Page 50 of His Captor

The kicking also saved my bacon as the moment between me and Mace got awkward.

“I need to pee,” I gasped. “Junior just stomped on my bladder.”

“Is that what you’re planning to name him?” Mace asked as I hurried away from him, toward the nicely clean bathroom.

“It’s a placeholder,” I told Mace over my shoulder. “If you can think of something you like better, I’m open to suggestions.”

“There’s got to be something better than ‘Junior’,” he said as I reached the bathroom and pretty much leapt inside.

“There’s got to be,” I echoed him, then shut the door and headed for the toilet.

I was relieved in more ways than one to sit down and just breathe for a second. It could be argued that the day had exceeded even my wildest expectations. Well, except for the whole ex with an ax to grind breaking into Mace’s apartment andfucking it up. But other than that, it had been so wonderful that I took a moment to just lean back against the lid of the toilet and close my eyes, reveling in the whole thing.

I had an alpha in my life now.Thealpha.

Of course, he was my boss, no one knew he was the one who had knocked me up, at the office or in my family, and someone was out to get him. God only knew what would happen when people found out about us. And I might be in real danger by association, about a month from when I was supposed to give birth. But I could conquer all of that as long as I had Mace with me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Mason

Aweek later, the investigation was still ongoing, but Det. Shirley hadn’t reached any conclusions about who specifically had broken into my apartment and how.

“Whoever they were,” she told me on a follow-up call as I saw alone in my office, watching my staff through the tall windows and hoping I hadn’t inadvertently put them all in danger, “they had a key. Had one or managed to bypass the lock system. Which, frankly, despite Mr. Grangers insistence otherwise, isn’t that great. I don’t know why that penthouse floor doesn’t have half a dozen security cameras in place.”

“Neither do I,” I said grimly. “But it does now. So does the tenth floor near a certain omega’s apartment.”

There was a pause before Det. Shirley said, “Let me guess. Mr. Granger didn’t pay for that particular security system.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” I said.

Det. Shirley laughed. “I like your style, Mr. Canton.”

“And I like yours,” I told her. “If you ever decide you want to quit the force and go into consulting for a top-tier security company, I might just have a place for you.”

She made an interested sound. “I’ll let you know.”

The conversation didn’t make me feel much better. I knew who was behind the break-in, but whoever had carried it out, they’d been good enough to leave no evidence at all. The whole thing left me with the uncomfortable feeling that I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and that when it dropped, it would hurt the people I was growing to care about.

I glanced out at the rest of the office again, straight into Hayden’s empty cube. He’d been there earlier, but he’d taken an early lunch because he had a doctor’s appointment.

I checked my watch, then jumped up with a wince. A doctor’s appointment that I was going to be late to unless I hustled.

“I’ll be back in an hour or so,” I told Rachel as I strode past her, slipping into my suit jacket as I moved.

“Sounds good, Mr. Canton,” Rachel said, smiling distractedly at me as I passed her office. “When you get back, can we have a moment to discuss the Harvey contract?”

I stopped then backpedaled to her office door. “The Harvey contract?”

Although my aim was for Canton Enterprises to go into business with the government, we’d been working on a few civilian security contracts as well. The Harvey Corporation managed hospitals across the East Coast, and they were looking to improve security technology in several of their facilities. I liked them, I liked their mission, and I was eager to work with them to develop the sort of security tech they needed.

Rachel frowned at the empty space in front of her for a moment. “Something’s wrong with the deal, but I don’t have anything other than a hunch to back that up.”

My stomach sank. After everything with Colin and my apartment, a hunch from someone I trusted was as good a reason to take action as anything.

“We’ll talk when I get back,” I said before walking on.

“Have fun at your business lunch,” Rachel called to me.

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