Page 110 of Fated to Her

She is beautiful with red curly hair, though today, she’s actually straightened it, and it sits in the middle of her back. She looks tired, though, and I can tell she hasn’t been sleeping. I have never seen her this tired before, making me wonder what is going on outside of work that has her up all night.

Her phone starts ringing, and she glances at it before rejecting the call.

Halfway up, it rings again, and she rejects it, but I catch a glimpse of the name this time. Brian.

“Ex?” I ask her, nodding to her phone.

“I wish. He would be easier to deal with. No, it’s my brother.”

“The one who was in prison?”

I know she hates talking about her family, and her brother is a touchy subject, seeing as he killed her father when they were teens. She’s never mentioned her mother, so I’m not sure about her, but I can’t bring myself to ask her. All I know is that her brother went to jail as a teen, and ever since, he has been in and out of jail. I haven’t realized he is back out.

“What’s he want?”

“What he always wants. Money and time. Possibly wanting me to bail him out again,” she says, just as the doors open.

Latham, Blaine, and Xavier are waiting in the foyer with Cyrus, talking among themselves.

“Finally. Bella, can you show Latham to your shared office and find a place for these two? And when you are done, come see me, please,” Cyrus tells her.

Bella nods, and Cyrus comes over before taking our son and walking toward Eli’s office. I watch Bella, who looks quite intimidated by them, and I would be, too. Little does she know she’s about to start working with Latham; I just hope he behaves and keeps his hands to himself. Little does Bella know he’s also a demon, all three of them are, yet I’m curious why Blaine and Xavier haven’t been asked to leave yet. I step inside Eli’s office, closing the door and wondering what is going on.

“Everything sorted?” Eli asks Cyrus, who nods, sitting on the couch with our son.

“Yes, Bella is taking them down now.”

“What? Are all of them going to be working here?” I ask.

I knew they would submit to Latham’s demands but didn’t think they would actually agree about Blaine and Xavier. Damn, Bella is going to have her hands full with those three; I actually feel bad for her but know Eli has his reasons.

“Yes, they’ll be working here. Besides, Bella could probably use the help. She looks rather tired,” Cyrus adds.

I nod in agreement. I wonder what is going on with her.

Bella

I’m furious. How the hell am I supposed to work with them and have them all on the same floor? They give me the creeps, and to work with this Latham person will be impossible. I can already tell he’s a cocky, infuriating man by the smirk on his beautiful face. I stare at them, looking them over, trying to figure out where to put the other two.

“Xavier,” says the blond-haired one.

He is all muscle but leaner. And who wears a singlet to a corporate business? He holds his hand out for me to shake, and I grip his fingers, giving it a little shake. I don’t want to touch them. My thoughts run rampant with desire I haven’t felt in ages. His blue-green eyes are watching me. He has flames tattooed up his exposed arms and over his chest. Gosh, he smells nice.

The man beside him clears his throat, and I realize I still have a hold of this man’s fingers. I hastily drop my hand, forcing my gaze away from him to look at the man beside him.

“Blaine,” he says, offering his hand, but I fold my hands across my chest, wanting nothing more than to get away from them. Blaine is just as intimidating.

Where did Eli and Cyrus find these men? At the gym? Do they live there? They definitely don’t look like they belong here. I give him a once-over, trying to be discreet. His eyes are so dark, endless pools of black. He has short-cropped dark hair, his fringe falling in his eyes that twinkle oddly back at me.

“Bella,” I tell him, tearing my gaze from him to look at the one I know as Latham.

His hair is longer, his skin darker, the color of mocha, and he reminds me of a Viking with the way his hair is braided neatly. Damn, I wish my hair was that long. I want to run my fingers through it. It sits just above his lower back. He has high cheekbones and thick eyelashes, his eyes gray like storm clouds, yet they are set hard as he glares at the other two men. Does he not like them? I thought they all knew each other.

“Well, shall we head down?” Latham asks, motioning toward the elevator.

I nod, pulling my head from my daydreams, shaking off the strange feeling that has me feeling quite damp between my thighs. I push the button, and they step in and seem to take up all the space in it, forcing me against Blaine.

I try to reach around Latham to press the button to the floor we need to go to but only manage to press into his back.