Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
At hearing their CEO speak such words, all of the executives in the room quaked in their seats and privately wondered who indeed would be brave and stupid enough to do such a thing. Willem de Konigh might be known as a class act all around, but the people who worked for and with him knew that his courteous manners were but a mask for his perfectionist streak.
From the other end of the line, said brave and stupid girl asked innocently, “Are you in a meeting?”
“No. I’m not in a meeting.” He delivered the lie without hesitation and ignored the way his executives gaped at him.
He knew what they were thinking, of course. Willem de Konigh, Netherlands’ most infamous workaholic, was taking time out from his meeting to enjoy a personal phone call. The Financial Times would shit itself if it learned about this.
“I’m glad,” Serenity was saying with a sigh. “I really need someone to talk to.”
The troubled note in Serenity’s voice made him frown. “What’s wrong?” He rose from his seat as he spoke and gestured for his executives to continue without him before turning towards the adjoining door.
Leaving the conference room, he went back to his office, and when the door swung shut behind him, he commanded, “Talk.”
Serenity rolled her eyes at the order. “Do you really expect everyone to jump and do your bidding at all times?”
“Talk.” Willem had no time for pleasantries. The longer he talked to her, the more he was convinced that something was seriously wrong.
Serenity let out another sigh. “It’s nothing, I——” A scuffle, and when she spoke again, it was like she had her hand cupped over the mouthpiece, as if Serenity was preventing someone else from hearing her. “I have to go, it’s—-”
In the background, Willem heard a distinctly male voice ask jovially, “Well, my beautiful ice princess? What’s it to be? Yes or no?”
The call ended.
Willem stared at his phone incredulously. What the fuck?
A sense of foreboding struck him, and acting on his instincts, Willem switched his computer on, keyed in his password, and accessed the real-time footage of his company’s cameras. With a few clicks, he was able to tap into the CCTV cameras installed on Serenity’s floor.
Serenity showed up on the screen, blonde hair plaited, her slender body sheathed in a long-sleeved turtleneck wool dress. She looked her usual, stunning self. His gaze narrowed at her pale, strained face. She also looked like she was facing hell.
Willem switched the volume on.
A young, dark-haired guy was perched on the side of her desk, and despite the charming smile he wore on his attractive face, there was no doubting the abrasiveness of his words as he half-whined, half-threatened, “It’s just one date, Serenity. Take pity on me. Just one date before your internship ends. Everyone’s going to think you’re cruel and cold-hearted if you refuse me in front of all of them.”
SHE SHOULD HAVE TOLD Willem about this, Serenity thought while doing her best to ignore the fact that her head trainer had somehow turned her desk into his personal chill space.
As she listened to Wayne tell the other interns about his plans for his date with her, which he was absolutely sure would happen tonight, Serenity wondered if maybe it should have been the other way around.
Maybe she should have told everyone about Willem instead?
Even now, she was still confused, having never encountered this kind of problem before. When Daniel had still been alive, she had been homeschooled. And when Melanie had taken her in, she had been placed in a boarding school exclusively for girls. Nothing in her life had involved boys – nothing except for Willem, that is, and he was so different from Wayne.
Willem, despite being who he was, had never used his power or money to intimidate her. But Wayne had. From the very start, he had made Serenity feel guilty for not returning his interest in her. Every day, she had to suffer his ogling, play deaf to his suggestive words, and dodge his teasing attempts at copping a feel. And every time she did all that, she would wonder if she had herself to blame, wonder if there was something she had said or done that would make Wayne treat only her and no one else in such a manner.
The answer was no, of course, but Serenity was too naïve to know this.
Wayne, however, was not.
He had taken one look at the sixteen-year-old and knew that he had to have her. She was beautiful and pure, the proverbial Sleeping Beauty just waiting to be fucked.
As far as Wayne was concerned, he was that person, and he had systematically taken steps to ensure it. First, he had dealt with the other male interns. He had seen it in their eyes that they saw the same thing he did. Her innocence, her dislike of causing trouble – to the point of letting others take advantage of her – Wayne knew if he didn’t make his move soon, the others would. To keep the coast clear, he had made certain the younger men understood that he had first dibs on Serenity and that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill their chances of working for DKE if they tried to get in his way.