Mated to my Billionaire Boss

Emma Arrives as Alexander Drax's Assistant at Drax Industries

1. The Arrival

The elevator ride to the seventy-fifth floor of Drax Industries lasted longer than it should have. I had knots in my belly, the nerves tightening with every fleeting second. The walls of the elevator were reflective metal, catching me in whatever anxious expression was written on my face-wide blue eyes, lips pressed together with my one stubborn auburn strand refusing to stay put behind my ear. I took a deep breath to steady myself.

It was just a job.

Certainly, a high-profile one, but still just a job.

Then why was it that I felt I was about to walk into a lion's den?

The name Alexander Drax was spoken in business circles with a mix of awe and fear. A billionaire. A heartless pioneer. A man who'd raised an empire from nothing-a man who had, apparently, crushed anyone who dared get in his way.

And here I was about to be his assistant.

I adjusted my leather bag's strap and checked my reflection in the elevator door one last time. Professional, composed, and ready.

And then the elevator dinged.

Floor 75.

2. The Silence

The doors slid open, exposing a cold, modern battlefield.

The whole top floor was encased in glass, granting an unsettling panorama of the city below. It was monochromatically decorated. Black marble, steel mix-his taste was exquisite yet cold. The air smelled faintly of leather and something metallic.

What struck me was the silence.

No assistants bustling about, no receptionist at a desk beside him keenly happy, no chipper chit-chatter-all just a strange, all-consuming quiet.

I took a few hesitant steps forward, my heels clicking against the marble floor. I took a quick look around the open area. Several workstations stood waiting; no workers were to be seen. Several desks sat empty; no papers cluttered the tops.

It felt like stepping into a machine; one that operated on whispers and precision.

Then I saw the frosted glass doors in front of me, sternly engraved with a single imposing name:

ALEXANDER DRAX, CEO.

I pulled myself up straight. I was commanded to report directly to him. No assistant to greet me. No wisecracks beforehand. Just him.

I raised my hand to knock.

Then a voice.

Quiet. Slow.

"You're late."

3. The First Encounter.

I caught my breath.

I spun round, heart pounding, to find a man standing at the broad picture window.

He stood rigidly, his back to me, arms clasped behind him, with the glimmering skyline spread endlessly behind him, yet he didn't turn.

"Oh, are-"

"I'm not wasting time listening to your excuses."

There was an authoritative note that nearly cut through the air, leeched with an almost sweet menace.

I hesitated. Something about the way he stood-completely still-set my instincts screaming: I was being size-upped and reassessed.

"Close the door," he said.

I complied, my fingers trembling slightly on the heavy glass door as I shut it behind him. The latch clicked solemnly.

He turned.

And for a split second, I forgot how to breathe.

Alexander Drax resembled nothing like I had imagined.

I had gotten an impression of an old, gray-headed corporate overlord, perhaps somewhere in his mid-forties, with an ice-cold penetrating stare and a stiffer black suit. The man who stood in front of me was something else.

He was in his mid-thirties, yet there was something on his face that made him seem older. The suit fit him to ruthless perfection: the dark fabric accentuated broad shoulders and a lean, powerful build. His was a face of sharp angles and clean lines, striking enough to keep one's gaze.

And then there were the eyes.

Storm-gray. Bright. Cold.

Eyes who studied me as if I were an equation they wanted solved.

"You won't last a month," he said flatly.

The words sent a shiver to my spine.

I straightened to my full height. "If that's so, what do I have this month for?"

For the first time, the flicker that crossed his face could have been taken for amusement-or curiosity.

Then, as quickly as it surfaced, it vanished.

He turned towards his black glass desk and replied, "We shall see if you are worth the trouble, Miss Sinclair."

My fingers clenched at my sides.

A test.

Only I didn't yet know how many ways existed to fail this one.

The First Task

Drax sat behind the desk, fingers steepled. "I presume you have had instructions from before you arrived?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Then the efficiency is non-negotiable."

I had read the handbook for assistants, or rather just the two-page correspondence that reached me. Unlike most corporate manuals that have prescribed processes or standard procedures, this one was blunt to a point bordering on ominous.

Directions for Alexander Drax's Assistant:

1. Do not waste time.

2. Do not make the same point twice.

3. Do not expect praise to be given.

I had thought this to be melodramatic. Standing there in front of him, it suddenly made perfect sense.

"Good," said he. "Now let's begin."

He slid a slim black folder across the desk.

"Inside it is a contract. Your first job is to figure out what's wrong with it."

I hesitated. "Sir, I-"

"Time's wasting."

I bit my lip, picked up the folder, and opened it. The document inside was thick with legalese, pages of fine print. I quickly thumbed through the text, scanning for anything that seemed out of whack.

I had been at it for two minutes.

And then-

It was there.

A subtle error, buried in the clauses. A single line changing financial liability that looked rather intentional.

I looked up. "This contract is fraudulent."

Drax leaned slightly forward, interest simmering in his eyes. "Explain."

I tapped the page, saying, "Clause 14 contradicts Clause 6 and creates a loophole that transfers the company's liability to the client. This has been dressed up as an everyday clause but has been deliberately set up as a trap."

Silence.

Then, a hint of a smirk-and I would take the time to say the smallest hint-"Smart."

I let out a fine breath, feeling lighter. Maybe I had-

"You're still too damn slow."

The words landed right in my lungs.

I blinked. "I-"

"You took two minutes and thirty-eight seconds to catch an error that should have taken no more than ninety seconds."

I clenched my jaw tightly. "Most people wouldn't have caught it at all."

He tilted his head slightly, apparently in consideration. "True."

He then closed the folder and put it aside. "You'll get faster. Or you won't."

Implication: If I didn't? Then I wouldn't last.

I settled my gaze on him for a second. "I will get faster."

That was the first time he smiled.

A sharp and knowing smile.

"We'll see."

The Warning

As I emerged from his office, my heart raced. The humidity in the corridor almost seemed to clutch at my throat.

I had passed the first test.

But this was only the opening round.

And in some small place in me, a voice harangued me,

Careful.

Alexander Drax was not testing me.

He was studying me.

And

I had the strangest feeling...

That he already knew exactly how this would end.