Page 10

Chapter Ten

Chelsea

"Mr King will see you now." Bruce Fergus' personal assistant must have kept her job, because she was still behind the same desk. She looked more anxious than the last time I saw her, but a new boss would have that effect on most people. Including me.

"Thank you," I said. I smoothed down the sides of my skirt and stepped into the new GM's office.

Dominic King sat behind his desk, eyes on his laptop. He wore a dark suit, and a dark tie that contrasted with his crisp white shirt. His hair was smoothed back off his forehead, black except for a hint of grey at his temples.

I waited for a moment, but he didn't look up.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked finally.

He seemed to be speaking to all of the staff, one by one. Presumably, this was my turn.

Finally, he looked up, dark brown eyes regarding me, long and slow. By the time he nodded, I felt like he'd stripped off every layer of my clothes, leaving me standing bare in front of him.

He glanced back at his laptop. "Doctor Chelsea Miller. Youngest member of the medical team. Just out of university." He could have been reading off his screen, but I got the impression he wasn't. That he knew who I was.

"That's right," I said. "I'm excited to be a part of the team."

"Close the door," he said.

That wasn't exactly the response I was expecting, but I took a couple of steps back and pushed it until it clicked shut.

Hoping like hell he didn't mean for me to be on the other side of it.

"I know the team will benefit from your appointment," I said smoothly.

"Of course," he said. He closed his laptop and rested his clasped hands on top of the lid. What was it with the men from the Sydney Devils? First Otis Skinner, now Dominic King. They were both aloof and had an air of smug-as-fuck around them.

"What can you bring to the team?"

Was this another job interview? My pulse immediately raced, nervous he was about to fire me. He owed me no loyalty. He was here to run the team. If he decided I wasn't the best choice, then he'd be within his rights to toss me out.

"Enthusiasm and loyalty," I said, chin raised with confidence. "Up-to-date knowledge and a good work ethic. I've already proven I can work well with Doctor Stuart."

I hadn't had a chance to prove I could work with Skinner yet. Hopefully that wouldn't be held against me. Especially since it wasn't something I could help.

"Do you believe any of that is more important than experience?" he asked. His gaze remained firmly on my face, but I still felt naked in front of him.

"Actually, I do," I said. "I've worked with doctors who have been in the profession for so long they don't accept new practices. They believe because they've done something a certain way for so long, it must be the only way. I think flexibility is important for the team. The ability to adjust to a quickly changing scenario. Just because a method is new, doesn't mean it isn't valid and valuable."

"You find flexibility important," he stated. He seemed to be trying to get at something. I couldn't quite work out what.

"It's very important," I said. "In all aspects of life, we have to be able to adapt to change. If we're not flexible, we get stale." Not to mention flexibility was fun in the bedroom.

"All aspects," he echoed.

Once again, I got the impression he was trying to get at something.

"Excuse me, Mr King?—"

"Dominic," he corrected softly.

"Dominic." I took a breath and started again. "Are you thinking of putting me in a different position?"

Whatever he was thinking, I didn't believe he was about to fire me. If he was going to, he would have done that already, not waste his time with this conversation. He didn't seem like the kind of man who wasted time.

One of his eyebrows quirked upwards a fraction. If I wasn't watching, I would have missed it. My racing heart ratcheted up harder.

He knew. I didn't know how he knew, but he did. He'd been alluding to it from the moment I walked through the door.

"I—" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't just blurt it out, in case I was wrong, but I knew I wasn't wrong. He knew it too. I saw that in his dark eyes. Right now, he was holding all the cards. The entire pack.

"Did you think I wouldn't look into everyone here?" he asked softly. "This is Dusk Bay. No one should take a…position here without thorough research." His choice of words was deliberate.

I swallowed hard. "I'm not ashamed."

Now, I was almost certain I was wrong after all. He was about to fire me. Okay, that would suck, but I wasn't going to let him make me feel bad about what I did in the past. How I made a living.

"Why would you be?" His brow wrinkled. "Every player who steps out on the field uses their body. It's their profession. Using it one way is not so different to using it another. To suggest otherwise would be hypocritical. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Definitely," I said, not bothering to hide my surprise. "I hadn't thought about it that way, but I agree with you. Both are…a form of entertainment."

"Both of which I enjoy." He steepled his fingers. "I'm sure you appreciate it's best not to advertise this to the rest of the world. Exotic dancing isn't what one might consider family friendly."

"Depends on the family," I said without thinking.

