The board members scrambled away from the wreckage. Arthur stepped over the broken glass without seeming to see any of them.

I stood while everyone else moved away. My heart kicked hard against my ribs, but my training still worked.

Enter the episode without adding another threat. Slow movements. Clear words. Give him one thing to focus on.

Glass crunched under my heels as I walked into his path. He panted through clenched teeth, both hands fisted at his sides.

I hooked one finger around his silk tie and pulled until he looked down at me.

“Stop it. You’re going to force me to add a property-damage clause, and you won’t like my rates.”

For one second, his fist stayed tight enough to make me wonder whether he would break my neck.

Then his fist opened. He bent until his forehead rested against mine, still shaking.

Around us, some of the most powerful men in the country stared at the five-foot-seven intern holding their CEO by his tie.

He pulled me against his side and faced the board. His breathing was rough, but he knew where he was again.

“You saw nothing. If one word of what happened in this room ever gets out, I will personally burn your entire world to the ground.”