Taming a Brat Pt. 03

*Alias's POV*

It was the next morning, I woke up to my incredibly irritating alarm and rolled out of bed to get ready for my first day. I would be working out of Rhodes Inc. from now on to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Well, that and so Kane Rhodes and watch my every move. I'm over it already.

You can do this, Alias. This is what you're good at. Nobody can stand in the way of you. I always reassured myself. I knew I was capable of anything I put my mind too, but this was definitely a different style of business partnership than I have ever had before.

While I was waiting for my coffee to brew, a loud shrill sounded through the kitchen. Ugh, my phone. A blessing and a curse in my life. I glanced at the screen,

*Incoming Call: Unknown Caller*

No thanks, it's always spam. I silenced my phone and set it back on the counter. I started drinking my coffee and headed to my room to take a shower. I plugged my phone up to my speaker and played my favorite playlist as I hopped into the warm shower. All my worries temporarily melted away, until it was time to turn the shower off and let reality set in.

I wrapped a towel around my body, wrung the excess water out of my hair, and slipped my fuzzy slippers on. I went back to the kitchen for another cup of coffee when I saw the Kane Rhodes standing in the middle of my damn apartment.

I jumped when I saw him, "What the fuck!" I screamed at him.

Damn, despite the alarming fact that he was in my apartment uninvited, I noticed how handsome he really was. He wore a navy blue suit that hugged him in all the right places. His curly brown hair pushed back out of his face and there was dark beard stubble lining his perfectly cut jaw.

"Ignoring my calls on the first day?" He said sternly.

"What?" I replied back genuinely confused at this entire situation. "How did you get in here?"

"I called you and left a voicemail a half hour ago. You never called back. I told the woman at the desk that I was your boyfriend, and I needed to get my car keys from you, but you weren't answering your phone." He responded smugly.

My jaw must have hit the floor. "You did WHAT?" I asked, almost furious at the situation at this point. "What gives you the right?"

"You did, when you agreed to work with me."

"I definitely didn't agree to you breaking in my fucking apartment, Kane!" Rage was surging through me.

"I didn't break in, and I wouldn't be here if you had answered your phone, which you did agree too." He winked, clearly finding this entire thing amusing.

"How do you even know where my apartment is?" I asked seriously hoping he's not secretly a psychopathic stalker.

"I called Sarah, your assistant. She's lovely, by the way." He replied with a smirk.

"Damn, Sarah sold me out and didn't even warn me," I shook my head, knowing she meant no harm.

"I might have tricked her a little into giving it to me, so don't hold it against her," He said softly.

"I'm not going to hold it against her, but you are a totally different story," I smiled and rolled my eyes, "What did you want to talk to me about anyway?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to grab breakfast before you start your first day," he smiled.

"Do you do this for all of your employees?" I asked with a smirk.

"Only the ones who's phones I've broken," he said jokingly.

"I suppose breakfast sounds nice."

"I'll wait here while you finish getting dressed."

Realization hit me, I have been standing in a towel throughout this entire encounter. My cheeks must have turned fifty shades of red. I wrapped my arms around my body and looked at the floor.

"Oh my god! I can't believe I've just been here naked this whole time!" I cried out in embarrassment.

"You aren't naked," he smirked.

"Because a towel counts for so much," I said while my eyes drilled holes in the floor.

"No need to cover up your body, Alias."

"There definitely is a need."

I spun on my heels and ran into my room, slamming the door behind me before he could say anything else. What a great way to start a new job, Alias, your boss has seen you practically nude. He wasn't even phased by it though, he has probably seen thousands of women's bodies, so I'm sure it was nothing to him. To me, it was the most embarrassing thing of the century.

I threw on a short baby blue skirt, matching blazer, white tank top with lace trim, paired with nude pumps. I quickly put on mascara and lipstick, ran the curling iron through my hair and grabbed my belongings. Kane was leaned on the island in the kitchen staring intently down at his phone. He looked up from his phone and his face relaxed into a smile as he looked at me up and down.

"Alias, you l- Ready to go?" He asked.

"Now I am," I said with a nervous laugh, curious as to what he was about to say. I decided to let it go and go on to breakfast.

We made our way down to the first floor of my apartment building and stepped outside the glass doors. Kane made a phone call and a car pulled up right in front of us. The driver stepped out and greeted Kane and myself as he held the door for us. Of course he has a driver.

