Boss from Hell...

Melanie’s POV

“You can do it,” Cassie said, and I nodded as the call ended.

I stood in front of the building where I was supposed to start work this morning, finally taking a proper look at it.

Sinclair Enterprises was a tall glass structure that stretched high into the sky. At the entrance there was a wide set of glass doors with two security guards in uniform standing on either side, and everything about the place looked expensive and carefully maintained. I was fully aware that this was one of the biggest companies in New York, and it still felt surreal that I had somehow landed a job here after everything that had already happened between me and its CEO.

“Are you a newcomer here?” someone asked, and I turned to see three women standing together, all dressed in neat corporate outfits similar to mine. I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Yes, my name is Melanie and I’m supposed to start working today as an executive assistant,” I answered.

The one standing at the front gave me a friendly smile. “Oh, girl… you’re so pretty. Just come with us. My name is Sophia, by the way, but you can call me Sophy for short.”

“Thanks so much, Sophy,” I said, feeling a small smile spread across my face for the first time that morning.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, already leading the way into the lobby. “So, I’m the Executive Coordinator for the executive floor. Basically, I make sure everyone up there doesn’t lose their minds.”

I laughed softly. “That sounds like a very serious job.”

“It is,” she nodded with mock seriousness before breaking into a grin. “But don’t worry, I’m very good at pretending I have everything under control.”

The other two women laughed. Sophy pointed to the tall brunette beside her. “This is Bianca. She’s a Senior Executive Secretary.”

Bianca gave me a small wave. “Welcome to Sinclair Enterprises.”

“And that’s Chloe,” Sophy continued, gesturing to the blonde. “She’s our Executive Office Administrator and the biggest gossip you’ll ever meet.”

“Hey!” Chloe protested. “I prefer the term information specialist.”

I laughed again. They were already making me feel a little less nervous than I had been standing alone outside.

“So all three of you work on the same floor?” I asked as we stepped into the elevator.

“Yep,” Sophy replied. “The executive floor. You’ll be there too.”

“Oh…” I muttered, then decided to ask the question that had been sitting at the back of my mind. “How’s the CEO like?”

“Cold,” Chloe said immediately, lowering her voice as if Damian could somehow hear her through the elevator walls. “Very cold. Like Antarctica cold.”

I snorted under my breath.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to her. She’s being dramatic.”

“I’m not!” Chloe protested. “The man barely smiles. I’ve worked here for three years and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen him laugh.”

“Three times,” Sophy corrected.

Chloe stared at her. “You counted?”

“Of course I counted.”

I couldn’t help laughing a little. “So he’s really that bad?”

“Not bad,” Bianca said. “Strict.”

“Intimidating,” Chloe added.

“Demanding,” Sophy supplied.

“And extremely private,” Bianca finished.

I swallowed. I had already had the pleasure of meeting Damian Sinclair more than once, and neither encounter had exactly been pleasant.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The girls stepped out and I followed. Chloe was still talking as we walked onto the executive floor. “You being his assistant… you have to be really careful not to cross his path. And he has a—”

“Are you just coming in?!”

The sudden sharp voice made all of us freeze. My eyes lifted and landed on Damian standing directly in front of us.

He was wearing a black tailored suit with a white shirt and tie, his hair neatly gelled in a way that made him look every bit the cold CEO people whispered about. If the previous incidents between us had never happened, I might have been distracted by how dangerously handsome he looked. Instead, my stomach tightened.

“Oh my God, he got here before us,” Bianca murmured under her breath.

“We’re sorry, sir, we had to—” Sophy began.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Damian cut in, his voice low and hard. His eyes locked on me. “Ms. Reyes, why are you just coming? Why do I have to get here before you?”

I glanced at my watch, confusion mixing with irritation. “In my paperwork it was stated that I should be here by eight in the morning. It’s only half past seven. I came earlier than expected.”

“You think you can talk back at me now?” he said sharply. “As my assistant, you’re supposed to be here before me.”

“I have a valid—”

“Just apologize, Melanie,” Sophy whispered quickly beside me.

I swallowed the rest of my protest. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll take note of the correction.”

