“Carson, please.” The man in question shakes my brother’s hand, but his eyes rake over me the entire time, assessing. “And who do we have here?”
“My sister, Kiara, happens to be the best veterinarian you could ever dream of.”
Politely dismissing me, Carson clucks his tongue. “I see. Alas, most of my animals require, ah,specializedcare, if you catch my drift. But it was nice to meet you, doll.”
Ignoring my eye twitch, my brother plows on with a dismissive snort of his own. “That’s right, the rumor mill says you’ve been trying to convince The Angel of Mercy to work for you?”
Carson chuckles ruefully. “Who hasn’t? But that woman is impossible to find; lord knows I’ve tried. None of my contacts could track her down, though. After the first few dropped off the face of the earth, and the last on my doorstep, I took the hint and backed off. I’ve been vetting a few contenders to take the position, but none of them come anywhere close to her skill level, if the rumors are to be believed. Sadly, I think I’ll have to pick the lesser evil, because my estate manager has hit their threshold for handling both roles and is on the verge of quitting.”
Stryker said something similar when we met, but I brushed it off as him buttering me up to try and take him on as a patient.Are people seriously calling me that? Or is he talking about someone else?
And… nobody can track me down? What the heck is that about? It’s not like I’m trying to hide. Fates know I need the business.
“Then you're in luck, because you’re looking at her,” my brother declares with smug pride, answering at least one one of my questions. “If you'rereallylucky, maybe she'll consider your offer.”
The man’s shock is clear on his face, but he quickly composes himself. “Kiara, was it? Please, may I have this dance? We can discuss what I have to do to convince you to come on as my personal menagerie’s caretaker. I have quite the impressive collection, if I do say so myself.”
I hate the way he’s talking about his animals and start to politely decline, but my brother is all smiles and practically slaps my hand in the man’s waiting one. As Carson leads me away and I shoot a traitorous glare over my shoulder, Killian silently mouths, ‘You’ve got this!’ and I mentally sigh. I appreciate what he’s doing, even if I don’t like it. Honestly, it’s a smart plan, and a golden opportunity.
A man like this has money dripping from every thread of his Armani suit; the salary alone would likely give me a heart attack. And if I worked exclusively for his estate, I’d have a limited number of magical creatures under my care. Once I took care of any current health issues, I’d be hands-on enough to prevent illnesses and injuries before they got bad, short of emergencies. All the joy of working with animals, but I could take a huge step back from having to use my abilities day-to-day. And make bank doing it.
“Now I see why they call you an angel,” Mr. Montgomery says with a smile I’m sure he thinks is charming, but ultimately, misses the mark. Too much about the man screams he’s usedto people tripping over themselves to kowtow to his moods, and it takes a considerable effort to stick around to hear him out. I don’t have the luxury of turning away potential clients.
I stumble a step as I realize that, actually? I do. Once the check for the house arrives, it can carry me for a few years. Longer, if I budget carefully. Havoc may be on my shit list right now, but he bought me the freedom to actually consider this job offer without feeling forced to take it.
He twirls me around, running through his sales pitch and promising the moon and back to try and lock me down. Likely more for the bragging rights than actually wanting the best care for his pets, the way he’s talking about them like trophies, though. It’d be a smart move; a job I should be tripping over myself to beg for.
But then what about all the animals that need help that don’t get it because I’m hidden away behind a rich guy’s paywall and exclusivity contract? Still, with the way my backlash issue is devolving, I genuinely consider it. If I keep abusing myself and my powers like this, I’m working on borrowed time, and this would give me the independence I’ve always craved while doing something I love that’s less stress on my system.
For thirty seconds, I let myself actually imagine taking the job and how much easier that’d make my life. But then wild, amber eyes flash through my mind, and I know that I can’t. Jobs like this require living on site, and estates have plenty of staff. Groundskeepers. It’d only be a matter of time before someone found out about the feral shifter I was trying to hide in my cottage, or worse, a room in the main house.
“I appreciate the offer, but unfortunately, I’m going to have to politely decline.”
Slowly, Carson’s lips curve into a smarmy smile, tugging me closer and sliding his hand down my side to clasp my hip. “Playing hard to get? No matter, it only makes me moredetermined than ever to make you mine, gorgeous. Name your price.”
Before I can figure out a way to artfully extract myself, Stryker is there ripping his hand off me. “You can’t afford her.”
Before Carson can say shit, Stryker’s steering me away, fuming. His fingers flex on my lower back as he leans in close to hiss in my ear, “That guy is a fucking predator, you need to stayfaraway from him.”
“Thanks for the save. Don’t worry, I already turned down his offer.”
Stryker’s eyes are a riotous storm of fury. “What the hell did he say to you before I showed up?” He takes a step away, like he has every intention of storming over there and beating the guy to a bloody pulp, so I snatch his hand at the last second, threading my fingers through his.
“Joboffer.”
“You don’t need his money,” he growls, glaring daggers across the room.
Umm. Agree to disagree.But I know this is neither the time nor place for that argument, so I let Stryker pull me across the dance floor away from where Carson Montgomery is watching us with lips pressed into a thin line, silently seething. As naturally as breathing, Stryker leads me through a few graceful steps and turns, navigating the bodies around us with ease. He’s distracted though, gaze continually darting to the man he arrived with, and my stomach twists in guilt.
Stryker’s working, and still, he rescued me from that creep.
His plea from the day we met echoes through my mind.“I’ll lose… everything.”
Like hell it’ll be because of me, though. I might not have figured out how to help him yet, but I can at least ensure I don’t drag him down any further when he’s already under so much scrutiny. So, as the song comes to an end, I rise up on my toesand press a gentle, lingering kiss to Stryker’s jaw. “We’ll catch up after you get off work tonight, okay? Keep your eyes on the prize.”
His heated gaze roams over me. “Trust me, I am.”
Ignoring the way my cheeks warm, I extract myself and return to Killian’s side, determined to avoid Stryker for the rest of the night so I don’t get him in trouble.
