Page 12 of Bossed By the Orc

He was right, that smugness was going to get him murdered in his sleep. Only not by Fionel. Especially if we were going to be staying anywhere near each other. I could pick a lock with the best of them. Something I’d learned from my dad, who was a handyman.

I glared at him for a second, but then I focused on the documents he’d sent, reading the offer letter and the contract as closely as I could. The legalese was a bit much, but I understood the general information. This could be the answer to my family’s prayers. Without paying rent or utilities for myself, I would save so much—along with the fantastic pay—that within a year, I could pay off the medical debt that we’d accrued over the past three years while my mom fought her disease. And even more than that, we might not lose the house.

“Yes,” I whispered, voice firm, looking up into his yellow eyes.

“You’ve read the entire thing?” His eyes were glittering again—but in a way that I wasn’t familiar with. Something predatory gleamed back at me from their depths. My breath went shallow and there was a tingle in my extremities that I knew were my instincts telling me I was in close proximity to something that could take a bite out of me.

I might enjoy that bite.

Mentally bitchslapping the intrusive thought, because this male was going to be my direct boss, I forced a smile on my face. “Yes, I’ve read the entire thing, and I accept.”

“Good,” he said, his tone smug. “Then I’ll come up and help you with your things.”

He was out of the door before I could blink. “What?” I squawked, struggling to open my own door and jump out—literally, since his SUV was so high up from the ground.

Dristan was standing outside the entrance to my building, his head tipped back and his nose wrinkled. “I don’t like this place.”

Offended, I struggled with my bag as I searched for my keys. When they were in my hand, he took my bag from me, heading back to his SUV and tucking it inside the backseat.

“It makes more sense to leave any extra load behind since we’ll be bringing everything down here anyway. I can get movers tomorrow for anything too big,” he called, his voice reaching me easily in the quiet night. I watched with my lips parted. When he returned, he gestured for me to enter.

“You’re probably the pushiest person I know,” I huffed and he shrugged as we walked inside.

His eyes took in every inch of the lobby, narrowed at the elevator that had a hastily taped “Out of Order” sign that was almost brown with age.

I led him to the staircase, opening it and holding my breath as I always did. While the stairway itself wasn’t physically dirty, there was always the lingering odor of urine when you first opened the door. I hid a grin as Dristan gagged behind me.

That should teach him a lesson about being too pushy. If he’d waited in the car or allowed me to figure out my own moving arrangements, he would have been spared the stink.

Chapter Seven

Dristan

As soon as we entered the stairwell, I knew I was right to get her out of there as soon as possible. I’d instructed my brother to get everything arranged and he’d finally let me know that I could make the offer.

It had been tedious for me to wait, but he’d handled the mess I’d dragged him into like a champ. Penelope wouldn’t be working for my business any longer. She would be more personal. Her contract contained all her benefits and ensured that anything she could ever need was covered, but what I’d made very clear to Rudgar was that I needed to make fraternization a direct possibility.

If she’d stayed on with Everlock Financial, I would’ve had to have some consideration for HR and appearances. Now, I could fit her into my plan—into my life without worry. The pull I had toward her wasn’t a coincidence.

My mate.

I’d had a niggling sensation in the back of my head since the first moment I’d laid my eyes on her. My father hadn’t been able to have the conversation about what meeting my mate would be like, but it hadn’t hit me like the ton of bricks I thought it would.

It was more of a slow awakening. I settled into the knowledge with ease. She was mine and there was no way I was going to let her go. Ignoring the stench around me, I climbed the stairs with her, careful not to touch anything. I distracted myself by staring at her phenomenal ass.

Five flights up, she stepped onto the floor and turned right down the short corridor. The chipped paint on the front door told me everything I needed to know about the type of maintenance that was done on this building.

I blew out a breath of relief that I could finally get her out of here. After Rudgar’s research showed me pictures of this place, it’d been everything I could do to not toss her over my shoulder and keep her safe inside my penthouse.

She looked over her shoulder at me as she unlocked the front door. “You can wait here,” she tried, opening the door and trying to close it behind her.

I held the door behind her with no effort and it was so flimsy it almost snapped like a twig in my hands. My mind boggled at the lack of basic security in this place.

Penelope was glaring up at me, clearly ready to ream me a new asshole for barging my way inside when a tiny chirp of noise came from behind her.

The tiny human had a plate in her hand that she looked like she was on the verge of dropping and the sheer terror on her face told me I needed to explain my presence, stat. I raised my hand in a wave at her and she started backing away.

“Hi Kelly,” Penelope called from next to me, slowing the female’s escape. “This is my boss. We’re just stopping by to—”

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