Sheikh's Revenge by Jessica Brooke, Ella Brooke Page A

to her. I warned you not to play with her heart as you did, and I know that you didn’t mean it, that you got caught up and really do love her, but Addison doesn’t know that. Now you need to figure out a way to show her.”
    “She’s screened my calls and e-mails.”
    “Oh don’t be pathetic. You have one of the fastest private jets in the world on standby.”
    “So you’re saying?”
    “Go get her, Zahir. I have no use for someone so mopey around the palace, and the glower doesn’t suit you.”
    ***
    “I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a teller,” she said honestly. “I’m not trying to be picky, Will, and I know you do well enough at the bank, but I tend to get nervous under pressure. At least in certain ways. I’m the girl who freaked out and spilled coffee over one of the richest men in America. I think if I had to do everything on a Friday afternoon when everyone is rushing home from work, I’d just mess it up big time,” she admitted, biting her lip and frowning over the application open on her laptop. “Is that okay?”
    Her brother sighed. “You do need a job, and just because one ended badly and one wasn’t what you thought it could be…”
    “I was pretty much used and discarded.”
    “You ran,” he countered. “Whether you were there for ulterior motives, you still moved across the planet to a country where you didn’t speak the language and earned the respect of the other personal assistants in the pool. That means you’re a lot more competent than you think. Just fill it out, and we can start you off in something easier than teller rush line. I promise.”
    She nodded and started clacking the keys, filling out everything almost as if she were a robot on autopilot, but her heart wasn’t in it. Right now, she felt like the most incompetent idiot on the planet, and she just didn’t know what to do with her life, no matter how much Will tried to lift her spirits. She was a screw up, and she knew it.
    “What a mess you’ve made, Addison,” she said to herself as she typed further.
    Then her cell rang and she stopped, gaping at the number. There was no way she was seeing the correct return address on the caller ID. That was the most insane thing in a life suddenly filled with batshit craziness.
    Her first reaction was to ignore it. But then, feeling her heart flutter with anxiety, she picked up her phone and answered.
    Please don’t be sending me some court summons soon. God, please…
    “Oh Addison, how nice to finally be speaking with you,” Clayton said.
    She rolled her eyes at his theatrics, relieved he couldn’t see her. Of course he’d be annoyed that she’d picked up on the fourth ring. After all, it was Mr. McDermott’s world and she just lived in it. He needed answers on the first ring, but she didn’t work for him anymore.
    “What can I do for you?”
    “I wanted you to talk. Can you please come to my office? I’d much rather discuss matters in the office and try to find a private way to settle everything than drag you into court. It’s not as if I can get any money from you anyway.”
    She paled, and even when she spoke, her voice came out as a high squeak. “But the coffee didn’t even burn you, and I paid to replace your suit.”
    “No, Miss Morgan. There’s that sticky issue of the nondisclosure agreement you signed. I know that you had to be the leak for Amun, and I’m not pleased. If you don’t want to be sued into oblivion, then you need to come to my office, and now. Don’t think I won’t end what’s left of you. Now get down here.”
    She shuddered to herself long after the phone clicked off. It seemed that no matter what she had done or hadn’t done that her life was always circling Clayton McDermott. She was always under his thumb. It wasn’t enough that Zahir had played with her heart and torn her apart. Now she had to deal with Mr. McDermott’s wrath.
    “Perfect, freaking perfect,” she muttered to herself and then rushed to get showered.