Page 53

“Why are you dressed?” he asks softly. My belly does a little flip. His morning voice is the smoothest, sexiest sound I’ve ever heard.

“All the systems are down in Eden, so I have to go talk to all the departments about how to avoid ending up in Reaper’s Court,” I tell him as I run my hands through his hair, moving it from his eyes.

He arches one of his eyebrows in question. “What happened?”

I climb off him and grab my bag. I walk over to the door, leaning against the door frame.

“I don’t have time to explain. I need to get to the office. Meet me there when you can, okay?”

“Okay, baby,” Aiden replies as he places one of his arms behind his head, causing his muscles to flex and giving me a clear view of his chest. I feel my heartbeat, but not in my chest. I shake my head to get me out of the trance.

“Stop doing that,” I demand.

“What?”

“Looking like that,” I grumble.

“Like what?” he says as he pulls the covers slightly down, giving me the clearest view of his v-line. I bite my lip as I run my eyes over him. I shake my head again then cover my eyes with my hand. I back away slowly, then turn and run out of the room.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” he yells after me.

“I won’t!” I yell back as I exit the apartment.

When I get to the office, I am smiling like a goofball. But the smile is wiped right off my face as soon as I see the number of reapers in my office and lingering outside.

I ignore the reapers as I walk to my desk, quickly taking a seat and typing up some of the basic information they should keep in mind. When I am done, I hit print just as Yirah pops up beside me and arches her brow in question.

“How do you want to do this and how can I help?” she asks. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her.

I take a deep breath, turn to her, and say, “Have everyone exit except for the Collection department. I’ll start with them because they are the most important right now.” I pause in thought. “Then, send in the other departments in the order that you think is best.”

Yirah salutes me. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”

She turns to the room and yells, “Everyone! May I get your attention please!” The conversations stop, and they all turn to look at her.

Yirah continues, “All departments except for the Collection department need to exit the premises and wait in the hallway for your turn.” She points to the door. All the other reapers grumpily exit the room, leaving only the Collection department reapers. I look at everyone, and see Joey and Director Taevian talking.

I walk over to the printer and pick up the stack of papers. I clear my throat to get everyone’s attention.

Holding up the papers, I say, “I printed out a basic guideline that you can follow to ensure your compliance with the Reaper’s Code of Conduct. This paper also includes steps you should take in the event that you do not know what to do.” I pass out the papers and they all take a second to read over it.

Director Taevian smiles. “This is wonderful, Joyce.”

I smile back and reply, “Thank you.” I continue to speak to the others. “For your specific department, I think the best thing to keep in mind is that extra due diligence is required. You all are the bridge between Eden and the Living World. It is of utmost importance that you all triple check the souls you are assigning death and the souls you are collecting. Got it?”

“Got it,” they all reply at the same time.

“I hope we aren’t taking too much of your attention away from Aiden’s case,” Joey says.

“Of course not. I have Aiden’s case handled.”

Joey’s eyebrow raises. “You think you will get him off all charges? I’m impressed. I know you were a little behind due to the events in your apartment.” How does he know that? Oh wait, Aiden probably told him.

“I’m not at liberty to say, but I was a pretty good lawyer when I was alive.” I wink at him. He grins back at me, but doesn’t say anything else, which is good because I cannot reveal anything from Aiden’s case.

All the Collection reapers file out of my office and Yirah calls in the next department. I go through each department, giving them the papers and explaining to them what they need to keep in mind for each department.

Once I’m done, I fall into my chair with a breath of relief. I am about to pick up my phone to ask Aiden where he is, when Joey walks into my office.