In which Ermie gets fired and then speaks with Alice.

Nine Steps Down, Chapter Nineteen

Ermie Slava is a girl with a dark secret. Her low-key job interview with San Francisco's top biotech company should have been a simple affair to get her out of Midwest for a few days. But once she meets David LeBlanc, the enigmatic and possessive founder of the company she interviews for, she quickly finds out that they share something in common. Life takes her on a wild and dangerous ride through the San Francisco's richest, decadent and most exclusive groups of people, living on the very edge of legality and moral norms. Up until she enters the scene, they have managed to keep their lifestyles and identities secret. Her presence starts a chain of events that threatens to unravel the lives of everyone involved, and hurt her the most. She finds herself walking a razor blade between reason and desire, balancing a professional and private life, as well as love, friendship, and a primal urge she has hidden since she was a child.
In a world where power and submission is the currency of love, only the smartest and most dedicated on both sides survive. When you love the ones that hurt and humiliate you, how far are you willing to go to prove that you are worthy?