Evaline:
"How about triple of your bonus?"
The words froze my tongue right at the tip of my refusal.
I had opened my mouth to firmly, politely, and definitively reject River's offer to join his mysterious new project, but instead of a sharp 'no,' my lips parted… and nothing came out.
I blinked, trying to reboot my brain. "I-what?"
He didn't repeat himself. He didn't have to. His unreadable gaze - half calculating, half indifferent - met mine like he already knew the chaos his words had triggered in my head.
Triple. Bonus.
That wasn't a small increase. That was a complete flip of the table. My sensible self had been ready to walk away, shielding itself from the storm that was River Thorne, but now it was quietly pulling up a chair and weighing the possibilities.
I needed the money.
Badly.