Page 22 of Fallen Starboy

If I make him angry, maybe he’ll fire me. At least then I can get out of this fucking situation.

“And justwherehave you been all day with my daughter?” His eyes cut to his watch, then back to me, putting on the pressure, using tactics that reminded me of sitcom dads when their teenage daughter came home after curfew.

I was no teenager, and I wasn’t about to put up with this, either.

“All over,” I replied icily, “doing educational and fun things to keep her busy.”

“You were supposed to bring her home,” he growled, taking a step toward me. “Not run all over a strange town with no security and no protection.”

“Neither of us needs protection, thank you,” I said with a smirk, knowing I was right. “Today proves that. Nobody recognizes her on the street here. She’s just another kid out with her?—”

His eyes narrowed, those lashes tempting and mesmerizing. “Herwhat?”His gaze raked over my body from head to toe, making me feel somehow inadequate in the pregnant pausebetween his words. “Please, go ahead and finish that sentence. I’d love to hear the rest of it.”

“I took her to the zoo, the museum, the science center, the arcade, and she had three square meals today. Most of which were even healthy, thank you.” Dismissing his murderous glare, I turned my back to him and opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water. “And you never specifiedwhatI was supposed to do with her, by the way. I’m not a hired nanny. So I winged it.”

Those brows on his perfect fucking face rose as I lifted the water bottle to my lips and took a swallow, relishing the cool liquid against my throat. “Howgraciousof you to spend your hard-earned money taking my daughter out on the town today.”

I shrugged, playing it off. “The company paid for it all. I have a business card I use when I’m on the clock.”

Apparently, that was the wrong answer. He stepped forward again, and his arms came up to cage me in on either side, pinning me against the fridge door. “I warned you about getting close to her, Arista. And you know I hate to repeat myself.”

I wouldn’t be cowed by his bullshit posturing as a tough guy. I brought my free hand up and jammed a long, manicured nail in the center of his chest. “I acted in the manner I determined best to complete my duties today, Jun. Whether or not you would have chosen different is of no consequence to me.” I flung the taunt out there, goading him, hoping that maybe he’d take the bait I was about to lay on the hook. “If you’re so unhappy with my performance, then fire me. I’ll be glad to go back to the company and let them know you’ve decided to go it alone.”

His glare hardened to stone at the suggestion. “You know damn well I can’t do that.”

I did, in fact, know just how bad it would be for him if he did. It would look like he was being ungrateful, a difficult client. And though kNight Entertainment had dealt with worse, it wasn’t wise to make yourself look like a problem this early in a contract.There was literally nowhere else to go after us. We were the last chance for many of our clients.

“Then perhaps you’d like to back the fuck up and quit riding my ass, yeah? Since you’re so against my decisions in this temporary role, I’ll be sure to push up the interviews for your assistant position to the next available time slot on your schedule. It will be mytop priorityto find you a replacement?—”

“Don’t play games with me, Arista,” he growled, closing the gap between us as my hand pressed insistently against his chest. His very taut, muscular chest, hidden only beneath a thin layer of fabric. “I’m not the easy-to-rile teenager you used to know. I’ve grown up.”

As I breathed in, his scent flooded my senses, filling me with nostalgia and memories I’d buried a long ass time ago, hoping they’d stay there.

His hand gripping my wrists, holding them above my head as his lips caressed the sensitive skin where my throat met my shoulder. Fingers on his other hand inching my skirt up, teasing my outer thigh as they met the hem of my panties. Hot breath fanning over my ear as he whispered promises and fantasies in my ear before his teeth closed over the shell of it and nipped me playfully. The hard, insistent curve of his cock through his pants as he ground his hips against me, moaning softly in an uncharacteristic display of vulnerability and need.

Did he ever replay those scenes in his head of us?

Did it even matter?

We were like fire and gasoline—when we met, sparks flew, but we burned anything we touched.

It was better if we never happened again. Things were better like this for all of us.

Maybe if I told myself that enough times, it’d be true.

Chapter

Eight

JUN

I hadher pinned against the fridge, just inches away from our noses touching as I towered over her and tried to throw my weight around. She’d never been one for physical confrontation, so I leaned into that, wanting her to feel as uncomfortable as possible.

I didn’t want her to know how worried I was about them both when she wasn’t here when I arrived. How much restraint it took me to not call her a thousand times, demanding her whereabouts. I’d trusted her with Yejin; it was my own fault that I was so worked up. But I refused to put the blame on myself. Instead, I lashed out at the one person I felt deserved to feel bad here.

The woman who’d played mommy to a daughter she never wanted. A daughter she abandoned.

A daughter she had no rights to.

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