Page 109 of By A Thread

“Excuse me a moment,” I said, holding up a finger—not the one I wanted—at the woman gleefully telling me she had no problem shipping my father off to a nursing home that had been cited by the health department three times in the last eighteen months.

Ms. Morales,

You’ve been chosen from our admin pool for a sixty-day placement as a personal assistant to one of our executives. This move within the company includes a pay raise as well as a $5,000 signing bonus, which has been wired into your account. Stop by on Monday for the details of your new assignment. Congratulations!

“Sweet and sour chicken,” I breathed. My eyes closed in a relief so palpable, the heartless robot across the desk from me asked if I was all right.Five thousand dollars? Five THOUSAND dollars? Five thousand DOLLARS?

I ignored Deena and toggled over to my bank app. Well, holy mother of last-minute saves. There was $5,000 sitting there in my checking account.

I shot out of my chair and pumped my fist into the air. “I have the money! I’ll write you a check.”

“A check?” Deena snorted ungraciously. “Ha! You expect me to accept a check from you? “

I shoved the phone in her face. “Is this good enough for you?”

She harrumphed while I triumphantly dug out my checkbook.

Sometimes good things happened to pretty okay people. My father was safe for another month. And with a raise, maybe I could take a few weeknights and weekends off to fix up the house. My eyes were swimming in unshed tears. This anonymous executive had just saved everything that was important to me in this life.

I was going to do this. I was going to make it through. I was going to be okay.

I signed the check with a violent flourish, spent an hour having breakfast with my dad, who thought I was one of his high school students, and then cried for ten minutes in the parking lot, letting the February wind freeze tears and industrial strip club eye makeup to my cheeks.

Fate had just saved me from a downward spiral from which I had no way of recovering on my own.

I was going to be the best damn PA she or he had ever had.

37

Ally

“There has to be a mistake,” I croaked, looking at the non-disclosure agreement the HR rep—a nicer, more pleasant one than the first—handed me.

“Oh, no, Ms. Morales. It’s all there. You’ll be stepping in for Mr. Russo’s admin, Greta. She’s taking a two-month European tour. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Exciting,” I parroted as my head spun.

Pride warred with poor.

As soon as I woke up this morning, I’d checked my bank balance and danced a boogie in bed when I saw my paycheck had officially landed. There was money in my account. Enough to actually catch up on some bills, buy another box of drywall screws, and maybe even get myself somerealgroceries.

I’d already spent all of the signing bonus on Dad’s late fees and the good faith payment. I couldn’t afford to turn down the job and give it back.

But I could afford to be a complete ass to Dominic Russo.

He manipulated me into this. He hadn’t been able to force me out of the company from a safe distance, so now he was going to try it up close and personal.

Well, Charming had another thing coming. I had staying power. A stubborn streak wider and deeper than the Pacific Fucking Ocean. I’d sink my claws into this job and him. Maybe I’d makehimquit.

“You’re so lucky,” she whispered conspiratorially. “He’s so good-looking it hurts to look directly at him.”

Yeah? Try looking at him after getting him off and then replaying those primitive grunts and growls for forty-eight hours straight without busting out the vibrator because you suddenly have principles.

I wisely chose not to share that sentiment.

See? I had self-control. I could do this. I could do my job, ruin this man’s life, finish the renovations on my dad’s house, and when it was sold, when Dad was safe for several years, I’d get that gosh darn mango margarita. Or at this point, maybe it was better to just go straight for an entire bottle of tequila.

“And here’s the employment contract,” she said, cheerfully handing over another piece of paper that would require part of my soul. “You can read it if you like. It’s pretty straightforward. The only new requirement is Section J.”