A Coward

"I'm not working this weekend, Octavio," Clover said, giving him a stern look.

Clover should have known better than to provoke him, but he had never shown her this side of him before.

Despite her occasional snarky attitude, she had always complied with his demands like a good subordinate. But she was not his subordinate, and she never would be. She was a dedicated employee and soon-to-be mother, and that was where their relationship ended.

"You are working this weekend, and if you call me Octavio one more time, I'll..."

"Flynn, don't," Jia interrupted, standing up. "Let's all take a deep breath and discuss this like adults."

"There's nothing to discuss," Flynn asserted. As the boss, he had made his decision, and Clover would have to accept it.

"On that, we agree," Clover said, picking up her laptop. "I'll see you on Monday."

"If you leave, you're fired."

"Flynn," Jia interjected, turning to Clover. "Please give me a minute alone with him."

Clover nodded and left the room.

Flynn was not going to back down on this. Clover was not going on a date. "There is nothing you can say, Jia—"

Jia closed the door and faced him. "You can't control her like that. She's not your subordinate."

"I am well aware of what she is. She would make a terrible subordinate." But she would be interesting to train, with all her energy and attitude. He knew he could never fully make her submit, which would make each small act of submission all the more meaningful.

Flynn frowned, reminding himself that he was not looking for a subordinate. He was looking for someone with good genes to mix with his. "But she is my employee."

"Whom you have overworked for months. The number of hours she puts in is insane."

"She is well compensated—"

"Money isn't everything, Flynn."

"I am aware of that." But it did provide him with everything he needed.

"I don't think you truly understand," Jia shook her head at him. "You can't fire her."

"I can. I hired her."

"I hired her."

He shrugged. "I approved it and she works for me. For my department. I can fire her."

"Stop acting like a jerk and tell her how you feel."

"Feel?" He rolled his eyes. "This has nothing to do with feelings." It had to do with keeping her untainted to ensure that the child that'd soon be in her womb would be his.

"Please. You're always watching her, and you make her work every day, even holidays. You keep her here until all hours of the night. You make her come into work instead of telecommuting like almost every other employee."

"She needs to be here. We can't risk the program getting stolen." He was glad when Jia ignored him because they both knew that he had enough funds to minimize that risk to almost nothing.

"You even gave her a room in your house. Not in the business side of your mansion but in your home. A room right down the hallway from yours."

"And would I do that if I had feelings for her?" He'd considered asking her to join him in his bedroom on several occasions, especially the ones where he'd heard her moving about in her bed, soft little sighs and a low hum coming from the room.

It'd taken every bit of willpower he had not to barge in there and let her use his cock instead of that stupid toy, but no matter how much he'd wanted that, she was too important for a heated fling.

"I'm not sure why you haven't slept with her when it's obvious to anyone with eyes that you want her."

"It's not sexual between us." Yes, they'd be having sex, but not for pleasure. Of course, there was no reason not to make it pleasurable.

Some studies suggested that pleasure assisted in the likelihood of conceiving. Plus, pregnancy didn't usually occur the first time. Even if it did, it'd take several weeks to know for sure, and he planned on using those weeks and Clover quite thoroughly.

"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow. "This whole power thing has always been your turn-on."

"Not with Clover. Like I said. She wouldn't make a good submissive."

"Then why are you doing this?" She studied him. "It's obvious that you're attracted to her."

"I suppose I am. Attracted to her mind."

"Her mind?"

"Yes." That wasn't a lie. Clover was the smartest woman he had ever met, and she made decisions based on logic rather than emotions.

"Then tell her."

"I plan to."

"When?"

He shrugged. "When the time is right." He had to be careful because he didn't want to start this new project with an angry and unwilling partner. He would get Clover to agree to his proposal one way or another, but he preferred using incentives rather than threats.

"The right time is now. The poor woman has done nothing but work for almost a year."

"Obviously, that's not true because she found time to video chat with Elias." He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

"Flynn, tell her how you feel. Take her out to dinner or a movie."

"I don't want to date her."

"Then what do you want?"

"That's between me and her." He wasn't interested in hearing Jia's opinion on his plan. She wouldn't approve.

"If you're too stubborn to express your feelings for her—"

"I feel nothing for her except admiration for her intelligence." He had always been attracted to intelligent women. Usually, they were more physically appealing than Clover, but he never argued with his desires. He simply gave in to what his body wanted.

"Then you and your admiration will have to come to terms with the fact that she's going to go out with other guys."

"No, she won't." He couldn't allow that.

"She will, and you can't fire her because of it."

"Of course not."

Jia let out a sigh of relief, and Flynn felt like laughing.

"That would be unethical. However, I will fire her if she doesn't work this weekend, including tonight."

"I don't understand why I bother discussing anything related to emotions with you."

"Me neither. You've known me for over twenty-five years. You should know that I'm never influenced by emotions."

"That's true." Jia smiled, and Flynn's instincts screamed a warning. "Let me appeal to your logical side. You can't fire her because without her, your project won't be completed, and you'll have nothing to show to those investors."

"I'll hire someone else."

"That didn't work in the past. You were in the meeting. She has resolved most of the performance issues. The facial recognition is the next major challenge, and she's facing some difficulties with it. I already have a few potential candidates in mind. You would fire her and hand this over to someone else? After all the hard work she has put in?" Jia stared at him in disbelief. "I know you can be ruthless, but until now, you've always been fair."

"And I will be fair to her as well." He was going to be more than fair. He was going to offer her the one thing she desired most in the world, and all it would cost her was the use of her womb.