Chapter 12
TWELVE
“I am not being paid enough to have to babysit an entire dragon.“
In some ways, leaving the cattle and horses out in their pastures saved me a great deal of time in the morning, and after making certain everyone was happy, fed, and healthy, I retreated to my office to conquer.
My new kittens, whom I still needed to name, followed me around, resulting in me placing an order for a robotic litter box for the commonly frequented areas of my home.
A delivery service handled bringing them more beds, extra dishes, enough food to last them through a siege, treats, toys, and cat trees. My office now held two of the massive trees, which had sleeping spots for all four kittens.
We’d still go out as a little family so they could pick things for themselves, but I wanted them to understand they had a home they could count as theirs.
The smaller of the white ones slept in a bed near my feet, and the other three shared the cat tree I’d placed near the window so they could admire the dragon’s castle and the lake.
After tackling the emails from Lucifer, I handled the few from Darlene. The succubus amused me, as she wanted us to schedule a playdate to a spa.
Spas gave her a chance to unwind without her oaf of a husband around, which permitted her to scheme without him pestering her.
Until my barn was replaced, I wouldn’t be doing much in the way of luxury anything, so I emailed her back with the suggestion that my spa day should be the day after Alligator Bait ran her first race in our attempt to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
I’d already booked her for a visit with a vet, and I would be imposing on an angel—or archangel—to make certain she stayed healthy and happy through her competition career.
As I would hover and get in the way, I would go to the spa while my thoroughbred went through her paces and endured the examination.
With that out of the way, I checked the rest of my emails to discover Mr. Durant, the Destroyer of Georgia, had my email and was willing to use it.
To my amusement, he opened his letter thanking me for sparing him the trouble of raising his castle from the depths.
He took the moment to appreciate my care, as he would have been rather displeased if he needed to scour sludge from his storied structure.
With the polite introduction finished, the dragon wasted no time establishing himself as a tyrant, making it perfectly clear he hadn’t actually been born yesterday, understood how businesses worked, and wanted to have a thriving industry within the next year.
He would accept necessary delays for me to pursue my racing hobby, as he felt such enrichment activities to be appropriate for individuals of my station.
With the same open curiosity of a toddler, he inquired if modern society truly accepted women riding as the jockey and owning such esteemed horses.
I twitched, and as my job was to assist the dragon and make him successful, I began building my reply, careful to address every single one of his concerns, show appropriate appreciation for the compliments he hurled my way despite their stabbing nature, and otherwise be civil to the being I was being paid well to handle.
While he’d tossed a great deal on my plate, I’d been a secretary for long enough to realize he’d made it appear overwhelming but played within the time limitations Lucifer had promised.
As such, I laid down the groundwork for my efficient handling of his matters, and I began reining in the dragon the simplest way I knew how: I assisted with prioritizing his acquisitions based on my personal experience with the companies, offering intel and advice.
Rather pleased with myself for the initiative, I thanked him for his time as my closing line for the email before sending it off, along with my preference for handling as much by email as possible to have a trail of what needed to be accomplished.
Maybe the dragon was capable of devouring a few cities, but as I’d done with my employer before him, I would become a mountain he couldn’t climb. There would also be no conquering of my person, but I’d let him figure out that bitter truth on his own.
After a final check of my email, which confirmed I’d cleared my box and my tasks for the day, completed in a mere hour and a half, I closed the laptop’s lid, put it into a drawer, and rubbed my hands together, grabbing the notebook I’d selected for my race planning.
Before I had a chance to uncap my favorite pen, my desk phone rang. I sighed, set my pen down, and answered, “Crystal speaking.”
“Hello, Crystal. I’m glad I happened to catch you.”
I bit back a groan at the unfortunately familiar sound of one of the corporate bullies from my former employer.
Judging from the time, he’d waited until most people were off at lunch to give me a ring, which indicated he was either contacting me on the sly or wanted to butter me up for something.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Mortani. How can I help you?”
