chapter 4

Bianca's POV

"For your efforts, Miss Bianca Richardson, you are hired."

I stared at Anna Adams like she had just spoken in a foreign language. Hired? Just like that? No questions about my computer skills or work experience? No asking about my previous jobs or why I wanted to work here? This was the strangest interview I had ever heard of in my life.

Anna sat back in her leather chair and looked at me like she was studying a painting she was thinking about buying. Her dark eyes moved up and down my body in a way that made me feel naked even though I was fully dressed.

"You will be my personal assistant," she continued, her voice smooth and commanding. "You will answer my calls, organize my schedule, attend meetings with me, and handle my personal affairs."

I nodded quickly, trying to look professional even though my hands were still shaking from our kiss. At least this sounded like normal assistant work. Maybe this job would not be as strange as I thought.

"And for your exceptional performance today," Anna said with that dangerous smile spreading across her perfect lips, "I am starting your salary at fifteen thousand dollars per month."

My mouth fell open so wide I probably looked like a cartoon character. Fifteen thousand dollars? Per month? I had expected maybe three thousand at most. This was more money than I had ever dreamed of making in my entire life.

"If you keep making me happy," Anna added, her eyes glittering with something that looked like mischief, "I will keep raising your salary even higher."

I jumped up from my chair so fast I almost knocked it over. My heart was racing with excitement and relief. This was the miracle I had been praying for.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" I said, my words rushing out like water from a broken dam. "I am going to do everything perfectly. I will make you so happy. I will be the most obedient assistant you have ever had. I will do whatever you need me to do. I promise I will not disappoint you."

Anna watched my excitement with obvious amusement, like she was enjoying a private joke only she understood.

As I stood there thanking her, my mind started racing with numbers. Fifteen thousand dollars per month. But I needed two hundred and fifty thousand to save my mother. That would take me... I tried to do the math in my head but I was too excited and scared to think clearly.

Maybe sixteen or seventeen months of work? That was too long. My mother only had forty-eight hours, not sixteen months. But at least now I had hope. Maybe I could ask for an advance payment or a loan against my future salary.

But no, I told myself. I just got this job thirty seconds ago. I could not ask for favors already. That would make me look greedy and ungrateful. Maybe tomorrow or next week I could bring up the subject carefully.

At least now I had something to offer the bank or a loan company. A job at Luxe Noir paying fifteen thousand per month would definitely get their attention. There had to be some way to make this work.

"So tomorrow I start work as your personal assistant?" I asked, still hardly believing this was really happening.

Anna's smile grew wider and more mysterious. "Actually, you start right now. I have a party tonight at my house, and I need someone to go there and clean everything up for my upcoming business meeting."

I blinked in confusion. Clean her house? I was hired as a personal assistant, not a housekeeper. But maybe this was just part of the job. Rich people probably expected their assistants to handle all kinds of different tasks.

"Am I not your personal assistant?" I asked carefully, not wanting to sound like I was complaining.

Anna stood up from her chair and walked around her desk toward me, her heels clicking on the marble floor like a countdown timer. When she got close enough to touch me, she stopped and tilted her head to one side.

"You do not like cleaning?" she asked, her voice suddenly turning cold as winter ice.

Before I could answer, Anna moved even closer and reached out toward the buttons on my dress. Her fingers hovered just inches from my chest, and I could feel heat radiating from her skin.

"If you do not want to go to my house and clean it up for my party," Anna said slowly, her eyes locked on mine, "then you can take off your clothes instead. Make your decision."

My breath caught in my throat like I was choking on air. Take off my clothes? Here? In her office? What kind of choice was that?

Anna's fingers moved closer to the top button of my dress, almost touching the fabric. I could see a small piece of my chest showing above the neckline, and Anna was staring at it like she wanted to see much more.

"I can help you," Anna whispered, her voice like silk and danger mixed together. "One button at a time."

I slapped her hand away from my dress so hard the sound echoed through the office like a gunshot. My face burned red with embarrassment and anger.

"I will go to your house!" I said quickly, grabbing my purse and backing toward the door. "I will clean everything. I will make it perfect for your party."

Anna's smile never left her face as she watched me stumble toward the exit like a scared animal running from a predator.

"The address is on your contract," she called out as I reached for the door handle. "Do not disappoint me, Bianca."

I rushed out of her office and slammed the door behind me, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might explode. The women still waiting for their interviews stared at me like I was crazy, but I did not care anymore.

As I hurried toward the elevator, one thought kept spinning in my mind like a broken record. What kind of personal assistant job was this really? And what was Anna Adams planning to do with me next?

But even as fear raced through my body, I could not forget the taste of her lips or the way her touch had made me feel things I had never experienced before.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I whispered as the elevator doors closed and I began my descent back into the real world.