He turned slightly as if he was finished, then suddenly looked back at me again. “Why is your hair down and not packed up? Do you think this is a fashion show?”

I stared at him, genuinely thrown by how petty the complaint was. I glanced around and noticed that both Chloe and Sophy also had their hair down. Only Bianca had hers in a ponytail.

“But they also have their hair down and—”

“Do you think you are like everyone here?” he interrupted. “You’re my assistant. You should set an example. Your role is different from theirs, and I don’t want you constantly touching your hair to move it away from your face.”

I forced myself to take a slow breath. “Noted, sir.” I reached into my bag, pulled out a scrunchie, and quickly gathered my hair into a simple ponytail.

“Report to my office by nine,” he said, then walked away without another word.

The moment he was out of earshot, Chloe let out a low whistle. “This is bad. You got on his bad side on your first day.”

Sophy immediately pinched her arm. “Keep quiet.”

“Ouch!”

Bianca studied me with a more thoughtful expression. “It actually looks like the two of you already had some kind of problem before. Mr. Sinclair doesn’t usually talk that much to new staff.”

I gave a tight, humorless smile. “I guess he just hates my face.”

There was no way I could tell them the truth. What would they think of me if they knew I had already called the police on our boss, insulted him on a blind date, accused him of stalking me inside his own building, and thrown a heel at his head?

I walked over to the desk that had been assigned to me and set my bag down. My first day hadn’t even officially started, and I was already in trouble.

******

At three minutes to nine I knocked on his office door.

“Come in.”

I stepped inside. Damian glanced at his watch, then at me. “You’re early. You still have three minutes.”

“Yes, I know, sir. I just decided to come earlier,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.

“Not accepted. Go back and come at nine on the dot.”

I stared at him, certain I had misheard. “What? Really?”

“Yes.” He didn’t even look up from the document in his hand. “Go back to your desk.”

“But you told me to report to your office by nine.”

“And it is three minutes to nine.”

“Exactly. I’m early.”

His eyes finally lifted to mine, cold and unyielding. “You’re my assistant, Ms. Reyes. If I tell you nine, I expect you at nine. Not eight fifty-seven. Not eight fifty-nine. Nine.”

I clenched my jaw. “Right.”

I turned and walked out, muttering under my breath before I could stop myself. “Unbelievable.”

“Did you say something?”

I froze, then slowly turned back. “No, sir.”

“Good.”

I shut the door behind me and let out a long breath the moment I was in the hallway. What the hell was wrong with this man?

I returned to my desk. Chloe looked up immediately. “Why are you back?”

“He said I was early.”

She blinked. “Early?”

“Three minutes.”

Her mouth fell open. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

Sophy covered her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh, while Bianca simply shook her head in disbelief.

I watched the clock until it was one minute to nine, then stood up again. When the time hit exactly nine, I walked back, knocked once, and opened the door.

Damian didn’t look up right away. “Do I have to reply every time for you to know you’re supposed to enter? Once you knock, just come in. I don’t have the time to answer every knock.”

“Noted, sir.”

He finally glanced at me. “I’ll send a folder to your computer. It’s my schedule for the rest of the week. Some of the appointments are overlapping. Sort them and submit the revised version by noon.”

“Just three hours?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Is that too much for you? Then submit it by eleven.”

I stared at him. “You can’t be serious. A full week’s schedule will have at least twenty appointments.”

He checked his screen. “There are thirty-seven here for the week. I was supposed to handle four of them today, but now you’ll need to fit everything into the remaining days. That makes forty-one. Submit it by eleven on the dot.”

Something hot and frustrated rose in my chest. “This is pure wickedness,” I muttered.

His head snapped up. “Then submit it by fifteen minutes to eleven. If you can’t handle the work, you’re free to quit. Nobody is forcing you to stay.”

I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from saying something worse. Fine. If he wanted to play this game, I could play it too.

I turned toward the door, my hand already on the handle, when his voice stopped me again.

“The girl you thought I was assaulting that night…”

I froze. My fingers tightened around the handle as I slowly turned back to face him. He was watching me carefully now, his expression unreadable.

“…She was my cousin.”

My mind went blank for a second. “What?”