Page 3 of Dancing With Desire

I greet her at the door, and she looks less than impressed as she marches up the steps. “Thanks for the update,” she snaps, pushing past me and heading inside. Marshall is in the hall, and she glares at him. “You, office, now,” she adds, leading the way.

We exchange a raised brow, and Marshall smirks.

Once inside, she spins on us, placing her hand on her hip. “What the fuck has been going on?”

“Is she okay?” I ask.

“Not really, Dmitry,” she snaps, “but then I’m guessing you knew that already.”

“She shouldn’t be left on her own,” I say.

Phoebe scoffs. “Because of your crazy ex or your power-hungry father?”

“She told you about them,” I mutter.

“So, it’s true?” she asks.

“Unfortunately.”

She turns her anger on Marshall. “And where the hell were you? Aren’t you meant to protect her?”

“It’s not on him,” I cut in.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” she snaps angrily.

“I wasn’t on duty that night,” Marshall tells her.

“You pushed her to comply with the hospital admission,” she says accusingly. “How do I know you’re not in on all this?”

I whip my head in his direction, not realising he’d persuaded her to go, and he holds up his hands. “Hey, I was trying to stopher looking crazier by kicking off. I promised her I’d get her out the second I’ found evidence.”

“You shouldn’t have needed it,” she says, now glaring back at me. “And you should have listened to him.”

“Going over all the ways I fucked up isn’t helping,” I snap, finally losing my patience. “She needs to be here with me, so I can protect her.”

“Like you did before?” she asks, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

“The way I see it,” Marshall cuts in before I lose my shit completely, “is we all want the same thing, for Tori to be happy and safe. We can’t protect her when she’s with you.”

“I am not forcing her back here,” says Phoebe, folding her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you get rid of the threat?” I stiffen, wondering what Victoria told Phoebe exactly. “Oh, don’t pretend we don’t know who you are,” she adds, rolling her eyes. “I’ve heard the rumours, and I can only assume Marcus is no longer here because of you.”

Marshall steps forward, and I see anger burning in his eyes. “You need to watch your mouth,” he warns, and Phoebe visibly swallows. “Now, are you going to help us protect Tori or not?” She gives a slight nod, suddenly looking less confident. “Then lose the attitude and show some fucking respect.”

I move behind my desk and take a seat. “You two should show more of that,” I say, pointing between the pair. They both turn to face me. “That chemistry you have could be the reason Tori allows Marshall to hang around.”

Marshall scoffs, and Phoebe blushes. There’s no fooling me. I’m an expert at spotting chemistry, and the way she backed down just then tells me she’s into my overbearing right-hand man.

“That could work,” agrees Marshall, not denying my accusation. “If she thinks we have a thing, maybe she won’t be so pissed to have me around?”

“She’d never believe I’d fall for you,” says Phoebe indignantly. “Besides, you want me to just drop it on her? She wouldn’t believe it.”

“So, start slow,” I say. “Take Marshall back with you now and tell her he just wants to check on her. You two can flirt a little.” I sigh heavily. “Honestly, I don’t care how you get him in there, just do it.”

“She does have a lot of unanswered questions,” says Phoebe thoughtfully, and I hate the fact she won’t come to me for the answers. “She might allow you in if you were willing to answer them?”

Marshall looks at me for permission, and I nod. “Give her whatever she wants, and then take them both to my place,” I say, sliding the address over to Marshall. He frowns, probably wondering why he doesn’t know about it. “Nobody knows about it,” I confirm without his question. “They’ll be safe there.”

“I doubt she’ll want to go anywhere owned by you,” says Phoebe.

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