5| Two Million Dollars.

ZARA

My fingers trembled nervously as I found a place to sit at the end of the table. Ryan had mentioned that Uncle Xavier owned a pharmaceutical company, but he never told me which one. My ultimate goal was to stay as far away from him as possible, but the universe seemed to have a twisted sense of humor.

“Ms. Zara, what do you think?”

Uncle Xavier’s sultry voice echoed through the room, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

Damn.

I was so stunned that I hadn’t been paying attention.

“Uhm... pardon? W-what did you say?” I stammered.

“Everyone leave the room.”

His voice was cold and authoritative as he suddenly said, his expression stern and rigid.

“Looks like Ms. Zara needs a proper orientation on how to behave in a corporate environment.”

Every other employee in the room disappeared within seconds.

My chest tightened, and I didn’t know what I was feeling.

Fear?

Nervousness?

Both?

Uncle Xavier rose from his seat and approached me before casually sitting on the edge of the table beside me.

“I thought you never wanted to see me again. Why, then, are you throwing yourself at me?” he suddenly asked, raising a brow.

His words threw me off and my eyes flew open.

“Excuse me?”

“Why else are you here?” His gaze drifted to my slightly exposed cleavage. “Dressed like this?”

My cheeks burned.

“I didn’t know you owned this company. I was supposed to work for my old boss, but he transferred me here since you're working on a project together.”

“Hm. Disappointing," he breathed, " I thought you asked to be transferred here.”

He stared at me for several seconds.

The awkward silence stretching between us redirected my thoughts toward things I absolutely should not have been thinking about.

I noticed how succulent his lips looked.

How badly I wanted to taste them.

“Ms. Zara.”

He straightened and began walking toward the exit.

“Follow me to my office. I have an offer for you.”

Without hesitation, I leaped to my feet and hurried after him.

His office was enormous. Glass walls surrounded the space, and a large mahogany desk occupied the center of the room. The office had a black and grey theme. It was the most majestic office I had ever seen.

“Sit.”

He gestured toward one of the visitor's chairs before walking around his desk and settling into his seat.

Still confused and wondering what was happening, I slowly lowered myself into the chair.

Uncle Xavier suddenly pulled a file from one of his drawers and slid it toward me.

“You don’t strike me as the type of woman who would remain with her cheating fiancé after catching him in the act. You might be reserved, but you're smart enough to understand the risks. He'll do it again, and he could eventually infect you with an STD.”

I opened the document, and my eyes widened at the title.

I snapped my gaze toward him.

“Contract to be your pretend Luna?”

“The council has been on my neck, demanding that I bring a mate so I can claim my rightful position as the pack's Alpha. The thing is, I’m not ready to be mated to anyone, but I need someone to present to them.”

I immediately slammed the file shut and slid it back toward him.

“I’m engaged to your nephew. Look for someone else.”

He pushed it back toward me.

“That brings us to the other part of the deal. I wondered why you would remain with him, so I did some research. Your grandfather is in the hospital. He requires surgery. You’re not financially capable of paying for it, but Ryan is. And he threatened to withdraw his support if you left him.”

He raised a brow.

“Is my assessment correct?”

“He...” I swallowed hard. “I...”

“I will not be using your services for free. Rest assured, you’ll be fully compensated. This contract comes with a one-million-dollar upfront payment. Another million will be paid upon completion of the contract. In addition, your grandfather’s surgery will be fully covered, and a house will be provided for you.”

I blinked repeatedly.

“You’ll give me all that just to become your pretend Luna?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the catch?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

He gestured toward the document.

“Go through the clauses and tell me if there’s anything you’d like to change.”

“I never said I accepted your offer.”

Even so, I bit my lip and flipped through the pages.

The offer was tempting. Extremely tempting.

All I had to do was pretend to be his Luna, and I’d walk away with two million dollars. Grandfather’s surgery would be paid for. We would never have to struggle financially again.

My thoughts abruptly halted when I came across a particular clause.

“Party B may be required during the contract period to satisfy Party A’s sexual needs or desires.”

I read it aloud before snapping my gaze toward him.

“I’m not selling my body to you. I’m not a prostitute.” I snarled.

“I don’t think you are. A transactional arrangement. That’s all it is to me,” he replied calmly.

“I’ll fulfill the requirements necessary to become the pack Alpha, and you’ll be free from my nephew’s shackles.”

This was absurd.

He was my ex-fiancé’s uncle.

Everything about this arrangement felt wrong. Besides, he could have any woman he wanted. Why me?

A thought suddenly entered my mind, and my eyes narrowed.

“Why do you need a pretend Luna, Uncle Xavier? Are the rumors perhaps true? Are you secretly gay?”

Uncle Xavier had never been seen with a woman, so rumors had circulated for years that he was gay.

“If that's your concern," he murmured, eyes fixed on my lips, "I can clear up the confusion right now."

The deep, suggestive tone in his voice sent an unexpected wave of heat through me.

My cheeks immediately reddened.

Before I could respond, he leaned back in his chair and exhaled.

“You don’t have to give me an answer now. But understand that I don’t like waiting for long.”

He glanced at his wristwatch.

“You may leave. When you come back tomorrow, Monica will be around to guide you through the company’s protocols.” He leapt to his feet and walked around the desk, “I have a meeting to attend.”

...

My fingers tightened around the contract as I walked out of the tower’s grand glass entrance and made my way toward the curb to hail a taxi.

My mind was a complete mess, thinking about everything that happened back there.

Before I could make sense of any of it, a familiar black Mustang suddenly pulled up in front of me.

My heart dropped to my stomach.

The driver's door swung open, and Ryan stepped out.

His expression was thunderous.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded as he stalked toward me in long, angry strides.

Before I could react, he snatched the contract from my hand and yanked the document out of the file.

“What the hell is this?” he growled.