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24 - Sober
“Thanks, Mark. We’ll take care of her from here. And, um, good work.” Jia carefully patted the man on the single dry patch of his suit jacket. He reeked of rich wine even now despite having spent the last ten minutes airing himself out while Jia wrestled the half-comatose Dolly into the cramped backseat of Atlas’s car.
Why had he brought a sports car knowing he would be carrying three passengers? It had just enough room to seat two; the backseat shouldn’t even qualify as anything other than maybe an oversized cup holder. There were talents roaming around Pandora’s lobby right now carrying purses that were bigger.
“I…”
“It’s fine, Mark,” she assured him before he could finish his stumbling sentence. “Mr. Grayson and I are on a bit of a schedule, so we’ll go ahead and leave, okay?”
He made a vaguely assenting but also reluctant sound that Jia suspected she shouldn’t unpack. She wanted to get out of here.
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It was like walking into something straight out of a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous magazine foldout.Jia tried hard not to stare at the luxurious furnishings that filled the room. On the side of the penthouse she had just entered, there were plush sofas and couches angled around a massive television that was wider than she was tall. Another few paces revealed a sleek electric fireplace on the floor below the screen as well. The digitally simulated flames were already going, and she remembered that Atlas had instructed Lydia to set up a team to clean the place before their arrival.She wondered briefly how the other woman was doing, but decided to hold that thought for later when Dolly made a suspicious retching sound in the back of her throat. Oh, no, she wouldn’t, Jia thought with gritted teeth. With the intoxicated woman’s arm hooked over her shoulder, she dragged the stumbling woman toward the narrow hallway off to the side. There had to be a bedroom
In the Shadow of the CEO 26 - Iconic
“In one hundred feet. Turn. Left.”There was something about the sultry woman’s voice slithering from the car’s speakers that made Jia highly uncomfortable. Crammed into the backseat like this (the semi-sober Dolly was riding shotgun now), Jia could feel the reverberations of the GPS directions fluttering around her ears. Thankfully, they were in a slightly less packed (and less popular) part of the city, and she could see an empty spot by the curb where they could park on the street. Soon, she’d be rid of the artificial female voice for at least a little while -“What is this place, Ms. Moon.”Atlas’s voice cut through the vehicle’s tiny interior like a frozen scythe, and she turned her head slightly to look at him instead of the street ahead through the windshield. While she wasn’t an expert on the man’s habits yet, she was certain that that definitely wasn’t an impressed inflection to his words she was hearing. He only had about three typic
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In the Shadow of the CEO 28 - Secrets
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In the Shadow of the CEO 29 - Bad Company
"Ms. Munson. I mean - Dolly. Everything okay?"The woman answered her with a long, slow blink. "That's what I was about to ask you," she said lightly. "You, uh, having some problems?""No," said Jia. "Just a minor hiccup. Did you need me for anything? I was just about to rejoin you."Easy, easy, she told herself. She couldn't seem like she was in too much of a rush to change the subject. She had gone through these paces far too many times with previous employers to make a silly mistake like that now. The more defensive and hasty she seemed, the more curious she would make them."I was just tired of looking at him. He's awful company."Well, she was right about that. If only Dolly knew exactly how awful Atlas was, all the horrible things he had done to Jia in the one night and one day since they had very unluckily reunited. She allowed herself to indulge in the fantasy of exposing all his mi
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In the Shadow of the CEO 31 - Haze
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In the Shadow of the CEO 32 - Retaliate
Jia closed the apartment door with a soft click, careful not to let the sound echo through the small unit and wake Jisu and Jini. They had made it home, after all. Even after a quick shower, her heart was still thudding away in protracted relief as she turned the lock and stuffed the key into her pocket. She had been afraid that she would come home to find their beds empty, that she had made a mistake leaving it up to Jisu to get his sister home.It said a lot about her that she had been uncertain. Said a lot about where she had failed and where she should have tried harder. For instance, leaving it up to one twin to find the other after she had disappeared from school. She would have to talk to Jini about it tonight, she knew, but she would cross that bridge when she got there. She wasn't looking forward to it.Jia stared down at the pavement as she walked to the bus stop. She should have been keeping her eyes up and staying alert
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