Chapter Three

"GOOD EVENING, MR. HIRSCHE ."

Etienne nodded without looking at his driver, and in the corner of his eye he saw the brat's lips tighten at the curtness of his response. Good. It never hurt for people to have a dose of their own medicine, and she was the reason he had been pissed as fuck the entire week.

The silence inside the limousine was tense and silent, and it almost made him regret choosing to have her drive for him when he could've just taken the chopper and be in Orlando in minutes. But because this was the only way he could be with the brat...

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He stared at her moodily, his hunger for her nowadays as constant as his need to breathe. He only had to see her, and he would remember...and relive...the softness of her skin, the weight of her breasts, and most of all, the sweet, precious nectar of her sangferia—-

Shit.

His fangs had started to protrude the moment thoughts of her naked body entered his mind, and he ground his teeth together in an effort to have them pull back. No other woman had pushed him as close to losing control as she did, and even though a week had already passed, he still couldn't get her out of his system.

While most women did whatever they could to grab his attention, she had always stood out, had always been different without even trying. The first time this brat had entered his life, she had been one of the dozen applicants to make it to the final stage of his recruitment process. The last test was to complete an obstacle course, and unknown to them, Etienne had an audio patch installed in the car so he could listen to how the driver operated on his own.

While she hadn't been the only female to apply for the job, she had been the only fucking one to invoke his name like a curse and say things like 'I'd never have applied for this job if I had a choice.' It had been interesting to say the least, but what truly clinched the deal for him was when the results had come out. Although the brat hadn't registered the fastest time in completing the obstacle course, she had been the only driver that day to keep her vehicle free from any damage and her passenger dummy free from any serious injuries.

That meant everything to someone like him, whose life was constantly under threat, and when he had hired her on the spot, he had taken extreme pleasure in letting her know he had heard every word she had said about him.

'Everything?' she had asked, as if wanting to make sure.

'Yes.' He had expected her to apologize after that, but instead she had looked at him like she wasn't certain he still possessed all his marbles.

'You heard everything,' she had remarked dubiously, 'and yet you're still hiring me?'

That had set the tone for their working relationship, and although there wasn't ever a week he didn't threaten to fire her and she didn't threaten to quit, both of them had known they were just words. The truth was, everyone who directly worked for Etienne knew that the brat had become his stress reliever, and there was no time he was more relaxed than when he was trying to get a rise out of her.

Could that be why , Etienne thought broodingly, he had failed all these years to realize that there was an incredibly fuckable woman hiding underneath all those hideously drab suits?

IF LOOKS COULD KILL , Spencer would be long dead by now. The boss had been giving her murderous looks for several days now, or more specifically, ever since she had returned to work after taking an afternoon off without the usual advance notice.

And honestly, was it really that big a deal? He was a billionaire, for heaven's sake. It wasn't as if he'd have a hard time finding another person to drive for him. It just didn't make sense, and although she had firsthand knowledge of how much of a jerk he could be if he wanted to, she would never have thought he could be this... petty.

He could be rather ruthless with the way he demanded perfection from his staff, sure, but he more than amply rewarded everyone's loyal service with the best pay and benefits. He was no sentimental fool, but he had always been fair and objective, and he had even told her once he appreciated the way she always spoke her mind in his presence, never mind if her waspish attitude could occasionally wear on his patience.

He didn't mind she was a shrew most days, and a total bitch on her red days, as long as she did her job. That were his very own words, darn it, and it was why she had been counting on him being reasonable, once she got back to work and apologized for her unscheduled leave.

But obviously, she was wrong. Dead wrong, actually, with the way he was either acting like she didn't even exist or gaze at her broodingly - almost furiously, in fact - from the backseat.

She really hated to think of it this way, but maybe...maybe this unexpectedly shallow side of his proved just how little Spencer really knew her boss...and, consequently, how mortifyingly silly it was to think she was in love—-

"Fuck."

The expletive, uttered in a low, furious hiss, had Spencer twitching in her seat and her fingers tightening instinctively around the wheel. "Sir?" Her gaze flew to check on him through the rearview mirror, and she saw that his gaze was fixed on his phone. Bad news, probably, but about what? Maybe he was no longer a billionaire, and he was left with just $999,999,999 in his bank account?

If she had found the guts to ask, and he would have been in a mind to answer, Spencer would find out that she was partially correct. It was bad news, but it wasn't over money. Instead, the email that arrived in his inbox was from a company she was also personally familiar with.

Dear Mr. Hirsche,

As requested, we have reached out to the other party and extended your request for another transaction, along with the details of your new offer. We have taken every care to ensure that the other party understands that this offer is triple the amount of the previous one and with room for negotiation.

Unfortunately, the other party has chosen to decline the offer. Morever, she has also very clearly stated that she will take legal action if we choose to contact her again for the same purpose. In this light, we regret to inform you that we will no longer be able to provide further assistance on this matter.

