Chapter 19
Riley
“You hired a new CFO already?” I stared in surprise at Aiden. I tried not to fidget but being alone with him in his office made me a bit nervous. He was just so… stern.
You like stern.
I did, but Aiden’s stern differed from Mr. Steele’s. Mr. Steele expected obedience, but he was also kind, and while Aiden had never been anything but polite to me, no one would describe him as kind.
Even just thinking about Mr. Steele soothed my nerves a little. I hadn’t seen him this weekend, but he’d booked me for tonight instead of our usual Wednesday, and I couldn’t wait to see him. Coming to work this morning had been a little easier, knowing Mr. Rainer wouldn’t be here, but I still felt sick about what happened on Friday. Being Mr. Steele’s good girl was exactly what I needed to feel better - to feel normal.
“A temporary CFO,” Aiden said. “His name is Deacon Cross. We went to university together, and when I first started the company, he stepped in as CFO, got the finance department up and running, and helped me hire a permanent CFO.”
“And he can just work here at the last minute?” I said.
Aiden nodded. “He’s in between clients.”
My confusion was obvious because Aiden said, “Deacon’s job is unique. He works as a contractor of sorts for companies who need a CFO to clean up the financial side of their business, start-up companies who need someone with experience to set up their financial department, or, in my case - in need of a temporary CFO while we search for a new one. Over the next month, Deacon will help us finish our year end and assist me in hiring a new CFO. Once that’s finished, he’ll move on to his next contract.”
“Oh,” I said. “That sounds like an interesting job.”
Aiden nodded. “It suits Deacon well, and he’s very good at what he does. I lucked out that he had some availability. He’s usually booked months in advance.”
He paused. “I can assure you that Deacon will, in no way, treat you how Victor did. But if, for any reason, you are uncomfortable or you feel disrespected, I want to be clear that you can share this information with me. All right?”
“Yes, Mr. Wright,” I said.
He continued to stare at me, and I squirmed under the intensity of his gaze. “I mean what I say, Riley. I will not allow you to be in another situation like you were with Victor.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that, Mr. Wright.”
He nodded. “Again, I can assure you that Deacon won’t -”
There was a knock on his door, and Farah poked her head in. “Aiden, Mr. Cross is here.”
“Perfect timing.” Aiden and I stood. “Send him in, Farah.”
I took a deep breath, staring out the window behind Aiden’s desk as he walked around it. “Deacon, good to see you again. I want to introduce you to your PA, Riley Gates.”
With a polite smile, I turned around, my hand outstretched. “Mr. Cross, it’s nice to…”
The words died in my throat. I stared mutely at the man before me, at those familiar brown eyes that perfectly mirrored my shock. My gaze dropped to the hand he held out to me. Those long, blunt fingers that had been inside of me and knew exactly how to make me come.
I became aware of two things at once. Mr. Steele - Deacon, his name is Deacon - and I stood in front of each other, our hands held out limply, and Aiden was staring at us, a small frown creasing his forehead.
“Is there something wrong?” Aiden asked.
Panic in my belly, I grabbed Deacon’s hand and shook it firmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Cross.”
“Call me Deacon,” he said, his voice faint and not at all the confident timbre I was used to.
“I’m Riley,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
You already said that!
“You as well,” Deacon said.
Seemingly recovering better than me, he turned to Aiden and gave him a more natural smile than mine. “Sorry, I’m late. My flight was delayed.”
“It’s not a problem,” Aiden said. “But I had Riley book us a reservation for lunch with Richard and a few key finance department members, which we’ll be late for if we don’t get moving. Riley, no problems with the booking, I assume?”
“No, Mr. Wright,” I said.
“Good.” Aiden clapped Deacon on the back. “Let’s head for lunch. You and Richard can meet this afternoon.”
“Sounds good,” Deacon said. He glanced at me, and Aiden followed his gaze.
“Is there something else, Riley?” Aiden asked.
Blushing, I shook my head and made a beeline for the door. “No, Mr. Wright. Enjoy your lunch.”
* * *
“He’s your new boss.For real, real.” Ella stared at me from my phone screen. Her blonde hair stuck up everywhere, and she leaned against her headboard before yawning widely. “Small world.”
“Small world,” I squeaked, turning Marvin’s heater to high. “I am freaking the fuck out, and all you can say is small world, Ella?”
She laughed and squinted at her nightstand. “Give me a break, girl. It’s two in the morning here, and I was sound asleep. I need a minute to process.”
