Chapter 7

Clifton Condon was standing a few yards down the corridor, smoking alone in the dim light.

Zoe took one look at him and nearly stopped breathing. All the color drained from her face. Kerry shot her a look, tilting her head slightly. Get out of here. Zoe frantically communicated her terror through a series of wide-eyed grimaces, to which Kerry just offered a reassuring nod.

Zoe didn't need to be told twice. She practically sprinted in the opposite direction.

Watching Clif’s silhouette through the haze of smoke, Kerry quietly inhaled, bracing herself. She walked up, stopping exactly two steps away from him.

"Mr. Condon," she said, her voice perfectly level and polite.

Clif exhaled a thick plume of white smoke. He didn't look at her. His handsome face was a sheer, unreadable cliff drop.

"Usually, the people who manage to get into this room are doing pretty well for themselves," Clif said, his voice entirely devoid of warmth. "Yet you went out of your way to put on a little show right in front of my face. I'm guessing your friend runs a shell company."

He used the absolute calmest tone to deliver the most lethal dissection of her entire plan.

Kerry hadn't actually expected to fool him, but she also hadn't expected him to rip the band-aid off so bluntly. Since she was cornered, the only practical option was to stand tall and take the hit.

"I apologize, Mr. Condon," Kerry said, looking him dead in the eye. No sugar-coating. "My friend just opened her media firm. The insiders don't respect her yet, and they try to bully her because she’s a young woman. I had to borrow your power to tip the scales. But she is genuinely capable, and I believe she’ll make her company a success."

Clif finally turned his head to look at her. His eyes were dark, heavy, and dangerous. "What does her company's success have to do with me?"

Before she could answer, his voice dropped an octave, radiating pure threat. "This world is full of opportunists. But you are the first person I’ve ever met with the sheer audacity to play me right to my face. Do you think I'm stupid, Ms. Jones? Or do you just think I'm an easy mark?"

The sheer oppressive weight of his gaze felt like a physical force pressing down on her chest.

Kerry had considered throwing herself at his mercy, but she knew an apology meant absolutely nothing to a man like him.

"I shouldn't have tried to play smart in front of a truly smart person," Kerry replied, refusing to blink. "A simple 'I'm sorry' is useless to you. If you are genuinely angry, you can void our verbal agreement from last night. I swear I will never use your name to my advantage again."

Clif remained entirely unmoved, his expression like carved stone.

Seeing that he wasn't going to speak, Kerry added one final, pragmatic offer. "Or... you could give me a little time. Let me compensate you in my actual field of expertise. I believe results will always be more persuasive than apologies."

"You’ve managed to cover all the bases," Clif noted dryly. "The good and the bad."

This time, Kerry kept her mouth shut. She waited for the verdict.

Clif looked away, taking a final drag of his cigarette. "I despise strangers taking advantage of me," he said slowly. "But I am exceptionally generous to my people. I’ll give you this chance. If you perform well, then we are on the same side. I won't just let you borrow my power—I’ll let you walk sideways through this city, and I'll protect you while you do it."

He paused, turning his head back to her. Beneath the calm surface of his dark eyes lay a terrifying, bottomless cruelty.

"But if you fail," Clif murmured, his voice practically a caress. "The power you borrowed, the little tricks you played... I won't just hold you accountable. I will make you pay for it. With interest."

Every alarm bell in Kerry’s body began screaming.

He knows.

The cryptic text message from last night suddenly flashed in her mind. The police uniform is pretty convincing. Only she and Daniel had known about that stunt. But Clif had found out. Instantly. Seamlessly.

She didn't know if he’d just run a background check on Daniel, or if the rumors were true—that no 'suspicious' person could ever step within a one-mile radius of Clifton Condon without his security team dissecting their entire life.

Swallowing the sudden lump of terror in her throat, Kerry forced a professional smile. "Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Condon. I’ll work hard to become one of 'your people.'"

Clif crushed his cigarette into the nearby ashtray. "Tomorrow. Ten AM."

"Understood."

As Kerry prepared to excuse herself, a woman in a stunning, blood-red cocktail dress suddenly materialized from the hallway.

The woman was young, gorgeous, and her flawless makeup couldn't hide the sharp, judgmental sneer on her face. She raked her eyes over Kerry, her gaze a mix of pure disdain and territorial hostility.

Then, she looked at Clif with a falsely sweet smile. "I've been looking everywhere for you. So this is where you were hiding to whisper in the dark. Did I interrupt something?"

Women possessed a terrifying sixth sense when it came to other women. Kerry wasn't about to stand there and become the collateral damage in whatever twisted romantic web this was.

"I'll take my leave, Mr. Condon," Kerry said smoothly. As she brushed past the woman in red, she could practically feel the murderous heat radiating off her.

Once Kerry was out of earshot, the woman crossed her arms and sauntered up to Clif. "Are your standards for 'your people' really dropping this low?" she mocked. "You're awfully generous. Though her desperation to ride your coattails was a little pathetic. She must have collected twenty business cards from strange men in the span of five minutes."

She intentionally blurred the details; Zoe had collected the cards, not Kerry.

Clif didn't even look at the woman. "I allowed it," he said flatly.

The woman faltered, letting out a bitter laugh. "What is this? You're officially ordering her to flirt around on your behalf?"

Clif stopped walking. He turned his head and stared down at her, his impossibly handsome face dripping with absolute, freezing contempt.

"Mind your own business," Clif said, his voice lethal. "I don't need anyone gossiping about my people. People who know you will realize you're just bored and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. But people who don't know you..." He paused, his gaze slicing right through her ego. "...might actually mistake you for someone who matters to me."

…

The moment Kerry stepped outside the hotel, she called Zoe. They met by the valet. Zoe was practically vibrating with anxiety.

"What did he say?!" Zoe demanded. "Did he threaten you?"

"I think he's a decent guy," Kerry said reasonably.

Zoe stared at her in sheer disbelief. "Did he... did he extort you?!"

"The most important thing in life is sticking to principles and rules," Kerry replied, deadpan. "He’s a man of principle. And I plan to strictly follow his rules."

Zoe looked like she was losing her grip on reality. "What the hell did you promise him?! If he tries to force you into something twisted, do not just roll over and take it!"

Kerry sighed, giving her friend a deeply cynical look. "Stop watching soap operas. In the real world, the domineering CEO doesn't magically fall in love with me. The domineering CEO just pays me an exorbitant hourly rate to tutor his son. And even that took me a decade of hardcore studying to earn."

As they waited for the car, Kerry subtly scanned the driveway.

Zoe caught the look immediately. "I saw the executives from Nathan Arcand's company earlier," she said softly. "But Nathan isn't here tonight."

Kerry’s instinct was to deny she was looking for him at all. But the words died on her tongue. She just stayed silent.