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I should have paid more attention.
I straighten, on high alert. This could be a cousin, or a distant relation, but my instincts scream that this is the one and only Aiden Adalwulf. From my research, I know he’s younger than Brick, and he looks it–other than the frigid cold in his eyes. His face is magazine-model beautiful but frozen, as if carved from granite. The lack of lines around his eyes or throat makes him look like he’s never laughed or smiled in his life. A living, breathing, handsome shell of a man, totally dead inside. My insides roil.
He looks down at the suit, no doubt registering the stapled receipt bearing Blackthroat’s name. When he looks back up, there’s a touch of surprise–mixed with annoyance or anger? I can't get an exact read. Like Brick, he has waves of power rolling off him. I want to duck my head and slink away.
“Who are you?” he demands.
“Mr. Adalwulf?” I try to tug away, and his thumbs dig into the flesh below my elbows, making my arms throb. Then he seems to remember himself and releases me.
I offer him my hand, more to put something between us than out of any desire to shake. “Madi Evans.”
His gaze flickers down to my hand and away. He got close enough for me to crash into him, but I guess he’s too busy and important to properly greet me.
There are four big guys behind him, with identical suits and stone-faced expressions. They all look like they would slit my throat if Adalwulf gave the word. Probably bodyguards. One of them peels off and fetches a single cup from the barista.
This has to be Aiden. His father Odin doesn't come out in public much anymore. Rumor has it, he’s ill.
There’s nothing in my notes about Aiden being hella awkward, but billionaires are allowed to be rude. Their status creates a force field that softens their less-than-pretty personality traits. Aubrey has a working theory that all billionaires are sociopaths. If she ever wanted to write a research paper, Aiden Adalwulf could be her star subject.
“You don’t belong here.” He’s still looking down at me, and the thousand-yard stare scrambles my wires. It’s like looking down the sight of a rifle. No one breathes a word when he raises a big hand and captures a wayward strand of my hair between a thumb and forefinger. He brushes my cheek when he does it, and I stiffen. Every cell in my body screams for me to get away from him.He leans down like a Victorian gentleman bending over a woman’s hand. Is he…sniffing me?
“Excuse me,” I snap and pull away, but not before he tucks the strand of hair back, touching my neck as he does so. He sweeps away without another word, leaving me hot and cold and shaking with embarrassment and rage.
Aiden fucking Adalwulf.
I just met the enemy of the Big Bad Boss. Andhejust made an enemy ofme.
* * *
Brick
There’s an enemy in the building. I scent an Adalwulf as soon as the elevator doors open. I should know the scent. My mother is one. But the only person who steps onto the floor is New Girl.Madison.
She’s juggling my dry cleaning and two trays of coffees. My wolf is already on his feet, ready to tear apart the enemy, but Madison is alone. So why does she carry Aiden Adalwulf’s stench?
I track her progress to the conference room. She hands one of the coffee carriers to Indira and stops to hang my suit up on the closet. Indira holds the door open, and the two of them start handing out the fancy-ass coffees Nickel and Jake have a taste for. Even though she’s the assistant’s assistant, Madison takes the lead, directing Indira with whispers. Her cheeks are flushed red, and there's some pepper in her scent like someone made her angry.
Vance is still talking, but I can’t focus on his presentation.
Neither can my team. One by one, their heads whip around as Madison passes. Nickel is a bit slow to catch on, but Sully clocks it immediately. The Adalwulf scent can’t be denied.
Vance stops mid-sentence. An evil grin spreads across Billy’s face. He loves firing humans, and consorting with the Adalwulfs is enough of a reason to throw someone out.
But she’s not going anywhere. Not until I know why she bears the Adalwulf scent.
My nostrils flare as she gets close. It’s disconcerting, the sweet orange and nutmeg fragrance that’s haunted me, mixed with the sour rot of my sworn enemy.
“Everyone out,” I order and catch Madison’s wrist before she can pivot away. “Everyone but you.”
ChapterEight
Brick
The room clears immediately. Only Billy pauses to shoot me a glance. He probably doesn’t want to miss me firing Madison.
I turn Madison’s arm over to examine the inside of her arm where I caught the smudge of finger marks. There–that’s where the smell is thickest. There's also a smudge on the pale, freckle dusted skin above her elbow. I guide her closer, and her breath hitches.
This is completely inappropriate. I should not be touching her, and yet I can’t control my wolf. He’s snarling at the scent on her. At the violation of it.
