Page 19 of Fair Trade
This isn’t the first time someone has accused me of sleeping my way to the top. But it is the first time someone’s accused me of having sex to not only keep a job but to blackmail someone for it.
One by one, every sweet and sensual memory of my time with Nick turns to ash.
There’s a reason there’s a risk with sleeping with strangers, the main one being you have no idea how much of an asshole they can really be when the offer of sex is no longer on the table.
But he is my boss, and by the sounds of it, he seems like he wouldn’t dare fire me in case I resorted to criminal activity.
For all I care, he can take every single hundred-dollar bill to his name and shove it up his ass.
I take two steps forward, his scent now intoxicating for a different reason.
I look him square in the eye and don’t mince my words. “I know this might be a bit outside of your depth of understanding, but my value resides in places other than my vagina. I’m not going to waste my breath trying to convince you that I didn’t know who you were, because clearly, you are extremely stubborn and quite full of yourself. So I’ll say this instead.” I point at his face, not caring how rude I’m coming across. “You may not believe me, but you will respect me. I worked my ass off getting this team together while having men more qualified than you questioning me at every turn.” I take a deep breath. “And to put your wallet at ease, I have no reason to use you, nor do I have anyinterest in it. The last thing I want is to tell the world I wasted a single night with the most egotistical man alive,” I heave.
I should leave. I should go while I’ve left him momentarily speechless.
But I’ve never really made it a habit of doing what I’m supposed to, so why start now?
“And the real kicker? Is that between the two of us, you were the one who knew who I was. Or am I supposed to believe you went through my purse to pull out my phone without chancing a glance at my ID? For a man with so much to protect, you think you’d be a little more careful, no?”
“I did no such thing. I wanted to make sure your phone was charged so I could… it doesn’t matter. You’re completely off, and if—”
“I wrote down my name. First name only, but surely a—what was it again? That’s right—abillionairewould have the resources to find out who I was. I’m sure you have a guy for that kind of stuff, right?” My voice drips with condescension.
He opens his mouth like he was about to say something but promptly shuts it firmly.
“Yeah, just what I thought. But no worries,boss. I’m sure we can find a way to work together without butting heads. As long as you don’t accuse me of being a trifling, conniving whore, it should be smooth sailing.”
I turn and make my way to the door without another glance in his direction.
My hand touches the handle when he speaks.
“Luisa.” His voice sounds pained, but you’d need to actually have a heart to have feelings. I turn my head just enough to make eye contact. “You really expect me to believe you didn’t know who I was?”
His eyes seem a fraction softer, but his tone remains the same glacial temperature.
I turn the handle and speak over my shoulder.
“You know what? You’re right, Nick. I always knew you were the devil.”
eight
It only took metwenty-four hours to process the cold, hard truth.
I fucked up.
Like Luisa suspected, I did have a guy who could look into people. And from the report staring back at me from my laptop screen, she was telling the truth.
My guy is known to bend the law and sometimes search in places that some might consider illegal, but I’ve never claimed to always play by the rules.
She never googled my name. Instead, she searched for “New Monarch team owner” and was directed to the article I had published with no real answers, in order to keep my cover concealed until I was ready to step into the unwanted spotlight.
Her texts with Daisy also confirmed that she didn’t know about Daisy having a brother.
She didn’t know about me at all.
Truth be told, the report is overkill. Because the second she looked me straight in the eyes and told me I was the devil, I knew.
She was telling the truth.
