What is going on?
Across from the whispering analysts, two stone-faced thugs in suits stand guard. I recognize them from my foray into the Adalwulf building. But if they’re here, that means…
Aiden Adalwulf is in the building. And there he is: seated at the foot of the conference table. Directly across from Blackthroat. They’re both stone faced and staring each other down.
What is going on?
Noah, stands closest to the conference room. I sign, What’s going on?
He replies in ASL the equivalent of,
We were here to prep for the meeting with Benson, but Aiden Adalwulf showed up.
Why?
He now owns a forty nine percent stake in Benson. He’s been quietly acquiring shares, and on Friday Benson Junior sold out.
This is not good. This could be the end of the deal.
They’ve been in there for fifteen minutes, barely talking,
Noah tells me.
It’s a standoff. From the gloating look on Aiden’s creepily handsome face, he’s winning and lording it over Blackthroat.
I have to do something.
Do the rest of the executives know?
Noah shrugs.
My guess is no, if Blackthroat’s up here alone. This was some sort of ambush while everyone was prepping for the noon meeting.
I fire off a quick text to security and keep signing to Noah.
Inform them, please. But tell them to stay and check on the status of the deal.
It won’t do for all the executives to come barrelling in to back Blackthroat. It’ll undermine his authority, make him look weak. Mr. Blackthroat can handle this by himself, I explain.
The others can reach out to Benson Senior and the rest of the board.
I grab a tablet off my desk and pull up the morning report I compiled on the bus. I don’t have a great excuse to interrupt, but I’ll figure something out.
I square my shoulders to march over, but Noah catches my arm.
Their orders are not to be disturbed.
I’ll be fine.
A hush falls over the analysts as I march up to the door. If the two thugs on either side could shoot lasers out of their eyes, I’d be dead, but they don’t make a move to stop me.
I rap on the door and glide right in. The tension in the air is so thick, my lungs squeeze.
Blackthroat doesn’t look up, but Aiden turns his flat, dead-eyed gaze on me. He recognizes me. I wasn’t part of his power play before I entered the room, but I am now.
“Excuse me,” I keep my voice sweet but firm. “I wouldn’t interrupt but this is time sensitive.” My smile is pure bullshit.
I lean into Blackthroat, showing him the tablet. The first item is confirmation of the land deal closing. It’s not a huge win, but every battle counts. “I just need your signature.” I swipe to the correct document and hand it to him. I feel Aiden’s eyes crawling up and down my back, so I face him.
“Mr. Adalwulf, can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?”
A soul? I force myself to meet his gaze and am rewarded with a flicker of surprise in his stone-like expression. He gives a barely imperceptible shake of the head.
I keep my eyes on him as I ask Blackthroat, “Do you want me to cancel the rest of your morning meetings and reschedule them for later in the day?”
“No.” Blackthroat hands me back the tablet. “We’re done here.”
I don’t know how I broke the showdown, but I did. Brick and Aiden rise at the same time, flicking their suit jackets closed with identical movements. Their mirrored behavior would be funny if they weren’t so intimidating.
Only Blackthroat’s solid presence at my back allows me to face Aiden as he comes closer. He stares at me like I’m a bug under a magnifying glass. One he’s about to crush.
He stops a foot away, looming over me. He and Brick are both giants compared to me.
Screw him. I’ve been standing up to rich bullies since my first day at Landhower. Aiden Adalwulf is no different.
I stand my ground as if goosebumps haven’t broken out over my body. Aiden is in my space enough to physically intimidate me. But I’m not alone. I swear I hear a low, beast-like growl from my boss behind me. If I leaned back, I could rest my head on Blackthroat’s chest.
Aiden sees this. He sees everything. “Madison Evans,” he rasps with a sound like flint striking steel. “Good to see you again.”
I don’t reply.
He glances down at my cleavage long enough for it to be obvious. I feel Blackthroat tense behind me and imagine his muscles bulging, gearing up for a fight.
“Shall I find someone who can show you the way out?” I ask, all sweetness. From the commotion at the elevator, it looks like security got my text and already sent up an escort.
“No need. I know my way around.” With a parting smirk, Aiden leaves.
* * *
Brick
The scent of my enemy fades, drowned out by Madison’s sweetness. I hold myself still, willing my wolf to back down.
Enemy. Kill.
Everything in me wanted to rip Aiden’s throat out. And he knew it. The bastard came here to gloat. Losing control would count as a win. He was hoping to goad me into acting stupid. When he spoke to Madison, I almost did. I have to act like Madison is nothing to me. Merely an assistant. If Aiden thinks a human female means something to me, he’ll use it to destroy me.
Fuck. She shouldn’t mean anything to me.
