Test of Loyalty

LAUREN

“Ten…” Mason said, his eyes cold as ice.

“I’m not a spy!” I cried out.

The man behind me pressed the gun closer into my head.

“Nine…”

“I swear! I was just hired for the marketing department!”

“Eight…”

My knees gave out from panic, and the man behind me let me drop. He jammed his gun into the back of my head, the metal digging painfully into my skin.

“Seven…”

I looked up at Mason, those silver eyes of his showing no emotion. I knew then that I could grovel and beg and tell him the truth all I wanted, but it wouldn’t make a difference. I was already dead in his eyes.

“Six…”

“My dad,” I whispered.

That made him pause. “What?”

“My dad,” I repeated. “He’s sick. After…after you get rid of me, can you at least take care of him? Please?”

“Those are your last words?” he asked, his voice hard as steel. “You won’t admit who you work for? Even to save yourself?”

“I’m not a spy,” I said. “That’s the truth.”

We locked gazes for a moment, those dangerous silver eyes penetrating into the core of my soul.

“Gideon,” he said. The gun dug more painfully into my head.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the end. Tears leaked down my cheeks.

But nothing happened.

The gun was taken away and I suddenly felt gentle fingers brushing away the tears on my cheeks. I opened my eyes and my breath caught in my throat to see Mason right in front of me, our faces only inches apart.

He lifted me to my feet so easily it was like I weighed nothing to him.

“You can go,” he said.

Shaking with relief, I turned to walk back towards the elevator.

“Not you,” he said, freezing me in place. “Him.”

Gideon nodded and walked away, disappearing down a half-hidden stairwell I didn’t see earlier.

Leaving me alone.

With Mason Campbell.

I stayed frozen to the spot, paralyzed.

“Congratulations,” he said, his voice cold and deadly. “You’ve passed.”

I blinked, trying to make my brain work again.

“Passed? Like a test?”

“Not very bright, are you?” he said.

“What kind of insane test was that?” I demanded. “Who shoves a gun in their employee’s faces on their first day?”

“Watch your tone,” Mason snapped, his voice like the crack of a whip. “Remember who you’re talking to.”

My mouth suddenly went dry. I wasn’t out of danger yet. I never would be, as long as Mason Campbell was around.

“I have a lot of enemies,” Mason said. He looked around the empty floor, his gaze far away. “They will do anything to destroy me. I had to make sure my new personal assistant was trustworthy.”

“P-personal—” My jaw dropped to the floor. “What about the marketing position I was hired for?”

“I’ve seen your resume. Passable grades. Only two jobs in the past. Zero skills to speak of. Did you seriously think you could work here with those credentials?” Mason said all this casually, like he was talking about the weather rather than insulting me.

“Why do you want someone like me as your assistant then?” I dared ask.

He narrowed those deadly eyes on me. “I have my reasons, Lauren Hart. I don’t need you to be smart. I need you to be loyal. And I needed to see what you were really like under pressure.”

~Under pressure? ~Is that what he called shoving a gun against my head?

“Do you want the job?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. First he threatens to kill me then he offers me a job as his personal assistant? Did every employee here go through the same thing? I knew Mason Campbell was ruthless, but I didn’t know he was insane.

He stepped closer to me, and I couldn’t help but take a half step back. He was just so…~big. ~Not just his muscular frame, but his presence. You couldn’t help but look at him, couldn’t help but be drawn toward him like a magnet. He must have dominated whatever room he was in.

“I will only make this offer to you once.” He checked his Rolex. “I don’t have all day. Take it or leave it.”

What did I want to do? I needed the money. My ~dad ~needed the money. But if the devil himself was going to be my boss, there might be more at stake here than just my financial problems…

“I’ll take it! I’ll take the job.” Clamping my lips together, I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and instead eyed him with disdain.

Mason was checking something on his phone. It was like he forgot I was even there.

“Mr. Campbell, are you listening? I said I’ll take the job.” My entire body thrumming with agitation, I clenched my hands to white-knuckled fists.

“I’ll see you on Monday at eight o’clock,” he said coolly, walking away from me without looking back. The elevator doors opened behind me. “Now get the fuck out of my building.”

I just stared at his massive back as he walked away, completely shocked. What had I just agreed to? But then a strange feeling floated into my mind, a distant memory of when I was a child that I could just barely remember.

Something about all of this was weirdly familiar…

I shook my head as the elevator doors behind me began to close, and I dashed towards them, afraid I’d be trapped on this floor.

I had a new job. A job that could actually pay for my father’s hospital bills.

I couldn’t afford to let myself be distracted…because if I did, my new boss would probably have me killed.