We apologize for whatever inconvenience this may cause, and please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to consider other parties for your next transaction.

Yours truly,

VIP Productions

"Sir?" Spencer's tone was of wary concern, and when their gazes met, the deep frown on her face made him realize she might have been trying to get his attention more than once. "Is everything alright?"

"No." And it was all her fucking fault. Why the hell wouldn't she want another night with him, dammit? His last offer had been a whole damn mil. Seven fucking digits, just to spend another night with him and have Etienne fuck her brains out. What kind of idiot would say no to that?

He was glaring at the back of her head again , Spencer noticed through the rearview mirror, and the knowledge left her feeling hurt and angry at herself. He had been a moody son of a gun the past few days, so darn short-tempered that everyone around him had taken to walking like they were treading on eggshells. He lashed out at the smallest mistake, and no one had been in the receiving end of his temper more times than Spencer. And it was unfair. So stupidly, unreasonably, unfair that she knew it should've completely turned her off him by now...

But it hadn't.

He was still beautiful in her eyes, and her heart still ached foolishly in his presence. It was still a daily struggle to keep her voice from becoming breathless at his presence, and ever since the night she lost her V-card and realized what she had been missing all this time...

She wanted him more than ever now, wanted him so badly that there were times she wanted to beg and offer herself up as a one-night stand, or even a five-minute hookup, if that was all the time he could spare.

Maybe I should've just said yes to another transaction, she thought glumly. Although that night had been nothing like her worst fears, she had so little recollection of it that a part of her wondered if it was her mind deliberately blocking her memories out because it considered the whole thing as an act of infidelity.

When she had woken up the day after, she had been alone in the hotel room, and the sight of her naked body had her bursting into tears. All of a sudden, it had felt completely wrong, like she had betrayed the man she loved. And yes, she knew it didn't make any sense, since it wasn't like she and Mr. H had any relationship beyond boss-and-driver, but even so—-

"I want to know where you went that day."

Hearing him suddenly speak had Spencer jerking in her seat. "That day?"

"When you took the afternoon off..." Her gasp cut him off, and Etienne saw her hazel eyes turn incredulous at the same time through the rearview mirror.

"So that's what this is really about?" Spencer demanded disbelievingly. "I've been working for you for over two years, and I've never taken a day off! Never until that—-"

"Just answer the fucking question," he growled.

"No."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because you don't have the right to ask, and you—-"

"Shit."

The expletive, as always, came from the backseat, but this time Spencer didn't have to ask why. No need at all, since she herself was seeing the four-letter word written all around her, when the doors of the armored truck in front of them suddenly burst open and men came flying out, eyes soulless and red-rimmed.

When a couple of them landed on the limousine's hood, she reacted without thinking, throwing them off with by making the car spin and take a hard right. Her wheels screeched in protest, the sound deafening, but what really made the hairs behind her neck stand were their snarls and hisses, and as she watched their bodies fall to the ground, she was able to lock gazes with one of them—-

And that was when she saw it: a glistening, viciously sharp pair of fangs.

"It can't be real," she muttered to herself. "It can't." But she hit the gas hard all the same, wanting to be as far away as possible from that gang of lunatics.

"Unfortunately, it is."

Spencer jumped in her seat at the sudden sound of Etienne's voice. She had actually forgotten she wasn't alone, that she still had her boss in the backseat, and oh my God, what were they going to do—-

"No matter what you see or what happens... stay here ."

"What are you—- oh my God! "

Her boss had opened the door.

"Are you insane?" she screeched. "We're running 70 miles..." Per hour, she finished silently for herself, stunned speechless because her boss was already gone, having literally jumped out of the car and actually landing on his feet without a scratch.

She quickly changed gears, but just as the car was making a full 180, a fist drove through the right side of the windshield, and Spencer struggled to hold on to the wheel even as she had to turn her head away when the glass exploded into pieces.

Outside, she could hear someone - something - yowling in pain, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground hard, and she instinctively slammed her foot on the brake, not wanting to accidentally hit anyone.

As the wheels under her squealed and screeched in protest, she saw two men leaping mid-air and colliding into each other, their snarls tearing apart the dark, silent reign of night as they landed on their feet. They moved with nightmarish speed, their swings and strikes turning into blurs of flesh. Everything was happening so fast that before she could even remember to draw her next breath, it was all over, and Mr. H had captured his attacker from behind, his hands around the other man's neck—-

SNAP!

The man's mouth fell open, revealing his fangs for one last time just as his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless and decapitated.

What in the world...what in the freaking world——

"Mr. H, behind you!" Tears burned her eyes as she yelled the words out, and she found herself praying that her words of warning had come in time even as Mr. H spun around, snarling—-

And that was when she saw it: fangs...fangs everywhere...and her boss had them, too.

Oh my God .

She could only watch in horrified and stunned confusion as the man she was in love with used his fangs - his own fangs - to tear his attacker's throat open...before moving on to the next one.