Chapter 2 - Unraveling the Web
The air in the penthouse office grew heavier, charged with a dark, suffocating tension. Gabriel stood less than three feet from Paige, his slate-gray eyes piercing straight through her defenses.
“Hurt you?” Gabriel repeated, his voice dropping an octave into a low, rumbling timbre that vibrated right through the floorboards. “Paige, do you honestly believe I run a syndicate that preys on hardworking women who are being scammed by cowardly thieves?”
Paige swallowed hard, her throat tight. “I... I don't know what you run. Everyone says—”
“Everyone says a great many things to keep themselves feeling safe in their little cubicles,” Gabriel interrupted smoothly, walking back toward his massive mahogany desk. He picked up a leather-bound dossier from the surface and flipped it open. “Let’s talk about Kevin Vance. Or rather, Kevin Miller, since he used three different aliases before skipping town with twenty-four grand of corporate petty cash he stole from our transport division six months ago.”
Paige’s jaw dropped. “Corporate... he stole from Moretti Logistics?”
“Among other places,” Gabriel said, tossing the dossier back onto the desk. “He was a low-level logistics clerk with delusions of grandeur. When our internal security flagged his embezzlement, he panicked, cleaned out every accessible account, and dumped his debts onto you before catching a one-way flight to Costa Rica under a fake passport. The men calling your burner phone? They aren’t independent loan sharks, Paige. They are freelance collection agents subcontracted by my recovery division to track down corporate thieves.”
The revelation hit Paige like a physical blow. All these months of terror, sleepless nights, skipped meals, and paralyzing anxiety—it had all been engineered by the worthless man she had foolishly trusted, directed straight at her doorstep by a ruthless syndicate that hadn't even realized she was entirely innocent.
“I didn't know,” Paige whispered, tears finally spilling over her lashes and tracking hot paths down her cheeks. “I swear to you, I didn't know anything about his embezzlement. I just thought he ran up gambling debts. I’ve been working two jobs, paying every cent I could scrape together, just trying to keep them from breaking my door down.”
Gabriel watched her intently, his expression unreadable. He walked over to the wet bar, poured a glass of ice water instead of liquor, and brought it over, holding it out toward her. Paige hesitated, then reached out with trembling fingers to take it.
“Drink,” Gabriel commanded softly.
She took a small sip, the cold water steadying her spinning head. “Are you going to fire me now? Or hand me over to the collectors to settle his remaining balance?”
Gabriel leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Fire you? Why would I fire the only administrative assistant in this entire building who formats dock manifests with structural design precision? As for Kevin’s debt...” A cold, lethal smile touched the corners of his mouth. “My collection division operates under strict corporate parameters. The debt remains attached to the responsible party. Since Kevin is out of reach, our recovery team is currently in the process of seizing his offshore accounts, repossessing his assets, and ensuring he spends the next decade of his life doing hard labor in a South American mining facility.”
Paige stared at him, her eyes wide. “You’re... you’re canceling my debt?”
“Your name was fraudulently attached to a fraudulent contract, Paige. Moretti Logistics does not profit from extortion,” Gabriel said smoothly. “However, that brings us back to your earlier verbal indiscretion. Calling the head of a multi-million-dollar logistics enterprise ‘honey’ in front of thirty witnesses carries certain administrative penalties.”
Panic flared in Paige’s chest once more. “I told you, it was an accident! I was exhausted, I was on the phone—”
“I am aware of why it happened,” Gabriel cut in, stepping closer until she could feel the heat radiating from his broad frame. His gaze dropped momentarily to her lips before returning to her eyes. “And frankly, after enduring years of sycophants and terrified subordinates addressing me with trembling formality, hearing someone speak to me with such utter, exhausted casualness was... novel.”
Paige’s cheeks burned hot. “I apologize. It will never, ever happen again.”
“See that it doesn't,” Gabriel said, though there was no real heat in his warning. He reached out, his warm fingers brushing lightly against her wrist to take the empty water glass from her hand. The casual contact sent an electric shock straight up her arm. “Go back downstairs, Paige. Retrieve your canvas tote bag. Your desk is not going anywhere, your salary is being increased by twenty percent effective immediately, and you will take the rest of the day off to sleep for twelve consecutive hours.”
May you like
Paige blinked, entirely disoriented by the abrupt turn of events. “My... my salary is increasing?”
“Efficiency should always be rewarded,” Gabriel said, turning his back to look out at the sprawling city skyline as the afternoon sun began to dip below the horizon. “And Paige? If anyone in that bullpen gives you trouble about today, send them up to see me. I’m sure we can find some filing work for them in the basement archives.”
