Page 2 of Save Me the Trouble (Country Love Collection #12)

“Seriously. Killian Crown is going to eat you alive.” Arms crossed over her chest, Darcy had clearly been preparing for this discussion for the past two hours— two hours that I’d stayed after to familiarize myself with my new client and to avoid this exact argument.

But Darcy was unavoidable.

“I don’t think you give me enough credit. You know my MBA program was filled with self-centered assholes…students and professors alike.” My tone turned wry at the end.

She shifted her weight, her expression unconvinced.

I let out a sigh and set my bag down, wading deeper into the apartment in search of something to eat. My stomach had been grumbling since I’d started my deep dive into Mr. Crown, but I was too focused to care.

“You seriously have no idea, Grace,” she insisted, following me into the kitchen as I pulled out the leftover Chinese takeout from last night.

I kept my cool, tossing the container in the microwave before facing her again.

“I do have an idea. Trust me. Not only have I been here long enough to have an idea, but Diane made sure that idea was crystal clear when she pulled me aside earlier.” And told me in no uncertain terms that if I so much as fluttered a single eyelash at Mr. Crown in a provocative manner, I would be terminated immediately.

“I can do this—I need to do this. Even with this job, I’m barely making ends meet with my loans?—”

“Let me help?—”

“You’ve helped me enough, Darcy. Please,” I begged.

I hated when I had to beg. I pulled my food out of the microwave and shoveled large bites into my mouth.

It was too hot, but I didn’t care. “If I can close this account—get him a match—I won’t have to worry about my loans.

Heck, maybe if I do a good enough job, Mr. Crown might have a spot for me in one of his companies. ”

“Grace…” she warned.

“What?” I slurped up my lo mein. “You should be reassured that I have no interest in the man except for what his connections might be able to offer me.”

Darcy scowled.

“I know he’s difficult, but I can handle?—”

“Grace, Killian Crown destroys people who don’t do his bidding.”

“It’s his job.”

“No.” She folded her arms. “I mean, yes, that, too. But also people at Embers.”

My brow furrowed. “I don’t understand…he hired us; I am doing his bidding.”

Something flickered in her eyes, and I realized I hadn’t gotten the full story earlier; this was why she wanted to talk to me—wanted to stop me before I’d committed to the account. There was something about the Crown account that Diane hadn’t shared.

“His family hired us…his grandmother hired us to make him look more appealing than he actually is. And I don’t mean physically, obviously. That he has no problems with.”

“Okay…” I trailed off, uncertain exactly what difference it made who hired us. “So, if he doesn’t want to be set up with someone, he should take it up with her.” I shrugged, threw the empty takeout container in the trash, and wandered toward my room, wanting to change into my sweats.

“Grace, he slept with Aleta on purpose to get her fired,” she blurted out behind me.

I stopped on a dime and half-turned, a chill running down my spine. I hadn’t heard that; we were told that she’d mishandled the client, and Embers no longer found her suitable to be working for them any longer.

“He flirted with her and led her on—basically letting her believe that she didn’t need to do her job because he wanted to be with her. And then he showed the tapes and texts and pictures she sent him to Diane.”

Bile rose in my throat, and for a second, all I could think about was my own story. Maybe I hadn’t been purposely lured into a relationship with Professor Grant, but the way it still ruined my career path felt remarkably similar to what Darcy was telling me now.

“Why?” I croaked.

“He’s trying to prove to his grandmother that he doesn’t need Embers. More than that, he’s trying to prove we are incapable, and she should give up on using us—give up on trying to have him married.”

Well, Diane definitely hadn’t mentioned that.

I’d been told how important he was. I’d been told how difficult and unaccommodating he was. But I hadn’t been told that he was purposely sabotaging employees— purposely ruining their careers to prove a point.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, wishing I could tell her what she wanted to hear: that I would refuse the case on principle. But unfortunately, poverty made a mockery of principles, at least this one.

I needed this job. I needed the money. And if that meant I needed to bury my distaste for one more egotistical asshole, well, then hand me the shovel.

“Well, if that’s the case, then you shouldn’t be worried that I’d ever fall for a man like that,” I said low, giving her a look that spoke volumes.

I’d already been burned by one of those men, and every day I ate leftover Chinese food or boiled another packet of ramen was a pretty harsh reminder of what happened when I didn’t keep my head on my shoulders—what happened when a man used me to suit his own needs.

“Mr. Crown can try to threaten or torture or tempt me out of doing what I was sent to do, but the fact is, I need this job—I need the money.”

“And what if he finds out about your student loans?” she countered. “What if he tries to bribe you?”

My lips pursed. I didn’t want to argue about this—didn’t want to think about that. I took the job, and I was going to do it.

“He’s not going to find out, and I’m not going to take a bribe to screw up my job,” I said with a tense voice.

“I may be a lot of things—suffocating under student loan debt, the only woman in Seattle not attracted to Killian Crown—but I’m not the type of person who would put herself and her future at the mercy of a man. ”

I would sooner be penniless and panhandling down near Pike Place Market than let my emotions get the better of me again.

“I just worry about you,” she said and wrapped me in a hug.

I sagged into the embrace, grateful that I had her for support even if it got to be a little much sometimes.

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her as I turned into my room. “And I’ll be back here every night so that you can talk sense into me like it’s a bedtime story to make sure I don’t do something stupid.”

“You better believe it.” She smirked.

I chuckled and went into my room, changing and climbing into bed before tugging my iPad onto my lap.

I didn’t care how much of Seattle he owned, how much money he had, or how good-looking he was, Killian Crown was about to learn just how hard it was to control someone who had nothing else to lose.