Chapter Three

Raymond Stewart strode into his private office without a word, the hot coffee still soaking through his white shirt and suit jacket. He did not bother to look down at the damage. The ruined clothes meant nothing. His mind was fixed on one thing only: the woman who had just collided with him in the hallway.

Marilyn Oxford.

The same woman who had slipped out of his hotel room two years ago and left five hundred dollars on the nightstand with a note that still burned in his memory. “The sex was good, Mr. Handsome. But let’s not meet again.”

He closed the heavy oak door behind him and finally allowed a low scoff to escape his lips. Anger rolled through his chest. For two long years he had searched for her. He had used every private investigator, every contact in the city, every resource his billions could buy. Hotels, social media, even discreet inquiries at escort agencies in case she had been telling the truth about her profession. But nothing. She just vanished like smoke.

And now she was here, working under his roof, wearing a blonde wig and pretending she did not know him.

A dark smile touched his mouth. This was going to be fun.

He shrugged off the wet jacket and tossed it over the back of a leather chair. The shirt followed. He stood in his damp undershirt for a moment, then walked to the large window that overlooked the city skyline. His broad shoulders flexed as he crossed his arms.

She looked exactly the same. Those wide green eyes, that soft mouth, the same body that had trembled so beautifully under him that night. Only now she carried herself with a quiet confidence that made his blood run hotter.

He had vowed to deal with her the moment he found her. He had planned to make her regret that insulting note, to remind her exactly who she had walked away from. Now fate had dropped her right into his lap. She was no longer a ghost. She was his employee.

Raymond moved to his massive desk and dropped into the high-backed chair. He reached into the top drawer and pulled out a small cream-colored envelope. Inside were five crisp one-hundred-dollar bills, the exact ones she had left behind. He kept them as a reminder of her audacity. He turned the envelope over in his hands, his thumb brushing the paper.

A soft knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” he said, his voice calm and deep.

Madison entered, her usual professional posture slightly tense. She carried a fresh white shirt draped over her arm. “Mr. Stewart, I’m so sorry about what happened. The new girl is still in training and clearly nervous. I take full responsibility. It will not happen again.”

Raymond looked up at her. Madison had been with him for eight years. She was one of the few people who could speak freely in his presence without fear. He trusted her completely.

He did not answer her apology right away. Instead he held up the envelope and opened it so she could see the money inside.

Madison stepped closer, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Sir?”

Raymond said nothing more. He simply let her look at the five hundred dollars. Madison studied the bills for a long moment, clearly trying to understand why her boss would show her cash after someone had spilled coffee on him. She knew better than to press for details when he stayed silent.

After a few seconds he closed the envelope and placed it back in the drawer. “The new girl,” he said evenly. “Marilyn Oxford. Transfer her to work directly under me as my personal Guest Experience Liaison. She starts tomorrow morning. Clear a desk right outside my office.”

Madison’s eyes widened. In all her years with him, Raymond had never brought a brand-new graduate onto his personal team. Several senior women on the executive floor had tried for years to earn a spot closer to him. They had failed. Now this twenty-three-year-old with no experience was being placed at his door.

“Sir,” Madison began carefully, “she has zero experience in executive support. Are you sure—”

“I’m sure.” His tone left no room for argument. “She has fresh ideas. That is what I need right now. Make it happen.”

Madison nodded, just once, professional as always. “Very well. I’ll handle the transfer paperwork this afternoon.”

She laid the fresh shirt on the edge of his desk. “Would you like me to have your lunch brought to you?”

“No. That will be all.”

Madison hesitated for half a second, then turned and left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.

Alone again, Raymond leaned back in his chair. He stared at the closed drawer where the envelope now rested. A slow, predatory satisfaction settled over him. Marilyn had pretended not to know him in the hallway, but he had seen the flash of recognition in her eyes before she hid it. She remembered everything.

Good.

He would enjoy watching her squirm. He would enjoy pulling her close day after day until she could no longer pretend. He would enjoy making her pay for that note, for the way she had walked out on him, for the two years she had haunted his thoughts.

Raymond stood, pulled on the clean shirt, and buttoned it with steady fingers. His reflection in the window showed the same cold, powerful man everyone feared.

But inside, something dangerous had awakened. Marilyn Oxford thought she could hide in his company and act like that night never happened. But she was wrong.

By the end of the week, she would learn exactly who Raymond Stewart really was. And this time, she would not be allowed to walk away so easily.