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“What is this?” I bark, then force myself to calm down.
Oh fates, am I squeezing her wrist too tightly?
No. My touch is strangely gentle, as if my wolf had control in that area. I trace a finger over one of the red blotches.
The hairs on her arm rise. She draws in a sharp breath when she sees the marks.
“Oh.” She lifts a hand and rubs at the bruise as if she could wash it away like a bit of ink. “It’s nothing. I went to get coffee, and I…I bumped into someone. Still getting used to these heels.”
“You went into Adalwulf Associates.”
She exhales like she knows she screwed up. “I know. I didn’t realize it when I went in there. I just saw a coffee shop with a shorter line. I’m sorry.”
She should be. She prides herself on memorizing the tiniest details. “If you work for me, you don't go into that building.Ever.”
“It’s not in the employee manual,” she shoots back, then catches herself. She squares her shoulders. “I understand. It won’t happen again.”
I’m still holding her. My wolf isn’t satisfied. He wants to check her over, and I want to know why she was meeting with Aiden. But I can't exactly ask her why she smells like an Adalwulf, now can I? “Did you see anyone?”
“Yes. I turned and crashed into someone. I think it was Aiden Adalwulf.”
The growl rumbles out of me, startling us both. My wolf can’t hold back. Her eyes go round, and more color floods her cheeks. Any other human would be cowering with her head down. My wolf never growls in public, not in front of a human. He knows the rules. But something about Madison makes him wild.
I’m breaking all my rules with this human.
“I thought it might be him,” she continues. “I introduced myself.”
“Did he say anything? Do anything?”
“No, he did nothing. He just told me I didn’t belong there. I think he saw your dry cleaning tag, so he knew I work for you.” She does it again. She raises her head and meets my gaze square on.
And my wolf calms. I don’t detect any lie in her scent. Nor fear. She’s not colluding with Adalwulf. She was just getting coffee.
I lean back, savoring her scent up close. It does strange things to me. This shouldn’t be happening.
She cocks her head. “The whole encounter was about thirty seconds. I’m not sneaking off for clandestine meetings with your business rival. Is that what you wanted to know?”
I grunt. I can’t admit that.
“He’s more than just a business rival, isn’t he?” She peers at me like she can look into my mind and find the truth.
Not much gets by this girl.
“He’s my cousin.” I spit out the admission with venom, not pausing to realize how out of character it is for me to share anything of a personal nature with a human employee.
“He did this to you?” I stroke my thumb lightly over the red smudge on her arm. It will turn into a bruise soon. Humans are fragile as fuck.
I don’t know why she hasn’t pulled out of my grasp yet. Oh yeah, probably because I’m her boss. Which is exactly why my touch is completely inappropriate.
“I’m okay,” she says, not exactly answering my question. “I bruise easily.” She lifts her gaze once more. “He is a dick, though.”
My lips twitch, which is completely out of character for me. Something about this human makes me feel different. Energized. Suddenly awake. “Agreed. I want you to stay away from that building.” I drop my hands and rise from my chair. “In fact, Indira gets the coffee from now on.”
She blinks at the break in the mood and straightens. “Actually, sir, I was going to ask you about that. Indira would like an analyst position. I think her talents are wasted here.”
“That’s what you think?” I raise a brow. Her freckled skin reddens, but she doesn’t back down.
“Yes, sir.” She doesn’t defend herself, just quietly meets my gaze with total assurance that she’s right.
