"Of course it is," I said. "I mean, come on. You hold all the cards here."
"Meaning?"
"Isn't it obvious?" I said. "You're the employer. I'm the employee. You're rich. I'm not. You practically threatened me. But did I threatenyou? No. I didn't."
"You don'tneedto threaten me," he said. "You hold some nice cards of your own."
I crossed my arms. "Oh yeah? And what cards are those? Go ahead, name one."
"My sister." His voice softened as he said, "She loves you."
"Oh." Those three little words went straight to my heart, and my eyes grew misty as I considered how much I'd enjoyed getting to know her.Willow was a terrific kid.And we reallydidget along. With a fond smile, I replied, "And I love her, too."
"No. Youlikeher. Big difference."
And just like that, I wasn't smiling anymore. "Hey, you're not allowed to tell me how I feel."
"Fair enough," he said. "But if you leave,you'renot gonna be devastated. She will."
"Oh come on," I said. "That's not fair. This job, we never said it was a permanent thing."
"I know," he said. "Which is why the deal was for the remainder of your term, and not forever."
"So I'm supposed to be thankful?"
"No. You're supposed to stick to your word. And you're forgetting something."
My chin lifted. "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"I gave youmine, too. In the pantry. You remember, right?"
I remembered a lot of things from that night. Unfortunately, most of them were X-rated and pretty darn distracting.
With an effort, I tried to focus on the reason I'd come to live here in the first place. It was for Willow, andnotfor her distracting older brother, who yes,hadgiven me his word that he wouldn't fire me if things got complicated.
But he was still missing the point. "Just hear me out," I said. "I'm not saying I want to quit. I'm just saying that I don't like feeling threatened, that's all."
"Yeah? Me neither."
"Oh, get real," I said. "I'm no threat to you."
"That's what you think," he scoffed. "But forgetme."
As if I could.
Mason continued. "About Willow, do you know, aside from family, you're the first adult she's connected with in years?"
Hearing this, something squeezed at my heart. "I am?"
"You know it's true."
I hadn't known for sure, but Ihadsuspected. I murmured, "Yeah, I guess I can see that."
"And," he said, "if I wanted to be real prick, I'd ruin your job prospects for good."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "What, why?"
"So you'd stick around. And hey, I'd make it worth your while."