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Chapter Seven

SERENITY HAD ALWAYSknown Willem de Konigh to be a force of nature. She had worked for him for years, and she had seen and heard how the world treated him and thought of him.

Europe’s smoothest-talking bastard,they had said.A ruthless negotiator who wouldn’t take no for an answer without ever raising his voice,some had continued in disgruntlement. She had heard these words and privately thought that they were exaggerating. Her Dutch billionaire was nothing like they described. He was the very soul of charm, chivalry personified, and the kindest gentleman they would ever meet.

Or so she had thought, until she realized that in the five years she had known him, Willem had been handling her with kid gloves.

But now, the gloves were off.

Now, she realized he was all things they said – and more – and it made her fall in love with him all over again.

Since the day at the boutique, Willem had been quietly insistent, using his power and authority to have Serenity spend every waking minute with him.Work for me again,he had told her just before she went to join her family. And because she had never really been able to resist him, she had simply said,Yes.

When she returned to DKE, the staff crowded around Serenity on her first day, tearfully welcoming her back and, upon seeing that Willem de Konigh was back to his usual, calm self, eagerly regaled Serenity with tall tales about their CEO’s transformation from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde.

He had been a bear to work for, snapping at everyone,they told her in a group chat over Skype.

He had gone through seven personal assistants since she left,they had shared, none of them realizing that Willem had insisted she put the call on speakerphone.

On and on the stories went, and throughout it, she was unable to utter a word. Her senses had gone into a riot once more, and Serenity was left feeling overly conscious of how the Dutch billionaire indulgently listened to them while Serenity sat stiffly on his lap, his hand caressing the side of her hip in lazy possession.

But then the talk moved to thin ice when the staff began to hypothesize about the reason behind the billionaire’s change.

Could your sister and the boss have had a lover’s quarrel, and you had to get involved?

At the first mention of Shane, her Dutch billionaire’s face had hardened, and Serenity hastily cut the call short, knowing that they were perilously close to having his temper snap. It was not so easily roused, but as the staff had found out in the past months, Willem was a feral beast to work for when it was.

As soon as the call ended, she had found herself suddenly perched on the billionaire’s desk while he swung his seat to face her.

“Let me tell Shane about us,” he had commanded. “She’s reasonable and practical. She will understand about us.”

Listening to Willem talk about her half-sister had made her want to laugh even as her heart ached. It was only then she had realized that Willem was as fallible as most other men when it came to a beautiful woman.

She had thought of telling him how wrong he was, of how Shane strategically planned her every move where he was concerned. But in the end, she had only found herself shaking her head, pride making her refuse to tell him what she knew.

If he really loved her,Serenity’s young and idealistic mind argued,then he should see through other women’s guises easily. If he really loved her, he would not be so easily blinded by another woman’s charm.

And so it had been the only command that Serenity had refused to obey.

“L-let’s not rock the boat until we have to,” Serenity had heard herself say, to which the billionaire had sent her a hooded glance that made Serenity squirm on the table. If he had told her it was because he wanted to tell the world he was with her, she might have changed her mind. If he had told her something that would assure her she wasexactlywhat he wanted – the way Daniel Raleigh had not been able to accept her – Serenity would have surrendered to his desire.

But the billionaire hadn’t.

Instead, he had leveled a look at her and said quietly, “Just because I don’t love you doesn’t mean I’m going to play the field.”

It might have been the truth, but all she heard was the words‘I don’t love you.’For the insecure Serenity, the rest of what the billionaire had to say did not matter. What mattered was that he didnotlove her while she loved him, and her mind, made overly imaginative by love and jealousy – two emotions she had never really felt until Willem had come into her life – twisted the words into something else.