Read Surrender 01 - Surrender for Free Online Page B

procedure. Because this isn’t an emergency surgery, we can’t schedule it until payment arrangements are made. We’re here to help you get this funded, apply for loans, grants, whatever it takes. We won’t leave you in the dark, but we must have funding before we operate.”
    The bottom fell out for Ari. It all boiled down to money — which she didn’t have. The men continued speaking, but she didn’t hear anything else they had to say. She was spiraling down a long, dark hole. The only way for her to escape, it seemed, was to take the job as Rafe Palazzo’s mistress.

Chapter Four

    “Have you made your decision, Ms. Harlow?” Rafe had said he’d give her until the next day to make her choice. It seemed he didn’t want to allow her any time. With guilt for her mother weighing on her mind, she didn’t feel she had the luxury of waiting, though.
    “Yes, I’ll take the…position,” Ari practically whispered into the receiver. She had barely sat down on her couch at home when her phone rang and she heard Raffaello Palazzo on the other end of the line.
    “I’m pleased to hear that. I’ll send a driver over to pick you up so we can discuss the small details,” he said just before she heard the dial tone of a disconnected call.
    The man didn’t give her any time to argue or tell him she had other plans. She glared at the beeping handset before slowly hanging it up. She knew what she was getting into — or did she? Once she entered his employment, that’s how it would always be. He’d make a command and she’d be expected to follow whatever it was he requested.
    Yes, he’d said that he wouldn’t beat her or make her break the law — did he honestly expect her to gain any comfort from that fact? She’d have a broken spirit, but that didn’t count.
    Her mother’s pale face flashed before her eyes. She could do this. She could do anything for the woman who’d given up so much for her.
    She didn’t bother changing from her baggy jeans and loose T-shirt. If he didn’t like her outfit, he could rescind his job offer. She’d at least have no guilt about refusing the job. It would be out of her hands. Just when she was about to panic and change her mind — throw on a dress and heels because she desperately needed this job — the doorbell rang.
    It suddenly occurred to her that she’d never listed her physical address on her application —she had given only an old post office box number. Still, she wasn’t really surprised that he knew where she lived . She was sure he’d already done a thorough check on everything about her. He didn’t seem the type of man who went into anything blindly. At this point, he probably knew her better than she knew herself.
    She opened her door to find Mr. Mario Kinsor, the person she’d had her first interview with, standing before her , impeccably dressed with the same kind smile on his face as before.
    “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Harlow. If you’re ready, I have the car waiting.”
    Realizing that he had to know what the job position was, Ari’s face turned slightly pink as she followed him down the steps to the back door of the Bentley, which looked so out of place in her less than desirable neighborhood. He must think of her as a tramp — or a moneygrubber. The thought was mortifying.
    He held open her door and she quickly climbed in, not daring to meet his eyes again. She truly didn’t know how she was going to do this. It was degrading. The many employees of Mr. Palazzo had to know he hired his lovers the same way he hired the rest of his staff.
    She’d never be able to look any of them in the eye. Did his business colleagues know about it, too? Would she be in a state of infinite embarrassment the entire time and every time she was beside him at business functions ? Would she be mocked?
    What about after he discarded her? She’d forever have this humiliating mark upon her. Even if she managed to get back to school and somehow become a professor,