“Boss, wait…” Derek starts.
While Ian and Colin drag them across the room, I walk around them and beat them to the freezer door, which I open for them. Cold air spills out in a sharp breath.
“Wait… wait… I said fucking wait,” Wes barks, panic finally breaking through.
Ian shoves him hard between the shoulders, sending him stumbling across the frozen tiles. Derek follows a second later when Colin throws him through the doorway.
Then I slam the heavy door shut; the latch drops with a thick metallic clack.
“Set the timer for nine minutes,” I tell Ian.
The monitor flickers with movement as the camera inside the freezer comes alive with the two men scrambling to their feet, their breath already fogging the air. They’re both shouting curses as though they’ll be set free if they guess the right one.
“Now that I have your attention,” I drawl into the microphone. “Let’s go over what happens when you forget the rules for working for me.”
“I wouldn’t breathe too deeply if I were you,” Ian interjects.
“Fuck no,” Colin agrees. “Gotta take care of those precious lungs since you’re also smokers.”
Shaking my head, I carry on. “When you’re sent on surveillance for me, it’s always hands off unless you’re told differently. Nod if you understand.”
They both nod eagerly.
“Good. Now, what made you think you had the right to put your hands on something that belongs to me?” I ask, my voice turning sharp.
“P-please,” Derek begs, his teeth already chattering.
Wes wraps his arms around himself. “She wasn’t h-hurt,” he insists.
Even though they can’t see me, I nod. “Okay. Let’s say she catches pneumonia and dies…”
I’m distracted when Colin guffaws. “Yeah, because that often happens.” When I glare at him, he averts his gaze. “But that’s not the point. Nope. I’m just here to listen.”
“Or even just become sick. Wouldn’t you say a sick asset is worth less than a healthy one?”
“Y-yes,” both men stammer.
“Good,” I say pleasantly.
I continue to tear into them, purposefully giving them no reason to believe this ends well. And I don’t stop until Ian’s timer goes off.
“So, what’s the verdict?” he asks.
I switch the security system off and head toward the door. “Let them out,” I call over my shoulder. “But get someone else to watch over the Brewer building. If those two fuckers come even within a mile radius, I want them right back here for good.”
“You got it,” Ian confirms.
“Boss, do we give them any—”
“No,” I interrupt, already knowing what he’s asking. “They can warm each other up if it’s that bad. Actually, make them walk out of here fucking naked.”
Chapter 6
Alina
The mixer finally goes silent, leaving me alone with the ache in my shoulders and the flour dust dancing in the afternoon light.
I wipe my forehead with the back of my wrist, feeling the day’s sweat and exhaustion like a second skin. Thirteen hours on my feet, and my body screams in protest with every movement. But the bakery doesn’t clean itself.
