Conrí Gallagher
Chief Executive Officer
Kilcullen Tech PLC
Think before printing. Please consider the environment.??
I hit send.
Kael didn't need to voice his approval. I felt it.
We needed to strike a fine balance between dominance and care. Our Bad Girl was beneath the surface watching and assessing. What I’d considered instability was vulnerability.
She’d awakened years after her first shift should have taken place. She had no pack protection. A human personality that she was possibly still connecting with.
All weekend I’d studied her files and online presence. When I gained all her information, I’d studied it as if she were a threat to us. After tonight and Kael’s reaction to her, I knew better.
She was the firstborn of Ana and Niko. Sara came five years later. They were an ordinary family like millions of others.
Except Nika was mine.
Her Bad Girl was mine.
It all came down to our skills of persuasion if we were fortunate enough to be invited when she went into heat.
And even then there was no guarantee.
Kael stirred and a slow whine built in my chest.
The thought unsettled us.
Chapter 32
Nika
As soon as I opened the door accessing my floor, I felt the buzz in the air as the bees all moved around in unison. People were cleaning their desks, removing cups. I froze when I saw Carla with the industrial blue paper towel in one hand and a spray bottle in the other, attacking her monitor like it had personally offended her.
She was the sort who would complain about the cleaners if the floor hadn’t been hoovered properly. She would even check her keyboard for dust some mornings. That image of her curled up beside the pillar, holding her arse as she followed through, made me feel somewhat better.
“What time do you call this, Nika?” Andy said, standing from his chair.
I glanced at the clock.
“I’m four minutes early and other people aren’t here yet.”
He didn’t reply. He turned and walked across the floor to Claire’s office without another word.
“Good morning,” I said to Carla.
“Morning,” she said, glancing up briefly before the monitor reclaimed her full attention.
I’d barely sat down when she spoke again.
“Do you want a drink?”
I looked up from my bag.
“Uh, no thanks. I asked Francis to get me one from Nero’s on the way in.” I looked around.“Why is everyone running around?”
