Seeing his furious expression, Valentina couldn’t help but sigh. She somehow wished the day would be over.

“I don’t want anyone to be fired. I’m just letting you know this so you can take whatever disciplinary actions your company usually takes for situations like this. I’m not important enough to cause any level of havoc, and I know the economy is tough; it’s just if there’s a situation with a business partner, it would be best not to let this person greet them, that’s all. Reiterating because I can see you’re really angry, but do not fire them.”

“Telling me how to run my company, Valentina?” Kaiser arched a brow at her in a sardonic manner.

“If you’re planning to fire somebody for a mistake, then yes, I am. You won’t hear a peep about the employee from me if that’s the case.” She stared at him firmly while removing her face mask.

She felt as if she needed to show him the full extent of her expression for him to take it seriously.

Kaiser glanced at her serious expression before chuckling darkly, “If you think I can’t find out who it is, you’re sorely mistaken. Do you know what they call me at work? Kaiser, the dictator. And honestly, they’re not wrong, especially with issues such as this. I’m assuming you took a private elevator from the elevator since that’s what I instructed your bodyguard to do. There’s a protocol to be followed to verify the identity of people coming in, and the person clearly didn’t do so. You’re devaluing yourself since you’re very important to me, but even then, what if it hadn’t been you? What if the person had been an executive from another company who was here to make a deal, or my parents, or a politician, and that person treated them the same way? It would be infinitely worse, and I would have lost out on money, and that employee would have tarnished my reputation. The employee who caused such an issue after being warned would be fired immediately in any other situation. I don’t want you to feel guilty or be excessively kind. Clearly, the employee training is at fault, and that will be rectified immediately.”

“Don’t fire anyone, Kaiser. My identity is sensitive, and I’m sure that played a big part in the situation.” Valentina replied. As someone who was previously a corporate slave, she understood that mistakes happened. Although she was irritated at the woman’s rude tone and the breaking of her phone, that didn’t mean she wanted her fired.

As the elevator stopped, she looked at Kaiser before sighing and poking him in the forehead with a mischievous expression, trying to distract him. “I can see that you’re upset, but shouldn’t I be as well? Apparently, all sorts of ladies regularly come through your office. So much so that your employees mistake me as one of many here to seduce you and claim your child, and they even have a playbook to deal with those women? How efficient.”

Although she wasn’t the jealous type, and she should have expected it, it wasn’t pleasant to hear that the man she was interested in was continuously being courted without her knowledge.

“Jealous? Your man is very popular, so you better lock me down quickly.” The familiar cocky smirk graced Kaiser’s face before he began frowning again as he comprehended her words.

“Should I be jealous? And who said you’re my man? As far as I know, I’m a single pringle.” she gave him a sly smirk before poking his forehead again, gently smoothing his wrinkled brow out.

As she looked at him closer, she noticed that instead of his usual put-together look of a full suit with a fully buttoned-up shirt and tie, he had skipped the tie today. More importantly, his shirt was unbuttoned and exposed. Right there, front and center, on his neck was a large hickey, which she had so confidently made the night before, exposed for the entire world to see.

Seeing the evidence of her wanton actions, Valentina’s face immediately turned red, completely embarrassed. In the moment when things were happening, she was fine, but seeing it in broad daylight being casually exposed, she couldn’t help but blush.

As the blush covered her face from her nose to the tip of her ears, Kaiser couldn’t help but laugh as he tucked a loose curl behind her ear.

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As he leaned close to her, his lips lightly brushing over her ears, his deep voice resounded in her, causing a shiver to run down her body. Seeing her reaction, Kaiser smiled, backing her into the corner while keeping his finger on the close button of the elevator. He didn’t want anybody interrupting him.

“Valentina. If I’m not your man, then whose mark is on my neck? Hmm? You think I let just anyone give me a hickey?”

“What’s wrong with you? Why wouldn’t you cover it up? What if somebody gets the wrong impression?” Valentina smacked his chest without looking at his eyes. Her body’s reaction to him was really too embarrassing, and she really couldn’t look at the evidence of her actions.

“Am I wrong? It’s your mark, right, so why wouldn’t I show it proudly? In fact, it would be even better if you made one with lipstick every morning so I could proudly display it. That way, the sight of it would drive away any women who dared come to my office on ‘errands’ as they like to put it. After all, the only one I’m trying to court is you, and you know that. What do you say? Want to stain my neck and all my shirts with your lips? I’ll buy enough shirts to last me until you come back from filming, and we can try it out tonight.”

