We made our way to the elevators and stepped on the first one that opened up. We were alone in the car.
“That was fun,” she said, her serious expression turning into a grin.
I might have agreed with her, except the more I thought about the upcoming encounter, the more the red haze swelled. The urge to rip off my cousin’s arms kept climbing up my throat.
I was only vaguely aware of Brooke pressing the button for the correct floor, didn’t see her stop in front of me until she took my hand. My gaze focused on her face, and I drowned in her tawny cat eyes. There was concern there, but something else too. The rhythmic stroke of her thumb on the back of my hand was supposed to calm me, but it wasn’t working. The closer the elevator climbed to Landon, the more the red haze took over.
Keeping hold of my hand, Brooke rose on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth. My heart rate lowered, the haze receding. When she rocked back on her heels, I kept my gaze on hers, letting myself sink into the depths of her eyes.
A tone above us dinged, signaling the thirty-third floor. Brooke dropped my hand, and we strode out into a world of glass walls. A desk spanned the foyer, a receptionist behind it with a phone to her ear. She lowered the receiver when she saw us coming.
“Mr. Baird to see Mr. Urick,” Brooke said, her voice back to its short and clipped professionalism.
The receptionist stood and gestured to the door on the left. “This way, please,” she said, using her keycard to pass through the first door. A long hallway was bracketed by tall doors. The glass walls allowed us to glimpse the business people inside, who glanced at us briefly as we walked by, then returned to their phone calls.
We were led to the last office. The receptionist knocked twice, then opened the door to a space sheathed in windows. There wasn’t a lot in the room, but it was the only one without glass walls to the other offices, offering a certain amount of privacy. A central, glass-topped desk took a major portion of the middle, a flat-screen monitor and keyboard sitting to the one side. Tropical plants were placed strategically around the room.
I barely saw any of it, my gaze entirely focused on the man behind the desk.
A flash of disbelief crossed my cousin’s expression. “Well, this is a surprise. If I’d had some advance warning, I could have cleared my whole day. When they said you were downstairs, I half-expected an imposter.”
His words were faint in my ears, like they came from far away. My entire focus tunneled to the man who had put Brooke in such a dangerous position. Wanting her to take the lead, I stood stock still as she stepped forward to introduce herself.
Landon stood, extending his hand. “His assistant,” he repeated, the words muffled from the roaring in my ears. Landon’s appreciative gaze ran up and down Brooke’s body.
A growl ripped itself from my chest.
Landon raised an eyebrow. “More than an assistant. Got it.” He sat at his desk and folded his hands in front of him, serene. “You didn’t come all this way for nothing. What can I do for you? Did you bring me another design?”
The jackass was acting like nothing was the matter, that he hadn’t become some evil overlord in his skyscraper plotting to hunt down women. His nonchalance made my jaw ache to rip into him.
Through the red haze, I saw Brooke open the briefcase and take out her collar. She dropped the remote, then the heavy piece of metal on the glass surface.Whack.A shard flew to the side.
Good.Because I really wanted to break some shit on Brooke’s behalf. Starting with Landon’s face.
“Where did you get this?” His posture suddenly stiff, he picked up the collar with both hands.
“From around my neck,” Brooke replied, her voice calm.
Images of her stumbling into my cabin, starving and afraid, only made me seethe more. The rage kept coming, building, as I thought of my mate being in pain. Of being hurt.
The conversation between Brooke and Landon continued, but I didn’t hear any of it. I kept thinking of Brooke in danger. Red covered my entire vision. That collar had ended up on Brooke’s neck because of my cousin. Every instinct in me told me to protect her, to eliminate the threat.
I would have Landon’s blood in exchange for Brooke’s pain.
A growl emerged from my chest. Brooke and Landon snapped their gazes to me.
Through the red haze, Brooke’s eyes widened. Her lips moved, forming my name. She must have said it aloud, but I didn’t hear it. The roaring in my head was too loud.
A flash of movement. Landon vaulted over the desk, putting himself between me and Brooke. The act of aggression, separating us, sent my protective instincts through the roof.
The shift came over me, my claws, my teeth. A tearing sound echoed off the glass windows. My bear wanted out. It yearned for blood as much as I did. I couldn’t stop it.
Landon took a couple steps back, his arms spread wide. He said something in warning over his shoulder—to Brooke. My cousin was telling my mate to get out of here for her own safety, protecting her from me.
My mate.
I would never hurt Brooke. I only wanted my cousin’s blood.
