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Lorena sensed a heaviness around Thomas. As she stopped at his office door after laying some folders on his desk, she glanced at him, wondering what he was thinking. She followed his line of sight. Her boss focused on his desk and specifically where she’d put the files. Did he not want them there?
She turned and stared at the desk, her eyes scanning the familiar space.
Look at his stare. It’s like he’s boring holes into that desk of his. He knows something is different. I did something in my snooping that he’s caught onto. But what? Everything looks like It’s where it should be.
In her gut, she knew the answer. She goofed. Something was out of place. Lorena was well aware of Thomas’s attention to detail. Yet for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out her mistake. The desk was as it had always been.Wasn’t it?
Lorena attempted to draw Thomas’s attention away from examining the desk.
“Do you ever just relax? You know, for an hour, and let your mind go.”
Thomas stopped eating, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and pondered her question.
“Here? While I’m working? No. Maybe once all the dust settles on the revamping of the pride. Maybe then. But now, things are still in flux. And I fear I’ve made more enemies than I meant to when I started cleaning up the pride.”
Lorena wanted to inquire further about what the alpha meant, but she was too afraid that her guilt would show on her face and he would figure it out.
Her guilt pulsed inside her, hot and insistent like a living thing.
Thomas was doing nothing but good for the pride. And here she was, spying for the wrong side, the corrupt side.
But I have a reason for doing it. I’m doing it to save Dad’s life. If I don’t come up with something soon, my father will die either from his injuries or by Sonny’s hand. Get over your guilt. This is about your dad and no one else. Just remember that.
Lorena smiled at Thomas, hoping that her seemingly innocent face would reassure him that she had nothing to do with the papers on his desk.
But despite her smile and the conversation, Lorena couldn’t get Thomas to focus on her. His mind was clearly elsewhere and definitely lost in thought.
“I’m a little groggy after lunch. Would you like a coffee? I’m heading to the break room now and can bring us back a couple.”
Without looking up, Thomas nodded. “Sure. I’m feeling a little off myself.”
She headed out into the hallway and to the break room for two coffees and a moment to think.
Thomas’s eyes looked bloodshot. They didn’t before noon, but they do now. Does that mean he shifted while I was gone? Did he use his canine powers to sniff out the person who messed up his desk? Does he know it’s me and is deciding how to punish me?
Lorena’s mind was tumultuous, so her hands went into autopilot to prepare the two coffees. Thomas took his coffee black while hers was with double cream and sugar. It gave her time to figure out her missteps. But she couldn't pinpoint her gaffe despite retracing her actions to uncover the pages Sonny wanted from the pride’s administration. But there was a mistake she surely made. She could tell by Thomas’s behavior.
Lorena’s main fear was being discovered. It was only a matter of time.
On her way back to Thomas’s office, Lorena talked herself back off the proverbial ledge.
You’re being an idiot, Lore. You’re being paranoid too. Overthinking, trying to anticipate Thomas’s thoughts before he has them. What is the point to all of that but getting you more exhausted? Even more stressed out. Can you try and take a chill pill already? Everything is fine. Even if Thomas is sniffing around, he’ll never link any mole infiltration to you.
She nodded silently, pasted a smile on her face, and swanned through the door.
She barely made it over the threshold when Thomas jumped to his feet and met her head-on. His look was anything but welcoming.
“I finally put it together, Lorena. Those files.”
Lorena blinked several times. “I don’t know what you’re on about. But before you have it in for me and my administrative habits, can I at least put this tray down? The coffees are hot.”
She walked around her accuser, looking everywhere but at Thomas. She knew her guilt was written all over her face, and if he took one look at her, he would see it.
“Lorena. You know I always have my files go into the inbox. The ones I’ve not touched. Look at it. Look at my inbox. Yesterday, it had those very files. Today, those files are to the right of the box, not in it, and are now buried under papers in the exact same position.”
Lorena kept her head down, busying herself with the coffees. “Yeah, so. Things get moved around. You know how busy your work days are around here.”
“Lorena, you know me. No matter how busy, I keep things exactly the same on my desk. I learned that trick from my late mother. When she was younger and more alert, it was her way of making sure there were no spies. I’ve adopted the same ritual. At closing yesterday, those same color-coded files were inside the box. Now they’re not.”
