The Intern: Enemies To Lovers

If we had been alone without a flight attendant and Jenner in the back bedroom, my voice would have risen. I was doing everything in my goddamn power to keep it low, but the anger was certainly coming through.

“I’ve treated you like an employee these past couple of days. Have I mentioned what happened between us? No. Have I hauled you into my office to fuck you? No, I haven’t done that either. So, what actions are you talking about?”

“That’s the whole thing-you’ve done nothing. How do you think that makes me feel?”

I’d told her to give this time. When I’d asked if she could do that, she’d nodded.

Now, she was changing her opinion?

“Hannah, this isn’t easy-”

“You keep saying that.” She leaned forward in her seat, as though she were trying to get closer. “And you said to give this time.” When she paused, I swore she could see right into my thoughts. “But, Declan, why isn’t this easy? What the hell are you going to do with more time?” She moved the laptop to the seat next to her, her free hands now holding her knees. “Are you going to contemplate whether you like me? Whether I’m worth it? Whether you can handle-”

“Whether I’m willing to risk it all to be with you.”

Her face scrunched up, like I’d just taken all the air out of her lungs. “Then, why do you keep trying to fuck me? Is that all I’m good for? A body, nothing else. You know I won’t say anything to my cousins, so you’re safe. You can have your cake-or brownies-and eat it too.”

“It’s not like that.”NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“What’s it like, then, Declan?”

Fuck, she was going to make a strong litigator.

She had more power in her voice now than when I’d mentored her in the classroom.

“I’ve more or less been single for thirty-two years, Hannah. Relationships aren’t something I’m good at. I was warned by Dominick to basically stay the fuck away from you. I have a very serious position at your family’s firm, and it wouldn’t bode well for me if they found out I was fucking my intern-someone who shares the same last name as them. I’m trying to become partner, not get my ass fired. Like I said before, this isn’t easy.”

“Dominick warned you?”

I glanced out the window as the plane hit a patch of rough air. “Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“He wants you to be successful, and he doesn’t want anything or anyone to wreck those plans.”

“Interesting.” She sat back in her seat, her posture erect. “That doesn’t change anything. What my cousin wants and what I want don’t have to align.”

“When he’s my boss, it absolutely does.”

“So, you’re going to let Dominick dictate where we stand?”

My hand went to my hair, and I didn’t know if I should slide my fingers through it or tear it from the fucking roots. “No, I’m not. But when I told you this needs time, I need you to respect that. So, this drama”-I pointed between us-“doesn’t need to happen.”

She bared her teeth. “Show me some respect, then. Stop being an asshole.”

“That’s who I am. You, us, work-nothing will change that.”

She crossed her arms over her stomach. “When I heard you in Dominick’s office, pleading with him, Ford, and Jenner to assign me to a different mentor, I should have pushed them for it. There are more important things than learning from the best.”

She had overheard me in their office, fucking begging to get rid of her. I’d asked her how long she’d been standing outside the door, and she had made me believe she hadn’t eavesdropped.

She’d lied.

What she didn’t know was why I had asked them to reassign her, how the guilt of fucking her that night at the bar was too much for me to stomach.

And, goddamn it, I still wasn’t ready to tell her the truth.

We were both lying.

But instead of admitting that, I said, “What would be more important?”

She was quiet for a moment. “Protecting my heart.”

We sat around the large dining table in Jenner’s suite. Each of us, including Walter, had a folder in front of us that my team had put together. A heavy stack of paperwork, which included blueprints and land surveys and permits along with aerial photographs of the land in question.

Walter had remained silent as I went through the presentation, flipping through the tabs of notes my team had left me, covering each of the major points.

I had just reached the end when he asked, “What do you think? Have I wasted far too many millions on a piece of land where a hotel will never come to fruition, or should I fly out the architect while I’m here?”

“I think-” Hannah cut herself off as she looked at me and then added, “May I, Declan?”

If any other intern were sitting at this table, this scenario wouldn’t play out. A client didn’t give a fuck what an intern thought-someone with no law degree, no authority to practice, and more importantly, no experience to back up their opinion.

Any other intern would have sat there silently.

But Hannah was using her personal connection to Walter to her advantage, and Jenner’s expression told me he was all for it.

As soon as she received my nod, she continued, “From what I’ve seen during my research, the land in question is yours. The previous owner had nothing more than a gentleman’s agreement with the neighboring owner”-she held up a piece of evidence that was included in the folder, confirming this-“and the agreement isn’t registered with the county or the state. It wasn’t even notarized. When the sale of your property went through, this piece of land-from what I can tell-was included. Now, the neighboring owner is saying he paid the taxes and can prove that with receipts, but that doesn’t define ownership. In addition, I’ve reviewed the entire contract you signed when you purchased the land, and the piece in question was included in the survey; therefore, it’s part of the sale. That tells me that the seller either forgot about the gentleman’s agreement or didn’t care enough to resolve it prior to closing. Either way, a verbal agreement-or in this case, a poorly executed written one with two illegible signatures-doesn’t define ownership.” She glanced at me and then back at Walter. “In my opinion, again, without a proper piece of documentation, the land is legally yours, and you can do with it whatever you see fit.”

She was right.

And, fuck, I was impressed.

Walter processed her conclusion, allowing several seconds to pass before he said, “Is there a chance the neighboring owner will surprise us with more documents when we go to court? Can he provide more evidence, proof, whatever that he hasn’t already shown?”