He began walking her back toward her office.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means if you step wrong, you could set off a bomb.”
She paled, the color draining from her face. “Do you mean you have active bombs down here? If I accidentally set one off, would it kill the people above us?”
Billows’ fingers bit even deeper. “Don’t you dare get hysterical on me. I was watching a fucking horror movie in the office next to yours and I had the door open a crack. You heard the screaming and, like an idiot, didn’t bother to text me to see what was happening.”
He was lying. She knew he was lying. Worse, that womanhadstoppedscreaming. Azelie had no idea who she was or where she was. If she called the police and they came and searched the maze, they might set off bombs. She wanted to go home and pull the covers over her head and pretend she’d never met Billows.
He practically flung her into a chair, his face a mask of anger. She knew he could feel her trembling; there was no way to stop it. He hadn’t answered her question about the bombs. She absolutely believed him that there were bombs. What was he doing besides rearranging his books to make his businesses seem legitimate?
“I’m sorry, Alan,” she said, pouring contriteness into her voice. She didn’t feel contrite. She just felt scared. “I won’t leave my office again.”
“You’d better not.” He sounded menacing.
Now, each time she descended the narrow stairs to the office where she worked, the atmosphere beneath the dance floors always felt tense and oppressive. It felt sinister and dark, as if a thousand ghosts cried out for her to join them.
She ignored her overactive imagination and headed straight for the office she always used. The door was open, and Alan Billows was waiting for her inside, one hip to the desk. His dark eyes jumped to her face as she pushed back the hood and shook out her hair.
“Someone has been stealing from us,” Billows announced as she entered the office. He waved her toward the chair behind the desk. “I need you to find out who, and I don’t want you to leave until you have.”
To give herself time to think of a response that wouldn’t trigger his temper, Azelie moved around him to do as he wanted, seating herself at the desk. The computer was already running, the books open for her to inspect.
“Alan, of course I’ll do my best to see who is stealing from you, but I’m a numbers person. Just looking at the books probably won’t initially give me answers. I’ll be happy to work on it until I find the culprit, but it could take weeks. Or more. Depending on how clever they’ve been.”
“Then you’ll stay weeks or more,” he snapped.
He began pacing, his movements quick and angry, much like a trapped tiger. She forced air through her lungs, refusing to give in to panic. Billows was very angry. The atmosphere in the room felt sinister. Ominous. A giant storm ready to break right over her head.
“I understand your anger. You work hard for your money, and no one has the right to steal it from you. I’ll find them, Alan, but I need to go home when I’m tired. I don’t sleep well anywhere else. To do this for you, I have to be alert.”
Billows abruptly stopped moving, swinging around to stare at her. Her stomach dropped. There was far too much speculation in his eyes. Something else as well. Lust maybe. Certainly interest in her as a woman, not just his bookkeeper. His steady stare was unnerving, but she forced a pleasant smile as she pulled a notebook from her backpack.
The weird thing was, she’d seen that look a few times before. Not often. Mostly he was terse and dismissive. He didn’t spend a lot of time with her. Usually, he barked orders and left. She was uncertain why he would have sudden bouts of interest in her. She didn’t flirt. She dressed in baggy, shapeless clothes. No makeup.
“Why didn’t you allow me up to your apartment?”
It was the last thing she expected him to ask. Her heart accelerated at the dark shadows creeping over his face.
“Did you have someone up there?”
His tone indicated she had better not have had someone in her apartment. Worry for Andrii sent a shock wave of panic through her mind.
“I’m quite capable of making someone disappear,” he added.
He wasn’t joking with her. She kept her expression serene, with effort. She’d practiced the look a million times in her mirror after hearing those screams coming from somewhere in the complicated maze of secret rooms. Her eyes met his, and she made certain she had a look of inquiry.
“Alan.” She kept her voice gentle and sweet. Deliberately,she acted as if she didn’t understand. “That isn’t something you should say to me when I’m looking for the criminal stealing from you. I know he might deserve whatever he gets, but I can’t know about it. It wouldn’t be safe for you.”
He frowned and took a step closer to the desk. “What is it with you? I don’t like bitches as a rule. I have a hard time getting you out of my mind.”
Her heart continued to accelerate. Her mouth went dry. That wasn’t good. She’d begun to suspect he was looking for more than a working relationship, although he never dated anyone for more than a week or so. His women didn’t last.
“Perhaps you could refrain from referring to me as a bitch. I am not a dog, nor am I in heat. I’m your employee, and you’re skating very close to a pet peeve of mine.” She stuck her nose in the air and regarded him steadily with as much annoyance as she could muster.
What could have been a smile touched his mouth. “A pet peeve? Damn, woman, that’s it right there. That attitude you have. We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know about the other night. Why you didn’t let me come upstairs.”
