Chapter 9

Thirty minutes passed in a blur. Emma was slowly losing her patience as Damien was purposely exceeding the time limit decided for her interview. He was asking her unnecessary and repetitive questions. And Emma had no choice but to answer him.

Like right now, he asked her to give a brief introduction about her current work, again.

Emma inhaled sharply before speaking, "As I told you, Sir, I analyze the details of the company’s projects and am also in charge of cyber security which includes securing the company's site to protect it from any malware." She kept explaining to him but Damien was least interested in that information. His sole focus was on her plush lips that were moving nonstop tempting him to suck them. Damien took a deep breath and skimmed his eyes all over her face. Her coruscating blue hues and the pink glint on her cheeks had him enchanted. Her balmy scent flowing in the room delighted him as well as Scar who was jumping in his head making him grin.

"Sir?"

Her voice brought Damien out of reverie. Blinking his eyes, he looked at Emma only to find her staring at him with a frown.

"Yeah, that's good. Claire told me that you do night shifts. Is that true?" He asked her out of curiosity.

Damien had a hard time believing that a girl was doing the graveyard shift. For a gullible and fragile girl like Emma, it was near impossible. Damien didn't believe Claire when she told him about Emma doing night shifts. He thought that she was bluffing to protect Emma and get her name canceled. Thus, the only way left for him was to confront Emma.

Emma nodded, "Yes Sir."

Damien was shell-shocked, "WHAT? Emmaline, that's dangerous. You shouldn't do night shifts," he screamed in fear startling her.

"I have college in the morning, Sir so the only time I can work is at night. Moreover, it isn't a big deal anyway", she replied in a composed tone.

"IT IS A FUCKING BIG DEAL DAMMIT!!!", Damien shouted while banging his fist on the table. Emma flinched back as the glass cracked because of the impact. She looked at him with wide eyes only to find him shaking in fury.

"Don't you know what can happen to you? With dangers lurking in the dark and reprobate and ravenous beasts hunting down young girls, you are risking your life. In fact, how dare the recruiters allowed a girl to work this late?", he grated out while glaring at the cracked glass with burning eyes.

Emma was shocked by his behavior but still, she kept her calm and spoke softly, "It's all right Sir. I consented to their conditions. They didn't force me to work here and I am fine with it. There's no need for you-"

"No need?", he spat, cutting her off midway.

"No need you say? Listen, Emmaline, I won't tolerate such irresponsible behavior of my employees toward you. From now on, you don't have to do night shifts. You will be joining me as my secretary from tomorrow. And about your college, I will talk with the administration. You don't have to worry", Damien spoke gently and looked at her with soft eyes. But rather than he knew that his words only infuriated the girl sitting in front of her.

Emma without saying anything took her file and closed it. She then shifted his eyes back to Damien, “Thanks for your concern but I am not interested in being your secretary, Sir. I am happy with my current position and I don’t want to change it”, she spoke sternly taking him off-guarded.

Damien vigorously shook his head when he saw her leaving, “No Emmaline, you are taking me wrong. All right, I have another offer for you. Instead of doing the job as a tech expert, you can work in one of my restaurants as a receptionist. There are plenty of girls who opt for jobs like waitresses and servers in restaurants and cafes. Also, these kinds of jobs are meant for you guys. It’s safe and also an easy-going job other than being a tech expert. Emmaline, I am sure you would have kept your job a secret from your father. No father would allow his daughter to do night shifts. It’s really dangerous for a girl, you shouldn’t-“

“ENOUGH!!!”

Emma roared thunderously and stood up from the chair. Damien clammed his mouth when he looked into her fiery eyes.

“Just because I am not saying anything that doesn’t mean you’ll keep spewing shits about me. My personal life is none of your business, Mr. Knight. I never asked for your opinion and I am least interested in listening to your hogwash. If you have so many problems seeing me working here, then cheer up because my contract will end by this week and after that, I will leave. And if you can’t handle women working in your office then better fire them all and mention it in your companies’ policies that you only hire male staff”, she raged.

Emma couldn’t believe that such a handsome man had so a cheap mentality. His chauvinistic opinions made her lose her temper and she couldn’t help but shoot daggers in his way.

Damien clenched his jaw when he noticed Emma staring at him with resentment, “This isn’t hogwash, it’s the truth. I have seen the world more than you, little girl. And you can’t resign, you’ll be signing a new contract today itself. You’re my secretary that’s it. I am canceling the other interviews.” He spoke gravely but Emma simply grunted.

“You can’t force anyone to serve you, Mr. Knight. Accepting a job or not, is in the candidate’s hands nor the recruiter’s. And after knowing your creed opinions about females, forget about working, I won’t even look at your company anymore. As per the employee’s right, I will resign the day my contract ends.”

“YOU CAN’T RESIGN!! HOW MANY TIMES DO I’VE TO TELL YOU THAT??”, Damien hollered at her.

“And you can’t make me work here against my will,” Emma retorted back.

Damien kept glaring at her but his heart dropped when Emma pivoted and started heading to the door.

“I will make sure you won’t get a job, Emmaline. Mind my words.”

He finally pulled his last card. His lips stretched in a smile when Emma stopped dead in her tracks but didn’t turn around.

Smirking in triumph, Damien then stood up from the chair and started advancing in her direction.

“Don’t provoke me, Emmaline Richard Dawson. I am saying it for your sake. By accepting my offer, you’ll become the first female to get promoted to a high position at such a young age. Don’t be stubborn and give in. Your life will change within a blink of an eye”, he rasped and started moving towards her.

Standing behind her back, he bent down and inhaled her hair which made Scar pant in his mind. Emma still didn’t turn around which made him snicker.

“You can drop your act now, Princess. It’s just us. After all, that’s what you’ve been waiting for.”

His last words caught her attention. Furrowing her brows, Emma wheeled around and looked at Damien who was staring at her menacingly.

“What do you mean?”, she snapped.

Damien let out a scoff, “Oh stop acting so innocent. You have been giving me hints since the start itself. But you know what, it isn’t your fault. Girls always use such tricks to get inside my pants. Your fake outburst, and showing me tantrums were one of your ways to lure me, right?”

He chuckled but his words stunned Emma to silence.

Covering the sliver of space between them, Damien ducked forward to look straight into her ocean orbs, “Guess what? I am interested.”

Emma stared at him in disbelief. Digging her nails in her palms, she sealed her lips tightly and moved back when she noticed him breaching her private space.

“You know babe. Many came in the past but you were the only one who caught my eye.”

Damien breathed on her lips. Grabbing a long strand of her silver hair, he twirled it around his index finger and smiled. “I am also drawn to you, sweetheart. Don’t know what alchemy you used on me that I always keep thinking about you. Your lips, your eyes, your hair, and your essence had me captivated. You had made me a slave of your flawless beauty, Princess and now I want a taste of it.” He whispered hoarsely against her lips. His lustful eyes turned a shade darker when he felt her soft breath caressing his lips.

Damien looked into her cold eyes which were devoid of any emotion. But he was too drowned in pleasure to think straight. Soon, desire overpowered his sanity.

Leaning forward, Damien closed his eyes and was about to capture her soft lips in a chaste kiss when his face was abruptly turned to the right.

Emma slapped him hard.