“Did it leave?” Julien asked, his breath rustling Emory’s feathers again.
“You weren’t exhibiting any fear, so it must have given up this time.” He reluctantly stepped away from Julien, and when he turned to face him, it was to find a fierce frown on Julien’s face.
“There was no need to hide me behind you.”
Emory quirked an eyebrow. “You hired me to protect you.”
“Yes, that’s true.” His frown deepened. “I’m just not normally one to stay back when something is happening.”
“You prefer to be in control,” Emory stated.
“In all things.” Julien looked away from him. “It’s the only way I can exist.”
Surprised by yet another admission, Emory eyed the man closer. The tight set of his shoulders and his disgruntled expression certainly conveyed his discomfort. But with the way a penumbra attacked, right behind Emory was the best place for Julien to be. “I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable with the way I handled that, but I do think it was best.”
“This whole situation is annoying as hell. All it would say is that someone doesn’t like me.”
“Can you think of anyone that could be?”
“Most people don’t like me, so it could be anyone.” Julien sighed and stepped away from the wall. “I won’t be going back to sleep at this point. Would you like to have tea?”
“Sure.” He followed Julien into the kitchen, unable to keep himself from looking at his body clad in only those black silk pajama bottoms. All that time in the gym certainly showed, especially in the sleek muscles of his back and his tight, round ass.
He barely liked the man, so this crazy attraction made little sense. But it was there nonetheless, burning constantly. A low hum of heat and curiosity and that pervasive need to ruffle him up a bit.
Julien’s movements were very precise as he got down mugs and filled his kettle. “Think I’ll join you in the black tea and honey.” He turned and leaned his hip against the counter. “So obviously you were right and someone hired this thing. I am trying to think of who that could be, and honestly, the list is long. I’ve fired employees, and there are even a few members of my board who don’t hold me in high favor.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I will always run my company as I see fit. The shareholders are welcome to air their concerns, but it boils down to my decisions.”
“Give me their names, and I can look into them. Are any of them preternaturals?”
Julien nodded. “There are three on the board. One I’m pretty sure is a wizard and two elves. But those aren’t the ones who find issue with me, so I doubt they’re behind this. I do have my suspicions right now as to who could be doing this, and unfortunately, I considered the man sort of a friend.”
“The one you met for lunch?”
“Yes. He’s my chief financial officer, and there are problems in financials. If he’s skimming, he knows I’ll find it, no matter how hard he tries to cover it up. But this could also be related to some data I found and turned over to your employer. Were you aware that powerful preternaturals were gathering here in the city?”
“I was not, though I did know more preternaturals have been coming here because of the growing magic in the ley lines. If powerful beings are gathering, that probably means something truly bad.” He paused. “Are they aware that you turned this information over to Xavier?”
“No. It goes against our policies, but I was concerned enough to seek supernatural help. And who knows? Maybe they did figure it out. But why not send something to just kill me instead of a creature that draws things out like this? That doesn’t make sense.”
Emory considered all the information for a moment. “I honestly think the two things aren’t related. Whoever sent the penumbra wanted this drawn out. It’s possible it wasn’t sent to kill you at all, just fuck up your life. Maybe distract you from the information you found. Who would you think would want that?”
“The same man I mentioned before.” The kettle whistled, and Julien poured the hot water over the tea bags in the mugs. He poured some honey into his own mug before handing the bottle to Emory.
But surprisingly, he didn’t move out of the way when Emory stepped forward to doctor his own tea. Their bodies brushed against each other, and when Emory looked back into Julien’s face, it was to find those hooded eyes zeroed in on his lips.
Emory went perfectly still, lust humming low in his gut.
Julien’s gaze lifted and their eyes locked.
They stayed frozen like that until Julien cleared his throat and stepped away, breaking whatever the hell that was. He took his tea to the table and sat on the built-in cushioned bench along the wall. “I’m going to dig harder into the financials and figure out exactly what’s going on before I question William. Come fully prepared. I think my colleague is stealing from me, and I plan to find out exactly how.”
Emory took a chair across from him and sipped the hot tea, the honey nicely sweet. He had to work hard not to look at Julien’s bare chest. The man was thick with muscle—not surprising with how much he worked out. He had a sexy T-shape of dark hair over his pecs that trailed down his stomach.
“If your CFO is stealing, then you’re right to think he may have hired the penumbra. At lunch, I sensed he’s a wizard, though his power is minimal. But as a wizard, he’d have the access for that hire. His reasoning doesn’t make a lot of sense, though. He obviously doesn’t want you dead—maybe as I said… just distracted? Long enough to doctor the books?”
