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“I’ve been dumped, okay? I was having an affair with an officemate. I knew it was wrong but I couldn’t help hoping…and now everyone’s laughing behind my back.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I’m not a gold digger if that’s what you’re asking,” she snapped.
“Then it was for love.”
The younger woman said nothing.
“Did he lead you on?”
“You think I’m that stupid?” she snarled, but her eyes said yes.
“Then you’re not entirely to blame. You were just foolish.” Misty impulsively took the younger woman’s hand. “I’m not just saying this because we outcasts have to stick together---”
The woman’s lips curved into a reluctant smile.
“But really, if you need to talk, I’m just at the mail department, okay? We can even have lunch together. It could be just like high school.”
The woman laughed. “I was popular back then though.”
“I wasn’t,” Misty admitted cheerfully.
“Thanks for the pep talk. You didn’t have to comfort me but you did.”
Misty leaned close and whispered, “The truth is, I’m not really the mail girl. Oprah sent me here to give everyone pep talks.”
They shared another laugh and later, when the woman had left, Misty only realized then that she had forgotten to ask the woman’s name once more.
Before going back to the mail room, she went to her locker to return her toothbrush and that was when she saw the note.
Urgent: pick up mail at mr. cavalier’s office.
If it was so urgent, why not call her mobile phone instead of slipping a note? And why not leave the note with someone else instead of slipping it inside her locker, which she could have so easily overlooked?
Misty frowned. Maybe this was Rebecca’s doing. If she hadn’t seen this in time, Rebecca would be able to blame her for being tardy or inefficient.
Hmph.
She went to Mr. Cavalier’s office. Rebecca was not at her desk. Misty wondered if she should wait for Rebecca before entering Mr. Cavalier’s room. Rebecca was his secretary, after all.
But the note said the matter was urgent.
Sighing, she knocked on Mr. Cavalier’s door for good measure before opening it.
No one was inside.
She went to the desk. There was several stacks of papers so she went through it one by one, looking for the mail.
And then the door slammed opened.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Rebecca shrieked before calling for security.
Chapter Eight
Dear Diary,
Domenico told me earlier that his proposal for allying themselves with Caros – whoever those were – was not welcomed by most other Lyccan packs. I want to help him but I don’t know how. Sometimes, I wonder if he was right in the first place. Sometimes, I wonder if I should do what I think is right and leave him. I don’t think I could be the princess that he needs me to be to save his kind.
When I see him on his desk, painstakingly working on a proposal that some of his kind don’t have the foresight to appreciate, I so badly want to comfort him. I want to kneel before him naked, offering myself to him. Let him hold the whip in his hands, the leash to the collar around my neck – I am his.
“This is all a misunderstanding,” Misty stammered.
Rebecca stared coldly at her. “That’s what they all say.”
Misty knew things looked bad for her. She also knew she should be worried about what was going to happen to her, but she was more worried about how this would reflect on Domenico.
Minutes later, security had escorted her – thankfully not handcuffed – outside Mr. Cavalier’s office, marching Misty past open-mouthed employees and into the main hall. They brought her up the circular platform and as the time passed, the cavernous hall became crowded with Lyccans. There were hundreds of them – maybe even more – waiting alongside her for what the Cavalier pack leader would have to say about the “breach”.
After a half hour of tense silence, Filippo Cavalier came in. He looked like a guy in his forties but who knew how old he really was? Lyccans seemed to age very well. He had a kind face, although it wore a somber expression now as he took a seat at the head of the table and looked at her.
“You are the one Domenico Moretti recommended?”
Misty swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
“And is it true that you have entered my office without authorization?”
“There was a note---”
“Which seemed to have disappeared out of the blue,” Rebecca inserted.
“Rebecca.” Mr. Cavalier said softly before glancing back at Misty. “Continue.”
She recounted what happened, leaving nothing out except her suspicions about Rebecca.
“You do understand that if the note is missing then you’ll have a difficult time proving the veracity of your story, don’t you?” Mr. Cavalier asked sadly.
“Yes, sir,” she whispered again, a sick feeling in her stomach.
“I will have to question your motives and to an extent, Moretti’s as well.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened. “But Mr. Cavalier---”
“He has nothing to do with this,” Misty protested at the same time.
“It’s protocol. We come from different clans. I have no choice. I must call for a council meeting between pack leaders.”
As Matteo drove the car into the driveway leading to the lobby of Lyccan Hall, he asked, “Is this still part of the plan, sir?”
“No, but I had thought this could happen.’
“Will everything be all right for Ms. Misty?”
Domenico frowned. “When have I ever been wrong?”
Matteo sighed. “You have a point, but Ms. Wall is different, sir.”
“I know that. I wouldn’t have picked her if I didn’t.”
“But sir, do you truly understand what her being different would mean? She would never react the way the women in your past had.”
Domenico strode inside the hall, coldly scanning the crowd until he found Misty, standing at the corner of the platform, isolated from the rest. This far, he could scent her fear and worry – for him. Even though he kept his face expressionless, Domenico willed her to look at him so she could see that he never lost faith in her.
When Misty relaxed, Domenico resumed walking and stood at his side.
Filippo’s face was grave. “I hope you understand I had no choice about this.”
“Of course,” Domenico replied swiftly, sincerely.
