Page 29 of The Secretary Volume II

His voice is soft.Amused.Dangerous.

I don’t know what he wants me to say.

He likes this.

He strokes his thumb along my jaw.Waiting.Expecting.Knowing.

I stay silent.I may not know what he’s asking for, but I know better than to get it wrong.

His hand tightens in my hair and he pulls, yanking my head toward the ceiling.Just enough to remind me.“A man can’t even get a simple thank you.Even after that.”

“Thank you.”

He releases my hair and pushes my head lower.

“Good girl.I almost believed you.”

I give him what he wants.

I always do.

Because it feels like the only choice I have left.

15

Helper 99

What a shitshow this all is.I don’t even know where to begin.

He sure likes to take chances.

Easy, I suppose, when someone else cleans up the mess.

Speaking of, Lena Blackwell is already inside the trap.

She just hasn’t felt the teeth sink in yet.

I lean back in my chair, fingers drumming idly against my desk as I skim through the latest updates on her.GPS pings.Call logs.Email threads.A slow, quiet mapping of her every move.She’s predictable in all the ways that matter, and yet…

Ellis says she’s special.

I don’t see it.

But then, I never do.

She’s another desperate woman, another runner who thinks she’s heading toward something rather than away.They always do, at first.They tell themselves they’re choosing this.That they’re the ones taking control.

But control is an illusion.

I know that better than anyone.

I exhale, scrolling through the feed of security footage from today.

Lena, hunched over her desk, staring at her computer like she can feel the walls closing in.

Lena, in the break room, watching the wrong person for a second too long.

Lena, scrolling through the emails Ellis wanted her to see.