DevilishlyHot by Unknown Read Free Book Online

Wasn’t that the game? Make her trip up so she would break contract, and they would get her soul?
    She’d learned pretty quickly to trust no one within Finola’s company. Yet she had stupidly begun to trust both Charlie and Ava, because they’d been so warm to her. Maybe that was just some sort of setup. A way to see if she was really loyal to Finola. For all she knew, Charlie could report everything she said back to Finola.
    None of the HOT! staff were her real friends. Hadn’t she learned anything over her years of working for Finola? She had to keep all her cards close to her chest. Be careful who you trust. Be careful what you say. Do your work. And try to avoid Finola’s wrath as much as possible.
    That was how she planned to survive. She only had seven more years until her contract was paid in full.
    She groaned. “Seven years.”

Chapter Four
    “I need you to find out everything you can about a Detective Nick Rossi.”
    Annie stared at her boss, not sure why the request surprised her. Finola had asked her to do many strange things over the past three years, not the least of which was locating hundreds of lovebirds in the greater borough of New York for a photoshoot. Tracking down a specific silk weaver who raised a particular, preferable type of silkworm and lived in a remote part of China. And the worst being when she insisted that Annie purchase the original celluloid reels of Casablanca so Finola could have a designer make them into a dress that she would then wear on the red carpet for the Oscars.
    Needless to say, Annie hadn’t managed the last one, but she did manage to save her immortal soul by getting the original reels from Night of the Demons , which, not surprisingly, was also one of Finola’s favorite movies, so her demanding boss was appeased. And actually did look quite stunning on the red carpet.
    So strange requests Annie had handled. But Finola’s requests had always centered around the world of fashion and her place in it. Annie didn’t know what to make of investigating an investigator. Why would Finola want her to do that? Was she in trouble? Could a detective even be a threat to a—creature like Finola?
    But she knew better than to ask questions like that. Instead she asked, “What do you want to know?”
    Finola didn’t answer her right away. Instead she wandered over to her desk, not taking a seat, but absently running her fingertips along the edge of her desk, then over the back of her leather desk chair. Her movements had an almost daydreaming, sensual quality.
    Annie found her motions almost entrancing, even as she found them odd. She’d never seen Finola act this way.
    Through the glass walls, Annie could see Tristan in his own office, seated at his desk. He spoke on the phone, but his attention appeared more focused on their boss than his conversation. His unusually beautiful face was marred by a frown and his own expression looked as vexed as Annie felt. Clearly he was aware of Finola’s strange behavior too.
    What was wrong with her?
    Finally she turned back to Annie as if she’d just realized her assistant had asked a question.
    “I want you to find out everything,” she said as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. “Where he lives. Where his office is. What he does in his spare time. About his family.”
    Annie couldn’t suppress her frown. Family? She didn’t think she’d ever heard Finola say that word before. It sounded almost like a foreign term when passing over Finola’s bloodred lips.
    Then as if the word disturbed her too, Finola’s wistful expression hardened and she clearly considered something she hadn’t thought of until that moment.
    “I want to know whether he’s married. Or if he has a girlfriend.”
    Ah, realization hit Annie. Her boss was romantically interested in this man. Annie had never seen Finola act this way over a man before. She seemed outright—smitten.
    Finola always had men. They flocked to her. And usually she just