Sophie smirked as soon as the man finished counting the entire wad of bills.“As I said, right?” She proudly grinned. “Five thousand dollars as promised.”The man - laden with neck tattoos and wearing a black wifebeater - raised his hand to scratch his beard lightly, with his pocket knife.“Five thousand is the minimum payment, not what you fucking owe us, Clandestine.” He pointed the pocket knife at her, and she pursed her lips in a pout.“I don’t have any more money.” She argued. It had taken her a lot to get this cash out of Anna, including lying about paying a payday loan she had taken out. It was impossible to get twenty thousand dollars more now. “Look, I promised you the minimum payment, not that I would pay off everything at once. Please do me this solid. I’ll make sure I pay off the remaining 20k.”“Actually,” the man corrected, “It’s closer to thirty now. You haven’t forgotten the interest rates, have you, mija?”Oh no.Sophie felt her resolve to pay back her debt dwindling

They were at a standstill now. Even now, Anna was questioning her own sanity. What was she hoping to gain from refusing to just leave his office?She squared her shoulders and raised her chin up at him in defiance, even with those doubts running through her head.If she lost this job, how would she be able to save face? How would she take care of her children?To Anna’s surprise, William didn’t move one inch nor did he open his mouth to immediately call for security to force her out of his office and escort her out of the company premises.No. Instead, he regarded her silently. She met his eyes, unable to ignore the magnetic way they arrested her. She could sink into the depths of those glowing emerald orbs if she had the chance…“You are a stubborn woman,” William sounded calmer than she expected even though his voice was brusque.“I try.” She muttered under her breath but she heard him chuckle. Had he heard her?“Clearly you are smart, capable…” he took a step toward her. Anna insti

William was barely halfway through perusing the document Anna had brought for him when his phone rang in his jacket pocket. He picked it up, and answered the call without checking the ID.“Alpha.” A gruff sounding man was on the other end. William recognized it to be the voice of his chief guard in the pack. “There has been word from the delegates sent to the Eclipse Pack.”“Alright. What is the report?”“The Alpha of the Eclipse pack insists on seeing you, Alpha. Tonight. The delegates say he refused to meet them on account of you not being among them. He says that if you do not show up tonight, then there will be no negotiation.“A growl slipped from his lips and stood up, matters of the Hayes Company forgotten.“He dares?!” William snarled, beginning to pace up and down his office.He had to reign in all his anger in order to think.“They await your orders, Alpha.” The chief guard continued, sounding a little bit nervous. “Do they leave the Eclipse pack and return to us?”“Wait,” W

“What did he want?” Were the first words thrown at William as he entered his suite. Luckily for him, he was used to his mother ambushing him in his own private quarters all the time.He cocked a brow at his elegantly dressed mother who looked like she was returning from a party.“You’re doing it again.” He said, completely ignoring her question thrown at him. As he removed his jacket and draped it on his favorite armchair, he walked over to his bar to select a bottle of wine - something his mother preferred. “Maybe don’t hound my chief guard that way to get information on my whereabouts.”“Don’t be ridiculous,” she argued, as he popped open the bottle of wine. “I was only curious as to why you had rushed back this afternoon instead of coming back home at your usual time.” She accepted the glass of wine and inhaled the woody scent with floral undertones. “Hmmm, exquisite.” She took a sip.William sat down on his armchair and sipped generously at his own glass of wine.“Drake wanted to

How had she been so damn careless?She raged within herself as self-deprecating thoughts came up in her mind. She remembered picking up her purse, her phone and her house key was already in her purse too… but not her bag.Damn it, she groaned loudly.Fuck.“Fudgesticks.” She whispered, meanwhile all curse words in her head were being run over again and again.Damn. She had to go back to the office.Could she go back?She spied the time on the wall clock. It was a few minutes past 9.She could trust her children to be asleep, and it would take only an hour…She downed the rest of her wine from the glass and securely kept both glass and half-empty wine in the secured cabinet and locked it firmly.Then she picked up the house keys, her wallet and her phone and rushed right out of the house.***Sophie smiled to herself, content in sipping the glass of very expensive champagne which she had taken from their parent’s home. She firmly expected to hear good news from the men she had hired.