With an opportunity of a lifetime to make her entrepreneurial dreams come true, Thea finds it getting increasingly harder to hide her attraction to her boss, Aiden Steele - not knowing that the man under all the cold layers has a secret worth millio...
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Don't be stupid, he offered compensation.
I reminded myself this for the millionth time as I stood outside Steele Business Park, an amalgamation of all the offices owned by Steele Enterprises, all the businesses running in the city as well as globally. This was the epicentre of every business earthquake Aiden Steele would create, and ripples would be felt all the way to my homeland too. The sheer amount of power this man held was no joke, and to think I called him a pig and a moron was making me tremble, no joke.
I made my way to what the staff called the 'headquarters' making it seem like the fucking Pentagon grounds, feeling severely underdressed. I had my shift at GAP later during the day, and I had worn my trusty jeans and red hoodie to survive the journey, black uniform tee shirt under it. Most women walked in tall heels, even kitten heels of some sort, while I was wearing sneakers that once used to be white. I'm pretty sure there's a Taylor Swift lyric in there that I should remember, but the anxiety was eating me up far more than I had anticipated.
All that practice in the shower seemed to have exorcised itself from my body, leaving me a pathetic tangle of limbs walking aimlessly to what seemed to be my impending doom. Damn it. I should have stayed in the shower long enough to catch a cold. At least I'd have an excuse to back out of this.
Looking down at my wrist, I felt a sadness come over me again. The sentimentality of the gift was far more precious than its actual price. Even then, I had spent the night looking high and low online for the same piece of jewellery anywhere, but to no luck. They had only ever made a few hundred of those pieces, making that fucking thing a limited edition of sorts. And then Aiden Steele, with the patience of a toddler, had ruined it.
My frantic thoughts ran a mile a second while my feet carried me slowly towards the headquarters. The guard at the gate asked for my ID, I told him I'm visiting Aiden Steele.
He just gave me a sympathetic smile before letting me in.
Was this a frequent occurrence? Did heartbroken or jilted lovers come in here often to see Aiden? A man like him seemed to have no time for everything a relationship entailed, but he was seen with dates all the time during formal events. Would he let all the women he had any interest in drop into his office? How many of these women had caused a scene? How many of them had been escorted out by security?
I'd never embarrassed myself like that. I'd definitely keep my cool and I'd be all composed. I will be on my best professional behaviour.
The lobby was in muted shades of baby blue and white, elements of silver running through the design. Clearly, the designer had taken the Steele name seriously and done his best fucking job. The marble flooring was shining, not a speck of dust anywhere. I hoped my shoes looked like they had always been grey. There was a reception to the left, with silver lettering of the company's name in the back, looking imposingly at me. The place screamed opulence, and I felt very much like a rat walking into the lion's den.
