Skye’s POV
I had just signed away the next six months of my life to my brother’s worst enemy.
That thought kept looping through my head on repeat as I sat in the leather chair across from his desk‚ the ghost of my signature still tingling on my fingertips.
I had agreed to be his.
Exclusively.
Intimately.
Whenever and however he wanted.
I had locked myself into a contract with a breach fee so enormous that it would destroy me financially if I ever tried to escape.
And the worst part‚ the part I kept trying to shove to the back of my mind and bury under layers of denial‚ was that I didn’t sign it just for the money.
There was something else attached.
Something else I was anticipating.
I shook my head hard.
No.
It was the money.
It was absolutely the money.
That was the only reason.
End of discussion.
“Your workspace is outside my office‚” Thorne said without looking up from his laptop.
“The cubicle directly to the left of my door.
You’ll find everything you need already set up.”
”Okay‚” I said‚ standing up quickly because I needed to get out of that office before the walls closed in on me.
“So what should I start working on?
Do you have a schedule for the week that I should review‚ or maybe some files that need organizing‚ or—”
”I’ll let you know when I need you‚” he said‚ still not looking at me.
“For now‚ settle in.”
A task.
A folder.
An email to respond to.
Something.
Anything.
But he just kept typing‚ his fingers moving across the keyboard with calm‚ deliberate focus‚ like I had already left the room.
So I left.
My cubicle was small but surprisingly nice.
A clean white desk with a brand-new computer‚ a leather chair that probably cost more than my entire bedroom furniture‚ a small potted plant in the corner that looked real‚ and a cup holder with fresh pens that all had the company logo printed on them in silver.
Under different circumstances‚ I would have loved it.
It was the exact kind of workspace I had always imagined having‚ compact and organized and mine.
But I had nothing to do in it.
I sat down‚ turned on the computer‚ logged in with the credentials printed on a card next to the keyboard‚ and then just stared at the empty desktop screen.
No emails.
No calendar invites.
No tasks assigned.
Nothing.
An hour passed.
I rearranged the pens three times. The source of this chapter is g.com.
I opened and closed the same empty folder on the desktop four times.
I even read the company’s employee handbook cover to cover‚ all forty-seven pages of it‚ just to look like I was doing something productive in case anyone walked by.
By the time the break bell chimed through the building’s intercom system at noon‚ I was so bored and restless that I practically launched myself out of my chair.
The break room was on the same floor‚ just down the hall and around the corner.
It was large and open‚ with a coffee station‚ a row of vending machines‚ and clusters of small round tables surrounded by cushioned chairs.
A handful of employees were already scattered around‚ eating lunch and chatting in low voices.
I grabbed a coffee I didn’t really want just to have something to hold‚ and I was about to sit alone at an empty table in the corner when a voice called out to me.
“Hey‚ you’re the new girl‚ right?
The one from the boardroom meeting?”
I turned around and saw a woman waving at me from a table near the window.
She was smiling warmly‚ which immediately made me suspicious because nobody in this building had smiled at me yet.
I walked over slowly.
“That would be me‚” I said‚ trying to sound casual and not like someone who had been publicly humiliated and fired in front of fifty people two days ago.
“I’m Evelyn‚” she said‚ extending her hand.
“I work in the marketing department‚ one floor down.
This is Mark.” She gestured to the man sitting across from her‚ who nodded at me with a friendly grin.
“Skye‚” I said‚ shaking her hand before sitting down in the empty chair between them.
Evelyn was beautiful.
She had deep brown skin that literally glowed under the break room lights‚ high cheekbones‚ full lips‚ and long braids that fell past her shoulders in perfect spirals.
Her eyes were dark and warm‚ and when she smiled‚ dimples appeared on both cheeks like little commas framing her mouth.
She looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine‚ not sitting in a corporate break room eating a salad out of a plastic container.