Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

and forces my hand. “Look, I’ve… I feel like I’ve been a lot better this week. I haven’t done anything
to deliberately provoke you, and I have treated you like I would a boyfriend I consented to have,
but… asking me to cut back on work…”
He watches me, waiting for me to finish that sentence.
I don’t know how to without annoying him. “It’s not… I can’t just work less, because if I do that
now, I might not be able to get back to my current workload in the future. The people I work for could
be annoyed or just find someone else to work with.”
Calvin shrugs. “Let them. That will give you more time to focus on your own projects. Why
should you spend every bit of your time working for someone else and put your own ideas on the
backburner? That’s nonsensical and unnecessary now that you have me.”
“I don’t have my own stories to work on. I mean, I’ve had ideas flit across my mind, sure, but
nothing that will pay my bills right now. That’s why I work for other people, Calvin—to make money.
Even with this credit card for expenses… that’s nice and all, it really is, but I still have the same bills
to pay that I had before. I don’t want a roommate, and I have to keep up my apartment even though I’m
not living in it right now so it’ll still be there when I have to move back to it.”
“That’s another thing. We’re going to cancel the lease on your apartment.”
I gape at him. “What?”
He nods. “I don’t like your landlord, and you don’t need it; you live here now.”
“Well… yeah, for now…”
“Even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t want you living there. I would buy you a safer apartment, one
with a bit more space in a better part of town. Hollis and Arson have both told me a strong wind
could knock your door down; it’s a miracle no one has ever broken in given you’re a beautiful woman
living alone.”
I put down the fork and stare at my plate for a few seconds before shaking my head. “I can’t turn
down money I know I’ll need just because you say so. If you’re going to make me turn down a job,
then… I mean, I hate to say this, but I need you to match it. Pay me what I would have made from that
work so that when I go back to my real life, I’ll have a bit of a cushion in case the people I work for
have an attitude or just gave my job to someone else.”
“That’s not a problem. Actually, I can do you one better. Tomorrow I’ll have my lawyer draw up
a contract to make it official. Independent of what you make on your own, I will give you $100,000
per year as long as I keep you.”
My heart nearly stops—both because of that figure, and because the way he says that, like he
considers it possible that he will keep me for longer than a year.
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.
Since I haven’t answered, he looks at me across the table. “Is that sufficient?”