CHAPTER 3.1 : CAN'T COUNT

"He did what?" Rebekah gasped.

I looked down at my hands in slight mortification.

I haven't felt this weak in a long time.

Nick Sinclair had made me feel so powerless when he'd effortlessly made me agree to work for him— by blackmailing me.

He was a fiend straight from hell.

"I'm going to teach that manwhore some manners."

Rebekah was suddenly rolling her sleeves up and reaching for her phone, which was lying on the nightstand.

I quickly took the phone out of her reach.

"What are you doing, Rebekah?"

"What do you think?" she snapped.

"He can't just manipulate people like that. Okay! His own employees, fine! But my friend? NO!" I sighed.

"And what was my dimwit for a brother doing there?"

She gritted her teeth.

"Mr.Andrews tried his best, Rebekah.In fact, if Nick Sinclair had called the cops, I'd be the one in trouble.Maybe that's why he didn't say much."

She frowned.

"That jerk! I've always hated Nick's guts, she snapped, but when she tried to snatch her phone I hid it behind me.

"Give me my phone, Caroline."

"No, you don’t understand, Reb.

If you call him and he gets mad, he'll somehow find a way to take it out on me.

I'll be his secretary until Penny recovers and I don't wanna find out what a person like him can do’ She was silent for a few moments and then she let out a frustrated groan.

"Fine! But if he does anything again, you tell me, okay? Not stupid Blake, not your aunt in a town far, far away..."

I let out a chuckle at that.

"I'm serious, Care."

She tried to keep a straight face but a smile formed on her lips.

"What's your beef with Sinclair anyway?" I asked.

Her eyes literally rolled to the back of her head at that.

"Let's just say that he is a cocky bastard who thinks he can have every fucking woman in this world"

I blinked at her.

"Which is why I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you."

She burst out laughing.

I swear she acts bipolar sometimes.

I narrowed my eyes for a moment.

"You are joking, aren't you?"

"Nope."

She jumped back on her bed and pulled the covers on top of her.

"You start tomorrow, right?" she asked.

I had been preventing myself from thinking about it.

How bad can it be? I nodded.

"Well! Good luck, Caroline" she sang and closed her eyes with a chuckle.

I let out a cry and went to bed.

I had high marks in my courses so far so I was going to skip a few classes this upcoming week to learn things at Sinclair Enterprises.

It's gonna be alright, Caroline.

I'd been through worse.

How big of a deal could a billionaire playboy be? ode I looked at my reflection in the mirror as the elevator took me up to the devil's den.

I was wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt.

It was a borrowed outfit from Rebekah.

I should probably start working longer shifts at the coffee shop, so I can buy a few business outfits.

I could wear casuals at Mr.Andrews’ office, but I didn't want to give my new boss a chance to throw tantrums.

As I nervously walked down the corridor towards his office, my palms became sweaty.

Well no shit.

The last thing I wanted was someone shaking my hand during the summer.

Fist bumps should be considered professional.

Taking in a deep breath, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door, but there was no response.

"Ms.Stewart?"

I turned around to the voice and found the guy from yesterday.

Trent.

He was a fairly tall guy with a nerdy vibe owing to his huge black-rimmed glasses.

His hair was a nice shade of platinum, going well with his olive complexion.

"Mr.Sinclair will be here in a few minutes.You're asked to wait in his office.He will talk to you and after that, I'm supposed to show you around." I nodded.

"Okay."

"And—" he started, but then scratched the back of his neck awkwardly,

"—I'm sorry about yesterday.’

"Oh, that's okay."

I gave him a little smile.

"You did what you were supposed to do."

His lips pulled up into a smile.

"So no grudges?"

At this, I let out a chuckle.

"For making me sit in a very comfortable waiting room? No, I think I'm good."

He laughed but it was cut short when someone cleared their throat.

We turned our heads to the side and found Mr.

Sinclair standing a few feet away from us, a frown sitting on his lips.

He seemed to be in a shitty mood.

Oh God! Someone just had to piss him off on my very first day! A little help, my lucky stars? "Mr.Sinclair’' Trent said.

"I told you to make her wait in my office"

his gaze snapped to mine, causing me to gulp, "not stand here and chat with her.’ "Uh, yes, Sir"

Trent was nervously glancing at him.

And I wondered if Mr.Sinclair treated all his employees like that.

Blake Andrews was so much better.

"Ms.Stewart, I'll join you in my office,’ he said.

Without thinking twice, I nodded and went inside his office, closing the door behind me.

He is one scary guy.

Letting out a breath, I settled on one of the chairs in front of his desk and looked down at my hands.

A smile formed on my lips as I admired the ring on my right index finger.

My mom had given it to me when I had turned sixteen.

I removed it and slipped it back on.

It was an old habit of mine to play with the ring whenever I was nervous or wanted to take my mind off something.

I took it off again and gasped when the ring suddenly slipped out of my hands.

Before I could bend to retrieve it, it rolled under the desk.

"Ugh, I groaned, crouching down and trying to grab it.But the space between the floor and desk was very narrow on this side.Looking at the door nervously, I quickly made my way to the other side of the desk and bent down.There was enough space between the side drawers for me to crawl under the desk and get my ring.

I stretched my hand in the dark corner and probed the floor.

No luck.

Stretching my hand further, it finally came in contact with the ring but an unusual sound made my eyes grow wide.

Cloth ripping.

My hand immediately went to my right shoulder and I gasped.

The blouse was already a size too small and stretching my arm had torn the cloth.

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! I immediately got up from the floor and turned around to run towards the door but screamed when I bumped into someone, lost my balance and fell, but a pair of arms caught me.

It took me a few moments to catch my breath.

I inhaled the person's scent.

It was a mixture of fresh cologne and coffee.

I slowly opened my eyes to find an intense pair of blue eyes locked with mine.

His lips were pressed into a thin line and for a moment, I couldn't take my eyes away.

I finally blinked and looked back up into his eyes, which to my surprise were trailing all over my face before stopping at my lips.

My lips parted and his gaze lifted to my eyes once more.

His arms were strong enough to hold me in place and I could feel his rock hard chest against my palms.

Man! Just how much does he work out? I cleared my throat and pulled myself away from him, taking a few steps back to create some distance between us.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr.Sinclair.’ His face held a slight frown.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded.

"What were you doing?"he asked in confusion.

"This, I held the ring up in front of his face and he gave it a weird look.

"My ring slipped under your desk and I was just getting it back." holds this content.

He scrutinized the shiny little thing.

"Must be a really special ring"

"Yeah, it is."

I slipped it back on my finger.