Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“I’m Belle Freedman, I hope you get the job,” she said and stuck out her hand to him. The man looked quizzically at her hand for a few moments, before lifting his head to look at her again.

“I’m Devon Rymer. Welcome to my agency,” he said and took her hand in his and gave it a strong shake. Belle’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She knew she had never felt more embarrassed before.

Devon

Devon was smiling as he shook Belle’s hand. He knew he had an iron grip and an intimidatingly strong handshake, but this girl didn’t seem to be affected by it. She only looked surprised, because she hadn’t known who he was.

She was the one to draw her hand away, and Devon took note of her huge brown eyes, the way her neat braid lay delicately over her shoulder. She was sharply dressed, especially for her age. He assumed that she was in her early twenties, and he tried to remind himself not to stare.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I had no idea,” she said, taking a few steps away from him. Devon smiled and shook his head.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I know I’m a private person, there’s no way you could have known what the partners of the agency look like,” he replied, pushing his hand into his pocket again. He was expecting the girl to blush, or turn her eyes away from embarrassment, but she stared back at him with an unwavering gaze.

“Well, thank you for your kind words earlier,” she said, and Devon realized that she was thinking of taking her leave now. For some reason, he wanted to keep talking to her, but he couldn’t think of

anything to say to her to make her stay.

“Have a nice day, Ms Freedman,” he said instead and she smiled widely. He noticed how bright her eyes were when she smiled and how her lips lifted up on the sides as she did it. He couldn’t bring himself to look away.

She nodded to that and then walked away, towards the reception area. Devon stood in front of the elevator doors for a few more seconds, watching her walking away, before he breathed out a deep sigh and started making his way towards his own office.

His secretary Lily found him soon enough, and intercepted him in the corridors.

“Mr Rymer, we have two meetings set up for you before lunch. You are supposed to meet with Pat Lynch & Sons first thing,” Lily was walking with him, keeping pace. She also had his double shot Americano in her hand, which she eventually handed to him.

Devon’s mind was occupied with thoughts of Belle instead, and he stopped abruptly in front of his office doors.

“Lily, do you know about a Belle Freedman, who has been hired as an intern? It’s her first day today,” he said and Lily looked back at him with some surprise in her eyes. She didn’t expect him to be talking about an intern that early in the morning. In fact, Devon, rarely ever spoke about interns to begin with.

“Well, I don’t know her personally. But is there something you want me to find out? I can ask Susan, she’s in charge of all the interns,” Lily said, fixing the files and papers in her hands.

Devon was thinking, and he wasn’t really looking at Lily.

“Have her come over to my office, maybe between the two morning meetings,” Devon said. Lily nodded and turned on her heels to walk away. “Oh, and also ask Susan to keep a close eye on her, and give me a report at the end of day about her work,” he added, before pushing open the door to his office and walking in.

Once inside, Devon placed his coffee on his desk and walked around to the glass wall that overlooked the Hudson River. He had his jaws clenched as he watched people walking over the bridge. From the thirty-fifth floor, they looked nothing more than just tiny dots.

He couldn’t get Belle Freedman out of his mind. Not only was she gorgeous, but there was something comforting in her voice. She seemed sweet and cheerful, and he wondered if she was from a small town. He was sure that she wasn’t from New York, and he suddenly felt worried if the city might affect her. If in a few months, Belle might turn into a completely different person.

The phone on his desk beeped and he walked over and pressed a button.

“I’ve set up a meeting between you and Ms Freedman for eleven fifteen, Sir,” Lily’s voice came through.

“Good, thanks Lily,” Devon said.

“And I’ve told Susan what you said. She said she’ll come in and have a word with you at the end of the day,” Lily added.

“Thanks Lily,” he said again.

“Also, she was wondering why you’ve taken an interest in her, and if there’s a problem. She was worried that she might have made a bad hire,” Lily continued.

“No, Not all. There’s no problem and please tell Susan that she’s made a great hire. I like Belle, she seems enterprising and bright,” Devon said and with that he ended the call and sat down on his chair.

He steepled his fingers on his desk and narrowed his eyes as he thought about it some more. He couldn’t put a finger on the exact reason why he had taken an interest in Belle. It wasn’t just her looks was it…? Because he knew he could have any number of beautiful young women he wanted, in fact he tried to keep his distance from them as much as possible, so that a relationship didn’t come between him and his work. Besides, wasn’t Belle a bit too young for him?

There had to be something else about Belle that he had noticed. Just during their five minute conversation in the elevator, he was instantly drawn to her. To her smile. To her innocent confidence.

Devon shook his head, to drive the thoughts out of his brain. He had an entire day’s worth of work to get through and he wasn’t going to allow a girl to occupy his mind.