It doesn’t matter. If Aiden looks or speaks to her again, I’ll blind him then rip off his head.
No one fucks with her. No one but me.
She tips her face up. “What happened?”
“Usual Adalwulf posturing. He thinks he’s won.” I reach for her and stop myself just in time. I can’t touch her. “You shouldn’t have come in here.”
She ignores my snarl. “I figured the dick measuring contest had gone on long enough. Besides, it knocked him off his game. He went in to spar with you and ended up facing me instead.”
And Madison won. It was almost worth letting Aiden in to watch him scramble to best her.
“We got word to the executive team,” she continues. “They’ll be contacting Benson now, seeing where we stand. The Adalwulfs haven’t won yet.”
She sounds like she wants this deal more than I do.
“I told them to stay away and let you handle Mr. Adalwulf. But they’ll want to debrief. I can set up a meeting-“
“No. You and I are going out.” If I don’t get out of the office, my wolf is going to lose it.
I’m not going to think too closely about why I want-need-Madison at my side.
* * *
Madi
I’m still pecking at my tablet, liaising with three different departments to schedule meetings with Benson while Brick leads me out of the elevator. I step out and blink in the sunlight, holding up my tablet to block the glare, and ducking my head against the wind. Instead of the parking deck, we’re on the rooftop.
“This way.” Brick’s hand settles at the small of my back, guiding me towards the waiting helicopter. The wind whips the hem of my dress, making it snap against my legs.
I wait until we’re strapped into our seats to shout my question. “Where are we going?”
Brick doesn’t answer. As the helicopter rises from the roof, he stares out the window, lost in thought, his face and beard in profile. He really is beautiful. Less classically handsome than Aiden Adalwulf, but just as striking. Aiden Adalwulf looks like an airbrushed model, too uncanny to be real. And his face is a mask, a perfectly polished shell hiding the vast emptiness inside.
Brick is the epitome of rugged masculine hotness, but he’s also real. Fierce, powerful, demanding but also loyal.
And in this moment, where it’s just the two of us, I want him so badly my bones ache. I want a repeat of what happened in his office last week.
Desperately.
But he promised that wouldn’t happen.
I press my legs together, put my head down and work until we land. Our destination is another highrise rooftop. We could have driven here but I guess he wanted to skip the extra fifteen minutes of traffic. Brick helps me out of the helicopter and again ushers me into Le Ciel, a lavishly decorated restaurant with wall to wall windows and tables set for fine dining. I stop short, ignoring the slight pressure of his hand on my back that would keep me moving.
“You’re not cheating on me, are you?”
His head snaps my way.
“With another assistant.” I wave my tablet around the empty restaurant. “Because this is something I should arrange for you.”
“I have a standing reservation here. Perks of being an investor.”
A ma?tre d’ materializes, along with several waiters. “Welcome, Mr. Blackthroat. Window or booth?”
“My usual. Unless you’d like the window?” He touches my elbow to indicate he’s talking to me.
I hide my surprise.
Is he being…chivalrous? Charming? What is happening right now?
I take a step towards the window, careful not to lean too close in case I get vertigo. We’re at the top of the highrise, with the whole city at our feet. “I’d rather not be near a window.”
Blackthroat leads me to a separate section of the restaurant, to a private room filled with a table and deep circular booth. I scoot in and Blackthroat follows.
“Two of my usual,” Blackthroat orders. “Bring it all at once and then leave us alone.”
A waiter fills our water glasses, and the ma?tre d’ closes the frosted doors.
I’m achingly aware of Blackthroat’s massive body a few feet away from mine. Brick’s presence could fill an arena. In this cozy booth, watching him remove his suit jacket, I’m ultra aware of the heat radiating off him, his woodsy scent. The crisp dark hairs under his shirt cuffs. The strength of his fingers as he adjusts his watch.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
“Working,” he growls cryptically.
“In a restaurant?”
“It’s a working lunch.”
I try to tamp down the soaring sensation in my chest. The feeling of lifting off and flying.
Brick may have promised to keep his dick in his pants, but it’s not stopping him from taking me to a working lunch that feels awfully like a date.
Okay.
Well, I can work and be wined and dined at the same time if that’s how he wants to play this. “The finance team has a new deal to offer. Mr. Cavendish is on a plane, on his way to Benson now.”
“Good. If anyone can sweet talk them, it’s Nickel.”
I smile at the nickname and keep checking emails. I’ll keep up the pretense that this is a working lunch for as long as he requires.
Blackthroat clears his throat. I make a show of setting down my tablet and giving him my attention, my stylus poised to take notes.
His gaze settles on my chest.
Yes, I wore another cutout dress. If he’s going to call me Windows, I have to live up to my name, afterall.
“You did it again.” He looks like he wants to tear the dress off.
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