Page 147 of Bound Lies

“Good luck, my little dove.” He flashes me a wink.

The moment I’m finally alone, the nerves instantly hit, and I push the plate of toast away as my stomach churns.

For the next hour, I pace around the silent penthouse, anxiously checking that my phone is definitely not on silent and running through possible interview questions in my head.

For the past few days, Kieran has spent every evening conducting practice interviews with me with varying levels of difficulty in order to help prep me for the interview.

I figure if I can handle him verbally tearing me apart, then I can handle anything.

My stomach is in knots by the time my phone rings, but Ross Lever is surprisingly easy to talk to.

The conversation flows between us until I almost forget this is a formal interview and not just a casual chat between colleagues.

He asks about my degree and my plans for my senior thesis and tells me about the kind of work his firm does. When he asks if I can handle high-pressure environments, I almost burst out laughing, considering the fact I’ve survived almost an entire month living with Kieran Sullivan. But of course, I bite my tongue and offer a more serious answer.

I take it all in, trying not to let myself get too excited at the prospect of working for a company as prestigious as Lever Industries. To have an internship at a Fortune 500 company on my resume would almost guarantee me a foot in the door at any company I wanted. The possibilities would be endless. Which is why when Ross offers me the internship position, I almost drop my phone.

The second we hang up, I call Kieran.

“I got the internship! Ross offered it to me on the spot! How amazing is that?”

“That’s fantastic news.” There’s a faint metallic clink in the background, then his voice tightens. “We’ll talk more when I get home, yeah?”

“Sure.” My excitement fades at Kieran’s clipped tone. “Is everything good?”

“Everything’s fine. I’ll see you later, little dove.” He ends the call.

I frown at my phone, wondering what could have Kieran so distracted. But then I figure there’s no point worrying about it because even if I did ask, he wouldn’t tell me. I just have to hope he has whatever it is under control.

I decide to call Lucy instead to tell her my good news, except it goes straight to voicemail. Twice.

“Oh, come on. Can’t a girl celebrate?”

Sighing, I scroll further down until I glance at Ciara’s name.

There’s no way she won’t answer the phone, considering she’s stuck on bed rest. Unless, of course, she’s in labor…

The line connects.

“Hey! Long time no see.”

I laugh as I wander over to the couch and settle down among the plump cushions.

“I know, how are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Eating, sleeping, watching crappy TV. What about you? What’s new?”

“Well, I got some good news, and I need to tell someone.”

“Ooh! Spill!”

“I got an internship at Lever Industries.”

“You got the internship? That’s amazing!”

“Yeah…” I frown. “Wait. How did you know about the internship?”

She laughs. “Kieran likes to talk about you a lot. He let it slip when he stopped by the other day to talk to Ronan.”