Page 10 of Nico

Tony smiled, and the expression softened his tired face. “I believe you.”

I beamed at him.

“Just don't embarrass the pack.”

I shook my head immediately. “I won't.”

His smile lingered for another moment before fading.

“Nico. You need to keep your head this time.”

I frowned. “I always keep my head.”

Tony's expression settled into the patient look he usually wore when he was about to explain something he'd already explained at least twice before.

“This isn't a normal project. We're dealing with an outside production crew, high-profile guests, and people who aren't part of the pack. There are going to be a lot of moving pieces, and you can't let yourself get too emotionally involved.”

I opened my mouth, but Tony raised a hand.

“Let me finish. You remember the Harpers?”

I winced. The Harpers had come to us a few months ago after their son had gotten into trouble with one of the pack's systems. Nothing serious.

They'd simply needed help setting up some secure devices and making sure the pup couldn't accidentally access anything he shouldn't.

Except I'd met the kid. He'd been absolutely terrified of getting into trouble.

So instead of simply fixing the problem and moving on, I'd spent most of the evening talking to him, helping him understand what he'd done wrong and making sure he knew he wasn't actually in trouble.

I stayed late to rebuild the family's system and add a few extra restrictions so it would be easier for them to manage. I'd even cancelled something I was supposed to be doing that night so I could finish it.

The family had been grateful. Everything had worked out perfectly well in the end. That hadn't stopped Tony from spending the next morning reminding me that I wasn't personally responsible for fixing every problem that crossed my desk.

“That was different,” I muttered. “They needed the help.”

“They needed some help.” Tony's expression softened slightly, but his tone remained firm. “You decided they needed you.”

I looked away. Tony sighed, and I could tell he knew he'd hit the point he was trying to make.

“And then there was the tracker.”

I grimaced. That one was worse. One of our trackers had been on a mission outside the usual patrol routes when his communications system started malfunctioning.

I had been monitoring things from the packhouse, and the moment I realised the connection was becoming unstable, I'd overridden part of the normal protocol to keep him connected.

I'd rerouted resources being used elsewhere and stayed glued to the system until he was safely back on pack territory.

I knew he had a family waiting for him at home, and somewhere along the way, I'd convinced myself that the risk of disrupting another system was worth it.

The scout had made it home safely, and Tony had managed to keep everything else from falling apart, but I'd also missed two other tasks that night and ended up working through most of the following morning to catch up.

“You got lucky,” Tony said.

“I was right.”

Tony gave me a look that told me he wasn't going to let me get away with that. “Fine. But if I hadn't been there to pick up the pieces, that tracker’s situation could have turned out very differently.”

I swallowed, but didn't look away.