Chapter 18 Ultimatum
ULTIMATUM
Don’t go far?!
Goddess, what the fuck was I supposed to do with that? Oh yeah, I could run to the bathroom and start hyperventilating. That I could do. In fact, it seemed like a pretty good option right about now. One I would have opted for had Tara not blocked my path to ask me how the meeting went.
“So? Come on, spill?”
I stood there for a second, staring back at the frosted glass, acutely aware of how strange this was. This wasn’t his building. This wasn’t his company. And yet, the moment he’d asked for privacy, the room had emptied without question. As if that were simply the natural order of things.
Voices drifted faintly through the door, too muffled to make out words, but the tone was unmistakable. Banner’s voice, usually so assured, sounded almost submissive now. Oblivion’s voice was lower, calmer, each unknown word carrying weight even through the glass.
People passed me in the hallway, offering polite nods and curious glances, but no one stopped. As if they were all as baffled as I had been. My thoughts spiraled despite my best efforts to rein them in.
This should have been a victory. The presentation had gone well.
Better than well. I should have been riding the high of professional validation and already planning next steps and deliverables.
Instead, all I could think about was the look in Oblivion’s eyes when he’d said he wanted this, the way he’d watched me as if the work itself were secondary.
A faint laugh slipped from my throat, brittle and humorless. I had the sudden, uncomfortable sense that I could have stood up there and recited my grocery list, and the outcome would have been the same.
“Eliza?” I shook my head, as if this would help clear the fog.
It didn’t.
But it was enough to tell my friend,
“It went… well. I think.”
She gave me a quizzical look as if she was confused, but before she could say anything more, the door opened.
Mr. Banner stepped out first, his expression flushed and oddly pleased, the kind of smile that came from seeing numbers rather than people.
“Eliza,” he said, clapping his hands together once.
“If you could join us.”
My pulse kicked up again, realizing I had missed my opportunity for a freak out in the bathroom. So, I gave Tara a pleading look and tried to come up with the only excuse I could think of.
“I would, but there is a matter that I just have to help Tara with, isn’t that right?”
I gave her a pointed look, but before she could even open her mouth, my boss got there first.
“I’m sure whatever it is, our head of HR has it covered.
” Then he opened the door wider, telling me, without the need for words, to get my ass back in there.
Giving me no option but to obey and step past him into the boardroom for the second time that morning.
This time, the room felt smaller, the air heavier, as if something had shifted permanently while I’d been standing outside.
Mr. Banner gestured for me to take a seat, then remained standing himself, clearing his throat.
“I want to start by saying well done,” he said, the words sounding rehearsed.
“Excellent work. Mr. Minos and I were very impressed.”
I nodded, almost impulsive enough to remind him that he was singing a far different tune yesterday. But then, I still needed this job, so I promptly went back to trying to process the fact that this was happening.
“We have discussed it, and Mr. Minos would like you to continue heading the campaign,” Mr. Banner went on, his tone brisk.
“In fact, he’s specifically requested it.”
Requested.
The word echoed unpleasantly in my head.
I glanced toward Oblivion, who watched me with an unreadable expression, his attention intent and assessing. A part of me wanted to feel triumphant, vindicated even after yesterday’s humiliation. Instead, a hollow unease settled deep within my chest.
“There is, however, just… erm… one condition,” Banner added, hesitating briefly. But of course there was, I thought bitterly.
“You’ll be working closely with Mr. Minos’s team on this,” he continued.
“On-site as needed. He’s offered to compensate us for the disruption, including reassigning your other accounts so you can focus exclusively on this campaign.”
My breath caught.
“Reassign my accounts?” I repeated, my tone full of high-pitched disbelief.
“Yes,” Banner said, nodding.
“It’s a significant opportunity, Eliza. Exposure, experience, resources we don’t normally have access to.”
Exposure.
Experience.
Resources.
All the right words, neatly stacked like a sales pitch of his own.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
My thoughts tangled as I tried to merge the professional opportunity with the gnawing sense that something fundamental was being taken from me.
I should have been thrilled. This was the kind of break other people built careers on.
Instead, all I could think was that none of this felt earned.
It felt like nothing but a ruse.
I could feel Oblivion’s knowing gaze on me, as if he were watching the exact moment the weight of the cost finally settled.
“Take a moment,” Banner said, mistaking my silence for awe.
“I know it’s a lot to take in.”
A lot to take in.
That was one way of fucking putting it.
Mr. Banner glanced between us, clearly misreading the tension tightening my shoulders as awe rather than alarm. He let out a small, pleased laugh.
“I think she’s in shock,” he said lightly.
“But I’m sure she’s thrilled. Aren’t you, Eliza?” His tone suggested that I better be.
I dragged my attention back to him, blinking after he continued talking, but I was completely lost by this point.
Lost to an Oblivion of fears.
“I’m sorry,” I said faintly, trying to replay the last five minutes and asking myself if it was still real. Oblivion’s gaze flicked to Banner, then returned to me, something intent and watchful there. As though he were tracking every fracture in my composure.
“I was saying, you’ll be working very closely with Mr. Minos and his people. He’s made it quite clear that your involvement is… essential,” Banner continued, missing the shift in my demeanor entirely.
Essential… The word landed with a dull thud.
“I don’t understand,” I finally admitted slowly with a slight shake of my head.
“You want me to leave the office?”
“Temporarily,” Banner corrected quickly, but then he must have seen the panic on my face, as he was quick to add,
“Think of the experience, Eliza. This is huge for you. Mr. Minos has already agreed to compensate us very generously for the disruption.”
