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"I agree." Watson's voice is grim. "No matter what anyone believes, harming another individual is not permissible. If you have proof of these attacks and the people involved, I will provide my backing for your decisions."
I'm not surprised by that. Watson has always been a fair person.
"Perhaps you're right," he continues after a moment. "Having Cynthia here could be beneficial to us, but shouldn't we be worried about her leaking valuable data to Jonathon?"
"Her phone and laptop are checked every morning," I tell him. "And she has never resisted. Also, in terms of the quantity and variety of products, my father's company is ahead of us. Our products target a particular niche and we offer exemplary service. Our ideas are worthless to them."
"She could still be better off put in some other department such as marketing," Watson insists. "I don't like the idea of her working in such close proximity to you."
"She's an excellent PA." I refuse to budge.
"I don't think Tina will see it that way," the older man says slowly. "Or have you not thought about her?"
I stiffen at the name. After a moment, I murmur, "I will talk to Tina myself. She'll understand."
"No woman will understand if the man they're being courted by is working in such close quarters with another female," Watson says disapprovingly.
I check my watch. "You underestimate her. Tina knows she's irreplaceable in my life. Now, I really have to get going. I'm late for a dinner."
"I have to meet someone as well," Watson sighs. "But I will advise you against keeping this woman so close to your side, Adam. Those who have eaten at the table of our enemy are also our enemy."
I watch him leave, feeling troubled.
It's true that I don't trust Cynthia completely. Until I can understand her relationship with my father and why her loyalty to him is so unbreakable despite the less-than-ideal treatmentshe receives at his hands, I cannot fully place my faith in her. But the more I'm around Cynthia, the more it's occurring to me that she is naive in a lot of ways. When it comes to things all wolf shifters learn as children, she's blank on those pieces of information. She should have figured out our bond by now, but she seems completely unaware of it.
That tells me the way she was sheltered was not a good thing. It almost seems as if it was an attempt to cripple her. I'm still pissed off over the fact that she never got any salary. I had someone I know look into the HR records of my father's company. Cynthia was paid a salary, or at least a hefty amount of money was paid into an account under her name. As the next Alpha, I have ways of finding out information whether the method is legal or not, and my information shows me each time money has been withdrawn from Cynthia's account, it has been my father with the card.
This troubles me.
He worked her like a dog and didn't pay her a cent. And she was okay with it?
There's something deeper here. Loyalty doesn't go this far.
If I had paid more attention to Cynthia when we were young, I might have been able to figure out what had been happening. There is something that eats at me. My father told Lydia her parents often took her to the healer, but I never recall her parents ever visiting. I wasn't away from the house for so long that they would have been able to come and go without me finding out. I also reached out to one of the old security guards who used to work at the Moore Mansion, but he never recalled Cynthia's parents coming either.
My father sponsored this girl from the slums. The whole point was to give her a better life and raise his status in front of the whole pack. The latter he achieved because he always treated Cynthia exceptionally well in the eyes of the public. In fact, while I was in that house, she was paraded in front of visitors, and it always made me feel uncomfortable. Her existence in that house made me uneasy. Perhaps it's the way the light began to fade from her blue eyes or how unnaturally quiet she was. It was like someone had thrown a rag doll into our home.
Watson has already left when I lock up. The sun's not set yet, so I decide to grab a snack from a coffee shop nearby. I've just parked my car around the corner when I catch a familiar scent. My wolf perks up, excited by the scent.
Cynthia.
The coffee shop has seating arrangements outside the shop, a large garden surrounded by a tall hedge that maintains privacy from the street. Cynthia must be in the garden because I hear her voice. "I'm not listening to this, Norman. Jonathon told you to stay away from me. You have no business texting me from his phone. If I tell him that you––"
"What?" Norman laughs. "What's he going to do? Punish me? You're the one he's going to punish, Cynthia. He'll drag you back into the basement and whip you until you shit yourself. Remember the time he made you clean up your own blood?"
He's laughing as my horror tightens my gut.
The feeling intensifies when Cynthia doesn't refute his claim.
"Things are different now," she finally says, and I hear the unsteadiness of her voice. "He won't hurt me for a while. He said he won't."
"And you believe him?"
"I believe," Cynthia is saying through gritted teeth, "that you were told to keep a distance from me. He won't be happy with you."
"Oh, shut it, bitch." Norman's tone is vulgar. "Tell me. Did you spread your legs for my brother yet? Did you let him fuck you?"
"Shut up!" Cynthia sounds furious.
