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Elisabetta

I wake up rubbing my eyes. I'm surprised to find that I am still on the plane. Liam is reading something on his phone but looks over at me as soon as I twitch in the seat.

"Morning," he says. "We're going to land in about thirty minutes."

"Oh, cool," I say nodding, not really sure what else to say. It had been a weird evening. He fingered me and gave me one of the best orgasms of my life, and then we had a conversation that was quite unsettling. And then I watched a movie and somehow fell asleep.

"Did you get a lot of work done?" I ask him, not really caring but wanting to make conversation.

He nods and rests his phone on the table in front of him. "I did. Thank you for asking."

"No worries," I say politely, feeling quite stilted.

"So, when we land, I'm going to need you to take a lot of notes at our first couple of meetings," he says to me. There's a cold tone to his voice that I've never heard before.

"Okay, and?—"

"Just listen to me, Elisabetta," he says sternly, and I frown.

"Um, I'm listening."

"And don't get an attitude with me in front of the business partners I'm going to meet. I just wanna ensure that you know your place and don't try and usurp me in front of people I respect deeply."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the way you talk to me. You seem to forget that the dynamic here is that I'm your boss and you are my assistant."

"I thought I had a new title," I say, but he just glares at me.

"Just let's get a couple of things straight here, Elisabetta. If I ask you a question, you can respond. If I'm not asking you a question, just say, 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir.'"

My jaw drops as I stare at him. "Are you serious?"

His blue eyes are cold as he looks at me. "I'm very serious. I know we've had a lot of banter back and forth, but I don't want you to think for even a second that you can get away with doing no actual work just because you think I'm attracted to you. In fact, I was quite offended by the fact that you think I hired you just to sleep with you. I'm not that sort of man, and I really don't need to hire someone just to fuck them."

He looks me up and down, and I can feel myself growing red.

"We had some fun, which I know you enjoyed. I didn't really get much out of it, but?—"

"Okay," I say. "So you're telling me that you didn't enjoy it?"

"What, watching you finger yourself and then fingering you? I'm a man, not a little boy. I get my pleasure from fucking a woman and hearing her scream my name as she convulses on top of me. I get my pleasure from sucking on nipples and teasing a woman with my tongue and teeth and fingernails. Oh, and letme not forget my big, hard dick." He grins. "Like I told you, they call me Big Dick Liam."

"Yeah, right. Who calls you that? The fucking people in your head?"

He stares at me for a couple of seconds, and his lips twitch, and I think he's about to laugh. I think we're gonna go back to our gentle banter again, but his expression changes.

"No. Let's just say that these conversations are off the mark for now."

"Excuse me? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you seem to think that just because I'm attracted to you, that's the only thing on my mind, but it's not. First and foremost, I'm a businessman. Whether or not you respect that is none of my business. I don't care. I don't care if you like me."

He stares me dead in the eyes now. "Yes, you're a beautiful woman, Elisabetta. Yes, I could have many nights of passion with you, but many nights of passion with you are not worth the five billion dollars I could make from this deal if it goes well. Do you understand me?"

"So you're basically saying that five billion dollars is worth more than me?"

He tilts his head to the side, and I start laughing. "Sorry, I mean, that's what you're saying."