Dreaded tears filled my eyes as I grabbed several things from my desk without looking and stuffed them into my already full bag.
Was this truly the end? Three years of hard work gone in an instant?
Apparently so.
Chapter Five
Aiven
Visiting a fired employee’s house close to midnight on the winter solstice wasn’t my idea of fun. Unfortunately, Ms. Nayak had turned her company-issued cell phone off and wasn’t responding to any of my e-mails while still in possession of restricted company documents.
This was quickly turning into a security issue.
Her little pink car was parked on the curb in front of a cottage that looked like something out of a fairytale. It was a small house painted a pale lilac with iron-framed windows. The low, sagging roof was an indication of its age, but it also added a little charm.
The garden was a tangle of overgrown wildflowers. It suited her.
I refused to think about how strange the rest of the evening had been. Each time I looked past the glass panels, expecting Ms. Nayak to be at her desk, tapping notes into her holo link, something twitched in my chest. The chair still sat askew after her hurried departure.
At the time, I’d wished to remind her about her obligatory two-week notice, but I had a feeling she would have disregarded it anyway.
Perhaps I had become over-reliant on her. She had stuck with me for three years, after all. Whenever I had a question about a client or a contractor, she was always there, quick with an answer and sometimes even quicker with asolution. It seemed incongruous to think that this woman had made my life seamless, but after trying to look for information myself and dealing with administrative mail in her inbox, I realized just how much she did for me without being asked.
I sighed, rubbing my temples as I sat in my car. The taste of a power bar was stale on my tongue.
Curse it all,Ihad made the choice to fire her. She had violated my three-strike rule. I thought I was being decisive; I’d done what was necessary. But sitting here just a few feet from her house and watching the lights dim in her living room, I wondered if I’d been too hasty.
Had I made an assistant I liked—the only one I’d truly liked—quit her job?
As another light went out in her house, I found myself abandoning the safety of my car and standing in front of a lone porch light that was far too dim.
The chime of her front door bell was surprisingly pleasant.
“What?”
She answered the door with a scowl, her lips pressed into a thin line.
The door swung wide and a burst of her scent drifted into the night air. Silky and sweet, the scent of peaches settled in my chest. There was something undeniably primal about it—a kind of magnetic pull that spoke directly to my Alpha.
“You took some—”
I paused, my gaze dipping unprofessionally to her state of undress.
Well, not reallyundress, more… Underdressed?
The pink fluffy robe matched the slippers on her feet. Little red-painted toes peeked out. The robe itself stopped mid-way up her thighs, revealing more of Ms. Nayak than I’d ever glimpsed.
She cleared her throat pointedly and my gaze snapped back up to hers.
“You took some documents with you,” I finished. “Client reports.”
“Right.” She pulled at the edges of her robe. “Of course you’re here for that.”
She left the door wide open and retreated into the cottage.
I stepped inside, regretting the decision almost immediately. Everything smelled like her.
“What else would I be here for?” I asked, watching as she entered what I assumed was her bedroom. All I could glimpse from the entryway was a full-length mirror, but it was enough.
