Skye’s POV
I stared at the message on my phone for a full thirty seconds before the reality of it sank in.
Get ready.
We’re going out.
It was past eight o’clock on a weeknight.
I had just survived my first day at a job that had nearly destroyed me physically and emotionally.
My legs were still sore‚ my body was still buzzing with the memory of what Thorne had done to me in his office‚ and now he wanted me to get dressed and go somewhere with him like I was some kind of doll he could pick up and play with whenever the mood struck him.
I wanted to say no.
I wanted to type back a message that told him exactly what I was feeling now.
Which wasn’t good by the way…
But then I remembered the contract.
Six months.
Exclusively his.
Whatever he needed‚ whenever he needed it‚ no questions asked.
That was the deal I had agreed to when I begged for my job back‚ and the thirty thousand dollars that would hit my account at the end of the month was the chain that kept me locked to every single word of it.
I closed my eyes‚ took a deep breath‚ and walked back to the dining table where Mom and Ethan were still sitting with their forks in their hands and their eyes full of questions.
“Who was at the door‚ sweetheart?” Mom asked‚ tilting her head at the box in my hands.
“What’s that?”
”It was a delivery‚” I said‚ keeping my voice as casual as I could manage while my heart was doing gymnastics behind my ribs.
Ethan’s eyes dropped to the box.
“A delivery of what?”
”A dress.”
”A dress‚” he repeated slowly‚ setting his fork down with the kind of deliberate care that told me his surgeon brain was already dissecting every word I said.
“A dress for what‚ Skye?”
I swallowed hard and decided that the only way through this was straight through it.
“There’s a gala tonight.
My boss wants me to attend with him.
It’s a work thing.
Corporate networking and all that.
He sent the dress because there’s apparently a dress code and he didn’t want me showing up in something that didn’t fit the standard.”
The silence that followed was so thick I could have choked on it.
Mom leaned forward in her chair and looked at me with those sharp eyes that had spent twenty-five years reading patients and could spot a lie faster than any machine.
“Tonight?
You just started this job this morning and your boss is already asking you to attend a gala at this hour?
On your first day?
Doesn’t this company give its employees any peace of mind?”
”It’s just how corporate works‚ Mom‚” I said‚ and the lie tasted sour on my tongue because I had absolutely no idea how corporate worked and neither did she‚ which was the only reason she didn’t call me out on it immediately.
“These events get scheduled last minute and everyone is expected to show up.
It’s part of the job.”
”What kind of boss sends a dress to his employee’s house?” Ethan asked‚ and his voice had dropped into that low‚ careful tone that meant he was no longer casually curious.
He was suspicious.
“How does he even know where you live?”
”HR has my address on file‚ Ethan.
It’s not that deep.
Can I please just go get dressed before I’m late and lose my job on my first day?”
I didn’t wait for an answer.
I turned and walked to my room as fast as I could‚ closing the door behind me.
I opened the box again and laid the dress out on my bed.
It was even more beautiful under the warm light of my bedroom lamp.
The black fabric shimmered faintly‚ and when I held it up against my body in the mirror‚ it looked like it had been made specifically for me.
Every curve‚ every line‚ every measurement was exactly right‚ and I didn’t want to think too hard about how Thorne knew my exact size because the answer to that question would probably terrify me.
I opened the small velvet box that had been hidden beneath the heels.
A necklace.
A single diamond pendant on a delicate gold chain‚ so simple and so elegant that it made my throat tighten just looking at it.
It must have cost more than everything I owned combined‚ and he had sent it to my house like it was nothing‚ like diamonds were just another item on his to-do list right between “ruin Skye’s life” and “look devastatingly handsome while doing it.”
I got dressed.
The dress hugged my body in all the right places and fell to the floor in a gentle sweep of fabric that made me feel like someone I didn’t recognize.
The heels added four inches to my height and changed the way I stood‚ the way I walked‚ the way I held my shoulders.
The necklace sat perfectly against my collarbone‚ catching the light every time I breathed.
I looked at myself in the mirror and for a moment I didn’t see Skye Moore‚ anymore.
I saw someone powerful.
Someone who looked like she belonged on the arm of a man like Thorne Anderson.
And that thought scared me more than anything else that had happened today.
I came downstairs slowly‚ one hand on the railing because the heels were higher than anything I had ever worn and falling down the stairs would be a very inconvenient way to end this evening.
Mom saw me first.
She was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a dish towel still in her hands‚ and when she looked up and saw me‚ her lips parted and the towel slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor without her even noticing.
“Oh my God‚” she whispered‚ pressing both hands to her mouth. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Skye‚ you look absolutely stunning.”
Ethan was leaning against the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed‚ and when I reached the bottom step‚ his expression shifted from suspicion to something softer and more complicated.
“You look really good‚ kid‚” he said quietly‚ and then his jaw tightened and the suspicion crept back in.
“How are you getting there?
Are you driving?”
My phone buzzed in the small clutch bag that had also been inside the box‚ because of course Thorne had thought of everything down to the last detail.
I pulled it out and read the message.
**Come outside.**
Two words.
My heart slammed against my chest so hard I was sure they could both hear it.
“I’m getting picked up‚” I said‚ and my voice came out thinner than I wanted it to.
“Picked up?” Ethan said‚ pushing off the doorway and uncrossing his arms.
“What kind of company sends a dress‚ shoes‚ diamond jewelry‚ and a car for a first-day employee going to a work event?”
”The kind that pays well‚ Ethan.
Please don’t make this into a thing.”
”I want to see this car‚” he said‚ already moving toward the front door.
“I want to see who’s picking you up.”
”Ethan‚ no‚ that’s really not necessary.”
”I want to see too‚” Mom said‚ and she was already following Ethan with that mix of excitement and maternal concern that made it impossible to argue with her.
“I just want to make sure my daughter is getting into a safe vehicle with a professional driver.
That’s all.
Just a quick look.”
”Mom‚ please‚ it’s just a car‚ you really don’t need to—”
But they were already at the front door‚ and Ethan was already turning the handle‚ and my heart was no longer beating.
It had completely stopped‚ because on the other side of that door‚ parked somewhere on our quiet suburban street‚ was a car that contained Thorne Anderson‚ and in about ten seconds my overprotective surgeon brother was going to come face to face with the man he hated most in this world.
And I couldn’t stop it.
My phone buzzed one more time but I didn’t look at it.
I couldn’t look at anything except that car door.
The handle moved.
The door began to swing open.
And a foot stepped out onto the pavement‚ a polished black shoe attached to a long leg in a perfectly tailored suit.
Mom leaned forward slightly‚ her eyes narrowing with interest.
Ethan went completely still beside her.
And my heart thumped wildly in my chest.
Oh no…