1. ~ R I V E R ~

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I flinched when I heard something being broken inside that stupid CEO's office.

I sighed as I contemplated if I wanted to walk in on their row right now.

The PR team had fucked up some promo and my Neanderthalic boss, who had absolutely no control over his temper, was throwing a fit.

I did not want to be a part of that shitshow.

The intercom crackled to life.

So much for that wish.

"Sterling, in my office."

I wetted my lip as I got up, the Satan's voice making my hair stand up on ends.

"Yes, Mr. King."

Ugh, why did rich assholes have to have such fancy names as well?

He was more of a Mr. Dixon than a Mr. King.

I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and walked to the oak double doors, pushing it open.

I hissed at the battered laptop which lay right in front of my feet.

My brother, at college, was struggling to get his seven-year-old hand-me-down laptop fixed and here, my boss had just flung a brand new MacBook across the office. Again.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Xander King glared at me from where he stood seething on the other side of his desk, while Jason, the scapegoat from public relations, stood this side, trembling, ready to shit his neatly tailored pants.

"I could come back another time if you are busy with Jason here." I gave him a saccharine smile.

There was a rumor in the company that I had balls of steel under my skirts by the way I stood up to our tyrant boss.

My brother, Sky, liked to call it sheer stupidity.

But the truth was that, after three years of having to deal with the asshole billionaire named Xander King, I was just bored of his antics at this point.

"You're not going anywhere until this mess is cleared up," Xander barked.

I looked down at the shattered laptop.

Did I look like housekeeping?

"Not that mess!" He roared. "The PR mess!"

"It was a mistake." I said.

"IT WAS A BLUNDER." He roared back.

His name should have been Lion King, not Xander King. I bit my tongue to stifle a chuckle at my own lame joke.

"They mixed up Trisha Martin with Trixie Martin." I replied. "I can talk to Trixie to take up the campaign. After all, she is your girlfriend. I am sure she will be willing to take up the assignment and also talk to her sister. In fact, we can have them both in a campaign. The marketing team-"

"I broke up with Trixie." He said flatly, his voice much more subdued now.

My left eye twitched.

Him not angry? That was never a good sign.

"Jason?" I turned to the poor kid. "Step out for a moment, won't you?"

The boy was more than grateful to leave, stumbling over his own legs as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"When did that happen?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

Of course the pervert's eyes flew to my chest.

"Eyes up here, mister." I narrowed my eyes at him.

Xander's gaze snapped back to my face, a hint of annoyance flashing through his icy blues. "Last week. She couldn't handle my... demanding schedule."

"Right." I gave him a flat look.

He was lying.

I knew it.

Trixie had been complaining about his lack of attention and how he treated her like arm candy rather than a partner but she never talked about breaking up. She always said, "Well, this is the downside of dating a billionaire. But I understand. My schedule is as hectic as his, after all."

The girl was too much in love with his bank account to let his demanding schedule get in the way of her path to being Mrs. Xander King.

He did not budge.

But I was not moving till he spilled the beans.

He finally let out a sigh. "I slept with Trisha."

I took a sharp intake of breath.

I had to remind myself that I had not finished paying the instalments of my new phone to prevent myself from throwing it at his head.

My left eye started to twitch again.

"You slept with your girlfriend's sister?" Again?

"Well, that is none of your business though, now is it?" His annoyance was back as he plopped down on his chair. "Your job is to fix this mess."

I swear, I was going to jail because of this piece of crap. 

What the actual fuck was wrong with this fuckboy?

"We can always ask her to cooperate." I said finalling, controlling my own annoyance and forcing myself to think professionally because some of us did not have the liberty to do as we pleased because we had freaking bills to pay! "After all, she never says no to the dollar sign."

"I told her she will never work with the Kings again."

I had to massage the side of my eye to stop it from twitching. "So your ego is in the way. What happened to keeping personal and professional life separate?"

"Don't tell me what to do with my life, Sterling." He snapped. "I don't pay you for that."

"You mean you don't pay me enough for me to actually give a fuck about that?"

Now it was his eye that was twitching.

Good.

He deserved that.

"If you are going to waste my time, then get out." He said.

I shrugged. "Gladly." I rolled my eyes as I turned on my heels.

"If you are going to leave without a solution, then don't bother coming back."

I let out a deep breath and turned back.

"Are you pregnant?" I asked.

"WHAT?"

"Or are you PMSing?"

"Sterling-"

"Why the hell are you so moody and irrational then?" I asked.

Xander's jaw clenched. "This is not about me. It's about the campaign. Fix it."

I leaned against the doorframe. "Can we just send out an apology and re-establish Trisha as the face of the campaign?"

"NO. That will be admitting to the blunder." His temper was rising again.

"Then let's ask Trixie." I rolled my eyes, knowing very well what he was going to say next.

"That is out of the question."

"Then let's kidnap Trixie until the end of the campaign and use that as the excuse to bring back Trisha." I sounded like a psychopath even to myself but what frightened me more was how Xander King looked like he was actually contemplating the idea.

His eyes narrowed for a second before he barked out a laugh. "Now that is something I would not put past you, Sterling."

I straightened, biting back a curse. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not suggesting you do it, for Christ's sake," Xander said with a smirk, "but your ability to think outside the box is... refreshing."

Ha ha ha... I wish he rewarded my refreshing thoughts with a raise. 

I opened my mouth to speak again when my phone rang. 

Stupid King's face hardened at once. "What have I told you about disruptions in my office?" 

I rolled my eyes as I looked down at the caller ID. "It is Edward. He is on the priority call list." I told him and then picked up the call. 

"Hello?" 

"The chairman is looking for his Xandy. He needs him here for lunch. Make sure he gets here before one." Edward's robotic voice reached my ears. 

"Sure, I will-" Before I could finish, the rude imbecile had hung up the call. 

I grunted as I looked up at the less than happy 'Xandy'.

"Your grandfather wishes to have lunch with you." 

"No." 

My left eye twitched. 

Here we go again.

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