At my desk, I carried on where I’d left off after what seemed like an eternity of being away. So much had happened in the last few weeks, and my life had been turned upside down and twisted sideways. Munching, I read another blog article that needed a severe rewrite, then began to edit.
“See you later,” Bertie said cheerfully when the work day ended. “It’s nice having you back.”
“It’s great to be back.”
After wrapping up my tasks on the computer, I glanced up to find Alaric standing over me. “Ready?”
“For what?”
“To go home.”
While I didn’t think of his massive house on the beach my home, I had nowhere else to go.Time to find a place, get a car, a cell. Time to become independent of both Alaric and Roxanne.Without saying so, however, I shut my computer off, grabbed my purse, and followed him out of the office.
In his truck, I asked, “How is the hunt for a new manager going?”
Alaric grunted. “I already received a few resumes. One looks good.”
“May I ask that you recommend me to stay on once he or she takes over?”`
He flashed me a hard look. “What are you talking about?”
“You and Willow will be leaving,” I replied. “You and I will get divorced, and though I’m financially stable, I want to keep working. I like this job.”
“Don’t you get it?” he snapped. “We’re fated mates. We stay together.”
“I’m not so sure I believe that,” I said, keeping my tone calm, reasonable. “Nor am I spending my life with someone who doesn’t love me.”
His mouth tight in a grim line, he drove on toward his house, yet said nothing. I didn’t bother to figure out what he was thinking. It didn’t matter. Fated mates or no, married or not, I was going to move out of his house as soon as possible.
“We stay together,” he muttered after a long length of time.
“Unless you’re planning to keep me on a chain, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Under his breath, Alaric muttered words I didn’t catch, but suspected were swear words. Ignoring him and his temper came as easily and as naturally as my offhand comments to Brad. Alaric no longer had the power to intimidate me.
An expensive looking silver car sat in Alaric’s driveway as he drove his truck onto his property. We both stared at it as Alaric parked beside its shiny body. As he opened his door, he ordered brusquely, “Stay in the truck.”
As he wasn’t my boss after work hours, I ignored that as easily as I ignored his temper.
The silver car’s door opened. An elegantly dressed woman with golden waves of hair stepped from it, her striking features both sharp and exotically beautiful. If I ever thought Roxanne moved with poise, she paled in comparison to this lady. Tall, slender, bedecked in jewels, this chick contained the dangerous grace of a jaguar.
“Fiona.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alaric
“Alaric. So good to see you again.”
We two stared at one another in the same fashion that two boxers might size one another up just before the bell rings and the fight commences. Hayley leaned against the truck, watching in fascination. I wanted to shake her, demand she leave the area, so she didn’t get hurt or killed.
I suspected she felt no fear of Fiona, and I didn’t like it. She should fear this evil creature because I might not be able to protect her.
That thought filled me with terror.
“You’re risking your life by approaching me,” I rumbled.
“You can’t kill me. I serve Da’arvass.”
