Free Billionaire With a Twist 3 by Lila Monroe

without complaining, and
if it’s good enough, I’ll think about letting you try
again in a year.”
    And then, just like that, all my anger
crystallized into a clear vision of the future. And I knew exactly
what I had to do. I nodded to myself, a grin spreading over my face.
    “Actually, sir, you know what I
think would work better?”
    “My dear, I assure you—”
    “I quit.”
    My words hit him like a gunshot, and I
spun on my heel and strode away, savoring the memory of the stunned
look on his face, still hearing his inarticulate spluttering.
    I wished him all the best of luck in
finding someone else who would put up with his bullshit.
    Not.
    The cool night air hit me like a
blessing as I breezed out of the office doors. It had never felt so
refreshing before, like a cool glass of water I could drink with my
skin. I had never felt so alive before, so free.
    Things had never been so clear.
    They would never respect me. I knew
that now. I had known for a long time, but I had hidden from it,
unwilling to start all over again, constantly convincing myself that
I could change things if I just worked a little bit harder, if I just
took a little bit more shit, just for a little bit longer. But that
game was over. I allowed myself a moment of grief for the opportunity
I had hoped this job would be, but it didn’t hurt as much as I
had thought it would. It felt more like something that had happened
long ago, to an Ally that might as well have been another person.
    This Ally had nothing but the future
opening up before her, and it was time to start following my own
advice and stop clinging to the past.
    I pulled out my phone and dialed
Hunter’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
    “Ally, what’s up? How’s
work?”
    “Work’s just starting,”
I said, a smile blooming on my face. “I’m on my way with
some information I think you’ll find very interesting, and a
whole new plan…”

 

NINE
     
    Persona was a restaurant that had seen
other restaurants’ attempts to be fancy, and had turned up its
nose at their pathetic failures.
    The floors were pink marble. The
chandeliers were carved from rose quartz and gilded in what I had a
sneaking suspicion was real gold. Tapestries that would have been at
home in a European castle hung from the walls, their lush fabric
absorbing sound until it seemed as if noise itself might be some sort
of nasty plebian habit that had no place here. The waiters were
dressed better than most Oscar winners on the red carpet.
    Naturally, I was nervous as hell.
    My leg bounced up and down under the
table where Hunter and I sat, and I was grateful for the luxurious
floor-length red tablecloth that hid my nervous tic so well.
    I couldn’t hide it from Hunter,
though, who could plainly feel the vibrations from where his leg was
pressed up against mine. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Relax. It’s going to work.”
    “How do you know?” I
demanded.
    He squeezed my hand again, looking deep
into my eyes. “Because you came up with it, and you’re
brilliant.”
    The tension eased out of my shoulders
and I smiled up at him, still a bit nervous but now also warmed and
touched. What had I ever done to deserve this man?
    “Flatterer.”
    “It’s not flattery if it’s
the truth,” he said, his hand sneaking under the table to
steady my knee. Heat spread from his palm, all the way up my thigh,
and I knew there was no way I was misinterpreting that signal.
    “Perhaps we should discuss the matter at hand in further detail at a later time,” I
said primly, swatting him away from my knee. I was loathe to do so,
but this meeting was important and I couldn’t risk going blind
with unstoppable lust and screwing it all up. I had to be in control.
    He grunted in agreement and obediently
kept his hands to himself.
    I let my head rest against his shoulder
for a second to collect myself. It could only be for a second,
though—this kind of shared peace and trust wasn’t the
sort of show