Good Lord, what has my mate been up to?
Even Loora looks grimmer than I’ve ever seen her. Despite holding her favorite snack. A Layn security officer stands near the wall, expression calm, hands folded behind his back. He’s wearing a very murder-but-make-it-corporate vibe.
Skylor sees me.
Everything in him shifts. The fury does not leave him. It turns. It focuses. His gaze moves over me, searching for damage. I’m fine but the need to calm him still pulls me to him like a heat-seeking missile that’s found an inferno. His nostrils flare, and the ring answers with a fierce pulse against my finger.
“Beatrice.”
The way he says my name almost takes me down.
Not soft. Not gentle. A growl wrapped in velvet. A warning issued to the universe. A wound he refuses to show anyone except me. I came here to comfort him. Then I look at Todd’s file. At MacArthur’s name. At the subject line on the floating email.
Release withdrawn pending conflict review.
My stomach drops. Oh. He is not under attack.
I am.
The realization should send me straight into panic. Instead, when he lifts his hand, I practically sprint into his arms and he meets me more than halfway. His arms wrap around me, and fuck that apartment. I’m home.
Skylor’s rage rolls through the bond, hot and protective and almost too big for the room. I stroke my hand down his back. And when he exhales against my hair, the room joins him. He leans in to kiss me, and I get wet. Immediately. This is when he’s an ass. When we have people watching but he wants to smell my slick. I get revenge by stroking his earlobes.
He pulls back with a glint in his eye that tells me I’ll pay for that later.
Yeah, Your Highness, so will you.
We part as if pulling away strips the knot loose all over again. Ridiculous. We are not even joined. My body disagrees.
We turn to face the room. Our hands are entwined and he’s not letting me go. We’re going to fight or fix whatever’s wrong. After they lay out the problem, I understand why he’s furious. It’s not about corporate optics, Athena’s relaunch, or Layn’s business in Brazil.
It is about my name. My work.My credibility. Todd did not throw a rock at Skylor’s palace. He threw one at me. And Skylor will bring down the whole mountain in response. For one heartbeat, I let myself wallow. I stand in the middle of that terrible, beautiful blue fury and adore it.
My alpha could make Todd disappear from every professional room on Earth. Bury him under lawsuits, money, royal pressure, and whatever quiet Layn methods are at his disposal. He could do it before dinner and then knot me for dessert.
Hmm, tempting.Like sweet potato cheesecake tempting. No one has ever been this angry on my behalf.
“Sky,” I say, squeezing his hand again.
He squeezes back. He’s not calm or civilized. Definitely not tame. Never tame. But mine enough to let my touch settle him.
Loora’s gaze softens across the room.
“Okay,” I say. “What are our options? How do we handle this without anyone going to prison?”
Skylor’s hand almost breaks my fingers.
I press my palm to his chest. This is my power as his omega. Calm. Soothe. Anchor.
“Fuck that,” Sky rages.
Okay, so I might need a little more time at my job.
“He attacked your integrity. He used our bond against you.”
“I know,” I say, keeping my hand on his chest. I look up, letting my curls land on his shoulder and he automatically turns hishead to take a deep whiff.Manipulative much?Hell yeah, I have no shame.
His voice drops into a lethal whisper. “I will break him.”