I nearly scoffed at that, but I was too busy casting accusing eyes toward the demon in the room. Yet even as I looked at Oblivion again, my pulse quickened uneasily.
“You wanted me?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
The corner of his mouth twitched, and I felt heat rush to my face.
“I mean,” I rushed on, mortified.
“For the meeting… You wanted me to do the meeting, and now you want me to work for you?”
His eyes darkened with something like amusement.
“You did well, exactly as I expected,” he said calmly.
My heart gave a traitorous little lurch at the praise before I wanted to bitch slap myself for the impulse.
My boss shifted his weight, clearly eager to move things along. Although Oblivion was two steps ahead of him.
“Banner, give us a moment alone, will you?”
“Ah, yes, of course, I will leave you two to discuss the finer details,” he said, already turning toward the door.
“I’ll have the paperwork drawn up.”
I almost scoffed at this, as I could only imagine. I almost asked if he wanted some of my blood so that he could sign my name for me.
“There’s no need,” Oblivion replied smoothly, giving Banner enough cause to pause at the door.
“I have already had my people draw up a contract,” Oblivion stated, shocking me, though I would later, no doubt, question why I was surprised.
“You have?” I asked, and his answering smirk was immediate. The words that followed only reinforced the arrogance behind it.
“Like I said, I had a feeling this meeting would go exactly the way I thought it would.”
I nearly choked, holding in the urge to mutter, ‘yeah, I just bet you did’.
“Right… okay, excellent. In that case, please take your time,” my boss said, and a second later, the door closed behind him before I could protest.
Silence rushed in to fill the space.
I took an instinctive step back, my spine brushing the edge of the table as I stared at Oblivion, my pulse thundering.
“What are you doing here?”
He exhaled slowly, something like weariness passing over his features.
“Be at ease, Eliza, I am not here to harm you,” he said, now dropping all pretenses like I had done.
“And my career, are you here to harm that?” I shot back.
“No, on the contrary. I am improving it,” he replied evenly, but I let out a shaky laugh.
“By uprooting my entire life,” I argued.
“Let’s not pretend here, as we both know that you were going to be removed from this account,” he said, watching me closely before continuing and shocking me further,
“I found that… unacceptable,” he said, the word coming to him like a law he refused to see someone break.
“You demanded that I do this meeting,” I said, incredulous.
“Yes,” he replied, honestly and unashamedly. The simplicity of it stole my breath.
“Okay, but why demand that I come work for you when you know I can do this job from here?”
He actually had the audacity to grin.
“Because I can,” he stated without apology.
“But… but…” I started to argue but he had clearly had enough.
He walked toward me, and with my back against the desk, I was quickly cornered.
“It’s done,” he said, standing over me with his arms crossed, the weight of his certainty pressing down like a verdict already passed. Yet still I pushed, and pride had nothing to do with it. No, at this point, it felt more like survival.
“And if I refuse?”
This time, that grin felt more demonic in nature than everything else he had shown me. Especially when he leaned down closer to me, so that he could whisper the consequences in my ear.
“I don’t think your boss would like that very much.”
I jerked back as much as the little space between us would allow.
“You… you can’t do that,” I stammered.
“That’s… that’s blackmail. If I say no, I lose my job.”
He studied me for a long moment, head tilting slightly, as though considering the accusation. Then he gave me my much-needed space and shrugged one broad shoulder.
“Call it retribution,” he said mildly.
“Retribution?” I practically squeaked out the word.
“For sneaking into my club,” he supplied, and my stomach dropped.
“So, this is what? Payback?” I snapped, making him smirk down at me.
“All in good time, Eliza,” he said cryptically, but before I could ask, he looked back at the now blank screen and asked the very last thing I expected him to.
“Why lily-pads?” he asked quietly.
My eyes widened in obvious surprise.
“Who doesn’t like lily-pads?” I muttered with a shake of my head, now trying to slip from between him and the desk. However, as I did this, I caught my finger between the edge of the polished wood and the back of a chair that I knocked in to.
I hissed, yanking my hand back instinctively, pain flaring sharp and sudden as I cradled it against my chest.
“Damn it!”
Before I could recover, he was there, crowding me again, this time kicking the chair aside so it wouldn’t happen again.
Then, without a word, he took my hand firmly in his own. His gentle touch was steady as he lifted my injured finger to inspect it. I stood frozen, breath locked in my lungs as he raised it to his mouth, his lips brushing the tip with deliberate care, his tongue just barely grazing the red skin.
The sensation shot straight through me, and my knees threatened to give. He then lowered my hand, turning it slightly, and pressed a kiss to the back of it instead. All polished courtesy and restraint, as if he hadn’t just undone me with a single, intimate gesture.
“I will have a car sent for you tomorrow,” he said calmly.
“It will give you the day to settle your affairs here.”
I swallowed hard, that word now echoing in my mind like a death toll.
Tomorrow.
He stepped closer, his hand tightening briefly around mine before releasing it, leaning down just enough that his breath brushed my ear.
“Don’t be late,” he murmured.
“I do not like to be kept waiting for things I want.”
Then he straightened and walked away as if nothing extraordinary had occurred. I remained where I was, heart hammering, hand still tingling as the door opened and he stepped out into the corridor.
Through the glass, I watched him greet Banner, watching as the two of them exchanged pleasantries.
I watched Oblivion extend his hand, and my boss take it without hesitation. The handshake was firm and final.
But as I stood there alone in the boardroom, the weight of it settled fully into my chest.
A deal had been made.
Making me question now, was the deal for my employment?
Or…
My sinful little soul?