Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
HECTOR
I shook Eric’s hand and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly, like I would to an old friend to make him feel comfortable, to get him to trust me, to like me before I cut him down and burned him in front of Heather.
Eric, I ve been so excited to chat with you, I said.
Eric shook my hand stronger than I’d expected his scrawny ass to and smirked over at Heather, staring at her for much longer than I was comfortable with. He liked her. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he had been failing her purposefully to get closer to her.
To try to fuck her. Blackmail her.
All thanks to Heather, he said, his gaze dropping down her body for a moment.
A damn moment, but I had seen it.
“Come on into my office,” I said, extending my arm to show him the way.
He headed through the main office like he already worked here and walked into my personal office off the main floor and next to our executive conference room.
When I walked past Heather, I hummed, “You too.”
She frowned, trudged in behind us, and shut the door.
I pulled out a seat across from me for Heather, but that asshole sat down first. I clenched my teeth lightly and pulled out the chair beside him for her. When she sat, she shot me a glare because she didn’t know what I was planning.
“Well, Eric”—I sat across from him—“why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”
I ve been working at the university for three years now and have had the honor of having Heather as a student for two semesters. I m looking to pursue more of a career with software engineers who actually know what they re doing.
“Ah, yes,” I said. “Teaching students must be hard.”
Especially when you purposefully fail them when they should be succeeding in your class …
Like you wouldn t believe. He chuckled.
“Oh, I believe it.” I drew my tongue across my teeth and tried to keep my composure, but Heather’s face was red with fury, which pissed me off even more for her. “Must be distracting, too, with all those pretty girls who’d do anything to get a passing grade.”
Her anger would be worth it in the end.
Some do His eyes flickered to Heather. Others not so much.
“Your résumé looks very impressive,” I praised, glancing over at Heather, who sat with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, not once peeking over at Eric. “And Heather has told me so many good things about you.”
Of course, it was a lie. But I wanted to build him up, to make him feel like he was on top of the world. Humiliation always hit harder that way. I had learned that from the years and years of abuse back at home, before getting adopted.
He smiled at her. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Well I pulled my desk open and grabbed two laptops. I thought we could start with you showing me some of your skills. This test is what we give to all our developers during an interview. I was thinking it d be fun for Heather to do it alongside you so she could brush up on her skills and maybe learn from you.”
Heather’s glare intensified as I set the laptop in front of her.
The test used a coding language that not many developers could read, but Eric had written on his résumé that he was familiar with it. And because I didn’t like the asshole, I’d had Steven create a pile of hot garbage code that wasn’t usable as it was.
You know … just to give it to Eric to fix.
“Sounds great!” Eric said. “I’m sure she’ll learn something.”
* * *
Having trouble? I hummed after he had stared at the screen for fifteen minutes, typing a bunch and then erasing it all. Over and over and over. Until Heather s lips actually turned up into the smallest of smiles, the way they did before she was about to giggle.
“No, sir. I just need a couple more minutes.”
“It can’t be that hard,” I said. “Heather’s already done with the first question.”
Actually, Heather whispered, I m finished with it all.
My lips curled into a smile. Even better.
Eric shot his gaze over to her. “Impossible.”
I stood up and walked around my desk to the laptop that I had set in front of him. How many years of work experience did you say you had again? I tilted the laptop toward Heather and gripped that asshole s shoulder. Why don t you give him a jump-start, sweetheart? Looks like he needs it.
“I don’t need it,” he growled, yanking the computer back. “Just give me a minute.”
After releasing his shoulder from my grasp, I walked back to my seat and leaned back in it. “It must be quite embarrassing to have one of your own failing students complete an entire test before you can even get through the first question, huh?”
Eric stared down at the laptop, his ears growing red and his teeth gritted.
“Why do you think I would ever hire someone as incompetent as you?” I asked him. “Why would I lower my company’s standards to fit your capabilities if you can’t find a solution to a single problem that one of your students?—”
Suddenly, Eric stood and slammed his hands on my desk. I see where your stupid daughter gets her mouth from. I m not going to sit here and be belittled by the CEO of a company that I never wanted to have an interview at in the first place.
“Oh, Heather isn’t my daughter,” I said, lips turning into a grin. “She’s my submissive.”
Eric’s eyes grew wider, angrier.
I kept my gaze steady. “And it’s my job to keep her safe from dickheads like you.”
After seething for a few more moments, he abruptly grabbed his coat, stormed to my office door, and tried to pull it open. He yanked on it again and again, but it wouldn t budge. Not even an inch.
Ah, I forgot to mention. I asked one of our lovely assistants, Evelyn, to lock the door when your interview began, just in case something like this happened. I stood up to meet his glare. So, if I were you, I would come back to your seat and start begging.
“Start begging for what?” he spat. “What’re you going to do to me?”
“That’s something you don’t want to find out, Eric.” My lips curled into a smirk. “ Really . Because if you think me humiliating you in front of Heather was bad, wait until the board finds out that you flunked one of your students and tried to blackmail her. So … start begging .”
A flurry of emotions rushed over Eric’s face, finally landing on panic. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
He looked over at Heather. “He?—”
Before he could say another word to her, I was standing in front of him, snapping his chin in my hand and forcing him to look at me. You will only speak to her if you re going to apologize and beg for her forgiveness. And even then, you re not going to look her in the eye. You ll sit on your knees with your head bowed. Submissive to her.