I moved before I consciously decided to.Three steps brought me to Lena’s side, close enough that Michael had to look up at both of us, close enough that the threat in my posture was unmistakable.
“Apologize.”
Michael’s eyes met mine.For a fraction of a second, something shifted there.It wasn’t the deference I expected.
“I apologize, Miss Hughes.”The words came easily, smoothly, the professional mask sliding back into place as if it had never slipped.“That was unprofessional of me.I didn’t mean to cause offense.”
“It’s fine.”Lena’s voice was steady, but I could smell the distress underneath.The scent of old wounds reopened.“We’ll discuss the recommendations another time.”
Michael gathered his portfolio and left.His footsteps echoed down the corridor, measured and calm.The click of the door closing seemed to echo in the silence.
I waited until I couldn’t hear him anymore before speaking.
“Has he done that before?”
Lena shook her head, her fingers pressing against her temples.“Never.He’s been professional for five years.Loyal.”She looked up at me, confusion and hurt warring in her expression.“But lately he’s been pushing.Asking for more control.And just now, the way he looked at me when I said no…”
She trailed off.But I’d seen it too.The flash of something ugly beneath the professional mask.The anger that didn’t match the slight.
“Do I sound like him?Like my father?”
I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her chin up to meet my gaze.Her scent surrounded me, distress fading slowly as my touch seemed to calm her.The wolf wanted to pull her close, to wrap around her and snarl at anything that caused her pain.
“You sound like someone who knows her worth.”
The tightness eased from her shoulders.She leaned into my touch, trusting, and the wolf’s protectiveness warred with my own guilt.
I should tell her.About the predator instinct screaming that something was wrong with the assistant.About the insider threat I suspected was behind the sabotaged boiler and the poisoned corgi.About Apex Lending and my role in everything that had happened to her.
I said nothing.
Tell her,the wolf demanded, pacing with agitation.Protect her.She needs to know.The threat is close, closer than she knows, and we’re keeping her blind.
But information was power.And I was terrified of losing her.
So I held her instead.Breathed in her scent, the smell of us together.Memorized this moment.The way she fit against me like she’d been made for my arms.The trust in her body as she leaned into my strength.The collar glinting at her throat, my claim visible for anyone who looked.
Tell her,the wolf insisted.The man who loves her would tell her.The monster keeps secrets.
Maybe I was both.Maybe I’d always been both, the man who wanted to protect her and the monster who would destroy her with his secrets.
I kissed her forehead.Held her close.Kept my silence.
And hated myself for it.
26
LENA
Raphael’s arms were the only thing holding me together.
I pressed my face against his chest, breathing in that dark, familiar warmth that had become the scent of safety.Of home.The collar lay warm against my throat, the delicate chain shifting with each breath, and his heartbeat was steady under my cheek.A rhythm that had somehow become as familiar as my own.
You sound just like your father.
Michael’s words still echoed in my skull, sharp as broken glass.Did I?Was I becoming the man who’d controlled everything about my life, who’d dismissed anyone who challenged him, who’d kept secrets so dark they were still poisoning everything he’d touched?The man who’d looked at me and seen not a daughter but a burden to be managed?
“You sound like someone who knows her worth.”
