na'

. Blackwood Enterprises. The name alone was enough to send a shiver down her spine. It was one of those companies you only heard about on the news

nder her breath, tugging at the h

e building seemed to dare her to walk in, to step out of the shadows she'd been hiding in her wh

late. Cold. The kind of place where every inch was designed to make people feel small. A massive crystal chandelier

ed like a fu

ready feel a blister forming. But that wasn't what made her stomach twist. It was the stares. The way the perfectly g

The woman's voice was honeyed,

ged, her throat tight. Fuck. Fuck. She sou

ing inch of that stare. She clicked something on her computer, then nodded cu

lowing her, burning into her back, and it took everything in her not to turn around an

men and women in thousand-dollar suits, each one more polished and perfect than the last. She caught a f

r, lined with thick carpets and expensive artwork. It felt like walking into a museum-one she didn

ence R

, and her hand trembled as she reached for the handle. Don

t open and s

looked out over the city, the view breathtaking and terrifying all at once. She stood t

e door opene

there, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a suit that probably cost more than everything she'd ever owned combined. His hai

ng to remember how to fuc

ing, not offering a

he trailed behind him down another

nter. There were three people already seated, all of them watching her with the same cold calculation. Like she was a

aid, gesturing to a chai

t stared at her in that awful, silent way that made her want to scream. She felt exposed, na

an with short, silver hair and a smile tha

"Why do you think you deserve t

opened her mouth, closed it, then swa

ice tight. "Because I won'

men arched a br

don't... look like much. I know I don't have the experience you're probably looking for. But I can learn. I can adap

and Elena's stomach dropp