Page 21 of Hero & Villain (Super Serum Billionaires #1)
Chapter Twelve
VILLAIN
T he next morning came way too soon. Jezebel burst into my room, shoved a green sludge drink in my hand and pulled a cute skirt outfit from the closet, pink kitten cardigan included. She laid it over the bed and then patted my head and left with a cheerful, “Five minutes to go time.”
There was no point in getting out of bed.
He knew that I’d lied about being Toni, and then I’d dumped him in the desert.
There was no way he’d ever let me get close to him after that.
I should go back to Boston and tell my grandfather that I’d completely ruined a job that should have been simple for someone with my skills.
The thought of going back to my grandfather inspired me to try again.
Maybe I could steal Dirk’s tech or blackmail him for something.
With that happy thought, I bolted out of bed, took the world’s fastest shower, dressed, and was in Betsy with the drink before Jezebel pulled out of the garage.
“Look how fast you can move when you’re motivated,” she said with a sunny smile.
Her makeup was impermeable, so I couldn’t see whether she had circles under her eyes, but I certainly did.
I should put on makeup or something that would keep me from looking like I’d been dragged backwards from the grave.
I tugged self-consciously on the kitten-print cardigan and smoothed down the skirt.
This was probably the least seductive outfit in the world, unless there was some man who found kindergarten teachers attractive.
“Am I not doing manual labor today?” I asked.
“Nope. Today you’re in the office with Nix. Paperwork. Try to be gentle with him. He’s a beast. He can’t help being slow.”
Whatever that meant. He certainly wasn’t slow physically.
I walked into the building on the opposite side of Dagger’s tech building, which I didn’t look at directly.
Maybe this would be my last day here. I couldn’t blame him if he threw me out for knocking him unconscious and leaving him in the desert.
What if something happened to him? He’d be fine in his reinforced suit, although with blood on his face, maybe it would attract rodents and he’d get some kind of disease. No, he’d be fine.
I walked into the office with as little limp as possible. Nix looked up from the desk piled with papers that were way too high. His expression brightened. “I’ve heard that you can do paperwork.”
“I mean, I can do some kinds of paperwork. Usually business related, specifically legalities.”
He smiled, and two dimples made a mockery of Dirk’s smaller one.
He looked at me as if I were his Christmas present.
Usually when people looked at me like that, I was wearing a different outfit.
I adjusted my sweater. It definitely wasn’t a sexy secretary outfit, more frumpy librarian. Even the skirt was long and shapeless.
He stood up and gestured for me to come around the desk. “Sit down. Make yourself comfortable.”
I shot him a look. Was he seriously going to trust his company's business to a complete stranger? Surely someone had mentioned that I wasn’t actually Nitro’s cousin, not that that would stop my criminal tendencies.
I sat delicately in the massive leather tufted chair.
The whole thing was a mix of industrial and manly that hadn’t been curated by anyone with any semblance of taste.
“What do you want me to do?”
“You know how to do spreadsheets?”
I nodded.
“Good. Enter these numbers into these columns, and then let me know the totals.” He exhaled and ran a hand through his short blond hair.
“You’re a godsend. Jezebel said that you’re completely trustworthy.
She’s the most paranoid person I’ve ever met, so I feel our company is safe in your hands.
” With that, he gave me another devastatingly charming grin and left me to it.
I groaned and put my face in my hands. Dirk and Jezebel knew that I wasn’t who I said I was, so Jezebel would be watching to see what kind of mischief I did with these books.
I’d have no choice but to work meticulously, not to make the slightest error that could get me locked up or worse, knowing Jezebel and how she didn’t need me to stay alive until the end of the season.
Did Nix really not know who I was? He may have been slow, but he had her to watch his back.
I rolled up my sleeves and went to work.
The last time anyone had made an effort to organize the business had been last year around this time.
They probably had to have things in order to go on their vacation over Christmas.
If these papers were correct, January was when they curried investors and made deals with the networks for the coming year.