"Alias, this is Damion, he is my closest friend and the best driver I know," he said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Alias," he replied, "You own Star Marketing?"

"Likewise, Damion, and yes I do. I started it from the ground up," I replied with a smile.

"That's extremely impressive, especially in the short time since you've opened. Kane here could use someone as inspirational as you at Rhodes Inc."

I giggled as Kane blushed a bit at the comment. "He must have put you up to buttering me up since he broke my phone and all."

"He broke your phone, ah, you're the lady in the street?" Damion asked, knowingly.

I laughed in realization, "Kane must have mentioned me already."

"Only good things, Alias, cross my heart," Damion replied.

"Enough, enough," Kane said with a laugh, "Alias, since you have a new phone save my number so we don't have to repeat today's events."

I rolled my eyes and smiled as I pulled out my phone to save Kane's number. We arrived at a fancy hotel outside of Manhattan. I was familiar with the restaurant inside, but have never been before. Apparently, it has the best view of the city being located on the top floor of the enormous skyscraper.

"Have you ever been here, Alias?" Kane asked as I stared up to the top of the building.

"No, but I've heard it has a beautiful view," I replied.

"Indeed, it does. Let's go inside." He placed his hand on the small of my back as he ushered me into the building. I didn't mind as it seemed like a polite gesture, helping me get inside. We rode the elevator to the top floor to find the entire restaurant vacant.

"Are they closed?" I asked, slightly disappointed.

"Mr. Rhodes, welcome! Please come this way. We have everything ready for you!" A young hostess appeared from the kitchen and lead the way to our table. "I will be right back with your drinks!"

"You rented the restaurant?" I asked in shock.

"Absolutely, you can't have the best view in the city with people surrounding you," he said thoughtfully.

"I'd have to agree with you there, it's breathtaking. Thank you. You didn't have to do all of this."

"I wanted too, it's the least I could do considering. I hope we have a good partnership together," he replied.

"I believe we will. Can I ask something off the record?" I questioned him.

He looked a bit surprised, but said, "Go ahead."

"Do you make rules for everyone you work with?"

"I do."

"What happens when someone breaks a rule?"

"They get punished."

I flinched a little at his response. "Punished how?" I wondered.

"It's different for everyone, depending on the rule, most times I just cut ties and never do business with them again."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"No, I don't think so at all, Alias. Are you going to break my rules?" He had a dark look in his eyes as he asked me.

"No, sir! I don't plan on it anyway," I replied, trying to lighten the conversation. He smirked when I called him sir. I must have found a weakness. I smirked back, knowing I could use this to my advantage in the future. He was about to speak when the waitress came with mimosas and fresh pancakes piled high with steam rolling off them.

"Oh my god, it's my dream breakfast!" I yelled out looking at my favorite two breakfast items displayed beautifully on the table in front of me.

"You can't go wrong with pancakes and mimosas," Kane said jokingly.

We ate our meal and had small talk throughout, allowing me to learn a little about Kane Rhodes. He is an only child, turned his family company into a billion dollar franchise. He was different than I had first assumed, but he definitely had some issues of his own he kept inside. We watched the sunrise over the city through the glass walls before deciding to go back down to the car and head into the office.

Kane, again, placed his hand on the small of my back escorting me through the building and into the car. Damion started driving towards Rhodes Inc. as Kane and I continued to talk.

"Did you enjoy it, Alias?"

"Absolutely, consider us even on the phone ordeal."

"And from now on, you'll return my calls," Kane said with a smile.

"I will return your calls from now on," I smiled back at him.

As we approached the office, Kane told Damion to drop me off at the door, then make a block and drop him off.

"Don't want to be seen with me, huh?" I joked.

"I'm giving you a head start, the game changes when I step into the office. You listen to me, what I say goes, and we aren't friends," he said coldly.

Well, fuck everything I was thinking at breakfast. Kane Rhodes is an asshole. Excuse me for thinking we could be civil colleagues, but instead the devil himself had just lured me into his trap.

I gulped as the car came to a halt in front of the large building. I glanced back at Kane, feeling butterflies in my stomach going in for the first time. He smirked at me, not offering any words of encouragement.

"Hope you can make it here, Alias," He called out as I exited the car.

I'll show you, Kane Rhodes. You can't break me, you'll be begging me to stay before it's said and done.

Now, where the hell do I go?