That earned me a faint smile. "I suppose that's true. Generally speaking, it would be best to keep this quiet."

"I've been trying to do that," I said. "I don't want to make trouble for the team. If it got out, the press would have a field day."

I didn't want to think about that shit storm. I'd have to hide in Storm's apartment until the worst of it blew over. How long would it take? That was anyone's guess. Sometimes the press cycle moved on quickly, sometimes it didn't.

Did he know the truth of what happened to Belinda Simmons? I decided he probably didn't. If he did, I wasn't entirely sure he'd object.

People like him, and people like me, we did what we had to in order to protect the things we cared about. It wasn't a big stretch to picture him pulling a gun on her, or someone like her. It wouldn't even surprise me if he had Reuben Brantley on speed dial. Or the other way around. I wasn't aware of every person who worked for the Brantley family. He could easily be one of them.

"That they would," he agreed. "You understand if that was to happen, I'd be forced to fire you. For the good of the team, not because I believe it's the right thing to do."

He seemed irritated by the idea that anyone would force his hand. In that, he reminded me of Storm. My way or the highway. Or to put it in Dusk Bay terms, my way or a shallow grave.

"Does that mean you're not going to fire me?" I asked.

Was that too brazen? I decided it wasn't. I'd given him my honesty, and all I asked in return was for him to be honest about this. If he was about to let me go, he should get it over with.

He pressed his fingers against his lips for a moment before lowering them and responding. "I happen to agree with what you said. Experience is a good thing, but not when it's overshadowed by a lack of flexibility." He smiled slightly again. "Skinner can be inflexible in his own way, and so can Doctor Stuart. I trust you'll be able to bring a sense of flexibility to the team that will keep things fresh."

"I'll certainly try," I said. I didn't think either man was going to listen to many of my suggestions, but I wouldn't let that deter me. I'd work to the best of my abilities and make suggestions when they seemed appropriate.

"I'm sure you will," he said. "From what Doctor Stuart has told me, you're ambitious. I wouldn't expect anything less from anyone who grew up in the city. I imagine you develop survival instincts from an early age."

Once again, I could see he was well informed. Was that why he'd been chosen to be the new GM? Had his appointment gone through the Brantley family? Nothing much would surprise me at this point, least of all that.

"You could say that," I agreed. "You also learn the value of loyalty. If you give it to the right people, you get it in return."

His eyebrow twitched again. "Is that your way of suggesting I should be loyal to you, because you're loyal to me?" His face was a mask, hinting at an amusement, but mostly hiding what he thought about that suggestion.

I added him to the list of people I should never play poker with.

"It wasn't my intention, but I don't see why that shouldn't be the case," I said. "Like I said, I work hard. Everything I do, I put all of myself into it. I'm sure you'll see that."

"My loyalty is to the Smashers," he said slowly. "That includes everyone who works for the team. Which is exactly why I intend to keep your secret."

The words “for now” hung in the air between us. I hated the idea he had this over me, but the only other option was to walk away, and I wasn't doing that.

"I appreciate that," I said honestly. "Like I said, I'm not ashamed, but I realise the bomb that could go off in my face if this got out."

"We don't want…bombs to go off in your face," he said, his words carefully chosen.

"We don't want bombs to go off in anyone's face," I said. Or any other weapon, for that matter.

"Agreed," he said smoothly. "We'll all do our best to prevent that from happening to anyone here. Which brings me to one final matter. Your relationship with several of the players."

He had me worried for the second time in a handful of minutes.

His lack of concern about my dancing was one thing. Fraternising with the players was another. It might be the one thing he'd be forced to fire me for.

Or he might insist I stop seeing them, in which case we were going to have a problem. If he did, he might quickly end up like Bruce had. That would be a shame.

"Yes?" I asked carefully. "Is it a problem?"

"At this point in time, no," he said. "If it becomes a problem, then we'll address it. What players and staff do on their own time, is their own business, unless it has an impact on the team. Then it becomes my business. Understood?"

"Crystal clear," I said. "We're all very much aware of the importance of me not distracting them from their job. And vice versa. In public, we're professional."

In private, we were anything but.

"Good. Make sure it stays that way. I believe you'll be an asset to the team, but that's up to you. If you're willing to give us everything you have, then you'll do well. If not?—"

I had the feeling he wanted to say, “If you're willing to give me everything you have, you'll do well.”

"The team is everything to me," I said. "I intend to keep giving it everything."