It was fairly mindless to enter numbers into boxes once I had the first pile of papers slightly organized.
There was so much paper. Jezebel had taken several exotic trips in the last few months that Death-Hammer Corp paid for.
I wonder if he knew about those. Just dealing with a few weeks showed that Dagger put more money into the business than he took out of it.
He wasn’t even on the payroll. Did he get a cut on the other end?
No, there was Geotech, sponsoring the last four Three-Hundred races.
Trixie spent thousands and thousands on tires.
Did she need whitewall tires on her assault trucks?
I did a quick search and found several far less expensive industrial-grade tires that weren’t as pretty, but would look the same after five minutes racing across sand.
Maybe she could switch out the pretty ones for functional ones after the big start if she couldn’t give them up altogether.
I made notes of possible expense cuts and saw the receipt for feed that Jezebel used for her menagerie.
I made a few more specific notes in that regard.
Dirk Dagger’s side kept things lean, probably not keeping everything that came and went on paper.
Probably half the tech he used was in the patenting process without being entirely protected.
It would be so easy to break into his warehouse and take a look around if there weren’t a mountain lion, but even if I were prepared with diversion snacks, I wasn’t entirely versed in cutting-edge tech.
I’d need to see him developing something to know it was worth stealing, and even then, it might end up useless.
Was there any way that he’d let me close to him after I’d dumped him in the desert?
I shook my head and refocused on the paperwork.
Nix spent way too much money on ‘entertainment’ expenses.
What was that supposed to be? If taking beautiful women to MMA fights was part of company expenses, then he needed an internal investigation.
I made a few more notes and finished inputting as much as I could find on the last month’s data by the time the door opened and Dirk Dagger came in with tape across his nose.
For a second I froze, mostly because how could someone look so sinfully perfect with his white tape across his obviously swollen nose.
That was my nose. I loved seeing him wear my violence.
Which was completely sick. I also loved the way he looked at me, devouring me with his eyes. Super sick.
I stood up and grabbed the stapler, watching him walk into the office like he belonged there. Of course he belonged there. I’d bet my cello he owned stock in Death-Hammer. No, I wouldn’t bet Straw on anything, but it was very likely.
I spoke quickly before he could call me out about not being Toni. “Do you have any idea how much Nix has spent on ‘Entertainment,’ calling it a business expense?”
He blinked at me and then shook his head. “I can’t say that I do. Nix isn’t the cleanest businessman.”
“You know that he’s screwing over his own company? Why don’t you do something about it?”
He smiled slightly. “He’s in charge.” He didn’t look like the kind of person who would let other people be in charge of him. He’d run a team and now let someone else run him? It didn’t fit.
I exhaled. “Fine. If nobody cares that everyone except you is running Death-Hammer like their personal piggy bank, why should I?” I put the stapler down and walked towards him.
I had to smile and apologize for knocking him out and dumping him in the desert.
Maybe I could blame the last part on Jezebel.
I tried to smile and widen my eyes, but even trying to flirt made me nauseous.
He didn’t move out of the way, but instead leaned against the door, crossing his arms like he was getting comfortable.
His arms were so nicely muscled, like sculpted marble carved by a master. Only warm. Soft. Comforting.
His voice had an edge to it. “You’re still here. I thought dumping me in the desert had finality.”
I raised my chin and stopped staring at his arms. Not that his face was any better.
His taped nose. I could focus on that. “No, that was my reaction to being stalked.” Which was a complete overreaction unless you were psychotic.
I should have called the police. That’s what a normal person would have done.
He raised a brow, head cocking slightly. “You left my car doors open. The battery was completely drained.”
“You should have a smarter car. One that knows how to shut off before that happens.” Why couldn’t I just apologize for assault, lying, and leaving him to die? No idea, but I just…couldn’t.
He grabbed my arms, pulling me close to him while he stared down at me, his eyes as hard as his mouth. “You shouldn’t have put down the stapler.”