Both eyes open.
We stared into the silver and black aether.
“You look a little pale.”
Around us, others had begun to talk. Offers of drinks and sugary confectionery appearing from nowhere, the floor’s instinct to manage a crisis kicking in around someone who clearly needed a biscuit.
It only then occurred to me that this entire visit was supposed to be us turning the tables on them.
But I could regret nothing.
We were basking under the gaze of our mate, revelling in her scent.
Bad Girl wasn’t trying to claw our face off.
This was progress.
Chapter 34
Nika
When he didn’t register anything I was saying or showing him, I was tempted to glance around and check how the others were reading the situation. But inhaling his scent had misfired something in my brain entirely. Every nerve alert. Every muscle pulled taut without permission.
Do not react. We are not going down like this, Bad Girl repeated.
I studied his face instead.
The green of his eyes seemed deeper at this distance—darker, almost, like colour that only revealed its full depth up close. I hadn’t noticed before how perfectly manicured his eyebrows were. Precise without being fussy. My gaze dropped. The dark stubble framed those slightly pink lips that were—well. Perfectly formed. I hadn’t looked at his hair because I’d already spent considerable effort not reaching for those thick waves, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Do not react.
“I could show you what I’m working on,” Carla simpered from across the desk.
My head snapped across.
Follow her home tonight, Bad Girl snarled.Let me rip her face off. Let them try to stitch it back like patchwork.
Conrí cleared his throat.
“I’m here for Ms Horvat. Ms Horvat alone.”
I gasped.
How could he just—say that. Out loud. In front of everyone.
I glanced around.
Claire’s eyes had gone wide and whatever she began to stammer dissolved before it reached a full sentence. She turned and practically sprinted across the floor to her office. Andy’s head moved between us, working through what this meant for his managerial position in real time. Francis had both thumbs up behind Conrí’s back and the expression of someone watching their favourite television programme reach the best part.
Graham’s eyebrows had disappeared beneath his hairline. He turned to his monitor and began typing with the focused urgency of a man with news to share.
The entire floor would know before lunch.
Who cares?Bad Girl said.Females have been accused of aligning themselves with powerful males for ranking since the beginning.
I rested my hand on his lapel. Stroked the fabric once, slowly, before raising my eyes to his.
“Is that right?” I whispered.
