Billionaire Romance: Darque Initiation (A Darque Billionaire Romance Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

toward the client who was already there and already talking business.
    “Sorry,” she whispered so low she might as well have mouthed it.
    Then as she turned her chin up, her hope was dashed to pieces. There he was the head of the Darque Campaign himself—Bastien. And he looked…surprisingly like the guy from the bar.
    Holy Shit! she said with her eyes and gaping mouth. The same guy who saw her get totally wasted. The same guy who took her home, put her to bed, fed her, and then told her to get to the hell to work in the nicest way possible.
    “No, no, no, no…” she muttered to herself, feeling the inevitable firing to come. She was not only late, she had made a fool of herself in front of the firm’s biggest client to date. It really was the end of the world, wasn’t it?
    Well, look on the bright side , her mother’s overly critical voice said inside her head—as always. At least you won’t have to work in reputation management much longer.
    Maybe this wasn’t such a catastrophe, she tried to rationalize, all the while pretending to listen to Bastien’s long-winded speech on the Darque name. Maybe Bastien Darque—oh, God, the man I tried to kiss last night in drunken whore state—is amused at the whole thing. Maybe he likes me. Maybe I’m freaking out for nothing. I know…I’ll look over at him and smile. And maybe then he’ll let me know everything is all right.
    She looked over to meet his eyes and half-smiled.
    Bastien met her for just a split second and glared. He wasn’t amused. He was downright sharky and snarky looking. A razor’s edge of a frown and barking orders at the men like they were all personally responsible for his bad day. His brusque tone of voice was menacing, sounding like every young executive from Hell, trying to browbeat everyone into total self-loathing cooperation.
    “I don’t think there’s anything more to say on it,” he said. “Go and do your jobs. My family’s name has been dragged through the mud. But I have full confidence that you will fix this. We have invested a lot of money in making sure you fix this. Do your job. Don’t make me come back here. Understood?”
    The room chanted in agreement. Meanwhile, Bella went into shivers and jitters, thinking of how out of place she felt in the room. Not just a fish out of water, but downright alien. She knew she was offensively underqualified to be here. And to top it all off, she had already lost the boss’ confidence in the worst first date ever, in the history of humanity.
    After Bastien dismissed the room of suits, and didn’t bother singling her out for a hello, she quickly ran up to Carter Abrams and whined in desperation.
    “Can I talk to you a minute?”
    “I called you two hours ago.”
    “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t get the message. But please, can we just talk out in the hallway?”
    “Make it snappy,” he said, snapping back at her as they walked out to an empty hallway.
    “Mister Abrams? Please…take me off this case?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “This whole thing has been a disaster. Just please let me go.  Let me work on something else.”
    “Work on something else?” he said with a scowl. “Aren’t you still going for your Master’s in Marketing? This internship is part of your record, Bella. You know that.”
    “I know, I know.”
    “What’s the problem?”
    “It’s him. I can’t work for him.”
    “Who? Darque? Bella, you’re going to be dealing with a lot of men like him. It’s just public relations.”
    “No, no. You don’t understand! I know him . I can’t work for him.”
    “You mean…you know him, know him?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
    “I…no, not like that,” she corrected, rolling her eyes. “I just don’t think our personalities mesh well. I don’t think…”
    “Bella, this is part of your internship. I respect that you have strong objections to his character. But this is part of the life. You have to suck it up. You have to finish the job. At