“And, uh, you?”
“Eli.”
“Eli,” she said, as if testing out the syllables. “What are you doing here? When did you get back to New York?”
“This morning.”
That part was true. As soon as the job he and St. Vincent had worked on ended, they took the first flight back to New York City and went straight here for their debrief. However, it was obvious Olivia had no idea he worked here. Hell, he had no idea Killian Jones had a daughter.
“I should probably explain why I’m here.”
“Yeah, you could start with that.” She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her cheek.
A memory flashed in his brain, of those same silvery strands wrapped around his fist, and the softness of the skin on her cheek.
“Eli?”
He cleared his throat. “I work here.”
“You … work here? In New York? For my dad?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t believe—” She choked on a laugh. “But I’ve never heard of you … where …”
“It’s a long story.” And he didn’t even know where to begin, not without revealing the secrets he’d been hiding all these months. His brain told him that the smart thing to do was toleave now. Leave his job, leave New York and never look back. But now that he found her …
“Excuse me.”
They both spun toward the sound of the voice. Sloane had emerged from the office, Jacob right behind her.
“I hate to interrupt,” she continued. “But I think you know what needs to happen, Eli.”
His flight response kicked in.Flee, it said. But his wolf begged him to stay.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Olivia glanced at Sloane. “Did you tell Jacob?—”
“No, it’s not about that. Whooo boy,” she said, shooting Eli a look that said,you’re in trouble. “It’s about who he really is.”
Olivia’s head snapped back toward him, her violet eyes searching his. “What is she talking about?”
The walls seemingly closed in, ready to collapse on him as his foundation of lies threatened to crumble. From the murderous look on Jacob’s face, it was obvious Sloane had told himeverything. He longed to reach out to Olivia, to hold her for one last time. Because once he revealed his whole truth, he would likely never get the chance to touch her again.
“I still want to hear it from you, Blake,” Jacob said through gritted teeth. “Or whatever the hell your name is.”
Before he could answer, the din from the conference room down the hall grew louder as the door opened.
“What are you guys doing here?” Killian Jones asked as he stepped through the door. “Come back—oh, Eli, you’re back. Good.” He raised the champagne glass in his hand. “We’re celebrating, come and join us. We can debrief tomorrow.”
Eli cursed to himself. Now there really was no way he was getting out.
“Uncle Killian,” Jacob began. “We need to talk. In private. And you should call Uncle Connor and Dad too.”
Killian frowned. “What’s this about?”
“Something important.”
Jacob’s grave tone was seemingly enough for the other Lycan. “My office in five then,” he said before disappearing back into the conference room.
