A gasp of indignation escaped me, but thankfully, it wasn’t loud enough for anyone other than Ariadne to hear.
“Ignore them,” Ariadne whispered.
“Easier said than done.” I cleared my throat, which was thick with emotion. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Anytime.” She flashed a tight smile at me. “Next time, don’t say a word until I get here.”
“I won’t.”
She glanced at the men by the door. “Are you okay if I leave you with them?”
“Yeah.”
“Great.” She gave me a quick hug. “I’ll see you at our next spin class… if not sooner.”
“See you there.” I watched her leave, noting that Zeke had looked up from the screen and his dark eyes followed her. He probably thought he’d found his next bed-warmer. He seemed to take it as a challenge to charm every woman he met. I was sure plenty of them ended up beneath him.
“No orange jumpsuit?” he asked as I approached.
I ignored him. “You didn’t have to come,” I said to Ronan.
“Of course we did.” He smiled, and the expression softened his stern features. The man was gorgeous, although it had only been since he got together with his fiancée, Willow Lennox, that he’d smoothed over some of his rougher edges. “We’ll drive you home.”
“No.” I said it so quickly they both seemed startled. I winced. “I mean, you should take me back to the office. I have plenty of time to do more work today.”
Ronan considered this. “Don’t feel like you have to. You must need a bit of quiet to get your thoughts together.”
That’s exactly what I don’t want.
There was no one to distract me at home. I didn’t want to mull over everything that had gone wrong today, and the myriad ways this could mess up my life.
“I’d rather be at work.”
Zeke rose from the chair. “Let Fifi be a workaholic if that’s what she wants.”
I narrowed my eyes. “My name isn’t ‘Fifi.’”
“Fifi” sounded like a dog.
He smirked. “Why not? It’s cute. You’re cute. It fits.”
“Just no.”
Ronan jerked his head toward the exit and we followed him out. It was a short walk to the car and I slumped onto the back seat, feeling more drained than I’d realized. When we arrived at King’s Security, Ronan indicated for us to join him in his office. He sat at the collaboration table, Zeke sat opposite him, and I claimed the seat at Ronan’s side, more out of habit than anything else. A good assistant was always at their boss’s right hand.
“I’ll call Kade,” he said. A few minutes later, the last of the directors sauntered into the room, his broad shoulders nearly filling the doorway.
He came over to me. “How are you doing?”
I tried to look more put-together than I felt. “Been better, been worse.”
He lowered his huge frame onto the chair closest to Zeke. “Run us through everything that’s happened.”
I glanced between them, suddenly feeling intimidated. Except for Zeke, these men had never been anything but kind to me yet, for some reason, I hated the thought of unloading my baggage on them. I worked my ass off to be excellent at my job. Their respect meant something to me. I didn’t want to lose it.
ZEKE
Fiona was too pale.I didn’t like it.
