Satisfied 2X

He didn’t know how the arrangement had come up. Why in the hell would Rudino trade her for anything? She was a treasure. Someone who should be protected. Cherished. And that’s exactly what he and Wyatt would do. They would keep her safe from the world. They’d make sure she had everything she ever needed or wanted.

She only had to say the words.

The words that would change everything.

He walked into his office, closing the double doors behind him. He needed a minute to think without Janet bugging him, the phone ringing, or one of the interns hounding him for answers.

He didn’t know how long they could wait. How many days or weeks before she would belong to them in every way.

He pressed his palms into the frame of his desk.

Five

Kayla

She barely made it to the elevator before her knees buckled. Kayla grasped the walls, tapping the button for the third floor. Wyatt Miller’s assistant had instructed her to go there for her employee introduction. Someone there would show her her new office, give her a key card to the building, and set her up with her own cell phone and company computer. There was obligatory paperwork even when she was the pawn in a land deal gone bad. She thought they would have mentioned it. But they acted as if she had been a part of a standard interview.

It was overwhelming. It was dizzying. But even more, the brothers as they called themselves, were intoxicating. She couldn’t find center fast enough. Everything felt off balance and surreal. From the minute she laid eyes on them, she couldn’t remember why she had held such anger and resentment coming here. It was hard to gaze at their sculpted bodies and not want to touch them—or worse, be touched by them. God, she was pissed at how good looking they were. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.

They should be ugly old bald men she could sit around and curse and hate. Men who would repulse her and make it easy to resent every minute she spent inside these walls. She held her head high. And they were nice and charming. She would have to work hard to find a way to hate them—but she would find it.

She shook her head, straightened her back, and exited the elevator on the third floor. The offices were like a convoluted mouse maze. How was she supposed to find anything in this place? After trying two wrong doors, she finally found the one marked Human Resources.

Kayla knocked cautiously. “Hello?”

A man with a narrow nose looked up from his computer. “Oh, you must be the girl Vickie called down about.”

“If you mean the new director of marketing, then yes. That’s me.” She smiled, hoping it would change his attitude. She was going to use her new title in every way she could. This would be a resume-builder. A platform to launch a career that would mean something.

The next year would suck, but it wouldn’t be for nothing. She would make it worth her while.

He rolled his eyes before reaching into the desk drawer and slapped a file on the surface. “You need to fill this in.”

She leafed through the paperwork. It looked fairly standard. Health information. Previous employer. College dates.

“Anything else?” she asked.

“I’m supposed to give you unlimited access to the building.?

?? She sensed resentment in his tone. “Not sure why.”

Kayla tried to smile. The unwarranted attention made her feel uneasy. “I’m not sure either. I guess I’ll be working lots of unusual hours. Early in. Late to leave.”

“Whatever. Just get this back to me. And here.” He slapped a key fob on his desk.

“Thank you.” She realized she would be able to maneuver through the mazes with the door pass.

Kayla looked around. There was an extra chair in his office, but she didn’t want to stay longer than she had to. He already made her feel uneasy.

“I’ll bring the paperwork back soon,” she promised.

She left the office and walked the halls looking for a quiet place she could answer all the questions on the paperwork. She took a seat in the hallway near a tall potted plant. It was the kind that didn’t need much water. She wasn’t sure how it grew without sunlight.

By the time she returned to the Human Resources office, the rude guy had left for the day. Kayla hadn’t realized how late it was.

“Great,” she muttered. “Now what?”

There was a chance Wyatt’s assistant was still in the office. Maybe Vickie would handle it for her. She took the elevator to the top floor.