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Chapter Four
Charlie
That wolf had my body all twisted up, aching for things I didn’t think I’d missed. Sitting there, listening to his chatter, all I could think about was how I’d love to run my fingers through his wavy brown hair which, I had to say, was too long—nearly to his ass—but so soft looking. I bet it would feel like silk sliding against my skin, a curtain around my body.
He had stubble on his jaw that looked permanently etched onto his face and a deliciously furrowed brow that he tried to cover up with his winks and grins. His waters ran deep, no matter how much he wanted to come off as a smartass.
His body? Well, underneath that tailored suit, I could tell he was built like most werewolves—a tank. He had to practically bend himself in half to get into the car and took up more than his fair share of the seat with his bulging form. His thighs alone were the size of both of mine squeezed together, which I was doing, hard, so that his wolfie nose didn’t pick up on my arousal.
Normally I’d veer far away from men like Johnny Duke. In my time apart from the clan, I’d devoted myself to young, dumb and waiflike—the complete opposite of the men I’d been surrounded by my whole life.
Johnny was hot, heavy and a whole lot of trouble.
But worst of all, I felt, just for a second, that I knew him…like intimately. When his eyes had flashed silver, the only outward sign of his werewolf status, I’d had this crazy feeling that we’d met before, and it threw me…big time. But the farther away from him I got, the more my head cleared. He was not the guy from my dreams, no matter how uncanny the coincidence was. He was just another wolf with gunmetal eyes, and the light caught the color just right. He hadn’t been haunting my sleeping thoughts for the last three years. He was just some dude with a problem that was notmy problem.
I banged through the doors of Larsen Corp and glared at security, brandishing my fangs a little, daring them to stop me. They didn’t, of course. They weren’t that stupid. Besides, these guards had been around since I was a kid. They knew me and clearly still respected me enough to give a little nod and let me stroll on by.
For all my father’s fantasies of me taking over the clan, I always knew it would never fly. No way would my stepbrothers stand back while I ascended to their throne, no matter what my father wanted. I never held such hopes, even if our world really did need a shake-up. The males had been running things badly from the beginning of our time, and one female werewolf was not going to change that—even if my father was progressive and raised me to expect more from the pack.
My thoughts turned back to Johnny and his smooth-as-butter voice. He‘d been in my family home if he’d seen portraits of me.
“You’re much more beautiful in person than you are on canvas.”
I’d never been a sucker for compliments, but when Johnny had said that, his voice a rumble of mingled desire and curiosity, my body had perked up and taken notice.
He liked what he saw. So what?
He was used to getting his way, I could tell, and was probably used to women jumping at his command. He was expecting me to leap at his offer to come live with him, I was sure.
I punched the button for the top floor as the elevator doors slid shut.
Den mother. As if. Been there, done that. No thanks. I’d gone along with my father’s plans because he’d assured me there’d be no shady shit. I knew he’d believed that. I knew he’d trusted my uncle.
Sadly, Dad had been wrong, and I’d paid the price, along with those innocent wolves I’d been tasked to train.
Never again.
I would always carry that guilt, even if Dad hadn’t held me responsible for what had happened. He’d died shortly after, within days of all hell breaking loose at my uncle’s compound, actually, and I never got a chance to tell him that it was my fault. Sure, my uncle had overstepped in a big way, but I’d reacted…badly…and things had escalated when I could have just disappeared, swallowed my pride and vanished. Instead, I was all pumped up with my ego and stood my ground. I’d said ‘no’. Those wolves that I’d trained, that I’d mingled blood and sweat with? Those wolves hadn’t deserved to die. They’d given their loyalty to me when they shouldn’t have—and had paid with their lives.
My brothers had been furious with me and reeling because of the death of our father. Andy had given me an out with a promise never to come back, forfeiting my rights and privileges as the only daughter of Dominic Larsen. At the time, it had felt right. I had been so ashamed of what had happened, so devastated by my father’s sudden death. I’d wanted to slink away and never come out of the dark again.
Three years of living my life on my own terms had brought me clarity. I’d already been toying with the idea of coming back to demand my actual fair share, which was far more than what Andy had been paying me. Sure, I had money of my own, my stepbrothers couldn’t do anything to my trust, and I got by comfortably enough. I didn’t need to be demanding what my brother owed me. But it was the principle of it. Andy had taken advantage of my shame and my grief. I wouldn’t let that happen again.
The elevator doors opened to reveal the hustle and bustle of one of Larsen Corp’s main hubs. I stayed put, even though it was tempting to go say hello to some of the folks I used to chat with regularly. Sal had probably fired them all already. Andy had kept all of Dad’s people working, but I knew Sal was the type to clean house.
The penthouse floor was my destination, where my father’s office used to be and was now, presumably, where Sal was. A few young men had entered the elevator with me, humans by the smell of them, new to the firm and obviously clueless as to who I was. Each in turn gave me a quick glance before continuing their conversation as if I wasn’t there. They might not have been werewolves, but they sure as shit understood the hierarchy. Women at the bottom.
Definitely Sal’s people.
“Mr. Larsen asked for the contract to be amended,” the blond said as he shuffled some papers in his hands then angled one sheet toward the other men. “There was a problem with some of the wording. He had a little fine print added.”
The dark-haired one nodded but didn’t say anything. I tried to crane my head over his shoulder, but short of climbing onto his back, I wasn’t going to penetrate the wall of suits blocking my line of sight. The way he said ‘fine print’ made my hackles rise, and I didn’t even know why.
“Did Kane Duke transfer compensation?” the third man asked the blond.
“Ten minutes ago. He oversaw it in accounting and personally made sure it went through.”
What would Kane Duke be paying for? Protection?Seemed unlikely. His clan, while not among the upper echelon of the old guard, had gained a lot of traction and respect in the time before I’d walked away from my clan. A self-made millionaire by twenty, Kane Duke had impressed my father with not only his business savvy but also his ability to grow his own pack of wayward wolves.