“The board asked me to give you a call to see if you would be interested in returning to your former position. We are prepared to make you a lucrative offer.”
I somehow resisted the urge to vomit, although I had to battle a cramp in my stomach at even the thought of returning to the place I’d milked dry so I could have my personal happily ever after.
“I’m afraid I’ve already signed a job offer with a different employer, Mr. Mortani, but I’m honored you found my work of quality enough to want me to return to the firm. ”
Considering they hadn’t even pitched a raise when I’d left, nor had they attempted to renew my bonus plan, I saw zero reason to want to return to the grind, not with the Devil’s offer being such as it was.
“I see. We, obviously, respect your loyalty to any organization you work for. Is there a contact at your new place of employment who might be willing to speak with me?”
I reached across my desk, snatched my cell, and texted the Devil with the request. “I’m sure there’s someone who would be willing to speak with you, Mr. Mortani.
If you give me a moment, I will get out their contact number for you.
I only have my direct employer’s number, and things like this need to go through other individuals. ”
“Of course. That’s the case with most corporations, for good reason. Your current employer addresses such situations at hiring?”
I loved when people, especially bratty CEOs I disliked, offered me easy outs. “My employer was rather direct with the terms and conditions of my hiring.”
In my case, it was clear I was expected to use and abuse the Devil and push my limits until I found the line, and I doubted I’d face much in the way of consequences for locating the precise location of said line.
Rather than text me back, Lucifer popped into the room, sat on my desk, reached over, and tapped the speakerphone button while holding a finger to his lips.
Interesting. I liked interesting, especially in the corporate world. Espionage wasn’t something I did often, but I found dipping my toes into the secrets of other companies to be rather illuminating.
“That’s excellent. Here is the situation.
Several of our secretaries were engaging in embezzlement within the firm and were let go.
We need replacements, and we need replacements quickly.
We are prepared to offer you a twenty percent increase to your base salary along with a performance bonus opportunity. ”
I raised a brow at the twenty percent increase to my base salary, which would be considered generous by most everyone. Lucifer gestured for me to continue the conversation, which I assumed meant he wanted me to nibble at the bait. “Tell me more about the performance bonus opportunity, please.”
“We would be modeling it after your old arrangement but with a fifty percent increase of all figures and with the same performance targets.”
I raised both brows at that; the previous performance bonuses had been good enough, with my dedication to my budget and my drive to have my slice of heaven. A fifty percent increase would have made a huge difference to the me from three years ago.
It had a long way to go to come anywhere near what Lucifer offered.
The Devil presented a slip of paper to me, which consisted of a phone number in smoldering letters.
I smiled. “I have located the number for you, sir. Are you ready to write it down?”
“I’m ready.”
I relayed the number. The instant the last digit left my mouth, Mr. Mortani thanked me for my time and hung up. I scowled and returned the phone to its cradle. “That offer doesn’t even come close to yours, by the way.”
The Devil laughed. “He lied to you. The secretaries were not engaging in embezzlement, and they found out, the hard way, that you were the glue that was holding their operations together. When he calls, which will be in the next few minutes, just listen. I will be representing Mr. Durant for this call. While you’re technically my employee, I’m cultivating you for him.
This makes me sad; if I could keep you, I would.
Alas, you will do the most good containing your dragon. ”
“He’s my dragon now?”
“He really is.”
“I am not being paid enough to have to babysit an entire dragon. Handling his secretarial matters is one thing. Handling him is another.”
Lucifer laughed. “Just stay quiet, because what you hear may change your perspective on certain things.”
“That’s usually how this works. I’m guessing their performance dropped because I wasn’t streamlining negotiations, they got overwhelmed, started making mistakes, and he concocted embezzling, hoping to use former company loyalties against me.” It was the only theory that made sense to me.
Mr. Mortani would get a nasty surprise, as if I had truly held any loyalty to my previous employer, I wouldn’t have fled the instant my plans could come to fruition.
“I’m going to make your barn so beautiful you cry when you see it,” he informed me in a solemn tone.