Ms. Reed let out a slow breath. “I’m proud of you, Aurora. Good on you for saying you needed that.”
“Creed makes it easy on me.” She focused back on me. “Will you come over to my condo after work? We can talk then about whatever you want to.” She flushed lava hot as she probably realized how that sounded. “Dinner and then you can go home.”
Shit, she was a bit too innocent, and that made the predator in me want to gobble her up. I opened my mouth to accept but sighed. “I can’t. I have to get back to the halfway house right after work. I’m there for a few more months before I can try and get my own place for the rest of my parole.”
“And I can’t visit you there?” she asked quietly.
“No,” I snorted, apologizing when she looked hurt. “My PO would freak out and—I wouldn’t ever want you around him. He treats everyone who comes there like criminals or…” I shook my head.
“Lovely,” Ms. Reed drawled.
“I’m already texting with one of the governor’s people,” Dr. Carpenter muttered. “Let me see what we can work out. That’s ridiculous. I get the first month and—has his PO spoken to you about his work or how he’s been acting?”
“No, and I’ve tried to submit reports like I do the other three,” my manager replied. “He has maybe the nastiest PO I’ve ever talked to. Real bully and—whoever approved him to reform anyone hates the idea of parole.”
“I’m sorry,” Aurora whispered.
“Why are you apologizing?” I grumbled. “I’m the one who’s making things complicated, and I don’t want to be dismissive like a phone call is good enough for this kind of thing—not that we’ve even exchanged numbers.”
“Theresa taught me to FaceTime,” she offered.
I swallowed a sigh. “This is not a blowoff or a line. I swear it.”
“Those halfway houses have next to no privacy, Aurora,” Ms. Reed said, saving me from having to explain. “People rooming on either side would hear your conversation. Anyone in the hallway—I’ll handle this and find a solution.” She held up her hand when Aurora opened her mouth. “I’ll do this for Creed. He works for me, and I’m mortified he’s been treated this way.”
The look of love and pride Aurora gave her confused me. “Of course you will.”
So that was that. The bodyguard seemed a bit too eager to get Aurora away from me and be alone with her and then we were gone. I should have left it alone, but… I didn’t.
“You saw that, right?” I muttered to Ms. Reed before she got wrapped up in whatever came next.
“Yes, but he’s been completely professional.” She sighed when I simply raised an eyebrow. “Aurora is maybe the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in centuries. Shealwayshas that effect on men. Always.” She shrugged.
Fair enough… I guess. To me, she was—it wasn’t her beauty that drew me to her. Yeah, it helped and of course I liked the way she looked.
Of course I did.
But if she was gorgeous and had a different personality, there was no chance I would have kept eating with her. None.
There was some back and forth, but Ms. Reed really did have the power and sway like people said. Either to bitch about, mock, or praise because she used it well. I was now switching from the first bucket to the last because she was using it for me in a big way.
Hours later she handled what most couldn’t over days or maybe a week. Andrew Graves was in North America without permission, so that was a big deal. The camera didn’t get a great shot of what happened,butit definitely showed he put hands on Aurora and I showed up later, so I was covered.
I was a big fan of that given my situation.
My parole officer was no longer my parole officer and I didn’t think he would be one ever again. There was now going to be an aide to the governor who was going to handle the four of us who got screwed over and the new people they planned to bringin to replace our positions. That was the part people squirmed about.
“I’m fine staying in my current position for now,” I said firmly, interjecting into the back and forth. I met Ms. Reed’s gaze. “You’re taking this seriously and have apologized. I get it. Shit happens, and I’m not about to screw my manager or the other guys in the department who haveallbeen nice to us.” I was glad when the other guys agreed.
“Thank you. Really,” she accepted.
It was clear why Ms. Reed was the big boss with the way she handled everything. She kept calm and cool about the huge mess… Until the end when most everyone had cleared out.
She grabbed that attending by the front of his scrubs and hissed in his face, her fangs out. “I don’t give a flying fuck if you don’t like ex-cons or whatever your fucking deal is, but he’s gotmagicon him and you didn’t help him? What is wrong with you? You took anoathto do no harm—I’ll have your fucking license for this, not just—”
The guy tried to break her hold but couldn’t, looking scared which was stupid because he was a warlock and she was a vampire. Sometimes idiots let their penises overrule their brains and like fucking science.
“He’s got what the prison always puts on them!” the guy interrupted. “They all have it, Ms. Reed. I swear it, okay?” He glanced between us and then frowned when Ms. Reed eased back but still wasn’t happy. “I didn’t scan him. He just had magic on him—the prisons put location whatever on anyone on parole.”