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t even think of the time difference. I shouldn’t have called you. Go back to bed. I’ll email you instead.”
She laughed again. “I’m already awake, you dork. How badly did you freak out when you saw him in the office?”
“It wasn’t my smoothest moment,” I said. “But I think we covered okay, and then he immediately went to lunch with Aiden and a few others. I have no fucking idea what I’ll say to him when he comes back.”
Ella frowned. “Hey, you don’t think he’ll get you fired, will you?”
“What? No, not at all. He’s not like that. Mr. Steele is -”
“Deacon,” Ella said.
“What?”
“You know his real name now. Deacon.” Ella yawned again before sitting straight up. “Shit, he knows your real name too.”
“He also has my cell number and knows where I live, Ella. My real name is not a big deal at this point.”
“True.” Ella stuck a few pillows behind her back and made herself comfortable. “Okay, so how are you going to handle this?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I have a play session with him tonight.”
“You’re not still doing that, are you?” Ella asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Riley, he’s your new boss. You can’t keep fucking him.”
“I’m not fucking him,” I said. “There’s no fucking, Ella.”
She waved her hand. “Fine, sucking his cock and letting him finger you. Either way - you can’t keep playing with him.”
“I have to,” I said. “I need the money for Mom.”
“I know, but there are other people you can choose from at the agency, right?”
Genuine horror washed over me. Be someone else’s good girl? No fucking way.
“Ry? There are others, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“What?” she asked.
“I didn’t like any of the other profiles,” I said.
“Okay, but it’s been a few weeks now. Maybe there will be some new people to choose from.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“Riley,” Ella gave me a cautious look, “you aren’t feeling more for this guy than you should, are you? This isn’t a relationship.”
“I know,” I said. My phone dinged with an incoming text, and my stomach cramped when I saw Celeste’s name. “Ella, hold on a second.”
I quickly opened my text, reading the message and disappointment making my throat tight. I returned to my call with Ella, and she squinted at me again. “Ry? What’s wrong?”
“I just got a text from the sisters. Mr. Ste—Deacon cancelled our appointment for tonight and told them he’d no longer be booking with me.”
“Not surprising.” Ella stretched and scratched at her neck.
“He’s at lunch with Aiden and the others, which means he cancelled it while he had lunch with them.”
“Okay.” Ella looked confused. “Is that surprising? I mean, it needs to be cancelled.”
“I know, I just… I thought he’d talk to me about it first.”
“Why would he? Both of you know you can’t continue,” Ella paused, “playing together.”
“I know,” I said.
“Do you?” Ella asked.
“Yes,” I said.
She yawned again. “Honey, I’m sorry. I love you, but I have to go back to bed. I have a meeting first thing in the morning.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have called.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “You should always call me. I love you, Ry.”
“I love you too,” I said.
I ended the video call and reread the message that Celeste had sent me. Mr. Steele - Deacon - was now my actual boss. I knew I could no longer play with him, so why did I feel this hurt that he had so quickly and ruthlessly ended our time together?
Forget about that. What will you do about your mother?
I chewed at my bottom lip. Aiden had said Deacon would only work at the company for a month. I’m sure he’d be interested in playing with me again once he was finished. Why wouldn’t he? I pleased him as his pretend assistant, and we were… compatible in certain areas. So, that meant I only had to go a month without the extra cash I’d get from my second job. I could scrimp and go without for a month to get the money I needed to send to my parents from my regular job.
How? You’ve lowered your food budget as much as you can without starving yourself, moved into a cheaper apartment, bought a piece of shit car, and sold everything you own of value. How will you find extra money from your paycheque?
I’d lower my grocery budget more - my mother was right, I could stand to lose a few pounds - and park Marvin for the month. I wouldn’t need to drive to Mr. Steele’s house, and our office was on a bus route. I could buy a bus pass for the month, saving me on car insurance and gas.
If you don’t pick anyone for a month, Celeste and Catherine will fire you.
Not if they thought I needed surgery or something. I hated lying, and I wasn’t very good at it, but I absolutely could pretend I needed a month to recover from surgery and that I’d be back. They wouldn’t see it as anything more than a coincidence that my return was around the same time Mr. Steele started booking me again.
This isn’t a good plan, Riley. Starving yourself and lying to the sisters isn’t -
I silenced my inner voice and shut off my car before hurrying through the parking garage. I had a plan in place, and it would work. Now, I just needed to get through the month without anyone discovering that Deacon and I had known each other before he started working at the company.