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"I’h it was an obvious lie

"Have you never heard the saying to be careful what you wish for?" he purred His new de to win the battle She couldn’t back do

"I knohat I’ into, and I’m not afraid to chase what I want," she said with eet it I’ll have s that will be off limits If you break any of the rules of the contract, I will sink you so far you’ll never be able to dig yourself out of the hole Do you understand?" he asked, his tone betraying his words His voice was scarily cal

She couldn’t i with hi she could iine She really may have taken on more than she could handle, but she knew the journalism world was a tuff nut to crack, and she’d deal with harder cases than him She could handle it

"I know you hate interviews, and having your privacy invaded I’ll be tactful in what I write, but I’ll also be truthful If you’re trying to hide unethical business practices, I will figure it out, and I won’t lie," she said with her shoulders squared It took everything in her not to shake

He looked deeply into her eyes - she knew to see if he could intimidate her Suddenly, his enuine smile She looked at him in stunned silence She didn’t understand why he’d be s to worry sheafter all

"You’re very brave from your hospital bed We’ll see hoell you do when you’re not quite so frail and using that unfair advantage at your disposal," he said with the same smile in place She didn’t back down

"I don’t break easily"

"We’ll see I always get what I want, too, Ms McIntyre," he said, reverting to her last nah she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to that question

"That will have to be a surprise," he promised It wasn’t a threat, or a question, it was a statement of intent

This was a bad, bad idea She was too stubborn to back down, but she was getting a really bad feeling about the entire situation She’d get her interview, but at what cost? If she were a sn his papers, take the hts, he took said papers, and ripped theasped at the finality of it She hoped her fear wasn’t showing If he felt he had the upper hand she wouldn’t stand a chance at going head-to-head with him

"I’ll be back in a few days with the proper paperwork Then, it looks like we’ll be inseparable for aaway She wanted to call him back and tell hiet about the whole thing, but she couldn’t seeh with it, and she’d write up the best article ever written on any of the Andersons She tossed and turned the entire night and knew the next couple of days were going to be stressful Every sound would have her head turning, waiting for Max to walk back through the door

Max walked out of the rooed to keep his coer for a short time, and he wanted to throttle his uncle and father, but overall he’d done well

He certainly had to give her credit for bravery She truly believed she’d won a battle of sorts with him If he hadn’t wanted to allow the interview, then she wouldn’t have gotten hiainst it at first, but the more she spoke, the more he realized he wanted to spend ti in hiure out exactly what that was

His attorney would draw up an iron-clad contract so she wouldn’t be able to speak about anything he didn’t wish her to talk about, so he wasn’t worried about the actual article she wanted to do He wanted to see those determined eyes darken with passion while she writhed underneath hi her burn for him, and he’d do it with the ut soCassie McIntyre

He would find out every secret Cassie worked so hard to hide, and he’d satisfy the as he made his way down the hospital corridors