Chapter 5 - The Offer
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“I am taking over my father’s empire,” Leandro explained, leaning casually against her cheap laminate counter. “That requires stability. It requires public respect. Stella is volatile, arrogant, and surrounded by enablers who are too terrified to tell her no.”
“I noticed,” Nevaeh muttered.
“You didn't just tell her no,” Leandro said, his dark eyes locking onto hers. “You broke her down. You commanded a room full of dangerous people without a weapon or a title. That is a very rare skill.”
Nevaeh tightened her grip on her own arms. “What do you want from me, Mr. Perry?”
“I want you to come work at my estate,” Leandro said. “Not as a maid. Not as a server. As my personal executive assistant, and the head of my household staff. Your primary directive will be to manage my sister. Keep her in line. Fix her messes before they hit the newspapers.”
“You want me to babysit a psychopath.”
“I want you to cage her,” Leandro corrected smoothly.
Nevaeh let out a dry, humorless laugh. “Why on earth would I willingly walk into a mafia compound? Your sister wants me dead.”
Leandro reached into his breast pocket. He pulled out a sleek, black checkbook and a heavy gold pen. He didn't hesitate. He wrote out a number, signed his name with a sharp flourish, and slid the check across the counter.
Nevaeh looked down. It was a certified cashier’s check for eighty-four thousand dollars.
“This clears your mother’s debt today,” Leandro said, his voice dropping to a low, hypnotic register. “Your starting salary will be triple what you made at the restaurant. You will have full medical benefits, a private suite at the estate, and absolute immunity from my sister’s tantrums. She will not lay a finger on you.”
Nevaeh stared at the paper. It was freedom. It was a lifeline thrown into a drowning sea. But it was handed to her by the devil himself.
“And if I say no?” she asked quietly.
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“Then I leave, and you never see me again,” Leandro promised. “But I don't think you are a woman who walks away from a fight when her family’s survival is on the line.”
He was right. She reached out and picked up the check.
