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I haven't gotten to that level yet, but I know that a part of me would not forgive myself if I didn't. That is part of the deal, even though I know the deal has changed.

"Maybe because I was trying to be nice to you for the first couple of weeks, but I don't have to be. I mean, it's up to you."

"Is it because you want me to suck your cock?" she says.

My eyes widen, and she laughs bitterly.

"I mean, I just wanna be straight up here. Is the reason you're being nicer to me because you want to fuck me? You know you can't fuck Skye or Lila or Juniper because they're all with men at the law firm, partners, and you know that if you even attemptedto get into their pants, they would drop you as a client so fast. So, my question is, are you just hoping that this is an assistantship with benefits?"

"Would that be so bad? Isn't that?—"

"Yeah, it would be bad. I don't want to be hired or used because?—"

"Listen to me and listen to me closely, Elisabetta, and I say this in all honesty. I did not hire you because I wanted to fuck you. I hired you because I have a deal that I need to go through, and I needed someone to take care of things for me." My voice trails off as I realize I can't tell her the exact truth. I feel guilty.

Her hand drops away from mine, and she looks out of the window.

"What? What is it?" I say, feeling suddenly upset at the loss of her touch.

"I can tell you're lying."

"Excuse me?" I blink at her.

"When you lie or say something you don't truly feel, you act differently. Your expression is different." She turns back to me and studies my face. "I feel like I am an amoeba under a microscope, and it makes me extremely uncomfortable."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, shrugging nonchalantly.

"You're not a great actor. Something is up that you're not telling me."

"I 100 percent swear to God that I did not hire you because I wanted to fuck you." I look into her eyes and grab her hands. "Is it true that I'm attracted to you? Yes. Is it true that I do wanna fuck you? Yes. Is it also true that had nothing to do with the reason why I hired you? Yes."

"So you hired me because you think I'm gonna be a great assistant or marketing manager or whatever my new role is? Really?" She juts her chin out, and I know that I can't lie.

"No," I say softly. "That's not why I hired you."

"Then why?" she says.

I take a deep breath and run my fingers through my hair before looking over at her. “I hate repeating myself, but let’s just say that there's a business deal that I need to go through and?—"

She sighs. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Forget about it."

I blink. "Wait, what?"

"If it's to do with business, then whatever."

"You believe me?"

She nods slowly. "All you seem to care about is business. That always comes first in your life, right? I mean, I think you've mentioned that before."

"Business is very important to me." I nod slowly. "Money, power, everything that conveys, it means something."

"What does it really mean if you don't have love?" she says, shaking her head.

"Love can be bought," I say, thinking about Elizabeth Charity Montgomery. "Just because someone says they love you doesn't mean it's true."

"That's true," she says softly. "Doesn't really mean anything at all, does it?"

Chapter Nineteen