Page 117 of Power

Trouble? The worry hit me like a sledgehammer, but I wasn’t about to give Marcus the satisfaction of seeing me react. For all I knew, this was just another game, another trap.

“Funny that you still use the wordfriend. Does he know you’re actually a snake?”Because he will today, you creep.

Whew. My last little bite of venom did not go over well with Marcus. He stepped further into my office, shoving his hands into his pockets with that same flash of darkness in his eyes that I’d seen last night.

Unfortunately for me, my heart had the same reaction: trying to run right out of my chest and escape without me. My throat instantly dried, and I put my hands on my hips to conceal their trembling.

“I have to say, I was rather surprised today,” he said, gaze assessing me.

“Were you expecting your horns to grow overnight, or did you think Satan’s points would take longer to come out?” I tilted my head, mock concerned.

“Figured you would have run right to him last night and told him what happened.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that the police already knew everything, but snapped it shut. Information was power. Now was not the time to reveal any part of my hand.

“You know better than to tell anyone what happened last night,” he said.

But something in his expression shifted, something I sensed was important. Why was he taking a different tone than last night? Why show your violent self, only to come in here with more sternness and less hair-grabbing? I supposed one could argue it was due to all the witnesses, but my gut said otherwise.

“Something’s changed.”

He didn’t deny it.

“Interesting.” I walked around my desk, trying to pretend all of my organs weren’t completely panicking and curling into the fetal position at the mere presence of him. It turned out that while my brain was on board with taking Marcus down, my body was still reacting like that scared little girl running from her father.

“I’m not here to talk about last night,” he said dismissively.

“And yet it’s pretty clear that what happened between us would cause you much bigger problems today than it did yesterday.”

“And what makes you say that?” His eyes narrowed.

“Easy. I see something on your face that I didn’t see yesterday.”

“Do tell.” His voice was dangerously soft.

“Fear,” I said, finding strength in the observation. “You look afraid, Marcus. Tell me, is it because you thought about what you did and realized your entire career could implode?”

I mean, what else could have happened in a matter of hours that would raise the stakes for this man? Wasn’t the fear of losing his job or being arrested always there?

“Mycareer isn’t the one you should be worried about,” he said.

“Right, it’s mine. Because you thought that threatening me would stop me from revealing what a disgusting piece of trash you are.” The words were out before I could stop them, my anger overriding my fear.

“You might want to be careful about speaking to me like that. You never know when things could change around here, Scarlett.”

“Wow, threatening me again? That’s so creative and unexpected. Do you have any original material, or are you just recycling the same tired bullying tactics from yesterday?”

“I just came from a board meeting,” Marcus declared, ignoring my taunt.

“And what, you expect me to be impressed by that? Did they give you a gold star for attendance?”

“The board is convening about executing a morality clause against Jace. He’s in hot water. It seems someone let it slip that you and he have a relationship.”

Okay, I thought it was impossible for my heart to beat any faster, but it turned out that wasn’t correct. It was thundering so hard that the edges of my vision started to go black.

“What would give them the idea that we were in a relationship?” I kept my voice neutral, though my mind was racing.

He smirked, like whatever the answer was provided all sorts of satisfaction to him. It made me squirm, wondering what it could be. Assuming it was even real, mind you.