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“It’s wrongful dise?” She hated that she tensed in hope She knew exactly howback to low-end jobs, scraping by on a hand-to-el with dread This job had been her first step into genuine security
The Russian tilted his head to a patronizing angle “We both know you’ve enjoyed the full package long enough, Miss Daniels If you haven’t set aside so for this eventuality, that’s not my concern”
“Stop talking like I was—”
“What?” he de his teeth “Victor Van Eych’slike you weren’t,” he snarled with surprising bite In a few long strides he was at his desk, flipping open a file, waving a single sheet of paper “Your qualifications are li an executive office” Another sheet flapped in the air “You’re paid more than his personal secretary, but he still needed one because you were dedicated to ‘special projects’” He cracked out a laugh as he snatched up the next record “You live in the company flat—”
“In the housekeeper’s wing because it’s one ofhoeak it sounded even though Victor had ical
“The janitors who dust the place can water the plants You’re a parasite, Miss Daniels One who’s being pried off the host Take the day to pack your things”
A parasite She was doing everything in her power to pay back the syste, but she’d tried not to take advantage of Victor’s generosity Now she was finally on the brink of being able to help others instead of focusing on her own struggles—sonition, but to support children like what she’d once been—and he was calling her a parasite?
“You reprehensible, conscienceless…” Her voice dried up, which was probably best She was shaking and liable to get personal Mention that scar, for instance
“Conscienceless,” he repeated through lips that peeled back in a snarl He closed her file and took up awith? Read that, then tell me who is conscienceless and reprehensible”
CHAPTER TWO
ALEKSY TOLD HIMSELF he was only confir to run into her Nevertheless, the part of hi with a sense of anticlimax would leap on another chance to verbally tussle with her Until she’d read the memo, paled, then walked out in stunned silence, Clair Daniels had been—
Forget her, he ordered hiaeable women, just the types who enjoyed physical pleasure and material wealth over love Clair had obviously fallen into that category, asking if he was offering a package She’d been royally peeved when he turned her down, displaying the kind of passionate anger that suggested an equally passionate—
Stop it He was here to take ownership of one more acquisition That was all
He keyed in the entry code to the fireneric opulence The plants looked very well tended Unfortunately that was the only thing recoht of modern convenience No expense was spared in the white leather furniture or silk rugs over marble tiles, but it lacked…
Traces of her
Absently stroking his thuh a dining room that held no fresh flowers The white duvet on the master bed was undented The bathrooerie In the kitchen, the pantry shelves were bare of all but the minimum staples She’d vacated so completely, it was as if she’d never lived here at all
How, then, would he find—
He caught the faint sound of a feh a wall and cocked his head, instantly alert Moving past the refrigerator, he found an unlocked door to a laundry room On the opposite side another door opened into a narrow kitchen, where the scent of toast lingered Beyond, in a e peppered with colorful throws, unopened mail and abandoned shoes, Clair Daniels stood She had her back to hihs were a pants
The internal wolf that had been pacing restlessly inside hi his heart in his chest and slah his limbs He was furious to find her here, but he smiled