When she didn’t respond, Kaiser pressed closer, one of his hands grabbing her waist as his tongue lightly swept over her ear, causing her to shiver again.

“Let’s try it out, hmmm? A kiss for me on the lips and then a kiss for my shirt. It could be a fun game.”

Seeing that he was having fun teasing her, she blocked his lips with her palm and pushed his head back so she could see it in its entirety. As she licked her lips, his darkened gray eyes followed the action in its entirety before catching her eyes and glancing down again. As she felt something warm tickling her palm, she snatched her hand back before narrowing her eyes at him and placing her fingers on his lips.

“Uh uh. We’re here to work. And it sounds like a whole lot of work for me and fun for you. You’re such a big boss, and yet you’re making bad deals like this? Where’s my reward? Where’s your sincerity?”

“You want my sincerity, huh? How about a kiss anywhere of your choosing for the duration of your choosing.” As his eyes intentionally stopped at her lips, chest, and hips, he smiled before pressing closer, “I promise I’m a very good kisser. I guarantee a good time for you, with your money back guaranteed. I’m also willing to do it pro bono. Free 99 if you will.”

“Why does that sound like a treat more for you than for me? Try again. And again, we’re at work. And from what I see, you’re not working. Your poor employees, they must be devastated.” She arched her brows at him, although she felt slightly tempted to indulge just once. His face and body were just too seductive; she just couldn’t help herself.

“I’m the boss here at work. Who’s to say I’m not working?”

“You’re in the elevator, attempting to seduce me. Is this considered work nowadays? If so, I need to switch industries.”

“Only an attempt? I need to work harder then. Besides, I’m in charge; I say I’m working. What are you going to do about it?”

Seeing his challenging expression as if daring her, she rolled her eyes before running her finger down his chest, stopping right at his belt. As his breath hitched, she smiled in satisfaction, her green eyes curving mischievously as she ran her finger back up his chest until she trailed it across and circled the very prominent hickey.

“You act as if I won’t do anything to you. Keep pressing me, and you’ll get an identical mark on your neck, if not more.”

Grabbing her hand finger, kaiser brought it back up to his lips as he pressed a kiss onto it while looking into her eyes.

“I told you to mark me up, baby. You thought I was joking with you? Leave your marks all over me, Valentina. I can guarantee I’ll enjoy the process of you making them. And by the looks of it, you’ll be more embarrassed than me when you’re done.”

Staring at his confident expression, Valentina realized at that moment that there was always another mountain. A casual flirt like her had finally met someone who could surpass her. She could only stare at him blankly.

At her lack of response, Kaiser kissed her finger with a low chuckle, “That’s what I thought. Little chicken. Not that I mind.”

Irritated at his mocking expression, she pinched his cheek, which only made him laugh harder.

“Whatever. Move over. I see you like to play around not only at home but at work as well. I bet you say that to all the girls who you invite to your office. You seem very experienced in elevator seduction.”

“Not all. Any woman that comes here is either here on official business or has somehow snuck their uninvited self in before being rudely turned away by yours truly. I can guarantee that the only woman I’ve personally invited here is the mother of my child, which was over five years ago, and not a single woman before or after that. You’re the first and hopefully the last to get the elevator seduction special.” Kaiser gave her a wink before grabbing her hand, interlocking their fingers before releasing the elevator button and leading her out.

“Regardless, we can discuss this later. Come see where I work and have a chat with the lawyers. We’ll get you squared up with black rock so you can have a peaceful filming experience. By the way, have you eaten lunch yet?”

Valentina shook her head. When would she have time to eat? She had been running from one location to the other, and now she was dealing with his nonsense.

“Okay. We’ll go grab food after, if you don’t mind, and then head back home. You look tired, so you can get some rest, and I can work from home. Also, good job on trying to distract me. I won’t fire the person, but after company-mandated disciplinary action, they probably wish I would.”

At her blank expression, he continued, “And Valentina, we’ll continue this conversation when we get home, for sincerity’s sake. ” After giving her a wicked smile, Kaiser continued to lead her around the top floor of the building, presenting each office and executive to her in a professional manner as if his previous rogueish behavior was a lie.

Sighing to herself at the way he could switch focuses so quickly, Valentina truly wondered why she bothered trying to be professional and a good person. Clearly, the actual boss of the place didn’t care. She was mentally exhausted and just wanted to sink into her bed.

Thankfully, she had a mask, so she could just fake her smile as all the introductions and names went into one ear and out the other.

To be honest, she could completely skip the lunch. She just wanted to meet the lawyers and go home. This felt like the longest day of her life.