Courtney Bell thought she was going to have it all. A recent graduate with an MBA from Stanford and a job offer to the prestigious Asgard Corporation--the world was going to be her oyster. But years later, she’s still stuck in the same entry-level position she started in. Dissatisfied with corporate culture and office politics, she walks into her annual performance review expecting to be turned down again for a promotion. What she doesn’t expect is that her reviewer is the CEO, Vance Forster, and his plans for her extend far beyond a simple “You have quite an impressive resumé, Ms. Bell,” Vance spoke with a quiet authority that instantly made it obvious why he'd risen to power so quickly, though Courtney was sure his looks hadn't hurt. He continued. “It's too bad your performance hasn't lived up to it. You'd think that someone with your education could manage far better.”Courtney's jaw dropped. He was the first reviewer who'd ever mentioned her background and he was using it to berate her? All right, she conceded, berate may have been too strong a word, but she'd already been feeling foolish enough that the words hurt more than they would have normally.“Are things too hard for you, Ms. Bell?”She snapped her mouth shut, sure she had imagined the stress he’d put on that one word. There was no way he was hitting on her. Was there?“You did well your first two years here,” Vance straightened and took a step towards Courtney. “Maybe all you need is some discipline.”