Page 72 of Bought
I forced it down, trying to stay in control. “You didn’t call the police?”
She gave a humorless laugh. “No, of course not. The money wasn’t earned legitimately, and I didn’t need the cops looking at my little career and deciding to investigate me either.”
“Fair,” I conceded. “So where did you go?”
“I’ve been sleeping on a friend’s couch.” She kept her gaze averted, and I knew this was because she didn’t want me to see whatever expression was in her eyes. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”
But I didn’t need to see her expression. I knew. She was scared.
“Your mother?” I asked, even though I suspected that I already knew the answer. “Any other relatives?”
She shook her head. “No idea where Mom is now, and no.”
“How did the Hamiltons contact you? Why?”
“Donny had passed on some work from them to me before and this time they contacted me directly.” She finally looked at me. “I couldn’t refuse. The money would change my life.”
And it would change her life, which meant I wasn’t going to change my mind. She would have her money one way or another, I’d make sure of it.
“Hacking hmm?” I studied her for a long moment. “I could use someone like you in Fox Tech.”
Her eyes went wide. “What? Work for you, you mean?”
“Yes. And if you don’t feel comfortable with that, then I have contacts in the industry. There are plenty of companies that would hire you in seconds flat.”
She stared at me for a second, then her gaze narrowed. “But I have no qualifications and no—”
“You’re very smart, you’re very stubborn, and you’re very tenacious, and I suspect you have a good array of skills already. Everything else you can learn on the job.”
She was still staring at me, wary and suspicious, as if I’d offered her poison not a job.
“Zara,” I said. “I’m being serious.”
“As long as I sleep with you, though, right?”
Wary little sub. I could see why she was distrustful, why she was suspicious. With her background, how could she be anything but?
“No,” I said flatly. “I’m not that kind of man, as you very well know.”
She did have the decency to flush. “Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“Any job you get, either at Fox Tech or somewhere else, you can keep, irrespective of whether we’re sleeping together. And before you can ask me, no, hiring you is not about sex either. We’ll assess your technical skills and go from there. I don’t hire people for jobs they aren’t suitable for.”
She wasn’t used to being given things, to having people help her, that was clear, and she still regarded me slightly warily. “Okay. Maybe.”
“Think about it. But one thing is for certain, you’re not going back to the Hamiltons.”
Her brow creased. “But what about you? What about Sir George?”
“I need to think about it. I need to find out how they know I was involved in Sir George’s death in the first place. Because this is the first I’ve heard of it, and he’s been dead a long time.”
The crease between her brows deepened. “I should have asked them, but I just took their orders.”
“You had no reason to ask.” I touched that little crease with my finger, smoothing it out. “And I don’t want you beating yourself up about it. That’s an order.”
Her mouth curved into the most beautiful smile. “Yes, Sir.” She gazed up at me for a moment then, a little hesitantly, she reached up and cupped the side of my face, her palm warm against my skin. I allowed it, caught by the sweetness of her hesitation and the gentleness of her touch. And when she lifted her head and kissed me, I let her do that, too.
It was a light, tender kiss, a brush of her mouth against mine then lingering there as if unsure of her welcome.