“I love you too, Daddy.”
“And, Ari…”
“Yes, Daddy?”
“Please be good,” he whispered.
Even if I had planned to commit murder, after that I would have changed my mind.
“I will.”
He hung up, and I lay on the bed long after the call ended. My life had changed so dramatically since Shaw and I got together. In the past, I’d never cared about finding another solution to my problems. If anyone hurt me, I got rid of them, and there had been quite a few people who had hurt me. Now Shaw made me question everything.
He was all the good I needed. Sometimes the darkness in my head was so scary, but the way he loved me unconditionally left me feeling I would be okay. That I wouldn’t be consumed by my own darkness.
A knock on my hotel room door startled me. I scrambled to my feet, frowning. I hadn’t ordered room service.
I waited, but the person didn’t introduce themselves. Alarm bells went off. I scanned my room, but nothing seemed suitable for a weapon. I had to stop sinking back into old habits. Not everyone was out to get me.
“Coming.”
Pushing aside my paranoia, I unlocked the door. What was Justin Perrier doing here? Dressed in a trim, dark blue suit without a tie and the top two buttons undone, he was devilishly handsome, and his cocky posture said he knew it. He removed the blue-tinted shades he wore, the rings on his right hand flashing.
“Mr. Perrier.” I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t expect you.”
“Didn’t you now?” His piercing green eyes bored into mine.
“Actually, I didn’t. I’m in the middle of packing my stuff to catch my flight.”
“Then I came at the right time. Aren’t you going to let me in?”
When I presented my work before him today, he had blown me off. What could he want now? I stepped aside. He’d wanted to offer me a lower deal than I was worth, and when I rejected the offer, he dismissed me. I’d taken my designs to another fashion house, Couture Beau, which had been interested. They might not be as big as Trendy Men, but they were the next best thing, and what they’d offered me was way more than I’d anticipated.
“You really are leaving.” Perrier gestured at the carry-on on the bed. “I thought you were joking.”
“Why would I joke about that?” I frowned. “And how did you know which room I’m in? I only mentioned my hotel during our meeting earlier.”
He puffed out his chest and chuckled. “You really think that information is hard to get for a man like me?”
The hair at the back of my neck stood on end. To put some distance between us, I walked over to the bed and stuffed the last of my things inside.
“I’m surprised you’re here at all, Mr. Perrier. You made your decision very clear that you weren’t interested in my designs.”
“Come now. We both know you were playing hard to get with that ridiculous amount you asked for them. You’re a nobody, a designer no one had ever heard of.”
“Did my designs look like something a nobody could have made?”
“It doesn’t matter. I could only hire you in an entry-level position, but it wouldn’t look good for my company if I offered you a higher salary than what other entry-level designers are getting. People would talk, and the fashion industry can be unforgiving. Plus, I didn’t think it best that you work for me, considering.”
“Considering what?”
“It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to sleep with someone who works under me, would it?” He winked at me. “Of course, I can get you a different kind of work. Much more satisfying, and you can earn even more if you’re as good as I think you are.”
I blinked at this son of a bitch, my hands clenched into fists.
Please be good.
With Shaw’s voice reverberating inside my head, I inhaled deeply.