Chapter 24
Nika
His words hit like a sledgehammer.
It took a few seconds to process—especially after the frost of the morning, the side eyes and the silence and the weight of a floor full of people who had decided. Against that backdrop, this felt almost surreal.
Validation.
From the CEO himself. Unprompted. Formal. Sitting across his own desk and looking directly at me while he said it.
That’s why I got the pay increase.
I can feel his stupid wolf, Bad Girl grumbled. He’s staring and it’s fucking rude.
Since when do you care about social niceties?
It’s only acceptable when I enact the corruption, she said, and then sniffed. And stop looking at him like that.
Like what?
You know what.
I waited for her to elaborate. She didn’t.
I became suddenly, inconveniently aware of the way I was sitting. The warmth that had crept up the back of my neck from nowhere. The fact that I had not looked away from his eyes for longer than was strictly necessary for a professional apology meeting.
I straightened in the chair.
“As a way of apology, would you accept a dinner invitation? Tonight?”
My eyes flicked back to his.
Say no.
I swallowed.
Tell him no. Now.
“I’m sorry,” I said, with an apologetic smile that felt remarkably steady given the current situation. “I have plans this evening.”
His smile vanished. Something dimmed behind his eyes—there and gone, quickly controlled, but I caught it.
Bad Girl began to laugh.
“And tomorrow?”
Say yes.
The instruction came so fast and so cleanly that I didn’t even have time to question it.
“Tomorrow should be okay.”
His grin was instant. Unguarded in a way nothing else about him had been—wide enough to reach his eyes, bright enough to do something entirely unwelcome to my ability to think clearly.
He might be entertaining after all, Bad Girl said.
High praise. Coming from her, practically a glowing reference. I almost felt sorry for him.
“That is excellent. We have much to discuss,” he said, standing up. “I look forward to the pleasure of your company.”
I followed suit and stood.
He escorted me to the door.
The man was inches away from me and that damn cologne was heavenly.
Pfff. Please, Bad Girl snorted, but there was no heat behind her words.
She liked it too.
The secretary glanced up, curious. I had an inkling that she knew who I was. She nodded with a small smile. Possibly an ally. I returned her smile, turning to leave. I felt two sets of eyes on me as I walked down the corridor towards the lifts.
I’d never felt empowered at work before.
But I carried my head high, shoulders straight and my back rigid.
??
??
??
They all stared as I sat down.
Carla, Andy, Graham and Francis.
“Well?” Francis whispered, head low, eyes cutting from side to side. “Spill everything.”
“He just wanted to thank me for all my hard work in his company,” I said. Loudly.
Oh, now you’re getting the hang of it, Bad Girl said.
“She’s lying,” Carla snapped.
“Sorry?” I turned to look at her. “How many times have you been invited to the executive suite for a personal tribute from the company’s CEO?”
Ooooh. Look at that little bitch burn.
Carla’s mouth thinned. She reminded me of girls I’d known in high school—the ones who were only ever happy when they were the most important person in the room and spent the rest of their energy making sure nobody else got comfortable.
“Get back to work, everyone,” Andy said. His eyes didn’t leave me. He ground his jaw.
He knew that I knew about the budget deficit.
The silence that settled was a different kind from this morning’s—not shame, not frost. Something tighter. The kind that meant calculations were being made and conclusions were being drawn and nobody wanted to be the one to speak first.
“Nika?”
I glanced up. Claire was standing in the gap between her office door and our bank of desks.
“Could you come in for a moment?”
I couldn't resist the smirk as I stood.
They hated me before, but now I’d given them a real reason to despise me. In their eyes, my success meant their failure. So much for teamwork.
And these weren't even aware that I was the reason they had all shat themselves in the most humiliating way possible.