“Ask him sometime. As to escaping, I suppose I could help, for a couple hours at least. But if my Alpha asks, I’ll tell him where you are.”
Well, a few hours to get her head straight was better than nothing. “Fine. I just need to go by my house and clean up before checking in at the office. I may need to make some orders, and there are plenty of baked goods in there for you as payment.”
“Done. Let’s head to my car.”
That was easy.
Ten minutes later, they were passing through the exterior guard post out of Lombardi Pack lands and into the city proper. Another fifteen minutes and she was nearly to her home. Kalinda damn near felt like she could cry.
Giuliana leaned over and inhaled deeply. “You smell different.”
“I’m really tired of hearing that. You know, that will give a girl a complex.”
“It isn’t unpleasant, but you normally smell like chocolate or vanilla, you know, food. Now it’s food and old magic. It’s wild.”
“Had a run-in with the Chaos Realm,” Kalinda hedged. She wasn’t sure how much Romano or Dominic had shared, but she wouldn’t give away more information than she needed to.
Giuliana cut her gaze at Kalinda but didn’t ask anything else. Probably respected the boundary since she’d put one up herself about Romano. Once in her home, Kalinda took a much-needed shower, changed into her work gear, complete with her favorite heels, and headed back out.
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Doesn’t seem like I’ll have enough time to hang out and relax in my own home.”
Giuliana winced. “I know it doesn’t help, but if Dominic wants you protected, he has a reason. He really isn’t one to overreact, and trust me, I know all about that.
Yeah, she did, and Kalinda wouldn’t argue with that. Still, it chaffed not being able to be her own person anymore. It seemed like it was all an overreaction for no reason.
Heading into her office was uneventful as well. When they got there, Silva was moving around outside in front of cargo vans loading platters and giving work details as if she’d been doing it for years.
“Tatiana, you have the Baker party. Lily, get what we have over to The Daily Grind and tell Danielle or Tony that Kalinda will get the rest of their order to them as soon as possible. Jasmine, you have the Walkers, and we’re good for the day. I’ll head out to do some rounds and keep up with reservations.”
She was a regular drill sergeant. To keep down a whole lot of questions, Kalinda waited until everyone left for their posts before she got out of the car and headed in. Silva met her at the front door.
“I thought that was you. Are you okay?”
“It’s all a precaution right now, but thanks for running everything. Looks like I don’t need to even be here.”
Silva wrinkled her nose. “Okay, where is my boss and what have you done to her?”
Kalinda laughed, and it was the first time she’d felt free in a while. Everything that had been happening weighed heavily on her shoulders, and even for someone as serious as her, it was a lot. But …
Kalinda stood up tall, wiped her hands down her front before making sure her bun was neat and secure on top of her head. “Where are we with the order from The Daily Grind?”
“There she is.” Silva smiled softly. “You’ve got orders for twenty whole lemon cakes, a hundred assorted muffins, add in an assortment of coffee cakes and Danishes. Danielle added for you to hurry it up. She’s getting cranky, like when she has no coffee.”
Kalinda snorted. “She owns a coffee shop; she’s never out of coffee.”
“Just passing on the message.”
“Heard, loud and clear. I suppose I should get to work, and Giuliana, you get meals for babysitting.”
Silva looked over Giuliana quizzically. “Wolf?”
“Got it in one. Hi, I’m Giuliana, resident babysitter for the day.” She extended her hand to Silva.
There was an awkward moment of silence as Silva stared at Giuliana’s hand. Kalinda frowned, wondering what that was all about.
“I won’t bite,” Giuliana commented with a hesitant laugh.
