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“Eh, they’ll be around.”
Incredulity short-circuited her. “They’ll be around? You don’t plan on holding a formal meeting? I’m here in both a strategic and diplomatic function. How will your team know what I can aid with and the scope of my role?”
In what world did it make sense to not organize proper introductions? How could this man stand for such a blatant disregard for formality? Though admittedly, Cortana preferred order to chaos, Riaz made laissez-faire leadership into an art form.
Lost in her own world of outrage, she didn’t notice that Riaz had stopped. She ungracefully bumped into a wall of hard muscle, ricocheting off before she regained her balance.
Stepping out of his personal bubble, she frowned at him as he spun. Before she could apologize for the breach of conduct, he beat her to the punch.
“Does it bother you?”
Riaz cocked his head, the action distinctly wolf-like. Amusement danced behind the burnished brown of his eyes, and she couldn’t help but soften at the expression.
“Does what bother me?”
“That I’m not doing formal introductions?”
Lifting her chin, she admitted, “It does. But I’m happy to wait if they’re busy.”
A flicker of orange glinted in his gaze, but Riaz jerked his chin toward the office at the end of the hall.
“Come, little Pet, and I’ll show you where the magic happens.”
Clearly, it couldn’t have happened here. Breezing in behind him, Cortana’s eyes widened to a comical degree. The alpha’s office was an absolute mess.
Books piled high in the corners and stacks of dog-eared papers towered to obnoxious heights. A half-dead potted plant sat alone in one corner, crumbled brown leaves decorating the floor around it. Two guest chairs were sitting at odd angles to the massive wooden desk in the middle of the space, and though they were clearly of quality, bite marks and claw scratches notched along the bottom of both.
No signs of technology were present, though she was fairly certain she spied an ancient calculator sitting underneath an unopened box of full-sized candy bars.
“This is a disaster area.” The words slipped from her mouth without her conscious volition, and dread pitted in her stomach as she realized she had no chance of taking them back.
The wolf had the audacity to offer her a toothy smile. “Yes, but it’s my disaster.”
“How can you find anything?” She shook her head, eyes flitting around the—albeit large—workspace with disbelief.
“I know where everything is. I know the transfer-in papers are there, under the pack contact list. I keep the financial records underneath the marble paperweight over there, organized by date due. If you feel like quizzing me, I’d happily accommodate you. It’s all up to date, cross my heart. I got a system. It works.”
A skeptical laugh lodged in her throat. “For who?”
“Me and my wolf.”
“Well, you and your wolf have some serious issues,” she said. “Do you even own a computer?”
Cortana took a seat, her back ramrod stiff to avoid touching any precarious pile that might tip over and compromise his ‘system’. Riaz dropped languidly into the highbacked red chair across from her.
“I prefer a pen and paper.”
“What are you, a caveman? Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer rock and chisel?” Upon receiving a snort from the wolf in front of her, she begrudgingly added, “It’s chaos in here.”
“Another thing that bothers little vampirella?” Riaz smirked. “My my, the list grows long.”
Fighting the urge to strangle him, she asked, “Can we get a move on?”
“Why do you think we’re here?”
The shift in his tone was instantaneous, underscoring his seriousness. Out of nowhere, he pulled a laptop onto the desk, tapping the power button to illuminate the screen and shoving papers to the side.
“See, Danger Fangs, I’m don’t completely live in the past.”
